The quality of writing in a second language (L2) is one of the indicators of the level of proficiency for many college students to be eligible for departmental studies. Although certain software programs, such as Intelligent Essay Assessor or IntelliMetric, have been introduced to evaluate second-language writing quality, an overall assessment of…

This article is an essay exploring the unique pedagogical challenges of an approach to journalistic writing instruction which not only allows--but actually might even encourage--students to consider using a first-person narrator. While some of the pitfalls of the technique are discussed, the central argument is that the first-person voice, rather…

This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. This issue discusses dialogue writing guidelines most relevant to case writing.

Scoring procedures for many rater-mediated performance assessments include score resolution procedures in which a third rater adjudicates discrepancies between two raters' ratings of the same performance. There are numerous approaches for calculating resolved scores that involve different combinations of the original and third ratings. Using data…

While reflection has long been held to be central to learning, not all reflection leads to insight or learning. Drawing on distinctions in psychology between 'constructive self-regulation' and 'rumination' and educational literature that distinguishes descriptive from reflective writing, this article employs a novel approach to assign student…

Thermodynamics and kinetics are key topics in the chemistry curriculum that pose challenges to students across a range of educational levels. These struggles arise from the complexity and mixed representations inherent to the topics. Additionally, while thermodynamics and kinetics are related, students struggle to make conceptually correct…

Social media is riddled with memes (i.e., captioned images intended to convey cultural ideas or beliefs) that often promote maladaptive and unsupported beliefs about human development and parenting. This paper presents a scientific writing assignment designed to help spread accurate information on human development beyond the classroom through…

This study explored the effect of a documentary film on college students through the write-to-learn (WTL) process, including how students experience the film, their feelings about the experience, and the manner in which the film informed perceptions of or actions toward inclusion and disability sport. A convenience sample of 204 undergraduate…

This article explores the foundations and the content areas that ground the introductory public relations course. Examples of two assignments designed to help students think critically, apply knowledge, and improve their writing skills are offered, as well as the identification of several challenges both students and instructors face and a brief…

Structured thinking activities (STAs) are pedagogical tools used to support metacognition in classrooms. Despite their popularity, little is known about how pupils use STAs as platforms to think about and manage their own thinking (i.e. as metacognitive tools). This case study investigated pupils' use of STAs in relation to metacognition…

This article describes an activity designed to hone students' lay communication skills. After carefully analyzing journal articles that highlight specific aspects of vertebrate physiology, students generate "press releases" to summarize experimental results and suggest potential applications of the research. By producing succinct,…

The present study applied a multiple-case study design to investigate Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) students' responses to computer-mediated coded feedback and the factors that influence students' responses in an online multiple-draft Chinese writing context. Three intermediate-level students of Chinese completed four drafts for which they…

We, as community college English teachers, have the opportunity to empower students who have been subjected to years of top-down, teacher-directed education. We have the obligation to make them critical thinkers, improving their chances of being thoughtful and successful adults. It all begins with the way we teach writing and the respect we have…

When schools locked down owing to the spread of COVID-19, Danish upper secondary school students worked on the major written assignment that completes their studies. This assignment is interdisciplinary, and students receive up to twenty hours of supervision from two teachers. This year, supervision was reorganised into a virtual format. This…

The present research examined the extent to which the initial approach to a research-writing course by STEM and non-STEM second-language learners may entail the contribution of different dispositions to course performance and ultimately be responsible for dissimilar outcomes. Individual differences in dispositions and behavior were assessed during…