In this article, the authors examine the role revision memos played in composition classrooms. Both authors used the memos to help students reflect on their writing and continue revising. The memos also served as guides for the instructors as they responded to their students' writing. The memos were a reminder that the instructors needed to focus…

In portfolio assessment, WAC helps other disciplines increase programmatic integrity and accountability. This analysis of a portfolio partnership also shows composition faculty how a dynamic culture of assessment helps us protect what we do well, improve what we need to do better, and solve problems as writing instruction keeps pace with…

Teaching rhetorical production in a digital age calls for us to rethink our discipline's current distaste for writing mechanics. Yet, the digital mechanics of writing are much broader than grammatical concerns. They include production tools that allow for the invention and circulation of audio, visual, and Multigenre writing. (Contains 3 figures…

Argues that an approach to composition instruction that emphasizes critical thinking skills produces a more analytical writer. Describes a school project that examined research on critical thinking, implemented changes in the teaching of thinking and composition, and assessed student learning. (HB)

Describes how rhetoric replaced literature as the prevalent focus for teaching composition. Questions why teachers neglect the use of literature in composition classrooms. Argues for the inclusion of literature into composition courses as a means of inspiring conversations beyond the realm of academia. (HB)

Describes the use of "Harper's" magazine "Index" column of statistical facts as an essay prompt in freshman composition classes. Lists specific instructions for the writing assignment. Reports that students generally produce impressive, sophisticated, thoughtful, and well-written essays for this exercise. (SG)

Presents a response to Joseph Harris's article in this issue. Acknowledges that differences in opinion were less in principle and more in what they emphasized in their respective essays. Suggests that communities have possibilities for opening different sorts of spaces on university campuses. (SG)

For beginning college students, effective paraphrasing is the most difficult of the research-writing skills they must learn and demonstrate. Many students understand summarizing, and the frequent appearance of unwieldy block quotations in their essays suggests their preference for using a source's exact words. But the art of paraphrasing escapes…

The main objective of this action research is to explore the effectiveness of blogs to promote frequent extra reading practice in a freshman EFL science and technology reading program at a public university. Sociocultural theory and the revival of Vygostky's constructivism have made us rethink how to approach the learning-teaching process in the…

In Fall 2006, a faculty member in George Washington University's University Writing 20 (UW20) program began incorporating service learning into her theme-based first-year writing course. Along with her librarian partner, they linked two research assignments to the service work of the students. An end-of-semester survey was administrated over three…

This study explored the use of a problem-based learning (PBL) approach for teaching information and communication technology (ICT) skills to first-year students. Two questions were posed. The first addressed the ICT skill needs of 20 students enrolled in a first-year composition course. The second focused on the use of PBL to facilitate ICT skill…

Argues that the perennial problem of boring student writing is solved when assignments provide writers with target readers, enabling students to find their appropriate voice. Discusses a sample assignment in which students explain how to do something they do well to readers who don't know how to do it. (JG)

Discusses an essay, "Cheerio," written to support the author's argument that there is no such thing as a dull subject. Reflects on the influence of "occasion" on the writing process. (JAD)

This paper contends that modern compositionist courses have successfully met the goal of training students to become socially productive citizens by teaching them to be proficient "readers" who critically examine the sources and dissemination of knowledge, but that the field has fallen short of its goal of training students to actively…

Describes several situations faced by teachers in writing-intensive classrooms--experiences common to most teachers of writing. Shares examples to explore how issues related to plagiarism and its effects are both reproduced and changed in new research spaces. Discusses how to best handle plagiarism in first-year writing classrooms and how to best…