Examines characteristics of the mental processes required for writing, compares and contrasts the nature of processing required for other cognitive activities, and reviews recent research on children's writing that reveals the advantages as well as disadvantages of superimposing writing skills over well-developed language skills. (HOD)

Richard F. Thompson and Michael G. Southwell separately discuss William J. McCleary's article on reliability and validity problems in composition research (see EJ 210 755); Chris Madigan questions the data on composing processes of freshman writers reported by Sharon Pianko (see EJ 204 419); and C. T. Patrick Diamond examines the issue of the…

Writing demands the simultaneous control of several skills: focus and logic, as well as spelling and grammar. The central writing skill is to look at what has been said and see how it can be improved by drafting and redrafting. (MLW)

Questions some of the traditional assumptions regarding the necessity of objectivity and research in art education writing. Suggests a number of innovative approaches, including intentional ambiguity, determined analogy, myth, comic books, and intentional paradox. Maintains that art is subjective, and it should not try to imitate other…

Describes the development of an instructional technology course at Fairmont State College (West Virginia) for education majors that included a teaching module combining steps of the writing process to provide for the interdisciplinary focus of writing across the curriculum. Discusses desktop publishing, the National Writing Project, and student…

Examined the difficulties a group of Mexican graduate students encountered when engaged in an argumentative writing task as well as their writing processes and strategies. Data were collected from individual interviews with participants and from participants' essays. Analysis indicated most participants perceived the rhetorical aspects of English…

Describes writing portfolios, a teaching method that enhances students' taking responsibility for their learning, facilitates developmentally appropriate assessment, and allows evaluation of writing development. Includes six student forms: "Self-Evaluation of Writing,""Self-Evaluation of the Writing Portfolio,""Identification of Topics,""Writing…

Discussion of online instructional design by academic librarians focuses on a study at the University of Minnesota that compared mental models of librarians and students as they relate to online library tutorials. Reports on a review of existing library tutorials, usability studies, and student interviews about the research and writing process.…

Investigated the reactions of Korean students studying English-as-a-Foreign- Language (EFL) to computer-mediated writing instruction. Students participated in a computer assisted language learning (CALL) program framed on the process approach to teaching writing. Analysis of students' journals indicated that CALL was a helpful tool for learning to…

Shares the attempts of one teacher to structure a program that allows students to learn and grow as a community of readers and writers through the use of a response-centered curriculum. (MG)

This qualitative study details four elementary/middle school-level teachers' perceptions of external factors which tended to support or interfere with their initial efforts to implement a process writing approach. These factors included the building administrators, other teachers, state and local mandates, and student response to the innovation.…

Examines internal and external factors which affect the way women reentering higher education learn and write. Finds several constant internal factors: sense of inferiority among peers; inability to concentrate; sense of guilt; feeling out of place among younger students; fatigue; and doubt. Finds that positive internal factors outweigh negative…

Describes a year-long evaluation procedure in which students accomplish greater involvement in assessing their own learning, beginning with a first-day questionnaire on learning and writing assumptions, continuing with writing workshop experiences, and culminating in a coursework evaluation project and publication. (KEH)

Describes a college instructor's observations of her students' writing blocks. Suggests that female students' writing blocks differ from males'. Asserts that females' blocks last longer and cause greater distress than do males' writing blocks. Notes that female students also appear to experience difficulty in utilizing secondary sources and…

Describes a model of social writing, for use in writing socially relevant, easy-to-read books for new adult readers, which incorporates expressive, cognitive, and social aspects. Elaborates the process from topic selection through manuscript printing, compares the model to other types, and touches upon its transfer to other settings and other…