We consider a variety of writing assignments used for two general education mathematics courses. The student writing ranges from brief informal pieces to more formal assignments that address the full scope of a course, with an emphasis on encouraging students to have a richer experience of mathematical people and ideas and of their own learning.…

While including case studies as part of the curriculum is widespread in business education in North America, and to a lesser extent, in Europe; in the emerging economies this instructional approach is still novel. Furthermore, case writing, has been traditionally the realm of the instructors, and sometimes graduate students -- even in the most…

In small-group workshops, a joint initiative of the researcher and the student counsellor, primary (elementary) pre-service teachers (PSTs) wrote about critical incidents in their mathematics learning, and shared them with the group. Then, PSTs read extracts about mathematics anxiety (maths anxiety), and wrote and shared their reflections…

As online course offerings continue to evolve, researchers have examined many strategies for improving the online learning experience for both the instructor and the student. Asynchronous, online discussions are one of the most common components of online courses. This article provides information about the best practices for facilitating…

In light of systematic evidence that extroverts are disadvantaged in the classroom, we examined whether an online environment assignment that builds on extroverts' character strengths can increase their overall course satisfaction. Based on previous studies demonstrating that extroverts are energized by feedback from outsiders, we asked 180…

The present study provides an in-depth, longitudinal account of an undergraduate student's L2 discourse socialization in an academic exchange program in Canada. By invoking Rogoff's (1995) notion of participatory appropriation, this qualitative case study examined an L2 student's task-related strategies and performance as they evolved over time in…

Facebook has best leveraged the rapid technological and societal changes over the past decade to grow into the world's largest social-networking site (SNS). However, research of Facebook has lagged behind other Web 2.0 technologies, particularly in regards to investigating its efficacy versus a control group to improve L2 writing. This study,…

English grammar and lexis seem to be among the most problematic areas in second language (L2) acquisition. A good number of past studies have investigated English learners' different kinds of errors, using a variety of elicitation techniques, such as a translation task, a grammaticality judgment task, a role play, an essay, etc. The current study…

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of two types of corrective feedback on EFL learners' writing skill. Thirty five advanced learners in three groups participated in this study. Structures of written texts were taught in all three classes during fourteen sessions of treatment; and each session, a related topic was given and the…

Globalisation and international mobility in the 21st century has led to the internationalisation of the English language (Crystal, 2003). Research regarding linguistic gains at university levels is however extremely scarce. This study aims to address this gap of knowledge and provide some answers as to how much linguistic gain can be expected…

This article isolates and observes the impact of peer readership on low-stakes reflective writing assignments in two large Introduction to Sociology classes. Through a comparative content analysis of over 2,000 private reflective journal entries and semipublic reflective blog posts, I find that both practices produce distinct forms of reflection.…

This study aimed to investigate problems facing Palestinian Arab students from Israel who are majoring in teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in developing well-written paragraphs in English. They usually transfer the stylistic features of their first language, Arabic to the target language, English. For example, they tend to write long…

Computer technology and the Internet now make plagiarism an easier enterprise. As a result, faculty must be more diligent in their efforts to mitigate the practice of academic integrity, and institutions of higher education must provide the leadership and support to ensure the context for it. This study explored the use of a plagiarism detection…

This study investigated the engagement with writing of reluctant writers in the contexts of home and school. A structured and semi-structured survey method was used to capture responses from 106 reluctant writers in 9 primary schools (age range 6--9 year olds) in the UK. Findings show that although these students were deemed to be reluctant…

The West Virginia Department of Education's auto grading initiative dates back to 2004--a time when school districts were making their first forays into automation. The Charleston based WVDE had instituted a statewide writing assessment in 1984 for students in fourth, seventh, and 10th grades and was looking to expand that program without having…