The TCC/FIPSE Writing Coalition, the joint project between Tidewater Community College (TCC) (Virginia) and the Fund for Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), was developed in an effort to eliminate remedial instruction in writing for recent high school graduates. The project is an outgrowth of student-centered approaches to instruction…

Exposure to racism, prejudice, and stereotypes is common in a student's first experiences in a university setting. Language can be a tool to dispel this lack of knowledge about differences in cultures. Awareness of the negative effects of certain words in the English language is one of the first steps to breaking down barriers of discrimination.…

This paper describes the First Year Program at Westminster College in Pennsylvania, which has implemented a new, progressive curriculum that prominently features the basic communication course, and an initial attempt to evaluate the program. The paper begins with a description of the content and goals of the basic communication course, which is…

As two groups of teachers met to set up a HyperNews network for a grant project, it became clear that politics cannot be kept out of the classroom. In creating a community of diverse writers via HyperNews, six composition classes were linked for online discourse among departments: Asian American Studies, Chicano Studies, Pan African Studies, and…

This institutional study examined multiple facets of the Wytheville Community College (Virginia) Dual Credit English program and outlines both the strengths and weaknesses of the initiative. The author provides historical data on the rationale for the program and presents perspectives from various constituencies. The study found that both the…

The book examines why college students still write poorly and why various attempts to redress such poor writing skills have failed for the most part by presenting 19 essays by leading writing professionals, English professors, educational theorists, teachers, and curriculum designers. The essays describe what students can and cannot do in the…

The author argues that what many educators are failing to include in their high-tech plans is "emotionally charged, intellectually open-ended education." Describes technology-based courses (freshman composition, Internet-based learning groups, e-mail discussion groups, and "cyber-outward bound") that would satisfy intellect and…

Compares course completion rates for students enrolled in sections of a required first-year writing course taught in a microcomputer laboratory/classroom to the course completion rates for pen-and-paper sections of the same course. Finds higher course completion rates for students enrolled in the microcomputer sections. (RS)

Describes the five major problems faced by foreign students in traditional composition classes. Presents types of tutorial activities which may prove beneficial when dealing with the major problems that ESL students have in both reading and writing in English. Discusses the effect of such tutorial activities at the University of Kentucky. (HB)

A discussion of collaborative peer teaching as a method of college instruction looks at theoretical support for the approach and describes experiences with three courses using it: freshman composition; American studies; and international diversity. Perceived benefits of the experiences for both teachers and students are examined. (MSE)

Notes many networked composition classrooms can be considered "transitional;" focus of the classes is neither exclusively on print-oriented skills nor on electronic-literacy skills. Focuses on an instructor's first-year composition courses in a computerized environment. Outlines ways teachers may employ a portfolio pedagogy in networked…

Offers four perspectives on dynamic changes in the architecture of power and leadership in one university's large Freshman English writing program as it implemented a more collaborative approach in its administration, reforming a top-down administrative structure into a more egalitarian one. (SR)

Offers perspectives of 3 members of a 10-member coordinating committee that has collaborated in the administration of their university's first year writing program for the past 10 years. Discusses how such partnerships come to be created in a hierarchical university environment, how power is acquired, and how collaboration works on a daily basis.…

While most service-learning courses at the college level establish a hierarchical connection between mentor and student, the service-learning program at Los Angeles City College encourages a reciprocal relationship in which mentor and mentee benefit from each other. First-year composition students are paired with intermediate ESL composition…

At the University of Akron, the administration decided to segregate the students previously called "provisional" from the "regular" population. As an open-access institution, the university directly admits only approximately 15 percent of the students to a program of study. The vast majority of students start in University College and transfer to…