Postmodernism claims to shatter the mirage of essentialism by denying the image of a unified self. The result, it asserts, is the freedom to assume a new kind of authority, signified in the image of the "subject position." It assumes, further, that because the writer is capable of multiple selves, he or she will perforce manifest…

Increasingly, students in public schools, colleges, and universities are exposed to United States history and literature via commercial and cable television and the motion picture industry. If students are going to use videotapes of historical and literature-based films as short cuts to learning, then faculty are obligated to structure videotapes…

This report provides outcomes for 1995-96 for Monroe Community College's Writing-Across-the-Curriculum (WAC) program, an effort designed to help students learn to write in all disciplines through writing centers staffed by student writing fellows. Following introductory remarks, the report provides discussions of the following topics: the future…

Intended specifically for tutors who want to use proven teaching techniques but who have limited time and resources, this book offers dozens of teaching ideas as well as useful information on curriculum development, instruction, and appropriate reading materials. The teaching strategies in the book were adapted from articles published in the…

Addressing the expressed needs of the writing community, this book presents writing lessons for intermediate, middle school, and secondary school students that incorporate the 5-step writing process into content areas as a natural part of the curriculum. The 30 lessons in this book involve students in large and small groups and in individual…

Collaboration in writing is not confined to conventional multiple authorship and peer editing, but extends across the text to include its readers. Strong support for language development comes from dialogic situations in which student writing is created as a response to some other utterance, and yet classrooms rarely support such situations. The…

This brief report summarizes a longer document with the same title. It reviews literature on the importance of using active learning teaching techniques in the classroom, describes what active learning is, discusses how this technique can be incorporated into the classroom and identifies barriers to the use of this approach. Strategies that…

By applying the principles of total quality management (TQM), freshman composition can be taught in a way that focuses on the customer (the student), engenders a willingness for continuous improvement, builds quality into the process of writing, empowers the student to become responsible for his/her work, and allows students to make the necessary…

This paper demonstrates with specific examples from various students' journals how subtly and, at the same time, pervasively ethnocentricity expresses itself, and offers suggestions on how to assess and combat ethnocentric beliefs through writing assignments and classroom exercises in an international business law course at Indiana University. The…

A study examined the extent to which literacy tasks were emphasized within a fourth-grade social studies classroom. Subjects, 21 fourth-grade students and their teacher at a private K-8 elementary school located in an urban area of the east, were observed over a 7-week period as they conducted a thematic unit on liberty. Data included audiotapings…

This paper addresses the many uses of the writing portfolio in general education at the college level, particularly in classrooms teaching business communication. It describes what elements could be contained within a portfolio, the role the portfolio can play in the assessment process, and the pedagogical implications of a class that is organized…

A classroom field experiment was conducted on the effects of preparation homework and practice homework on student achievement in a fifth-grade social studies class, when used in conjunction with cooperative learning. The study investigated whether cooperative learning with or without preparation or practice homework produces greater student…

A case study is presented that details the English learning experiences of Mashud, a Bangladeshi boy who emigrated to England. Although Mashud was fluent and skilled in his native Sylheti language, he had a great deal of difficulty learning English. He attempted to spell phonetically and showed little understanding of grammar or punctuation. In…

At Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) in New Jersey, an honors philosophy course was developed which taught mathematics and science concepts independent of computational skill. The course required that students complete a weekly writing assignment designed as a continuous refinement of logical reasoning development. This refinement was…

Drawing on an activity theory analysis, Elizabeth A. Wardle considers whether cross-disciplinary FYC collaborations can help us achieve current FYC goals. Her analysis of learning community linked FYC courses at a large Midwestern university suggests that learning community teachers are faced with as many--if not more--challenges as traditional…