This book presents the essentials of good writing in an easy-to-follow 4-part process. The first step discussed in the book, "Using Your Noodle," guides the student through the preparatory thinking process (audience awareness, brainstorming, grouping thoughts). The second step, "Following a Format," presents the challenge of…

A set of much examined scientific papers which specifically portray a controversial topic and also manifest ally-peer and competitor-peer enscripted audiences are those written by James Watson and Francis Crick concerning their discovery of the structure of deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA). The theoretical perspective of an ally-peer and…

Teachers at both college and pre-college levels have long realized that collaborative writing is an effective learning tool for beginning writers. Many have pointed out that collaboration in writing groups properly shifts the focus from the teacher to the student, and allows writers to take more responsibility for their own composing processes.…

Computer technology such as telecommunications software and electronic mail allowed students in advanced writing courses at Incarnate Word College and St. Mary's University in Texas to exchange comments about their papers. The intention of the writing teachers was to emphasize the role that invention and planning play in writing, to highlight the…

In their recent article, "Materiality and Genre in the Study of Discourse Communities," Devitt, Bawarshi, and Reiff maintain that genre analysis can enable outsiders to a discourse community "to connect what community members know and do with what they say and how they say it--their language practices" (542). Genre analysis,…

A study examined text-based scientific concepts and described how those concepts were elaborated in three high school biology textbooks. The three textbooks were aimed at different student audiences: non-college bound students, special education students, and high school students at all levels. A concept analysis was established for each text, and…

Debate educators have been concerned about the disadvantages of tournament debating. While student debaters have learned critical thinking, research, writing, public speaking, and other skills, some former participants feel the experience left them too argumentative generally. Some scholars favor moving away from formal debating contests. A…

Utilizing a regionally diversified sample of cable viewers to investigate viewer patronage of community channels--defined to include public, educational, and government (PEG) access as well as community (or leased) access channels, a study examined a quarterly national survey of homes serviced by cable in the United States. Each quarter, 1,000…

Edward R. Murrow is considered by many to be the first serious practitioner of broadcast journalism. In the 1950s he pioneered in developing the television documentary form with the "See It Now" series. A second series, "Person to Person," played a large part in popularizing the televised celebrity interview. Characterizations…

A study examined the assumption that writing is a way to learn by examining the relative effects of writing and studying as learning aids. The study also explored the role of individual differences in an effort to identify features of the writing process that may influence what students learn through writing. The experiment used think-aloud…

General interest, scientific, and religious periodicals responded to the theory of evolution in 1925 with the same opinions but slanted their coverage to appeal to different readerships. "Scientific American" and "Current History" differed only stylistically in their coverage of the "Australopithecus africanus"…

Some preliminary ideas on narrative inquiry in educational studies and educational reform are presented. Illustrations from Bay Street School (drawn from a 9-year research project on personal knowledge and narrative) are included. Since whatever may be said about narrative as method follows from its character as phenomenon, the aspects of…

Pope John Paul's visit to the United States in 1987 provided many opportunities for the analysis of papal rhetoric. The Pope's address to black Catholics in America may be of particular interest to those focusing on the study of intercultural or interracial communication. This address did not garner as much media attention as did some of the…

Argues for a distinction between fluency and automaticity of procedures in writing. Presents empirical results that suggest a prominent difference between skilled and less skilled writing is the extent of metacognitive control over writing subprocesses. (MS)

This paper explores a writing-classroom pedagogy that uses dramatic literature and racially reversed roles as a springboard for discussion of diversity issues. According to the paper, the belief is that providing students with a drama that features ethnically reversed casts, performed sequentially, would allow them to recognize how powerfully skin…