Retelling Basic Writing at a Regional Campus: Iconic Discourse and Selective Function Meet Social Class

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Tassoni, John Paul

2005-01-01

This article relates case histories of basic writing programs at regional campuses in Florida, and the perceived need to incorporate concerns of social class into basic writing curriculum. Attention to class helps scholars identify institutional patterns that distance basic writing from the university's mainstream business. This author describes a…

Paying attention to identity in advanced EAP writing class

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David Camps

2004-01-01

Full Text Available The present article discusses how students in the advanced EAP (English as a foreign language writing course at a private university in Mexico City become aware of choosing different identities in a written assignment, and how this decision can help them deal with the course requirements. After addressing the issue of identity in class and carrying out activities to develop social identities, and collecting samples of their writing, the students were questioned about their decision of projecting their identities in their papers in order to find out whether the understanding of the importance of identity in academic writing and its projection in their written essays would facilitate its writing. In addition, it was deemed interesting to learn about whether they found it easier to meet the demands and conventions of that particular essay by being aware of the possibilities of constructing their identities.Este artigo discute de que forma alunos de um curso de produção de textos em LE, em uma univeridade particular na Cidade do México, se dão conta da escolha de diferentes identidades em uma atividade de escrita e como essa decisão pode auxiliá-los com relação à demanda do curso. Depois de abordar a questão da identidade em sala, de propor atividades com o propósito de desenvolver identidades sociais e de coletar uma amostragem de textos, os alunos foram questionados sobre a decisão de projetarem suas identidades nos textos, com o objetivo de descobrir se a compreensão da importância da identidade na redação acadêmica e a projeção dessa identidade nos textos facilitaria a escrita. Além disso, foi interessante avaliar se eles encontraram dificuldades de atender às exigências e convenções do texto em questão, ao estarem conscientes das possibilidades de construção de suas próprias identidades nesse mesmo texto.

Students Write, Then "Sell" Ad Copy to Class.

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Galician, Mary Lou

1986-01-01

Describes a course in commercial copywriting for electronic media in which students must also present orally their copy to the class to drive home two points: (1) the writing has to sell products, and (2) the writer has to sell the spot or campaign to the client or employers. (HTH)

Learning autonomy in writing class: Implementation of project-based learning in english for spesific purposes

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Ayu Sukerti, G. N.; Yuliantini, Ny

2018-01-01

This research was aimed to analyze students’ attitude on learning autonomy through the implementation of project-based learning (PBL). Writing has been considered one of the most difficult competencies to master as it incorporates several integrated language skills. Thus, teaching writing in English for Specific Class posts a huge challenge as students often feel discouraged by the complex series of processes involved in producing a well-structured piece of writing. This research implemented PBL as the learning model to boost students’ learning outcomes and construct self-directed learning. Participants were 25 second semester students enrolled in a three-year undergraduate program in Informatics Management. The implementation of PBL in writing class contributed real advantages since it allowed students to collaboratively arrange outline in order to produce individual drafts and final essays. The study revealed that students were able to be involved in a more deep and autonomous learning as they helped each other during group discussion. The students autonomously engaged in the completion of the project in a more positive attitude. They also acquired more knowledge in the aspect of grammar and learned how to use language in proper context based on the feedbacks they got during revising their writing.

Using Writing in Mathematics to Deepen Student Learning

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Urquhart, Vicki

2009-01-01

Writing is the ability to compose text effectively for different purposes and audiences. When many of us reflect on our own school experiences, we recall writing in English and history classes, but not in mathematics. Math classes previously relied on skill-building and conceptual understanding activities. Today, teachers are realizing that…

Teaching English Medical Writing in a Blended Setting

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Jafar Asgari Arani

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Medical writing activities which may have a context and seem to be engaging may be perceived as demotivating by the students of medicine. This opinion was confirmed by the learners' responses to the open-ended question given to them prior to this study. In their responses students evaluated the writing section of English course negatively. The negative views about the writing course posed a problem to the class teacher. The computer technology and the Internet can easily be integrated into language classroom if activities are designed carefully, and carried out systematically. These attempts brought about a new understanding to teaching and learning: blended learning (BL. The purpose of this research was to investigate students of medicine attitude to blended writing classes. It was conducted with second year learners in the Faculty of Medicine at Kashan University of Medical Sciences. The first reflection aimed at finding out medical students' attitude toward blended writing lessons. Although learners' attitude to writing lessons was negative in the first reflections, they changed into positive in the latter ones. The findings indicated that blended writing class had changed students' perception of writing lessons positively. Therefore, this kind of classes may help students develop a positive attitude towards writing by providing meaningful writing opportunities. Like the student portfolio before it, the weblog faces challenges with practicality and security, but ultimately provides an alternative way to teach and assess authentic writing and reading skills. Blog Assisted Language Learning not only provides teachers with an exciting new way to approach communicative language learning, it also gives the students a new reason to enjoy writing! The paper concludes that Internet tools have the potential to be a transformational technology for teaching and learning writing, and teachers ought to give strong consideration to the setting up their

WRITING ACTIVITIES IN A LITERACY BASED TEACHING

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Yentri Anggeraini

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Literacy brings students to current and future learning, and for participation in the communication, society and workforce. As well as providing access to personal enrichment through literature, culture and social interaction. It provides access to material enrichment through further education, training and skilled employment. One of parts of literacy based teaching is writing. Writing is a principal form of communication, necessary in everyday life, in business, in creativity, in scholarly pursuits; in short, it is not a just tool of living, it is a tool of survival. It is the key activity in fostering language learners` awareness of how purpose audience and context affect the design of texts. In order to help the students to write effectively, the teacher should provide some interesting and useful activities. This paper aims at explaining what the literacy based teaching is and writing activities that can be used a literacy based teaching such as letter writing, journal writing, and creative writing

A Reinterpretation of the Writings of Frazier on the Black Middle Class.

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Landry, Bart

1978-01-01

A careful review of all of E. Franklin Frazier's writings dealing with the Black middle class will put into perspective the distorted view many people have regarding his criticism in "Black Bourgeoisie" of the attitudes and behavior of the Black middle class. (EB)

Writing Class: How Class-Based Culture Influences Community College Student Experience in College Writing

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Morris, Myla

2016-01-01

This study was designed to build on the existing research on teaching and learning in community college contexts and the literature of college writing in two-year schools. The work of Pierre Bourdieu formed the primary theoretical framework and composition theory was used to position this study in the literature of the college writing discipline.…

Current State of the Teaching of Process Writing in EFL Classes: An Observational Study in the Last Two Years of Secondary School

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Edgar Mendoza López

2005-10-01

Full Text Available This study reports on the process writing activities carried out in EFL classes in the last two years of secondary school. Grades 10 and 11 in six Colombian high schools - three public and three private - were observed in order to determine the way process writing is taught, focusing especially on the planning, composing, and revising activities, and based on the understanding of writing as an activity with a process-oriented approach. The findings indicate that writing and also reading are product-oriented, and that class activities tend to place or emphasize listening and speaking over writing and reading. Most of the time was spent on oral exercises, drills, role-plays and pronunciation, being group work and role-play activities what students enjoyed most.Este estudio presenta las actividades de escritura realizadas en las clases de inglés como lengua extranjera en los dos últimos grados de secundaria (10 y 11 de 6 colegios - tres públicos y tres privados. La observación se enfocó en la forma en que se enseña la escritura, especialmente en lo relacionado con las actividades de planeación, formulación y revisión con base en la concepción de la escritura como un proceso. Los resultados indican que la lectura y la escritura están orientadas hacia el producto, y que las clases privilegian la escucha y el habla sobre la lectura y la escritura. La mayor parte del tiempo se dedicó a ejercicios orales y escritos, juegos de roles y pronunciación, y los estudiantes disfrutaron más los trabajos en grupo y los juegos de roles.

ENHANCING WRITING SKILL THROUGH WRITING PROCESS APPROACH

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M. Zaini Miftah

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The study is aimed at developing the implementation of Writing Process Approach (WPA to enhance the students’ skill in writing essay. The study employed Classroom Action Research. The subjects of the study were 15 university students enrolled in the writing class. The data were gained from writing task, observation and field notes. The findings show that the implementation of WPA with the proper model procedures developed can enhance the students’ skill in writing essay. Before the strategy was implemented, the percentage of the students achieving the score greater than or equal to C (56-70 was 40.00% (6 students of the class. However, after the strategy was implemented in Cycle I, it enhanced enough to 60.00% (9 students of the class, but this result did not meet the criteria of success set up in the study. Next, in Cycle II it increased slightly to 86.67% (13 students of the class. Thus, the enhancement of the students’ skill in writing essay can be reached but it should follow the proper model procedures of the implementation of WPA developed. Keywords: writing process approach, writing skill, essay writing

The Value of Peer Feedback Opportunities for Students in Writing Intensive Classes

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Kennette, Lynne N.; Frank, Nichole M.

2013-01-01

The present study was conducted to examine the usefulness of peer feedback on APA-style research papers in a writing-intensive class. Subsequent to APA training, students were asked to review and provide feedback on a classmate's APA-style research report for both content and formatting. Performance on this research report was then compared to…

The Effect of Dialogue Journal Writing on EFL Students' Writing Skill

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Ali Gholami Mehrdad

2008-02-01

Full Text Available Despite the role writing plays in learning a foreign language, many students do not show much interest in taking an active part in writing classes (Myint, 1997. Thus different activities have been proposed to motivate students to write one of which is dialogue journal writing, and the present work tries to investigate the possible effect(s of such activity on writing ability of a group of English students at Islamic Azad University- Hamedan branch. To do this, 50 students obtaining 1 and 2 on the TWE scale on the structure section of a TOEFL test were selected and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. After some introductory sessions, the students were asked to write paragraphs on a weekly schedule and hand them in to be corrected. In the experimental group the students were, furthermore, asked to keep journals and hand them in. After 4 months, the students in both groups took part in a writing exam in which they had to write two paragraphs on the topics given. The comparison of the means at p

TRAVEL WRITING: AN APPLICATION OF WRITING WORKSHOP TO ENHANCE STUDENTS’S CREATIVE WRITING

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Prayudias Margawati

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Writing is often assumed as uneasy skill to either learn or teach. For students, they find it difficult to develop ideas in writing. On the other hand, teachers, many of them, only ready with the materials but confuse with the appropriate ways to teach. This paper intends to describe and discuss a method of teaching writing namely writing workshop to improve students’ writing skill through travel writing. Writing workshop proposed by Calkins that consists of mini lesson, work time, peer conferring and/or response groups, share sessions, and publication celebration is applied in writing class for methodological purposes. In mini lesson, teacher offers something to the class that is meant to introduce a writing strategy done at the beginning of the workshop. During work time point, students start their new piece of writing. Teacher moves among students conferring with them while checking their works. Peer conferences or response groups provide a forum for students to talk about works in progress. When students work in group, one of them could arrange his/ her group needs during the work time. A share session may be varied, one possible way is each group shares their process of writing to other students. At the end of writing class, student writers come together to publish and/ or celebrate their final work. The publication could be in the form of portfolio, students’ diary, blog, or others. Travel writing genre is chosen as it could develop students’ creativity in describing/ narrating their own stories during, let say holiday or things they used to see on the way home weekly or monthly. Furthermore, travel writing as the product of creative writing teaches the readers of values, characteristics, and way of life. Last but not least, a professional writing teacher should set the writing workshop components in variety ways to achieve effective running-class.

Writing Games in the Bayeux Tapestry.

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Carter, John Marshall

1985-01-01

Offers writing activities based on the Bayeux Tapestry for use in art, communications, home economics, physical education, psychology, history and social studies, and science and mathematics classes. (EL)

Identifying Key Features of Effective Active Learning: The Effects of Writing and Peer Discussion

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Pangle, Wiline M.; Wyatt, Kevin H.; Powell, Karli N.; Sherwood, Rachel E.

2014-01-01

We investigated some of the key features of effective active learning by comparing the outcomes of three different methods of implementing active-learning exercises in a majors introductory biology course. Students completed activities in one of three treatments: discussion, writing, and discussion + writing. Treatments were rotated weekly between three sections taught by three different instructors in a full factorial design. The data set was analyzed by generalized linear mixed-effect models with three independent variables: student aptitude, treatment, and instructor, and three dependent (assessment) variables: change in score on pre- and postactivity clicker questions, and coding scores on in-class writing and exam essays. All independent variables had significant effects on student performance for at least one of the dependent variables. Students with higher aptitude scored higher on all assessments. Student scores were higher on exam essay questions when the activity was implemented with a writing component compared with peer discussion only. There was a significant effect of instructor, with instructors showing different degrees of effectiveness with active-learning techniques. We suggest that individual writing should be implemented as part of active learning whenever possible and that instructors may need training and practice to become effective with active learning. PMID:25185230

Inclusive Writing in a Psychology Class

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Parameswaram, Gowri

2007-01-01

Most college professors are looking for ways to make writing a positive experience for students. This is increasingly a challenge in our contemporary world, which tends to be very image-oriented. This short paper outlines ways in which student writing-projects can be designed encourage critical and innovative thinking in students. Inclusive…

An active-learning assignment requiring pharmacy students to write medicinal chemistry examination questions.

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Kolluru, Srikanth

2012-08-10

To implement and assess the effectiveness of an assignment requiring doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) students to write examination questions for the medicinal chemistry sections of a pharmacotherapeutics course. Students were divided into groups of 5-6 and given detailed instructions and grading rubrics for writing multiple-choice examination questions on medicinal chemistry topics. The compiled student-written questions for each examination were provided to the entire class as a study aid. Approximately 5% of the student-written questions were used in course examinations. Student appreciation of and performance in the medicinal chemistry portion of the course was significantly better than that of the previous year's class. Also, students' responses on a qualitative survey instrument indicated that the assignment provided students' guidance on which concepts to focus on, helped them retain knowledge better, and fostered personal exploration of the content, which led to better performance on examinations. Adding an active-learning assignment in which students write examination questions for the medicinal chemistry portion of a pharmacotherapeutics course was an effective means of increasing students engagement in the class and knowledge of the course material.

Autobiographical Writing in the Technical Writing Course

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Gellis, Mark

2011-01-01

Professionals in the workplace are rarely asked to write autobiographical essays. Such essays, however, are an excellent tool for helping students explore their growth as professionals. This article explores the use of such essays in a technical writing class.

IMPROVING STUDENTS’ WRITING ABILITY THROUGH STORYBOARD

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Miftahul Janah

2017-02-01

Full Text Available This study is a classroom action research which intended to improve students’ writing ability through Storyboard. The participants were the fourth semester students of English Department of STKIP Muhammadiyah Pringsewu in academic year 2014/ 2015. The instruments used in collecting data were observation, questionnaire, and documents.  Observation is used to know what is really happening in the class and the condition when the class activity is taking place. Questionnaire is used to know the students’ perception towards Storyboard in improving their writing ability, and documents is used to get students’ written texts. Then, 1 assembling the data, 2 coding the data, 3 comparing the data, 4 building meanings and interpretations, and 5 reporting the outcomes, are the steps in analyzing the data. Having analyzed the data, it was found that there was improvement of the students’ activeness in writing activity and in writing ability.

The Effectiveness of Collaborative Writing Strategy (CWS in Writing Lesson Regarded to The Students’ Creativity

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Kiky Soraya

2016-11-01

Full Text Available This study is aimed at finding out what appropriate methods to be usedin writing lesson seen from the students’ creativity especially for studentswho have high creativityand low creativity. This study used quasi experimental research. The population of the research was the eighth grade of a Junior High School in Wonosari in the academic year of 2013/2014. The sampling technique used was cluster random sampling. The sample in this study was 64 students covering 32 students of E as experimental class and 32 students of C as control class. The data or the students’ writing scores were analyzed in terms of their frequency distribution, normality, homogeneity, then ANOVA and Tuckey tests to test the research hypotheses. Based on the result, the research findings are: CWS is more effective than MWS in writing lesson; the high creativity students produced better writing rather than the low creativity student; and the interaction of teaching methods and the students’ creativity is existing in this writing lesson. In short, Collaborative Writing Strategy (CWS is effective to teach writing for the eighth grade of a Junior High School in Wonosari, Gunungkidul. Then, the research result implies that it is better for the teachers to apply CWS in teaching and learning process of writing, to improve the students’ writing achievement, CWS needs to be used in the classroom activities, then future research can conduct the similar research with different sample and different students’ condition.

Extending the Principles of Intensive Writing to Large Macroeconomics Classes

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Docherty, Peter; Tse, Harry; Forman, Ross; McKenzie, Jo

2010-01-01

The authors report on the design and implementation of a pilot program to extend the principles of intensive writing outlined by W. Lee Hansen (1998), Murray S. Simpson and Shireen E. Carroll (1999) and David Carless (2006) to large macroeconomics classes. The key aspect of this program was its collaborative nature, with staff from two specialist…

Writing Activities Embedded in Bioscience Laboratory Courses to Change Students' Attitudes and Enhance Their Scientific Writing

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Lee, Susan E.; Woods, Kyra J.; Tonissen, Kathryn F.

2011-01-01

We introduced writing activities into a project style third year undergraduate biomolecular science laboratory to assist the students to produce a final report in the form of a journal article. To encourage writing while the experimental work was proceeding, the embedded writing activities required ongoing analysis of experimental data. After…

Humorous Writing Exercise Using Internet Memes On English Classes

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Abdul Aziz Turhan Kariko

2012-11-01

Full Text Available This study discusses Internet memes found by Internet users and how they appeal for them, by deconstructing what internet meme is and what it does. Analysis are conducted especially on how the relation between images, text, and meanings connect with each other to form social messages, political messages, universal emotions, or merely to make humor and entertain its users. Researcher examines five samples of internet memes on the internet and decodes their relation between images, texts, and meanings using semiotics. These samples are then introduced as writing assignments to two BINUS University’s English department classes and one Global English Class. The study reveals that humor and creativity in using internet memes are related to the students’ achievement in their studies.

Right Writing (or Writing Right) for Creativity in Advertising.

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Pearce, R. Charles

1989-01-01

Suggests techniques from Peter Elbow's book, "Writing with Power," for an advertising copywriting class. Describes in detail an eight-step procedure: warm-up, loop writing, sharing, revision, sharing, revision, editing group sharing, and revision. (MS)

Accommodating Learning Styles in Prison Writing Classes.

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Glasgow, Jacqueline N.

1994-01-01

Describes a developmental writing course taught in prison. Describes how the teaching styles took into account the presumed learning preferences of the African Americans in this group of inmates and resulted in a boost of both their self-confidence and the level of their writing. (SR)

Actively Learning about Readers: Audience Modelling in Business Writing

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Holst-Larkin, Jane

2008-01-01

The advantages of peer feedback in business writing classes are clear in that feedback comes from different perspectives and sometimes carries extra credibility coming from fellow students. However, students also hesitate to criticise their friends and prefer praising in a general way rather than suggesting improvements, which requires…

Running Shoes, Auto Workers, and Labor: Business Writing Pedagogy in the Working-Class College.

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Mazurek, Raymond A.

2002-01-01

Considers how the introductory business writing course is appropriate for the development of critical literacy, especially for students at second-tier, working-class colleges. Notes that the opposition between labor and management offers rich opportunities for the critical examination of corporate rhetoric, opportunities that are as relevant in…

BACK and DRAW activities for improving writing skills

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Muhammad Lukman Syafii

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This present paper addresses the issue of writing as an important aspect of EFL instruction. Writing as one of the four basic language skills plays a pivotal role in the context of English teaching as a foreign language in Indonesia. Considering these problems, it is important to modify the writing process in such a way to cope the writing. The process of writing the writer means is BACK and DRAW activities. What the writer termed as BACK and DRAW is a set of writing activities involving students’ active participation in the process, their intense learning experience in producing a required text, as well as their interactive work with peers and the teacher. BACK and DRAW stands for Brainstorming, Attaching, Correcting, Keeping, Developing, Revising, Arranging, and Wow! Or Wonderful! Or Well done!. These activities are good ways to improve the writing Ability.

“Read-To-Write-Tasks” in English for Specific Purposes Classes

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Galina Kavaliauskienė

2011-04-01

Full Text Available At university level students face demanding tasks of reading an enormous amount of professional materials in English. Writing various assignments is another challenging part of higher education. Online activities are the priority for conducting assignments at tertiary level. Students usually start doing the English for Specific Purposes (ESP course before learning subject-matters of the future profession, i.e. in their first year. The cornerstone of the ESP is unfamiliar lexis and numerous concepts of subject-matter. In order to succeed, students need to develop proficiency in reading professional texts and writing skillfully on relevant subject issues. The aim of this paper is to study, first, learners‘ attitudes to online reading of professional materials as well as to writing various assignments online and, second, to examine learners‘ self-assessment of proficiency in these skills. Our research employed brief written surveys designed in accordance with the standards in Social Sciences, which were administered to the students doing the ESP course, and the verbal data obtained during individual interviews intended to assess learners‘ success and achievements throughout the academic year. The respondents were the students specializing in psychology at Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Lithuania. All the participants were unanimous in the importance of writing and reading skills for the ESP tasks. 100% of respondents support reading professional materials, and 80% of respondents support exercising online writing. Self-assessment of reading proficiency demonstrates that 90% of students believe they possess very good or good skills of reading, and 70% of learners are sure of their good skills in writing. Respondents’ performance in these skills is less impressive. Some recommendations towards perfecting students’ proficiency in “read-to-write-tasks” are suggested. It is important to help learners develop better rates of reading

Identifying key features of effective active learning: the effects of writing and peer discussion.

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Linton, Debra L; Pangle, Wiline M; Wyatt, Kevin H; Powell, Karli N; Sherwood, Rachel E

2014-01-01

We investigated some of the key features of effective active learning by comparing the outcomes of three different methods of implementing active-learning exercises in a majors introductory biology course. Students completed activities in one of three treatments: discussion, writing, and discussion + writing. Treatments were rotated weekly between three sections taught by three different instructors in a full factorial design. The data set was analyzed by generalized linear mixed-effect models with three independent variables: student aptitude, treatment, and instructor, and three dependent (assessment) variables: change in score on pre- and postactivity clicker questions, and coding scores on in-class writing and exam essays. All independent variables had significant effects on student performance for at least one of the dependent variables. Students with higher aptitude scored higher on all assessments. Student scores were higher on exam essay questions when the activity was implemented with a writing component compared with peer discussion only. There was a significant effect of instructor, with instructors showing different degrees of effectiveness with active-learning techniques. We suggest that individual writing should be implemented as part of active learning whenever possible and that instructors may need training and practice to become effective with active learning. © 2014 D. L. Linton et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2014 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

Reflections on the GUN CONTROL Simulation: Pedagogical Implications for EAP Writing Classes

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Salies, Tania Gastao

2007-01-01

This article critically reflects on the GUN CONTROL simulation (Salies, 1994a) by retaking ideas advanced by Salies (2002) and applying them to the context of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) writing classes in Brazil. It examines how controlled practice relates to learners' performance on the first draft in a simulation-based content unit…

Creative Writing Class as Crucible

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Barron, Monica

2007-01-01

In this article, the author relates her experiences as creative writing teacher and her views as a teacher in the aftermath of Virginia Tech shooting. As a teacher who had taught writing and literature for twenty years, the author had received a great deal of submissions from her students about serial killers, rapists, slashers, and murderers and…

Humor in the teaching of writing: A microethnographic approach

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Christian F. Hempelmann

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the content of a critical thinking and writing course, along with similar courses derived from it, designed around the topic of humor and culminating in a microethnographic investigation of humor in students’ lives. The aims of the paper are threefold: to offer a general rationale for using humor in the writing classroom; to illustrate different types of potentials and dangers of such an approach; and to suggest extensions of the findings to the second-language writing classroom. The paper offers texts, writing prompts, and activities for instructors teaching classes that focus on the writing process in a first or second language.

Latent class analysis of reading, decoding, and writing performance using the Academic Performance Test: concurrent and discriminating validity

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Cogo-Moreira H

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Hugo Cogo-Moreira,1 Carolina Alves Ferreira Carvalho,2 Adriana de Souza Batista Kida,2 Clara Regina Brandão de Avila,2 Giovanni Abrahão Salum,3,5 Tais Silveira Moriyama,1,4 Ary Gadelha,1,5 Luis Augusto Rohde,3,5 Luciana Monteiro de Moura,1 Andrea Parolin Jackowski,1 Jair de Jesus Mari11Department of Psychiatry, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, 2Department of Hearing and Speech Pathology, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, 3Department of Psychiatry, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, 4Department of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, 5National Institute for Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescent, (National Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development, BrazilAim: To explore and validate the best returned latent class solution for reading and writing subtests from the Academic Performance Test (TDE.Sample: A total of 1,945 children (6–14 years of age, who answered the TDE, the Development and Well-Being Assessment (DAWBA, and had an estimated intelligence quotient (IQ higher than 70, came from public schools in São Paulo (35 schools and Porto Alegre (22 schools that participated in the ‘High Risk Cohort Study for Childhood Psychiatric Disorders’ project. They were on average 9.52 years old (standard deviation = 1.856, from the 1st to 9th grades, and 53.3% male. The mean estimated IQ was 102.70 (standard deviation = 16.44.Methods: Via Item Response Theory (IRT, the highest discriminating items (‘a’>1.7 were selected from the TDE subtests of reading and writing. A latent class analysis was run based on these subtests. The statistically and empirically best latent class solutions were validated through concurrent (IQ and combined attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [ADHD] diagnoses and discriminant (major depression diagnoses measures.Results: A three-class solution was found to be the best model solution, revealing classes of children with good, not

Flipped Learning for ESL Writing in a Sudanese School

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Abdelrahman, Limia Ali Mohamed; DeWitt, Dorothy; Alias, Norlidah; Rahman, Mohd Nazri Abdul

2017-01-01

Sudanese students seem to lack proficiency in writing English. In addition, teachers continue to use traditional, teacher-centered methods in teaching English as a second language (ESL). The flipped learning (FL) approach where video lectures are assigned as online homework before class, followed by learning activities during class, might be able…

Writing Chemistry Jingles as an Introductory Activity in a High School Chemistry Class

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Heid, Peter F.

2011-01-01

Starting the school year in an introductory high school chemistry class can be a challenge. The topic and approach is new to the students; many of the early chapters in the texts can be a bit tedious; and for many students the activities are uninspiring. My goal in the first few weeks of school is to hook the students on chemistry by getting them…

The Implementation of Self-Assessment in Writing Class: A Case Study at STBA LIA Jakarta

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Purwanti, Theresia Tuti

2015-01-01

Self-assessment has become a means of realizing the goals of learner-centered education. It is conducted to help students grow to be independent learners. With regard to this point, this case study is aimed at investigating the implementation of the self-assessment as a learning tool in writing class. Its purpose is to examine students' reactions…

ENHANCING WRITING SKILL THROUGH WRITING PROCESS APPROACH

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M. Zaini Miftah

2015-01-01

The study is aimed at developing the implementation of Writing Process Approach (WPA) to enhance the students’ skill in writing essay. The study employed Classroom Action Research. The subjects of the study were 15 university students enrolled in the writing class. The data were gained from writing task, observation and field notes. The findings show that the implementation of WPA with the proper model procedures developed can enhance the students’ skill in writing essay. Before the strategy ...

Using sentence combining in technical writing classes

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Rosner, M.; Paul, T.

1981-01-01

Sentence combining exercises are advanced as a way to teach technical writing style without reliance upon abstractions, from which students do not learn. Such exercises: (1) give students regular writing practice; (2) teach the logic of sentence structure, sentence editing, and punctuation; (3) paragraph development and organization; and (4) rhetorical stance. Typical sentence, paragraph, and discourse level sentence combining exercises are described.

Impact of L1 Use in L2 English Writing Classes

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This experimental study endeavored to assess the impact of L1 use in .... Two sections were selected using simple ... practice. In all the four writing practice activities, the experimental group ..... during the pre-test, but this was not true for.

Trends in Research on Writing as a Learning Activity

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Perry D. Klein

2016-02-01

Full Text Available This article discusses five trends in research on writing as a learning activity. Firstly, earlier decades were marked by conflicting views about the effects of writing on learning; in the past decade, the use of meta-analysis has shown that the effects of writing on learning are reliable, and that several variables mediate and moderate these effects. Secondly, in earlier decades, it was thought that text as a medium inherently elicited thinking and learning. Research during the past decade has indicated that writing to learn is a self-regulated activity, dependent on the goals and strategies of the writer. Thirdly, the Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC movement emphasized domain-general approaches to WTL. Much recent research is consistent with the Writing in the Disciplines (WID movement, incorporating genres that embody forms of reasoning specific to a given discipline. Fourthly, WTL as a classroom practice was always partially social, but the theoretical conceptualization of it was largely individual. During the past two decades, WTL has broadened to include theories and research that integrate social and psychological processes. Fifthly, WTL research has traditionally focused on epistemic learning in schools; more recently, it has been extended to include reflective learning in the professions and additional kinds of outcomes.

Cerebral Activations Related to Writing and Drawing with Each Hand

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Potgieser, Adriaan R. E.; van der Hoorn, Anouk; de Jong, Bauke M.

2015-01-01

Background Writing is a sequential motor action based on sensorimotor integration in visuospatial and linguistic functional domains. To test the hypothesis of lateralized circuitry concerning spatial and language components involved in such action, we employed an fMRI paradigm including writing and drawing with each hand. In this way, writing-related contributions of dorsal and ventral premotor regions in each hemisphere were assessed, together with effects in wider distributed circuitry. Given a right-hemisphere dominance for spatial action, right dorsal premotor cortex dominance was expected in left-hand writing while dominance of the left ventral premotor cortex was expected during right-hand writing. Methods Sixteen healthy right-handed subjects were scanned during audition-guided writing of short sentences and simple figure drawing without visual feedback. Tapping with a pencil served as a basic control task for the two higher-order motor conditions. Activation differences were assessed with Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM). Results Writing and drawing showed parietal-premotor and posterior inferior temporal activations in both hemispheres when compared to tapping. Drawing activations were rather symmetrical for each hand. Activations in left- and right-hand writing were left-hemisphere dominant, while right dorsal premotor activation only occurred in left-hand writing, supporting a spatial motor contribution of particularly the right hemisphere. Writing contrasted to drawing revealed left-sided activations in the dorsal and ventral premotor cortex, Broca’s area, pre-Supplementary Motor Area and posterior middle and inferior temporal gyri, without parietal activation. Discussion The audition-driven postero-inferior temporal activations indicated retrieval of virtual visual form characteristics in writing and drawing, with additional activation concerning word form in the left hemisphere. Similar parietal processing in writing and drawing pointed at a

Cerebral activations related to writing and drawing with each hand.

Science.gov (United States)

Potgieser, Adriaan R E; van der Hoorn, Anouk; de Jong, Bauke M

2015-01-01

Writing is a sequential motor action based on sensorimotor integration in visuospatial and linguistic functional domains. To test the hypothesis of lateralized circuitry concerning spatial and language components involved in such action, we employed an fMRI paradigm including writing and drawing with each hand. In this way, writing-related contributions of dorsal and ventral premotor regions in each hemisphere were assessed, together with effects in wider distributed circuitry. Given a right-hemisphere dominance for spatial action, right dorsal premotor cortex dominance was expected in left-hand writing while dominance of the left ventral premotor cortex was expected during right-hand writing. Sixteen healthy right-handed subjects were scanned during audition-guided writing of short sentences and simple figure drawing without visual feedback. Tapping with a pencil served as a basic control task for the two higher-order motor conditions. Activation differences were assessed with Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM). Writing and drawing showed parietal-premotor and posterior inferior temporal activations in both hemispheres when compared to tapping. Drawing activations were rather symmetrical for each hand. Activations in left- and right-hand writing were left-hemisphere dominant, while right dorsal premotor activation only occurred in left-hand writing, supporting a spatial motor contribution of particularly the right hemisphere. Writing contrasted to drawing revealed left-sided activations in the dorsal and ventral premotor cortex, Broca's area, pre-Supplementary Motor Area and posterior middle and inferior temporal gyri, without parietal activation. The audition-driven postero-inferior temporal activations indicated retrieval of virtual visual form characteristics in writing and drawing, with additional activation concerning word form in the left hemisphere. Similar parietal processing in writing and drawing pointed at a common mechanism by which such visually

An Instructional Model for Teaching Proof Writing in the Number Theory Classroom

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Schabel, Carmen

2005-01-01

I discuss an instructional model that I have used in my number theory classes. Facets of the model include using small group work and whole class discussion, having students generate examples and counterexamples, and giving students the opportunity to write proofs and make conjectures in class. The model is designed to actively engage students in…

THE USE OF RESEARCH PAPER WRITING INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALSTO IMPROVE STUDENTS‟ACADEMIC WRITING: A CLASSROOM ACTION RESEARCH

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M. Ali Ghufron

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Most of students in English Education Department of IKIP PGRI Bojonegoro frequently consider that academic writing, in term of writing scientific paper, is not easy task to do. The result of their academic writing performance at preliminary research indicated that they achieved low scores in writing a scientific article. Consequently, they are not motivated in academic writing. For this case, I used Research Paper Writing Instructional Materials as sources in teaching and learning. This research investigatedwhether the use of Research Paper Writing Instructional Materials can improve students‘ academic writing andhow class situation is when Research Paper Writing Instructional Materials are used as a source of teaching and learning process. This is a Classroom Action Research (CAR which is conducted at the fourth semester students of English Education Department of IKIP PGRI Bojonegoro in the academic year of 2014/2015. This research was done in two cycles. Each cycle consisted of four steps: Planning, Acting, Observing, and Reflecting. The qualitative data were collected through observation and interview. The quantitative data were collected through test. The research findings revealed that the use of Research Paper Writing Instructional Materialscan improve students‘ academic writing and improve students‘ motivation in academic writing class.Derived from the findings, it can be concluded that the use of Research Paper Writing Instructional Materialscan improve students‘ academic writing and class situation. Therefore, it is recommended for the lecturers to use Research Paper Writing Instructional Materialsas it can improve students‘ academic writing as well as class situation.

The Writing Crisis and How to Address It through Developmental Writing Classes

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Sacher, Cassandra L. O.

2016-01-01

Since high school students are failing to master writing proficiency, developmental writing programs at the college level have become increasingly necessary. This article explains the lack of readiness with which students are entering college and the workplace, examines the reasons students are having trouble writing, and describes elements of…

Nursing problem-based learning activity: song writing and singing.

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Chan, Zenobia C Y

2014-08-01

The function of song is not only to deliver individual's messages, but also to serve as a learning approach to facilitate students' learning. To observe the effectiveness of songs in facilitating students' learning, a Problem-based Learning (PBL) class with twenty students was divided into four groups with five students per group. Each group was asked to write a song based on two given scenarios, to sing the song out loud, and to participate in a follow-up focus group interview afterwards. The four songs reflected the students' understanding of academic knowledge and their perspectives toward the protagonists in the presented scenarios. Two songs are presented in this paper to demonstrate how the approach was carried out in the nursing PBL class. This paper aims to show the implication of song writing and singing in PBL and shed some light on teaching and learning. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Creating Tension in Writing.

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Folta, Bernarr

This paper discusses the rationale and teaching methods for a six-week unit, for a high school freshman English Class, on perception, semantics, and writing, which places special focus on developing tension in student writing. The first four objectives of the course focus on perception and the next two focus on semantics. The seventh…

Techniques for motivating students to write, for teaching writing and for systematizing writing assessment

OpenAIRE

Küçükal, Şerife

1990-01-01

Ankara : Faculty of Letters and the Institute of Economics and Social Science of Bilkent Univ., 1990. Thesis (Master's) -- Bilkent University, 1990. Includes bibliographical references. The purpose of this study is to investigate the suggestions that experts in the field of teaching composition have for motivating students to write, teaching writing and assessing writing and the ways that these suggestions could be used in Turkish EFL Hazirlik classes for elementary level students. ...

Google Docs in an Out-of-Class Collaborative Writing Activity

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Zhou, Wenyi; Simpson, Elizabeth; Domizi, Denise Pinette

2012-01-01

Google Docs, an online word processing application, is a promising tool for collaborative learning. However, many college instructors and students lack knowledge to effectively use Google Docs to enhance teaching and learning. Goals of this study include (1) assessing the effectiveness of using Google Docs in an out-of-class collaborative writing…

Teachers' reported practices for teaching writing in England.

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Dockrell, Julie E; Marshall, Chloë R; Wyse, Dominic

To date there have been no systematic studies examining the ways in which teachers in England focus and adapt their teaching of writing. The current study addresses this gap by investigating the nature and frequency of teachers' approaches to the teaching of writing in a sample of English primary schools, using the 'simple view of writing' as a framework to examine the extent to which different aspects of the writing process are addressed. One hundred and eighty-eight staff from ten different schools responded to an online questionnaire. Only the data from class teachers (n = 88) who responded to all items on the questionnaire were included in the final analyses. Respondents enjoyed teaching writing and felt prepared to teach it. However, despite feeling that they were effective in identifying approaches to support students' writing, nearly half reported that supporting struggling writers was problematic for them. Overall teachers reported more work at word level, occurring several times a week, than with transcription, sentence or text levels, which were reported to occur weekly. Planning, reviewing and revising occurred least often, only monthly. For these variables no differences were found between teachers of younger (age 4-7) and older students (age 8-11). By contrast, an examination of specific aspects of each component revealed differences between the teachers of the two age groups. Teachers of younger students focused more frequently on phonic activities related to spelling, whereas teachers of older students focussed more on word roots, punctuation, word classes and the grammatical function of words, sentence-level work, and paragraph construction.

The Student Writing Toolkit: Enhancing Undergraduate Teaching of Scientific Writing in the Biological Sciences

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Dirrigl, Frank J., Jr.; Noe, Mark

2014-01-01

Teaching scientific writing in biology classes is challenging for both students and instructors. This article offers and reviews several useful "toolkit" items that improve student writing. These include sentence and paper-length templates, funnelling and compartmentalisation, and preparing compendiums of corrections. In addition,…

STRENGTHENING STUDENTS’ LITERACY THROUGH REFLECTIVE ESSAY WRITING: AN IMPLEMENTATION OF WRITING TO READ PROGRAM IN HIGHER EDUCATION

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Arina Shofiya

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Literacy is a condition where a person has capability to read for knowledge, write to share knowledge, and think critically. Students’ literacy is a never-end issue in the field of English Language Teaching. Studies have been carried out to investigate literacy practices in various level of education including higher education. Among the problems of students’ literacy in higher education are the amount of their reading and writing practices and their motivation to read and write. The current paper is intended to share an experience in strengthening students’ literacy at the English Department of State Islamic Institute (Institut Agama Islam Negeri/IAIN Tulungagung, East Java. The preliminary investigation of the present study revealed that many students have low motivation to read. In addition, their comprehension was relatively low as represented in their paper works. Under a Classroom Action Research Design, the present study was conducted to propose writing to read program to strengthen the students’ literacy. In such program, the students were required to write a reflective essay based on the selected topics that they had to read prior to classes. The findings showed that writing reflective essay helped students strengthen their literacy as well as improve their motivation to read and to write because the reading and writing activities were done in a more relax and supportive environment that was at home.

The Role of Genre-Based Activities in the Writing of Argumentative Essays in EFL

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Chala Bejarano Pedro Antonio

2013-10-01

Full Text Available This article presents the findings of an action research project conducted with a group of pre-service teachers of a program in modern languages at a Colombian university. The study intended to go beyond an emphasis on linguistic and textual features in English as a foreign language argumentative essays by using a set of genre-based activities and the understanding of writing as a situated social practice. Data were gathered through questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, class recordings, and students’ artifacts. The results showed that genre-based activities supported the participants throughout the experience and boosted their confidence, resulting in a positive attitude towards essay writing. The study highlights the importance of dialogic interaction to provide scaffolding opportunities, of understanding writing as a process, and of the use of samples and explicit instruction to facilitate writing.Este artículo presenta los hallazgos de una investigación-acción realizada con un grupo de estudiantes de la licenciatura en Lenguas Modernas de una universidad colombiana. El estudio buscaba ir más allá del énfasis en las características lingüísticas y textuales en la escritura de ensayos argumentativos en inglés como lengua extranjera, mediante un conjunto de actividades basadas en géneros y comprendiendo la escritura como una práctica social situada. Los datos se obtuvieron a través de cuestionarios, entrevistas semiestructuradas, grabaciones de clase y artefactos de los estudiantes. Los resultados muestran que las actividades basadas en la enseñanza de géneros proporcionan apoyo a los participantes durante la experiencia investigativa y aumentan su confianza y actitud positiva hacia la escritura de ensayos. El estudio resalta la importancia de la interacción dialógica para ofrecer oportunidades de andamiaje, la escritura como proceso y el uso de muestras e instrucción explícita para facilitar la escritura.

Peningkatan Keterlibatan Dalam Perkuliahan Scientific Writing Menggunakan Model Pengajaran Social Inquiry

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Suwartono Suwartono

2016-02-01

Full Text Available This research aimed to solve student low involvement in Scientific Writing classes.The method used in this research was Classroom Action Research (CAR. The planned action was Social Inquiry teaching model, i.e. an autonomous instruction in which students do inquiries for facts (new knowledge on scientific writings along with the linguistic aspects of writings and exercises in communicating the inquiry results within the classroom society are prioritized. The CAR employed Lewin's cyclic model. The model procedures are: (1 identification, evaluation and formulation of the problem; (2 fact finding; (3 review of literature; (4 information gathering to test hypothesis; (5 selection of the planned action procedures; (6 implementation; and (7 interpretation of the data and overall evaluation. The CAR's result has shown that teaching Scientific Writing using Social Inquiry can promote student involvement in scientific writing class activities.

The Effect of Cooperative Writing Activities on Writing Anxieties of Prospective Primary School Teachers

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Erdogan, Ozge

2017-01-01

The purpose of this research is to determine the effect of cooperative writing activities on the writing anxieties of prospective primary school teachers. The study group of the research is composed of 30 prospective primary school teachers. A mixed method consisting of qualitative and quantitative research methods was used in the collection,…

The Los Altos Writing Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Kraft, Richard F.

The intent of this guide is to encourage teachers to have students write, both formally and informally, on a systematic basis. Three types of writing are emphasized: (1) journal writing; (2) research paper writing; and (3) essay writing. The section on journal writing includes a handout for the class explaining the purpose for journal writing and…

A Three-Year Reflective Writing Program as Part of Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences

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Vaughn, Jessica; Kerr, Kevin; Zielenski, Christopher; Toppel, Brianna; Johnson, Lauren; McCauley, Patrina; Turner, Christopher J.

2013-01-01

Objectives. To implement and evaluate a 3-year reflective writing program incorporated into introductory pharmacy practice experiences (IPPEs) in the first- through third-year of a doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) program. Design. Reflective writing was integrated into 6 IPPE courses to develop students’ lifelong learning skills. In their writing, students were required to self-assess their performance in patient care activities, identify and describe how they would incorporate learning opportunities, and then evaluate their progress. Practitioners, faculty members, and fourth-year PharmD students served as writing preceptors. Assessment. The success of the writing program was assessed by reviewing class performance and surveying writing preceptor’s opinions regarding the student’s achievement of program objectives. Class pass rates averaged greater than 99% over the 8 years of the program and the large majority of the writing preceptors reported that student learning objectives were met. A support pool of 99 writing preceptors was created. Conclusions. A 3-year reflective writing program improved pharmacy students’ reflection and reflective writing skills. PMID:23788811

IMPROVING THE SKILL AND THE INTEREST OF WRITING ADVERTISEMENTS AND POSTERS THROUGH ESA SEQUENCE

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Fatma Yuniarti

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The action reserach aims at improving the students’ writing skill especially to write advertsements and posters. Both are the short functional texts to be learned at the first semester of the ninth grade. According to the data on pre cycle, the students of class IXA Junior High School Swadhipa Natar, South Lampung got difficulties in writing advertisements and posters. A treatment was necessary to help the students overcome their problem. To consider the related literature, the writer decided to implement ESA sequence in the class. The elements of teaching in ESA Sequence are Engage (to arouse the students’ interests, Study (learn the language focus, and Activate (use the language freely and communicatively.The data were taken from the test of the linguistic competence mastery, the students writing, and the questionnaire. The result shows ESA Sequence can improve the students’ ability in writing advertisements and posters.Key words : ESA (Engange Study Activate, advertisement, poster.

THE CORRELATION BETWEEN STUDENTS’ GRAMMAR MASTERY AND THEIR PERFORMANCE IN WRITING DESCRIPTIVE TEXT AT THE TENTH CLASS OF SMK MUHAMMADIYAH 1 METRO ACADEMIC YEAR 2012/2013

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Een Fariyanti - -

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Writing is a language skill that is used for indirect communication to convey a message or information to the readers. In writing a text, we can explore our ideas, feelings and thoughts which are arranged in words, sentences, and paragraph by using eyes, brain and hand. In writing a text, we must be able to use a good language and we also must be able to arrange good sentences grammatically in order the readers understand about the content of our writing. Besides that, if the students will make a sentences or paragraph, they must have knowledge about tenses. The objectives of the research are to find out the students’ simple grammar mastery and their performance in writing descriptive and also to find out whether or not there is a correlation between the students’ grammar mastery and their performance in writing descriptive. The subjects of this research are the tenth grade of SMK Muhammadiyah 1 Metro (class XA1 and class XAP. In this research, the writer used descriptive quantitative method because the final score of variable is number and the analysis is using statistic. The researcher tried to analyze the current data about students’ grammar mastery and their performance in writing descriptive. In collecting data, the researcher administered two kinds of test. They are simple present tense test and writing test. The simple present tense test are consists of 20 items of multiple choice and the writing test, the students choose one of topics from three topics. The result of this research shows that the students’ simple present tense mastery was middle. It can be seen from the average of simple present tense test is 70.6. The students’ performance in writing descriptive was middle. It can be seen from the average of writing descriptive test is 74.9. The conclusion above was from result of data analysis, it was found that writing descriptive affected by simple present tense mastery.

The writing approaches of secondary students.

Science.gov (United States)

Lavelle, Ellen; Smith, Jennifer; O'Ryan, Leslie

2002-09-01

Research with college students has supported a model of writing approaches that defines the relationship between a writer and writing task along a deep and surface process continuum (Biggs, 1988). Based on that model, Lavelle (1993) developed the Inventory of Processes in College Composition which reflects students' motives and strategies as related to writing outcomes. It is also important to define the approaches of secondary students to better understand writing processes at that level, and development in written composition. This study was designed to define the writing approaches of secondary students by factor analysing students' responses to items regarding writing beliefs and writing strategies, and to compare the secondary approaches to those of college students. A related goal was to explore the relationships of the secondary writing approaches to perceived self-regulatory efficacy for writing (Zimmerman & Bandura, 1994), writing preferences, and writing outcomes. The initial, factor analytic phase involved 398 junior level high school students (11th grade) enrolled in a mandatory language arts class at each of three large Midwestern high schools (USA). Then, 49 junior level students enrolled in two language arts classes participated as subjects in the second phase. Classroom teachers administered the Inventory of Processes in College Composition (Lavelle, 1993), which contained 72 true-or-false items regarding writing beliefs and strategies, during regular class periods. Data were factor analysed and the structure compared to that of college students. In the second phase, the new inventory, Inventory of Processes in Secondary Composition, was administered in conjunction with the Perceived Self-Regulatory Efficacy for Writing Inventory (Zimmerman & Bandura, 1994), and a writing preferences survey. A writing sample and grade in Language Arts classes were obtained and served as outcome variables. The factor structure of secondary writing reflected three

Professional training in creative writing is associated with enhanced fronto-striatal activity in a literary text continuation task.

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Erhard, K; Kessler, F; Neumann, N; Ortheil, H-J; Lotze, M

2014-10-15

The aim of the present study was to explore brain activities associated with creativity and expertise in literary writing. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we applied a real-life neuroscientific setting that consisted of different writing phases (brainstorming and creative writing; reading and copying as control conditions) to well-selected expert writers and to an inexperienced control group. During creative writing, experts showed cerebral activation in a predominantly left-hemispheric fronto-parieto-temporal network. When compared to inexperienced writers, experts showed increased left caudate nucleus and left dorsolateral and superior medial prefrontal cortex activation. In contrast, less experienced participants recruited increasingly bilateral visual areas. During creative writing activation in the right cuneus showed positive association with the creativity index in expert writers. High experience in creative writing seems to be associated with a network of prefrontal (mPFC and DLPFC) and basal ganglia (caudate) activation. In addition, our findings suggest that high verbal creativity specific to literary writing increases activation in the right cuneus associated with increased resources obtained for reading processes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Effectiveness of Scaffolding Design in Training Writing Skills Physics Teaching Materials

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Parlindungan Sinaga

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Result of field studies showed low writing skill of teachers in teaching material. The root of the problem lies in their inability on translating description of teaching material into writing. This research focused on the effectiveness of scaffolding design. The scaffolding design was tested in the selected topics of physics courses for pre-service teachers through learning to write activity approach. The treatment effectiveness was determined by considering the effect size and normalized gain percentage, while the hypothesis was tested using “the Kruskal-Wallis test”. The research results showed that scaffolding between the stages of planning and translating plans into text was effective in improving pre-service physics teachers’ ability of writing physics teaching materials and was similarly effective in improving their conceptual understanding of the topics of electromagnetism, waves, and optics. Learning to write activity implemented in the course of physics with selected topics was effective in improving the ability of pre-service teachers in translating among different modes of representation and making multiple concept representations. The hypothesis test demonstrated that there was a significant difference in the abilities of writing teaching materials and conceptual understanding between experimental and control classes.

Sports Management Faculty External Grant-Writing Activities in the United States

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DeVinney, Timothy P.

2012-01-01

This study was conducted to fill a void in information, provide relevant, current data for faculty members related to external grant-writing activities related to the academic field of sport management and serve as a tool that may aid in the advancement of external grant-writing efforts within the field of sport management. All data is specific to…

Writing Across the Curriculum -- An Online Course in Computer Security

OpenAIRE

Neelu Sinha

2006-01-01

Writing fosters both critical thinking and student learning, serving as one of the most effective ways to understand a topic. Writing across the Curriculum (WAC) began in the late 1970’s, as a pedagogical reform movement in response to a perceived deficiency in literacy among college students. Over the past two decades universities have worked to broaden the scope of student writing from composition classes to classes in the students’ major. This paper chronicles the application of WAC into t...

Using Synchronous Online Peer Response Groups in EFL Writing: Revision-Related Discourse

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Mei-Ya Liang

2010-02-01

Full Text Available In recent years, synchronous online peer response groups have been increasingly used in English as a foreign language (EFL writing. This article describes a study of synchronous online interaction among three small peer groups in a Taiwanese undergraduate EFL writing class. An environmental analysis of students’ online discourse in two writing tasks showed that meaning negotiation, error correction, and technical actions seldom occurred and that social talk, task management, and content discussion predominated the chat. Further analysis indicates that relationships among different types of online interaction and their connections with subsequent writing and revision are complex and depend on group makeup and dynamics. Findings suggest that such complex activity may not guarantee revision. Writing instructors may need to proactively model, scaffold and support revision-related online discourse if it is to be of benefit.

Engaged Journalism: Using Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) for In-Class Journaling Activities

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Jenkins, J. Jacob; Clarke, Tracylee

2017-01-01

Educators have long recognized the value and import of class journaling. Traditional approaches to journaling, however, only engage students in one mode of communicative expression while allowing them to procrastinate in writing their entries. Typical journals are also read exclusively by the instructor, which overlooks the opportunity for…

Drawing and writing: An ALE meta-analysis of sensorimotor activations.

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Yuan, Ye; Brown, Steven

2015-08-01

Drawing and writing are the two major means of creating what are referred to as "images", namely visual patterns on flat surfaces. They share many sensorimotor processes related to visual guidance of hand movement, resulting in the formation of visual shapes associated with pictures and words. However, while the human capacity to draw is tens of thousands of years old, the capacity for writing is only a few thousand years old, and widespread literacy is quite recent. In order to compare the neural activations for drawing and writing, we conducted two activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analyses for these two bodies of neuroimaging literature. The results showed strong overlap in the activation profiles, especially in motor areas (motor cortex, frontal eye fields, supplementary motor area, cerebellum, putamen) and several parts of the posterior parietal cortex. A distinction was found in the left posterior parietal cortex, with drawing showing a preference for a ventral region and writing a dorsal region. These results demonstrate that drawing and writing employ the same basic sensorimotor networks but that some differences exist in parietal areas involved in spatial processing. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A CASE STUDY OF COMBINED PEER-TEACHER FEEDBACK ON PARAGRAPH WRITING AT A UNIVERSITY IN THAILAND

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Nguyen Thi Thuy Loan

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Writing in English is challenging for ESL writers, so feedback is crucial in assisting them. Although several studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of peer and teacher-feedback in ESL writing, studies on the combined peer-teacher feedback model tend to be scarce. This study thus reported on the combined feedback model in two paragraph-writing classes of sixty students at a university in Thailand where English is taught as a foreign language, students are reported to be passive in class activities and most writing programs are still taught using the traditional method. Students’ peer comments (both valid and invalid ones, their revisions based on both their peers’ and teacher’s feedback (correct and incorrect revisions and their grades on each paragraph were recorded, and a five-point Likert scale survey and a focus group interview were conducted. The findings indicated its success in terms of students’ positive attitudes towards this feedback model, the usefulness of peer comments, high percentages of feedback incorporations and the high overall writing scores. This paper is thus expected to shed some light on how Thai university students with their passive style of learning English positively react to this interactive activity and partly reflect how in-service teachers adjust feedback strategies in their actual teaching situations.

Medical Writing Competency Model - Section 1: Functions, Tasks, and Activities.

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Clemow, David B; Wagner, Bertil; Marshallsay, Christopher; Benau, Dan; L'Heureux, Darryl; Brown, David H; Dasgupta, Devjani Ghosh; Girten, Eileen; Hubbard, Frank; Gawrylewski, Helle-Mai; Ebina, Hiroko; Stoltenborg, Janet; York, J P; Green, Kim; Wood, Linda Fossati; Toth, Lisa; Mihm, Michael; Katz, Nancy R; Vasconcelos, Nina-Maria; Sakiyama, Norihisa; Whitsell, Robin; Gopalakrishnan, Shobha; Bairnsfather, Susan; Wanderer, Tatyana; Schindler, Thomas M; Mikyas, Yeshi; Aoyama, Yumiko

2018-01-01

This article provides Section 1 of the 2017 Edition 2 Medical Writing Competency Model that describes the core work functions and associated tasks and activities related to professional medical writing within the life sciences industry. The functions in the Model are scientific communication strategy; document preparation, development, and finalization; document project management; document template, standard, format, and style development and maintenance; outsourcing, alliance partner, and client management; knowledge, skill, ability, and behavior development and sharing; and process improvement. The full Model also includes Section 2, which covers the knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors needed for medical writers to be effective in their roles; Section 2 is presented in a companion article. Regulatory, publication, and other scientific writing as well as management of writing activities are covered. The Model was developed to aid medical writers and managers within the life sciences industry regarding medical writing hiring, training, expectation and goal setting, performance evaluation, career development, retention, and role value sharing to cross-functional partners.

Urban Revival and College Writing: Writing to Promote Communities

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Miriam Chirico

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Service-learning classes, because they emphasize the creation of product that has value outside the confines of the college classroom, offer students an experience in professional formation, a practice that may prove anathema to the ethos of “service.” The desire to counteract this individualistic attitude has led instructors to promulgate an activist agenda within their classrooms, teaching students to critique hierarchical power structures, redress social inequities, or challenge lines of societal exclusion. And yet, such practitioners repeatedly acknowledge the difficulty of this instructional aim and attest to the students’ inability to envision themselves as advocates for societal change. I hold that this objective of transforming students into activists based on the experience of service-learning classes may not be feasible due the economic dynamic of a college classroom, where students pay tuition for their education and engage in work that is assessed and evaluated. Consequently, rather than create service-learning projects around theoretical positions of dissent and critique, I have designed a service-learning class on the topic of urban revitalization that involves students in promotional and collaborative partnerships with non-profit organizations in town. In other words, by tapping into a pragmatic, national movement such as urban renewal, I have aimed to raise the students’ awareness of how they might become agents of change and how their particular skill set of writing could be of service to the community. Drawing upon my experiences with students in a Business and Professional Writing class, I discuss specific readings and writing assignments in this article, chiefly the writing products that were commissioned by different non-profit groups in town. The discussion examines some of the theoretical implications behind reinforcing college students’ awareness of civic commitment while developing their written and rhetorical

Leveraging the Potential of Peer Feedback in an Academic Writing Activity through Sense-Making Support

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Wichmann, Astrid; Funk, Alexandra; Rummel, Nikol

2018-01-01

The act of revising is an important aspect of academic writing. Although revision is crucial for eliminating writing errors and producing high-quality texts, research on writing expertise shows that novices rarely engage in revision activities. Providing information on writing errors by means of peer feedback has become a popular method in writing…

Escrevendo em aulas de ciências Writing in science classes

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Carla Marques Alvarenga de Oliveira

2005-12-01

Full Text Available Neste artigo, apresentamos uma análise dos registros escritos dos alunos do 3° ano do Ensino Fundamental nas aulas de Ciências, em que a professora utilizou as atividades de conhecimento físico, criadas pelo Laboratório de Pesquisa e Ensino de Física da Faculdade de Educação da Universidade de São Paulo. Os registros analisados foram coletados na Escola de Aplicação da Feusp, no ano de 2001, durante o acompanhamento de três aulas de Ciências: o problema do submarino, o problema do barquinho e o problema da pressão. O artigo procura mostrar um panorama de como aparecem os registros realizados pelos alunos, após uma aula de Ciências em que eles são levados a resolver situações problemáticas por meio da experimentação, argumentar e escrever sobre os fenômenos físicos. Durante a análise, levou-se em consideração os tipos de textos que os alunos escrevem, o uso da primeira pessoa, o uso de verbos de ação, o respeito à ordem cronológica dos eventos e quais os tipos de explicações os alunos atribuem aos fenômenos trabalhados.This article analyzed the written records of Third Grade students of Elementary School at Escola de Aplicação, Universidade de São Paulo, gathered during the Science classes of the 2001 school year, in which activities about physical understanding were used. Created by the Laboratory of Research and Teaching of Physics - LAPEF, of the College of Education of USP, the activities "The Problem of the Submarine", "The Problem of the Little Boat" and "The Problem of the Pressure" required the students to solve problematic situations through experimentation, developing arguments and write about the phenomena. The study developed a framework of how the records are presented by the students, considering the types of texts they produce, the use of the first person, the use of verbs of action, the respect of the chronological order of events and the types of explanations the students give for the

Enhancing Content Knowledge in Essay Writing Classes: A Multimedia Package for Iranian EFL Learners

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Marziyeh Tahmouresi Majelan

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The main objective of this study was to investigate empirically if promoting a multimedia package enhances content knowledge in essay writing of 80 junior English translation students at a University in Karaj, Iran; plus, whether the learners’ writing content improve due to the presence of the multimedia package or not. The multimedia was considered to be a CD, containing recordings both in first language (L1=Farsi and in second language (L2=English along with manipulative and task-based activities. A homogenizing test, the pre-posttests, and the material in a form of a CD (treatment including forty of the most common TOEFL essays both in L1 and L2 plus manipulative tasks to fulfill provided by the researcher, were the instruments in the study.  After 14 weeks, both the experimental and control groups sat for the posttest with exactly the same characteristics of pretest except for the topics. When the collected data was analyzed, a mean difference of t-test along with a paired t-test showed a significant difference between the performance of the control and the experimental groups, regarding the content. Consequently, the statistics proved that enhancing content knowledge by means of a multimedia package containing recordings plus manipulative and task-based activities would improve students’ writing ability while the control group in which a current traditional rhetoric approach was used, the placebo, did not show any statistically significant improvement regarding content.

Use of Microthemes to Increase Writing Content for Introductory Science Laboratory

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Michelle L. Lewis

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Writing is a learning activity, as well as a communication skill. Many instructors recognize the value of writing as a learning tool but struggle to develop effective writing assignments. Instructors are generally pressed for time during lecture due to the necessity to deliver content and, therefore, cannot dedicate time necessary to teach science writing skills effectively. Traditional term papers assigned to a class with varying writing skills may not accomplish the desired goal of teaching both technical writing skills and critical thinking skills. Students that are already struggling with content may be at a disadvantage in terms of conveying complex ideas. An answer to this problem is the microtheme paper which we employ in an Introductory Botany laboratory setting.

From Proposal Writing to Data Collection to Presentation: Physical Oceanography Laboratory Class Students Explore the Fundamentals of Science

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Buijsman, M. C.; Church, I.; Haydel, J.; Martin, K. M.; Shiller, A. M.; Wallace, D. J.; Blancher, J.; Foltz, A.; Griffis, A. M.; Kosciuch, T. J.; Kincketootle, A.; Pierce, E.; Young, V. A.

2016-02-01

To better prepare first-year Department of Marine Science MSc students of the University of Southern Mississippi for their science careers, we plan to execute a semester-long Physical Oceanography laboratory class that exposes the enrolled students to all aspects of interdisciplinary research: writing a proposal, planning a cruise, collecting and analyzing data, and presenting their results. Although some of these aspects may be taught in any such class, the incorporation of all these aspects makes this class unique.The fieldwork will be conducted by boat in the Rigolets in Louisiana, a 13-km long tidal strait up to 1 km wide connecting the Mississippi Sound with Lake Pontchartrain. The students have the opportunity to collect ADCP, CTD, multibeam sonar, sediment and water samples.A second novel characteristic of this class is that the instructor partnered with the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, a not for profit environmental advocacy group. The foundation will give an hour-long seminar on the natural history of the study area and its environmental problems. This information provides context for the students' research proposals and allows them to formulate research questions and hypotheses that connect their research objectives to societally relevant issues, such as coastal erosion, salt water intrusion, and water quality. The proposal writing and cruise planning is done in the first month of the 3.5-month long semester. In the second month two surveys are conducted. The remainder of the semester is spent on analysis and reporting. Whenever possible we teach Matlab for the students to use in their data analysis. In this presentation, we will report on the successes and difficulties associated with teaching such a multi-faceted class.

PROBLEMS FACED BY INDONESIAN EFL LEARNERS IN WRITING ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY

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Wulan Rahmatunisa

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This study aims to find out problems in writing argumentative essay faced by Indonesian EFL learners. It is carried out in a qualitative research design as it attempted to describe the problems and their ways out. The data were taken from university students’ writing task and interview. The participants are the second year of university Indonesia students who enrol their study in English Department. Results of the data indicated that Indonesian EFL learners faced the problems in three categories, those are linguistics problems, cognitive problems, and psychological problems. Mostly, students faced problems in linguistics related to the grammatical structure (23.2%, formatting words (30.2%, words classes (16.3%, error in using words (9.3%, and the use of article (21%. Second, cognitive problems are related to organizing paragraph, difficulties in remaining word classes, getting lost the generic structure, making a conclusion, and putting punctuation. Last, psychological problems which included laziness, egoism, bad mood, and difficulties to start writing also faced by Indonesian EFL learners. Data analysis also indicated the problem solving which hopefully will be beneficial for EFL teachers in writing class. It is strongly recommended that the EFL class should strengthen all the language skills in general and writing in particular, motivate the students to use English with the teachers, introduce pair work, peer-correction, and use dictionaries frequently etc.

THE EFFORT OF IMPROVING THE ACTIVITY AND ABILITY OF STUDENTS IN WRITING REVIEW TEXT THROUGH FILM AT SMA NEGERI 1 PUNGGUR CENTRAL LAMPUNG

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Peni Asih

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The objectives of this classroom action research are to improve the students’ activity and ability in writing review text at class XII IPA 1 semester 2 of SMA N 1 Punggur. This research uses a film as a medium which is aimed to make the students of XII IPA 1 easy in writing a review text. The researcher uses two cycles in her research which consists of 2 meetings in each cycle. Cycle I   uses a short story in its meeting and cycle II uses a film in its meeting. The result shows that the average score of students who gained passing grade (74 or above  in cycle I is 56,67 %  and in cycle II is 76,6 %  while  there is  43,33 % of  students who get under  74  in cycle I and 23,34%   in cycle II. It means that their average score in writing a review text using film has increased. The students have made a good progress after being given treatment by using film as medium of instruction. This is because film can make the students active during teaching learning process. The result of this study implies that teaching learning process using film improve the students ‘ability in writing a review text. Therefore, this media is recommended to be used in the process of teaching learning English especially review text.  Keywords : Film, Review Text,  Writing,

An Analysis of Writing Activities in the Student Workbooks of a Secondary-Level Turkish Language Course

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Çerçi, Arif

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study is to analyze writing activities in the student workbooks of a secondary-level Turkish language course (grades 5 to 8) according to the principles of progressive writing. The study is descriptive and employs content analysis as a qualitative research paradigm. The writing activities of the books in this study all…

Reflections on the Introduction of Quantitative Assessment in Persuasive Writing Classes

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Paul H. Grawe

2014-01-01

Full Text Available If quantitative reasoning is to be a legitimate part of composition curricula, it must be seen as a valuable tool for composition instructors to use in exploring their own subject. Composition instructors must see the relevance of QR not merely to their students in other subject areas but also directly in their literary and rhetorical studies and careers. Here we reflect on a highly successful program of using quantitative techniques in teaching advanced levels of professional rhetoric, namely persuasive speech and writing. We recount our 15-year experience of running an in-class, empirical and progressive experiment in group negotiations, the Legislative Simulation (LS. The LS provided statistically significant results, some eye-opening, reported in various publications, but here our reflections concern what such an experiment tells us about opportunities and challenges of using quantitative techniques for the improvement of teaching rhetoric in and for itself. It is clear from our experience that QR takes on a somewhat different appearance within the humanities requiring adjustments in pedagogy and expectations. None of the challenges, however, are insuperable, and the rewards for the discipline as well as for a quantitatively competent university are very great.

Moves Analysis on Abstracts Written by the Students in Academic Writing Class

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Ajeng Setyorini

2017-01-01

This paper contains analysis results on abstracts written by students in Academic Writing course. The analysis includes analyses on moves and linguistic features. The analysis aims at finding out how the abstract writing structures of the English Education students are in the Academic Writing course. The abstract analysis also includes the analysis on the use of the linguistic features in the abstracts. The analysis uses a qualitative research approach. There are totally 10 abstracts that are...

The Effect of Using Cooking Academy Game towards Students’ Writing Ability

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Nofrika Sari

2016-11-01

Full Text Available This study is an experimental research that discussed the impact of the use of cooking academy game in teaching writing on the students’ ability in writing procedure text at class VII Junior Secondary School I Pangkalan Baru Lima Puluh Kota. This study was aimed to determine the effects of the use of cooking academy game towards the student's ability in writing procedure text. In this study, the population is the students of class VII, while sample are two classes: one class for the experimental class and another class for control. Samples were drawn randomly. Data were collected by giving pre-test and post-test on the sample. Data were, then, analyzed applying t-test formula. The results showed that students who were taught to write text using the procedure of cooking academy game has the ability to write higher than students who are not taught by using games cooking academy.

A Teaching Model for Scaffolding 4th Grade Students' Scientific Explanation Writing

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Yang, Hsiu-Ting; Wang, Kuo-Hua

2014-08-01

Improving students scientific explanations is one major goal of science education. Both writing activities and concept mapping are reported as effective strategies for enhancing student learning of science. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a teaching model, named the DCI model, which integrates a Descriptive explanation writing activity, Concept mapping, and an Interpretive explanation writing activity, is introduced in a 4th grade science class to see if it would improve students' scientific explanations and understanding. A quasi-experimental design, including a non-randomized comparison group and a pre- and post-test design, was adopted for this study. An experimental group of 25 students were taught using the DCI teaching model, while a comparison group received a traditional lecture teaching. A rubric and content analysis was used to assess students' scientific explanations. The independent sample t test was used to measure difference in conceptual understanding between the two groups, before and after instruction. Then, the paired t test analysis was used to understand the promotion of the DCI teaching model. The results showed that students in the experimental group performed better than students in the comparison group, both in scientific concept understanding and explanation. Suggestions for using concept mapping and writing activities (the DCI teaching model) in science classes are provided in this study.

The Dynamic Interplay between Spatialization of Written Units in Writing Activity and Functions of Tools on the Computer

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Huh, Joo Hee

2012-01-01

I criticize the typewriting model and linear writing structure of Microsoft Word software for writing in the computer. I problematize bodily movement in writing that the error of the software disregards. In this research, writing activity is viewed as bodily, spatial and mediated activity under the premise of the unity of consciousness and…

Writing and reading in a multicultural classroom

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ingerslev, Gitte Holten

2007-01-01

The study investigates how interpretive reading skills and literary understanding may be enhanced through initial narrative writing tasks. In the class in question the majority of students are children of migrant workers in Denmark. The class in question belongs to what is called an ethnic lingui...

Use of Overhead Transparencies in Collaborative Business Writing.

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Barker, Randolph T.; And Others

1991-01-01

Asserts that small group collaborative writing exercises that produce overhead transparencies for large class critique can be an effective method for teaching letter and memorandum construction. Offers a five-step process for encouraging individual and collaborative writing skills. (PRA)

Doing, talking and writing science: A discourse analysis of the process of resemiotization in a middle school lab-based science class

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Wright, Laura J.

This study examines students' sense making practices in a middle school science class from a discourse analytic perspective. Using Mediated Discourse Analysis (MDA) (Scollon 1998, 2001) and interactional sociolinguistics (Gumperz 1999, 2001, Schiffrin 1994), my research seeks to enrich findings from recent sociocultural studies of science classrooms that focus on doing, talking and writing science (Roth 2005, Kress, et al. 2002, Halliday & Martin 1993, Lemke 1990). Within a middle school science classroom, these fundamental activities form a nexus of practice (Scollon 1998, 2001) basic to science literacy (AAAS 1989) and reflective of the work of practicing scientists. Moreover, students' engagement in these practices provides insight into the cultural production and reproduction of science and scientist. I first examine how the students' curriculum text encourages these three scientific practices and then trace students' uptake; that is, how they subsequently do, talk, and write science throughout the course of the unit. I argue that learning science with this curriculum unit requires students to resemiotize (Iedema 2001, 2003) first hand experience so they can represent their knowledge cohesively and coherently in evaluable forms. Ultimately, students must transform language from the curriculum text and their teacher into action in their laboratory activities and action in their laboratory activities into language. In addition, I show how students are apprenticed to the conventionalized practices and voices (Bakhtin 1986) of science (i.e. the scientific register), and how their figures of personhood (Agha 2005) reflect the development of their scientific identities. Overall, I argue that the microanalytic methods I use illuminate how students draw upon curricular resources to become scientifically literate and develop scientific identities.

Pre-writing Techniques In The Writing Process For The L2 Classroom

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Gülşah Geyimci

2014-01-01

This study investigated pre-writing techniques in the learning process to improve written communication skills of learners using qualitative research methods. This study was performed in a public school, Suphi Öner Primary School in Turkey, in Mersin. Students were seventh grade class that their level was pre-intermediate. This class was made up of twenty students. It took three weeks, the students' samples, drawings and blogs were documented by the students. In order to examine the results, ...

Tools for Implementing Science Practice in a Large Introductory Class

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Prothero, W. A.

2008-12-01

Scientists must have in-depth background knowledge of their subject area and know where current knowledge can be advanced. They perform experiments that gather data to test new or existing theories, present their findings at meetings, publish their results, critically review the results of others, and respond to the reviews of their own work. In the context of a course, these activities correspond to learning the background material by listening to lectures or reading a text, formulating a problem, exploring data using student friendly data access and plotting software, giving brief talks to classmates in a small class or lab setting, writing a science paper or lab report, reviewing the writing of their peers, and receiving feedback (and grades) from their instructors and/or peers. These activities can be supported using course management software and online resources. The "LearningWithData" software system allows solid Earth (focused on plate tectonics) data exploration and plotting. Ocean data access, display, and plotting are also supported. Background material is delivered using animations and slide show type displays. Students are accountable for their learning through included homework assignments. Lab and small group activities provide support for data exploration and interpretation. Writing is most efficiently implemented using the "Calibrated Peer Review" method. This methodology is available at http://cpr.molsci.ucla.edu/. These methods have been successfully implemented in a large oceanography class at UCSB.

TEACHER’S PERCEPTION OF TEACHING WRITING TO YOUNG LEARNERS USING STORY

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Iin Inawati

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This study aims to explore the teacher’s perception of teaching writing to young learners using story and to investigate her practice of teaching writing in primary school context. This study utilized a case study research design in which an English teacher became the participant. The data were obtained from interview and documents analysis. Analysis of data showed that the teacher neglect to use story in her writing class because of her perception that story is difficult to be used in teaching writing for young learners. The second finding showed that the teacher had provided various activities in writing development in which the students should use their thinking skill, such as: drawing a school map and writing based on the picture they draw, or open response to a picture.Keywords: writing, young learners, meaningful language, story

Storytelling in EFL Classes

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Emine Bala

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Storytelling is one of the oldest ways of education and oral tradition that is continuously being used to transfer the previous nation‘s cultures, tradition and customs. It constructs a bridge between the new and the old. Storytelling in EFL classes usually provides a meaningful context, interesting atmosphere and is used as a tool to highly motivate students. Although it seems to be mostly based on speaking, it is used to promote other skills such as writing, reading, and listening. Storytelling is mainly regarded to be grounded on imitation and repetition; nevertheless many creative activities can be implemented in the classroom since this method directs learners to use their imaginations. This study discusses the importance of storytelling as a teaching method, and it outlines the advantages of storytelling in EFL classes.

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FLIPPED CLASSROOM MODEL IN EFL WRITING

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Rida Afrilyasanti

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Flipped classroom is an approach to learning to write that allows teachers to have one-on-one assistance to help learners in the “during writing” stage in the classroom. Theories are given to the students in a video lectures to watch before class. Because problems in writing mostly occur in “during writing” stage, teacher assistance is crucial. This paper aims to share theoretical review and research findings pertaining to the implementation of flipped classroom model to EFL writing. Research findings show that flipped classroom is able to give greater opportunities for interactive sessions in class which focus on the students’ own concerns, questions, and needs. Therefore, students’ difficulties in “during writing” stage can be minimized

Solving the Students’ Problems in Writing Argumentative Essay Through the Provision of Planning

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Lestari Setyowati

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Most Indonesian students who are learning English often consider writing as not only the most difficult skill to master, but also a demanding activity. To help them cope these problems, the application of planning in the writing process seems to be a solution. This study attempts to find out howdifferent planning formats can improve EFL students’ writing performance in argumentative essays. The subjects of the studywere the fourth semester students taking essay writing class. The research was conducted from May to June 2015, consisting of three cycles in Classroom Action Research design by using different planning types, namely rough drafting and outlining strategy in which each cycle consisted of two meetings.The students’ compositions were measured by using primary trait scoring rubric for argumentative essay. The result of the study shows that the provision of planning is effective to improve the students’ performance in writing argumentative essay. The effectiveness of different types planningdepends on the students’ preference of which to use.

Improving Undergraduates’ Argumentative Group Essay Writing through Self-assessment

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Yong Mei Fung

2015-10-01

Full Text Available When writing an argumentative essay, writers develop and evaluate arguments to embody, initiate, or simulate various kinds of interpersonal and textual interaction for reader consideration (Wu & Allison, 2003. This is quite challenging for English as a second language (ESL learners. To improve the quality of their writing, students need to review their draft throughout the writing process. This study aimed to investigate the effect of self-assessment in group writing and how group work improves students’ writing ability. An intact class comprising 22 first-year undergraduates participated in the study.  Data were collected from pre- and post-treatment writing tests, semi-structured interview and reflection entries. The results revealed that self-assessment has a significant effect on students’ writing performance. Group work also enhanced social and cognitive development of the students. This study provides insights into the use of self-assessment in writing class to develop learner autonomy and improve writing ability. Keywords: Argumentative essay, Self-assessment, Learner autonomy, Group writing, ESL learners

ESL Students’ Perceptions of the use of Higher Order Thinking Skills in English Language Writing

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Malini Ganapathy

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The transformation of the education curriculum in the Malaysia Education Development Plan (PPPM 2013-2025 focuses on the Higher Order Thinking (HOT concept which aims to produce knowledgeable students who are critical and creative in their thinking and can compete at the international level. HOT skills encourage students to apply, analyse, evaluate and think creatively in and outside the classroom. The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate the impact of using HOT skills in a secondary ESL writing classroom. A total of 120 Form Two ESL students from three intact classes participated in this study. The students experienced project and group-based work both independently and collaboratively in groups during their writing lessons. The findings from the focus group interviews revealed the following student perceptions: felt engaged in active learning, experienced learner autonomy, developed their writing, researching and personal skills. The implications of this study suggest that using HOT skills in ESL writing lessons facilitate students’ writing ability and interest and it is recommended that HOT skills be explicitly infused in the teaching and learning of writing activities in ESL classrooms.

Students and the Teacher's Perceptions on Incorporating the Blog Task and Peer Feedback into EFL Writing Classes through Blogs

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Huang, Hsin-Yi Cyndi

2016-01-01

With the availability of Web 2.0 technologies, blogs have become useful and attractive tools for teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in their writing classes. Learners do not need to understand HTML in order to construct blogs, and the appearance and content can be facilitated via the use of photos, music, and video files (Vurdien,…

Peer scaffolding in an EFL writing classroom: An investigation of writing accuracy and scaffolding behaviors

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Parastou Gholami Pasand

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Considering the tenets of Sociocultural Theory with its emphasis on co-construction of knowledge, L2 writing can be regarded as a co-writing practice whereby assistance is provided to struggling writers. To date, most studies have dealt with peer scaffolding in the revision phase of writing, as such planning and drafting are remained untouched. The present study examines the impact of peer scaffolding on writing accuracy of a group of intermediate EFL learners, and explores scaffolding behaviors employed by them in planning and drafting phases of writing. To these ends, 40 freshmen majoring in English Language and Literature in the University of Guilan were randomly divided into a control group and an experimental group consisting of dyads in which a competent writer provided scaffolding to a less competent one using the process approach to writing. Results of independent samples t-tests revealed that learners in the experimental group produced more accurate essays. Microgenetic analysis of one dyad’s talks showed that scaffolding behaviors used in planning and drafting phases of writing were more or less the same as those identified in the revision phase. These findings can be used to inform peer intervention in L2 writing classes, and assist L2 learners in conducting successful peer scaffolding in the planning and drafting phases of writing.

The art of scientific writing

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Gad-El-Hak, Mohamed

2015-11-01

The humanities teach students how to learn and communicate. Science teaches why everything works. Engineering teaches how to make things work. But scientists and engineers need to communicate their ideas amongst themselves as well as to everyone else. A newly developed technical writing course is outlined. In the class, offered to senior undergraduate and beginning graduate students, we read numerous short novels, essays, and op-eds. Some of the reading materials are technical but many are not. The students also have weekly writing assignments. When the first assignment is returned to the students with a grade of 20-30%, their first reaction is, ``how come I did not receive my usual 80-90%?'' I retort, ``you reach that level only when your essay is ready to be published in The New York Times.'' What is emphasized in the class is the process of creating something to write about, researching that something, expressing ideas coherently and comprehensibly, then endlessly editing the essay. The elective class has been offered three times thus far, all of its available seats are always filled, the students' evaluations have been outstanding, and the improvements in the students' ability to write by the end of the semester is quite impressive.

PROCESS-GENRE APPROACH, PRODUCT APPROACH, AND STUDENTS’ SELF-ESTEEM IN TEACHING WRITING

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M. Ali Ghufron

2016-07-01

Full Text Available This research was aimed at revealing whether or not: (1 process-genre approach is more effective than product approach in teaching writing; (2 students who have high self-esteem have better writing skill than those who have low self-esteem; and (3 there is an interaction between teaching-learning approaches and students’ self-esteem in teaching writing. This experimental research involved two classes of third semester students of English Education Study Program of IKIP PGRI Bojonegoro. Each class consisted of 38 students. The writing test and questionnaire on self-esteem were used as the instruments to collect the data of this research. The results show that: (1 Process-Genre Approach is more effective than Product Approach in teaching writing; (2 the students who have high self-esteem have better writing skill than those who have low self-esteem; and (3 there is an interaction between teaching approaches and the students’ self-esteem in teaching writing. Therefore, it is suggested to implement Process-Genre Approach since the students can experience every stage of writing process in order to deliver the message in their writing properly.

Process-Genre Approach, Product Approach, and Students’ Self-Esteem in Teaching Writing

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M. Ali Ghufron

2016-07-01

Full Text Available This research was aimed at revealing whether or not: (1 process-genre approach is more effective than product approach in teaching writing; (2 students who have high self-esteem have better writing skill than those who have low self-esteem; and (3 there is an interaction between teaching-learning approaches and students’ self-esteem in teaching writing. This experimental research involved two classes of third semester students of English Education Study Program of IKIP PGRI Bojonegoro. Each class consisted of 38 students. The writing test and questionnaire on self-esteem were used as the instruments to collect the data of this research. The results show that: (1 Process-Genre Approach is more effective than Product Approach in teaching writing; (2 the students who have high self-esteem have better writing skill than those who have low self-esteem; and (3 there is an interaction between teaching approaches and the students’ self-esteem in teaching writing. Therefore, it is suggested to implement Process-Genre Approach since the students can experience every stage of writing process in order to deliver the message in their writing properly.

"Righting" the Writing Problem.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaughnessy, Michael F.; Eastham, Nicholas

The problem of college students' writing skills or lack thereof is generally agreed upon in academia. One cause is the inordinate amount of multiple choice/true false/fill in the blank type of tests that students take in high school and college. Not only is there is a dearth of actual classes in writing available, few students recognize the need…

Source-Based Tasks in Writing Independent and Integrated Essays

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Javad Gholami

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Integrated writing tasks have gained considerable attention in ESL and EFL writing assessment and are frequently needed and used in academic settings and daily life. However, they are very rarely practiced and promoted in writing classes. This paper explored the effects of source-based writing practice on EFL learners’ composing abilities and investigated the probable differences between those tasks and independent writing ones in improving Iranian EFL learners’ essay writing abilities. To this end, a quasi-experimental design was implemented to gauge EFL learners’ writing improvements using a pretest-posttest layout. Twenty female learners taking a TOEFL iBT preparation course were randomly divided into an only-writing group with just independent writing instruction and essay practice, and a hybrid-writing-approach group receiving instruction and practice on independent writing plus source-based essay writing for ten sessions. Based on the findings, the participants with hybrid writing practice outperformed their counterparts in integrated essay tests. Their superior performance was not observed in the case of traditional independent writing tasks. The present study calls for incorporating more source-based writing tasks in writing courses.

Establishing Peer Mentor-Led Writing Groups in Large First-Year Courses

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Marcoux, Sarah; Marken, Liv; Yu, Stan

2012-01-01

This paper describes the results of a pilot project designed to improve students' academic writing in a large (200-student) first-year Agriculture class at the University of Saskatchewan. In collaboration with the course's professor, the Writing Centre coordinator and a summer student designed curriculum for four two-hour Writing Group sessions…

EXPLORING THE TERTIARY EFL STUDENTS' ACADEMIC WRITING COMPETENCIES

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Aunurrahman Aunurrahman

2017-05-01

Full Text Available For tertiary English as a Foreign Language (EFL students, academic writing is not an easy task. It requires knowledge of the academic writing genres with their particular linguistic features. Moreover, academic writing demands good critical thinking. This research aims to explore the students' academic writing competencies that also focus on critical thinking. The research involved thirty-six first-year tertiary EFL students from a regular class of a private university in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. The source for data collection was the students’ texts. Three texts were selected and the students were categorized into low, medium, and high levels of writing achievement. The text analysis utilized functional grammar rooted in systemic functional linguistics (Emilia, 2014. The analysis shows that the students, regardless of their levels of writing achievement, have little control over the schematic structure and linguistic features of an argumentative writing. The text analysis also shows that the students’ texts have some limitations as regards their critical thinking capacity. Still, a few examples of academic language were detected in the texts. The findings suggest that the lecturer should incorporate explicit teaching and cooperative learning activities to alleviate the students' difficulties and develop their academic writing and critical thinking capacity.

The Deference Due the Oracle: Computerized Text Analysis in a Basic Writing Class.

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Otte, George

1989-01-01

Describes how a computerized text analysis program can help students discover error patterns in their writing, and notes how students' responses to analyses can reduce errors and improve their writing. (MM)

Writing Self-Efficacy and Written Communication Skills

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Mascle, Deanna DeBrine

2013-01-01

Writing is an essential professional skill. The goal of writing instruction in business communication classes is to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to successfully meet future writing challenges. However, many writers struggle to transfer skills and knowledge from one context to another. The primary reason for this struggle is that…

Writing by the Book, Writing beyond the Book

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Johnson, Kristine

2017-01-01

Writing has become more visible in academia through writing advice manuals and the faculty development activities they inspire. In this article, I examine writing advice manuals and argue they are epistemologically current traditional, which limits how well and how far they can support scholarly writers. Writing advice manuals and composition…

The Word Writing CAFE: Assessing Student Writing for Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency

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Leal, Dorothy J.

2005-01-01

The Word Writing CAFE is a new assessment tool designed for teachers to evaluate objectively students' word-writing ability for fluency, accuracy, and complexity. It is designed to be given to the whole class at one time. This article describes the development of the CAFE and provides directions for administering and scoring it. The author also…

A technical writing programme implemented in a first-year engineering course at KU Leuven

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Heylen, Christel; Vander Sloten, Jos

2013-12-01

Technical communication and technical writing are important skills for the daily work-life of every engineer. In the first-year engineering programme at KU Leuven, a technical writing programme is implemented within the project-based course 'Problem Solving and Engineering Design'. This paper describes a case study for implementing a writing programme based on active learning methods and situated learning in large classes. The programme consists of subsequent cycles of instructions, learning by doing and reflection on received feedback. In addition, a peer-review assignment, together with an interactive lecture using clicking devices, is incorporated within the assignments of the second semester. A checklist of desired writing abilities makes it easier to grade the large number of papers. Furthermore, this ensures that all staff involved in the evaluation process uses the same criteria to grade and for providing feedback.

Teaching Techniques: Audiovisual Feedback in EFL/ESL Writing Classes

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Woodard, William J.

2016-01-01

In this article, William J. Woodard, an English teacher preparing students for university-level work in academic English, describes a more effective student feedback technique that decreases the amount of time spent writing such feedback. Woodard explains his discovery of the tool "Jing." Jing is a free application for PCs and Macs by…

THE FLIPPED WRITING CLASSROOM IN TURKISH EFL CONTEXT: A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON A NEW MODEL

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Emrah EKMEKCI

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Flipped learning, one of the most popular and conspicuous instructional models of recent time, can be considered as a pedagogical approach in which the typical lecture and homework elements of a course are reversed. Flipped learning transforms classrooms into interactive and dynamic places where the teacher guides the students and facilitates their learning. The current study explores the impact of flipped instruction on students’ foreign language writing skill which is often perceived as boring, complex and difficult by English as a Foreign Language (EFL learners. The study compares flipped and traditional face-to-face writing classes on the basis of writing performances. Employing a pre- and post-test true experimental design with a control group, the study is based on a mixed-method research. The experimental group consisting of 23 English Language Teaching (ELT students attending preparatory class were instructed for fifteen weeks through Flipped Writing Class Model while the control group comprising 20 ELT preparatory class students followed traditional face-to-face lecture-based writing class. Independent and paired samples t-tests were carried out for the analyses of the data gathered through the pre-and post-tests. The results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of their writing performances based on the employed rubric. It was found that the students in the experimental group outperformed the students in the control group after the treatment process. The results of the study also revealed that the great majority of the students in the experimental group held positive attitudes towards Flipped Writing Class Model.

Re-learning how to write: student successes and challenges in a targeted geoscience communication course

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Elwood Madden, M.; Miller-Deboer, C.; Eodice, M.; Miller, J.; Johnson, J.; Rifenburg, M.

2013-12-01

Students in OU's Geology and Geophysics (G&G) program must complete either English Technical Writing or a major-specific Geowriting class as sophomores or juniors. We asked students in Geowriting and students in a G&G colloquium course (required for G&G scholarship students and an elective for others) to complete surveys reporting their writing experiences and attitudes, as well as write an abstract for a Scientific American story to assess writing skills at the beginning and end of the semester. Geowriting students had stronger writing skills and more positive attitudes towards writing at the beginning of the semester than their colloquium peers, suggesting that students who were already interested and skilled in writing were self-selecting into the class. During the semester, Geowriting focused on improving the clarity, organization, efficiency, and mechanics of student writing and discussed how science writing is similar in some ways (argument, sentence structure, etc.), but also different in many aspects (concise, forthright, repetitive, etc) from writing tactics taught in high school and some college composition courses. Colloquium students attended the weekly scientific talks, but did not write in the class; however, some students were enrolled in freshman-level composition courses and Technical Writing. End-of-semester surveys showed Geowriting students had a more positive change in attitude and expectations towards writing than their colloquium peers. However, one significant difference in attitude towards writing was indicated by negative feelings towards in-class writing, which may be a result of 'writing fatigue' within the Geowriting group. This writing fatigue could be explained by student end-of -semester cognitive overload. Through other measures, colloquium students showed a greater improvement in writing skills (concise, clear, organized, etc) compared to Geowriting students; however, Geowriting students maintained higher skill levels than the

A Program for Improving Undergraduate Psychology Students' Basic Writing Skills

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Fallahi, Carolyn R.; Wood, Rebecca M.; Austad, Carol Shaw; Fallahi, Hamid

2006-01-01

We examined the effects of in-class writing instruction, practice, peer review, and feedback on writing skills of undergraduates enrolled in a general psychology course. We rated writing for grammar, writing style, mechanics, and American Psychological Association referencing style. Significant differences emerged on the 4 writing skill domains (p…

Facilitating Interactivity in an Online Business Writing Course.

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Mabrito, Mark

2001-01-01

Suggests ways of developing an online business writing course that uses technology to simulate features of the face-to-face classroom and that achieves an interactive learning experience for students. Uses the author's online business writing class as an example of one which manages to simulate, through the judicious use of software, the…

The Teaching of EFL Writing in Indonesia

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Ariyanti Ariyanti

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Writing is one of the most important aspects in English language acquisition. Teaching writing has its own challenges since there are some steps and requirements that teachers should prepare to undertake in the classroom. This article is aimed to discuss teaching and learning writing in the classroom based on theoretical conceptualisation. In addition, curriculum of teaching writing will be another important factor to consider as well as research and practice in teaching writing. Based on comparison to many theoretical concepts from various researchers, it shows that most of Indonesian students still struggle to figure out their problems of grammatical area. The biggest challenge is derived from the difference in cultural backgrounds between the students’ mother tongue and English, so it is possible to know the production of their writing does not ‘sound’ well in appropriate culture of English. Several problems also occur when the teachers have big classes to teach and the result of teaching writing to the students may be defeated. In this case, time also being a big challenge for the teachers to have the students’ writing improve because to accomplish a good composition in English, it needs complex steps such as brainstorming, prewriting, drafting, and editing. However, new techniques in teaching writing are needed to develop the students’ writing outcomes.

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FLIPPED CLASSROOM MODEL IN EFL WRITING

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Rida Afrilyasanti

2016-01-01

Flipped classroom is an approach to learning to write that allows teachers to have one-on-one assistance to help learners in the “during writing” stage in the classroom. Theories are given to the students in a video lectures to watch before class. Because problems in writing mostly occur in “during writing” stage, teacher assistance is crucial. This paper aims to share theoretical review and research findings pertaining to the implementation of flipped classroom model to EFL writing. Research...

Teaching on Chinese Writing in Binus University

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Ma Feng

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Combination of practice teaching Chinese as a foreign language in BINUS University, this article takes the Chinese writing teaching as an example, and analyses “as the student core, as the fun concept” writing modes. Firstly, serious explain: increasing the vitality of classroom teaching, using multimedia methods to make students get interested in; Secondly, article practice: making the written expression be the basis and revealing true feelings as commander, constantly pursue the aesthetic article; Thirdly, feedback and communion: using Facebook, Binusmaya, Binusblog, Chinese newspapers and other channels of interaction to communicate between teachers and students. Through the three steps, we could select the theme which students loved, create a relaxed atmosphere in the writing class, and then the students will be pleasure of writing gradually. 

Increasing Skills in Writing Literature Study on Research-Based Learning Through Authentical Assessment Lecturing in Innovation Class of Social Science Learning

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Naniek Sulistya Wardani

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to determine whether the improvement of literature review skills on research-based learning can be pursued through the authentic assessment of the lectures of the Innovation of Learning IPS of PGSD students. This type of research is a classroom action research, using a spiral model of C. Kemmis and Robin Mc. Taggart. The research procedure uses 2 cycles, each cycle consists of 3 stages namely, 1 action planning 2 implementation of action and observation, 3 reflection. The subjects of the study were all students of PGSD Class 2014 E of the subjects of Innovation of IPS Learning as much as 27 students consisting of 7 male students and 20 female students. Data collection techniques use observation and product assessment. Data analysis technique is a percentage technique that compares literacy review writing skills through authentic assessment in IPS lectures between cycles. The result of the research shows that there is an improvement of writing skill of study lecture study of IPS learning innovation, which is pursued through authentic assessment. This is evident from the improvement of writing skills worthy of achievement from cycle 1 to cycle 2 ie from 62.14% of 27 students increased to 72.60% of all students in cycle 2. Writing skills in research-based learning is a skill to express the idea of the problem , Organizing facts, concepts and principles, use of EYD grammar and grammar. Authentic assessment is an assessment consisting of connection aspects, reflection aspects, and feedback aspects

Moves Analysis on Abstracts Written by the Students in Academic Writing Class

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Ajeng Setyorini

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This paper contains analysis results on abstracts written by students in Academic Writing course. The analysis includes analyses on moves and linguistic features. The analysis aims at finding out how the abstract writing structures of the English Education students are in the Academic Writing course. The abstract analysis also includes the analysis on the use of the linguistic features in the abstracts. The analysis uses a qualitative research approach. There are totally 10 abstracts that are analyzed. These are then called as the data. Data obtained is analyzed using genre analysis approach. Results of analysis on the 10 abstracts showed that some of the abstracts are written using 5 kinds of moves. All of the abstracts are found using Purpose Move and Method Move. Meanwhile, Situation Move is found in 5 abstracts. 8 abstracts are identified using Result Move. Conclusion Move is found in 5 abstracts. The results also show that all of the abstract writers use pronouns ‘the writer’ and ‘the researcher’. The use of personal pronoun ‘she’ is also found in 1 abstract. Hedges used in abstracts written by students in Academic Writing course vary from modal auxiliary verbs, adjectival, adverbial, nominal to Approximates of degree.

Framework for Disciplinary Writing in Science Grades 6-12: A National Survey

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Drew, Sally Valentino; Olinghouse, Natalie G.; Faggella-Luby, Michael; Welsh, Megan E.

2017-01-01

This study investigated the current state of writing instruction in science classes (Grades 6-12). A random sample of certified science teachers from the United States (N = 287) was electronically surveyed. Participants reported on their purposes for teaching writing, the writing assignments most often given to students, use of evidence-based…

Language writing: a history of your pre-history of childhood

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Ana Maria Esteves Bortolanza

2017-02-01

Full Text Available This paper presents part of a study conducted to explain the process of appropriation of written culture by children in early childhood education, according to the organization of writing activities that are afforded to them in the school environment. To understand this process was carried out a pedagogical experiment in a class of children under five years of age, a public school in the city of Uberaba/MG. The theoretical and methodological dimension of this study is based on the principles of human development presented by the Historic-Cultural Theory, which brings with it the Activity Theory and the importance of mediation. The proposal of an educational intervention, conducted through the pedagogical experiment, aimed to describe, understand and explain the process of cultural appropriation writing from the day of organized activities in order to create favorable conditions for the development of the process in its constituent features, so that it could provoke and observe the different stages by passing the child in the prehistory of his writing. In outlining the paths taken by it in this process, provided an opportunity the conditions for use of writing in its social functionality, taking advantage of the development activity guide, in this age group, which is the game of social roles. The analysis of the data showed evidence that a pedagogical action, properly planned and mediated, creates conditions that enable the realization of the writing appropriation process in its social functionality, providing a qualitative change in the child's relationship with that kind of language, because she has to write.

Writing Activities of Public Relations Practitioners: The Relationship between Experience and Writing Tasks.

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Napoli, Philip M.; Taylor, Maureen; Powers, Gerald

1999-01-01

Surveys 200 public relations practitioners and investigates whether the type of writing and over-all time spent writing vary with years of experience. Finds that higher levels of writing efficiency come with writing experience, and shows that female practitioners spend a higher percentage of their workday on writing tasks than do their male…

Some technical writing skills industry needs

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Smith, F. R.

1981-01-01

It is suggested that engineers and other technical students be taught three classes of skills in technical writing. First, "Big Picture Things", which includes: the importance of clear writing, the wide scope of writing, the wide scope of writing tasks that will be faced in industry, and the principles of organization of technical materials such as; how to analyze, classify, partition, and interpret. Second, "Writing Procedures", which encompasses: how to get words on paper efficiently and team-write. Third, "Writing Details", in which two considerations are important: how to achieve precision in the use of language and the aspects of style. Three problems in style are cited: the problem of sentence transition, overuse of attributive adjectives, and verbosity in paragraph structure. The most important thing in technical writing is considered to be functionality, economy and clarity.

Writing Together: Gender's Effect on Collaboration.

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Rehling, Louise

1996-01-01

Analyzes the behaviors of over 60 student groups in professional writing classes. Finds gender-related effects on collaboration: tendencies to stereotype men as technical experts and to self-segregate into gendered working teams. Suggests new perspectives on the role of gender for collaborative groups in professional writing classrooms. (PA)

Students' Evaluation of Writing Assignments in an Abnormal Psychology Course.

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Procidano, Mary E.

1991-01-01

Presents a study in which students in an abnormal psychology class rated the usefulness of drafts for two writing assignments. Reports that a research proposal was more effective than a case study in generating interest in psychology and opportunity for creativity. Concludes that writing assignments should reflect important aspects of a…

Digital Stories: Bringing Multimodal Texts to the Spanish Writing Classroom

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Oskoz, Ana; Elola, Idoia

2016-01-01

Despite the availability and growing use of digital story software for authoring and instructional purposes, little is known about learners' perceptions on its integration in the foreign language writing class. Following both a social semiotics approach and activity theory, this study focuses on six advanced Spanish learners' perceptions about the…

Class Notes for "Class-Y-News."

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Stuart, Judy L.

1991-01-01

A self-contained class of students with mild to moderate disabilities published a monthly newsletter which was distributed to students' families. Students became involved in writing, typing, drawing, folding, basic editing, and disseminating. (JDD)

Writing for Physics Mastery.

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Weber, Stephen W.

A study examined the effectiveness of incorporating writing as a tool to master the concepts of physics. Subjects were students in the three traditional physics classes and one non-math or conceptual physics class at East High School in Rockford, Illinois. The instructor tried a variety of methods--students wrote criticisms of Carl Sagan videos,…

The Effect of Music on Children's Writing Content.

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Koppelman, David; Imig, Scott

A study explored the effect of different kinds of music on children's writing content. Nineteen students from a second grade class in Charlottesville, Virginia, participated in 10 15-minute writing sessions, accompanied in each session by one type of background music (classical, jazz, popular, or country) or by silence. All writing was analyzed…

PRCR Classes and Activities

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Town of Cary, North Carolina — This data is specific to Parks and Recreation classes, workshops, and activities within the course catalog. It contains an entry for upcoming classes.*This data set...

A Study of Synchronous versus Asynchronous Collaboration in an Online Business Writing Class

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Mabrito, Mark

2006-01-01

A case study examined the collaborative experiences of students in an online business writing classroom. The purpose was to examine the same groups of students working on collaborative writing assignments in both a synchronous (real-time) and an asynchronous (non-real-time) discussion forum. This study focused on examining the amount, pattern, and…

The Role of Field Classes in Education of Prospective Teachers in Biology

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E. Fleszar

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Field classes are indispensable in education of biology and environment protection students, as they allow a future teacher to carry out teaching material bringing together theory and practice through activity. In the framework of Biology Didactics classes the biology students of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Szczecin participate actively in the works on didactic nature trail in the Arkoñski Woods prepared by Dr. Ewa Fleszar. During the work on didactic natural path the students make themselves acquainted with: field class objectives; field class tasks; field class programmes, e.g. concerning phenology; flora and fauna species. Writing synopsis of field classes for selected lesson units at different teaching levels they acquire sound knowledge based on the ecological contents. Contacts with nature as well as gaining the experience during field classes allow them to obtain competences for working in the field and to understand the objectives of carrying out such classes. Field classes have an effect on developing interests of participants in the subject, and affect the improvement of teaching performance. Visit to the field forms ecological awareness, which leads to obtaining an ecological culture.

An integrative review of in-class activities that enable active learning in college science classroom settings

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Arthurs, Leilani A.; Kreager, Bailey Zo

2017-10-01

Engaging students in active learning is linked to positive learning outcomes. This study aims to synthesise the peer-reviewed literature about 'active learning' in college science classroom settings. Using the methodology of an integrative literature review, 337 articles archived in the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) are examined. Four categories of in-class activities emerge: (i) individual non-polling activities, (ii) in-class polling activities, (iii) whole-class discussion or activities, and (iv) in-class group activities. Examining the collection of identified in-class activities through the lens of a theoretical framework informed by constructivism and social interdependence theory, we synthesise the reviewed literature to propose the active learning strategies (ALSs) model and the instructional decisions to enable active learning (IDEAL) theory. The ALS model characterises in-class activities in terms of the degrees to which they are designed to promote (i) peer interaction and (ii) social interdependence. The IDEAL theory includes the ALS model and provides a framework for conceptualising different levels of the general concept 'active learning' and how these levels connect to instructional decision-making about using in-class activities. The proposed ALS model and IDEAL theory can be utilised to inform instructional decision-making and future research about active learning in college science courses.

Using Rubrics as a Scientific Writing Instructional Method in Early Stage Undergraduate Neuroscience Study.

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Clabough, Erin B D; Clabough, Seth W

2016-01-01

Scientific writing is an important communication and learning tool in neuroscience, yet it is a skill not adequately cultivated in introductory undergraduate science courses. Proficient, confident scientific writers are produced by providing specific knowledge about the writing process, combined with a clear student understanding about how to think about writing (also known as metacognition). We developed a rubric for evaluating scientific papers and assessed different methods of using the rubric in inquiry-based introductory biology classrooms. Students were either 1) given the rubric alone, 2) given the rubric, but also required to visit a biology subject tutor for paper assistance, or 3) asked to self-grade paper components using the rubric. Students who were required to use a peer tutor had more negative attitudes towards scientific writing, while students who used the rubric alone reported more confidence in their science writing skills by the conclusion of the semester. Overall, students rated the use of an example paper or grading rubric as the most effective ways of teaching scientific writing, while rating peer review as ineffective. Our paper describes a concrete, simple method of infusing scientific writing into inquiry-based science classes, and provides clear avenues to enhance communication and scientific writing skills in entry-level classes through the use of a rubric or example paper, with the goal of producing students capable of performing at a higher level in upper level neuroscience classes and independent research.

Effects of Interactive Chat versus Independent Writing on L2 Learning

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Tare, Medha; Golonka, Ewa M.; Vatz, Karen; Bonilla, Carrie L.; Crooks, Carolyn; Strong, Rachel

2014-01-01

This study examines the importance of interaction for second language (L2) acquisition by analyzing outcomes from two types of out-of-class activities. The study compared: (a) interactive homework, completed via text chat, and (b) individual homework, completed via independent writing. In a between-subjects design, participants in two…

Methodological issues in using sequential representations in the teaching of writing

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Chien-Ching Lee

2007-12-01

Full Text Available This study looks at a specific application of Ainsworth's conceptual framework for learning with multiple representations in the context of using multiple sequential graphic organizers that are student-generated for a process-writing task. Process writing refers to writing that consists of multiple drafts. It may be a process of re-writing without feedback or re-writing based on feedback where the teacher or peers will provide feedback on the original draft and then the students will revise their writing based on the feedback given. The objective was to explore how knowledge of students' cognitive processes when using multiple organizers can inform the teaching of writing. The literature review analyzes the interaction of the design, function and task components of the framework; culminating in instructional approaches for using multiple organizers for classes with students of different writing abilities. Extended implications for designers of concept mapping tools based on these approaches are provided.

English 4090: Collaborative Writing at Work

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Sutton, Mark

2007-01-01

This article presents a course design of English 4090: Collaborative Writing at Work. The course is a senior-level elective designed to reinforce students' existing knowledge of professional writing and to teach students how to apply that knowledge effectively in collaborative contexts. Here, the author focuses on the Spring 2006 class and…

TEACHING WRITING USING THINK-PAIR-SHARE VIEWED FROM STUDENTS’ LEVEL OF RISK-TAKING

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Ningtyas Orilina Argawati

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Writing is considered as the most difficult skill to master compared with the other skills because it involves many language elements such as content, organization, vocabulary, grammar and mechanics. The research examines the effect of two independent variables (Think-Pair-Share and Direct instruction method on dependent variable (Writing Descriptive skill. The samples were class A1 2016 as the experimental class and A3 2016 as the control class. Each class consisted of 32 students. The instruments used covered the risk-taking’s questionnaire and writing test. Before applying the questionnaire of risk-taking, it was tried out to class A2 2016 to find out the validity and the reliability of the instrument. Meanwhile, before conducting the writing test, it needs to test the readability of the writing instruction. The treatment was conducted in eight meetings, and the 9th meeting was allocated for the post-test. The data were then analyzed using ANOVA and Tukey test. From the analysis, it reveals that: (1 Think-Pair-Share is significantly different from direct instruction method to teach writing; (2 the students with high level of risk-taking have better writing than those with low level of risk-taking; and (3 there is an interaction between teaching methods and the students’ level of risk-taking. Even though Think-Pair-Share is effective to teach writing, teachers must consider about the students’ condition, in this case their level of risk-taking.

Neural Signatures of the Reading-Writing Connection: Greater Involvement of Writing in Chinese Reading than English Reading.

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Cao, Fan; Perfetti, Charles A

2016-01-01

Research on cross-linguistic comparisons of the neural correlates of reading has consistently found that the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG) is more involved in Chinese than in English. However, there is a lack of consensus on the interpretation of the language difference. Because this region has been found to be involved in writing, we hypothesize that reading Chinese characters involves this writing region to a greater degree because Chinese speakers learn to read by repeatedly writing the characters. To test this hypothesis, we recruited English L1 learners of Chinese, who performed a reading task and a writing task in each language. The English L1 sample had learned some Chinese characters through character-writing and others through phonological learning, allowing a test of writing-on-reading effect. We found that the left MFG was more activated in Chinese than English regardless of task, and more activated in writing than in reading regardless of language. Furthermore, we found that this region was more activated for reading Chinese characters learned by character-writing than those learned by phonological learning. A major conclusion is that writing regions are also activated in reading, and that this reading-writing connection is modulated by the learning experience. We replicated the main findings in a group of native Chinese speakers, which excluded the possibility that the language differences observed in the English L1 participants were due to different language proficiency level.

Neural Signatures of the Reading-Writing Connection: Greater Involvement of Writing in Chinese Reading than English Reading.

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Fan Cao

Full Text Available Research on cross-linguistic comparisons of the neural correlates of reading has consistently found that the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG is more involved in Chinese than in English. However, there is a lack of consensus on the interpretation of the language difference. Because this region has been found to be involved in writing, we hypothesize that reading Chinese characters involves this writing region to a greater degree because Chinese speakers learn to read by repeatedly writing the characters. To test this hypothesis, we recruited English L1 learners of Chinese, who performed a reading task and a writing task in each language. The English L1 sample had learned some Chinese characters through character-writing and others through phonological learning, allowing a test of writing-on-reading effect. We found that the left MFG was more activated in Chinese than English regardless of task, and more activated in writing than in reading regardless of language. Furthermore, we found that this region was more activated for reading Chinese characters learned by character-writing than those learned by phonological learning. A major conclusion is that writing regions are also activated in reading, and that this reading-writing connection is modulated by the learning experience. We replicated the main findings in a group of native Chinese speakers, which excluded the possibility that the language differences observed in the English L1 participants were due to different language proficiency level.

ORAL DRILLS AND WRITING IMPROVEMENT IN THE FOURTH GRADE.

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MILLER, BARBARA D.; NEY, JAMES W.

BELIEVING FORMAL WRITTEN ENGLISH TO BE A "FOREIGN LANGUAGE" TO MOST AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS, RESEARCHERS USED THE AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION TO PROMOTE WRITING IMPROVEMENT IN FOURTH-GRADERS. TWO RANDOMLY-SELECTED CLASSES OF STUDENTS OF AVERAGE ABILITY COMPOSED THE STUDY POPULATION--ONE CLASS FOR THE EXPERIMENT,…

An Analysis on Effects of Story Mapping in Writing Short Stories in EFL Classes, Iraqi Case

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Emine Bala

2017-06-01

Full Text Available In this study, it is investigated that how much story map graphic organizers contribute to foster writing short stories. Eighteen EFL students from foundation year were randomly chosen and provided eight writing courses. First, the writing teacher provided a topic to the students for each course, and asked them to write three short stories about given topics. In the following two lessons, the instructor introduced graphic organizers and taught the elements of short story to the students. Later, they were given another three topics for the following three courses to create short stories using story map graphic organizers created by writing teacher. Then, the researcher selected two of their first and second pieces randomly and developed a scale to assess the students’ first and second products. The results were classified by including story elements.in two tables as percentage.

See, Say, Write: A Writing Routine for the Preschool Classroom

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Copp, Stefanie B.; Cabell, Sonia Q.; Tortorelli, Laura S.

2016-01-01

See, Say, Write is an adaptable classroom writing routine that teachers can use across a range of activities in the preschool classroom. This preschool writing routine offers an opportunity for teachers to build on a shared experience through engagement in rich conversation and writing. After a shared experience, teachers will provide a visual…

Second Language Writing Online: An Update

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Godwin-Jones, Robert

2018-01-01

This article provides an update to the author's overview of developments in second language (L2) online writing that he wrote in 2008. There has been renewed interest in L2 writing through the wide use of social media, along with the rising popularity of computer-mediated communication (CMC) and telecollaboration (class-based online exchanges).…

Exploring Connections between Creative Thinking and Higher Attaining Writing

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Copping, Adrian

2018-01-01

This paper explores writing pedagogy in the primary classroom and connections between children thinking creatively and their achievement in writing. Initially 'continuing professional development' for teachers, I designed and facilitated a two-day writing workshop with a class of children around the theme of a Victorian murder mystery. This was…

An Examination of At-Risk College Freshmen's Expository Literacy Skills Using Interactive Online Writing Activities

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Mongillo, Geraldine; Wilder, Hilary

2012-01-01

This qualitative study focused on at-risk college freshmen's ability to read and write expository text using game-like, online expository writing activities. These activities required participants to write descriptions of a target object so that peers could guess what the object was, after which they were given the results of those guesses as…

Power Perceptions and Negotiations in a Cross-National Email Writing Activity

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Liu, Yichun

2011-01-01

The present study investigates EFL students' perceptions of power differentials and their negotiation strategies when communicating with native English-speaking students via emails. The study involved 28 Taiwanese and American undergraduates who participated in a semester-long cross-national email writing activity. Findings show that students in…

IMPROVING STUDENTS‟ ABILITY IN WRITING RECOUNT TEXTS BY USING AUTHENTIC TASK

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Ahmad Yusri

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This study uncovers the improvement of the students‘ ability through authentic task in writing recount text. It is used to look for and write down what they have seen in real world. This study is Classroom Action Research. It is planned as well as possible. Moreover, the subject of the study was a class of the tenth grade students of Islamic Boarding High School ―Hikmatusysyarief” MA NW Salut in the School Year 2010/2011. It was conducted in two cycles. Then, the instruments utilized were observation checklist, questionnaire, and students‘ writing product. The result of this study indicates that authentic task as a technique has improved the students‘ ability in writing recount text as well as plan. In the first cycle, there is 57% students‘ who gained score higher than 60% and the students who gained score less than 60 are 52%, meanwhile the students score at the second cycle shown 81% of the students get higher than 60 (17 out of 21 students and 19% of the students gained score less than 60 (4 out of 21 students. It is also to indicate that the students‘ involvement in teaching and learning process was surely active, particularly when they worked in group. In short, this technique is believed to improve the students‘ ability in writing recount text and their involvement in teaching and learning processes.

Writing Performance of At-Risk Learners in Online Credit Recovery

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Leiter, Michael P.

2012-01-01

Online credit recovery is becoming a popular choice for students needing to recover lost graduation credit due to course failure. The problem is that high school students who take online credit recovery classes in order to gain writing credit for graduation are failing the writing section on the state merit exam (MME). At-risk students and…

Individual Self-monitoring &Peer-monitoring In One Classroom in Writing Activities: Who Is at Disadvantage?

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Zohreh Zare Toofan

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Writing is an important experience through which we are able to share ideas, arouse feelings, persuade and convince other people (white & Arndt, 1991. It is important to view writing not solely as the product of an individual, but as a cognitive, social and cultural act. Writing is an act that takes place within a context, that accomplishes a particular purpose and that is appropriately shaped for its intended audience (Hamplyones & Condon, 1989. Here, the present research considers the significance effects of two important independent variables self-monitoring and peer-monitoring in writing activities on Iranian EFL learners. In this research it was supposed to study new effects of two Meta cognitive strategies self-monitoring and peer-monitoring on 173 male and female learners' writing activities whose age ranged between the age 16-27, and they had a composing description writing paragraph as pre & post test in the same conditions. Although many studies have been conducted on the effects of self-monitoring with a variety of students across a variety of settings (Amato-Zech, Hoff, & Doepke, 2006 Cooper et al., 2007, Dunlap, Dunlap, Koegel, & Koegel 1991. But goal of this study was to increase the participant’s on-task behavior in self & peer-monitoring (E. Johnson, 2007, Self &Peer-monitoring added. Although both of them were useful for providing challengeable students, and became useful for prosocial life, but self-monitoring helped them to become awareness of their weaknesses and strengths to increase positive way of the quality and quantity of their learning in written task, and peer-monitoring occurred when the students achieved recognition level to evaluate the other peers' behavior, and it was obviously understood that it needed more training time to arrive at the level of recognition of each others' behavior.

Video Streaming for Creative Writing at International Elementary School

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Deni Darmawan

2013-02-01

Full Text Available This study aims at overcoming difficulty in learning language, both in Indonesian Language and English at international elementary school, especially in creative writing. Creative writing as part of human activity is creativity with language medium as prose (narrative, description, poem (old, new and modern, as well as drama (dialogue, role play, and sosio drama. Specific target to be achieved is the design of Video Streaming for all kinds of creative writing in the language of Indonesian and English. This investigation is a continuation of the previos investigation that has managed to make a video leaning in English for Math and Science as integrated learning to early class at international elementary school. The method used follow the principles of developmental reasearch. The firts stage is script writing video streaming through brainstorming with teachers, lecturers, teams of investigators Indonesia (UPI and Malaysia (USM. The second stage manuscript, making finalization Video Streaming, make the Web, media experts and creative writing material team investigators. The third stage, testing the Video Streaming, Web and dissemination of results into all the international elementary school in Indonesia and Malaysia.

AUTHORIAL VOICE IN ISLAMIC COLLEGE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDENTS’ ARGUMENTATIVE WRITING

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Nur Afifi

2014-11-01

Full Text Available While considered elusive and abstract, authorial voice is paramount in English writing. Unfortunately, many of Indonesian EFL learners found it is highly challeging to show their voice in their writing. The importance of voice is even exaggerated in argumentative writing, since this kind of writing needs obvious stance of the writer. This study investigates the authorial voice students made in their argumentative writing. The purpose of this study is to gain the picture of students‟ writing ability especially in authorial voice to map the road in guiding the next writing classes. The object of the study is the argumentative writing made by English department students at one Indonesian State College of Islamic Studies in their writing III course. Using Hyland‟s interactional model of voice (2008 the data analysis results the authorial presence in the essays is in position 2 at 0 – 4 scale which means the reader feels somehow weak presence of the authorial voice in the essay. This result confirms the findings of some previous studies that EFL learners especially from „interdependent‟ cultural background tend to find this authorial voice difficult in writing English essay.

The Effect of Two Types of Corrective Feedback on EFL Learners’ Writing Skill

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Sina Soltanabadi Farshi

2015-02-01

Full Text Available 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 learners were asked to write about it. In class A, the learners had to deliver their assignments to the teacher in classroom; then the teacher wrote the corrective notes on their papers and gave their papers back the next session. In class B, students had to write their assignments on their electronic instruments, and after that send written tasks via email to the teacher, and he also sent the corrective comments on their errors through email. In class C, as control group, no corrective feedback was given to learners’ errors in their written tasks. Moreover, in class C, learners were free to deliver their writings whether in class or by email. The obtained results showed both methods to be effective since the scores of both experimental groups were significantly higher than the scores of control group, but electronic feedback was more effective and profitable than traditional type; because scores of the learners in group B (Electronic feedback were significantly higher than class C (Traditional feedback. Keywords: writing skill, corrective feedback, electronic feedback, traditional feedback

Learning Science Process Through Data Exploration and Writing

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Prothero, W. A.

2007-12-01

One of the most effective ways of teaching science process is to have students take part in the same activities that practicing scientists engage in. These activities include studying the current research in the field, discussing ideas with colleagues, formulating a research problem, making a proposal defining the problem and plan of attack, presenting and writing about the results of the study, and critically reviewing the work of others. An inquiry curriculum can use these activities to guide the scaffolding of assignments and learning experiences that help students learn science process. At UCSB, students in a large general education oceanography class use real Earth data to study plate tectonics, the Indian Monsoon, climate change, and the health of the world fisheries. The end product for each subject has been a science paper based on Earth data. Over a period of approximately 15 years, the scaffolding of activities to prepare each student for the written assignments has been modified and improved, in response to student feedback and their success with the assignments. I have found that the following resources and sequence of activities help the oceanography students write good science papers. 1. Lecture: motivation and the opportunity for feedback and questions. 2. Textbook: background information. It is also possible to get the information from the internet, but unless the scope of reading is strictly defined, students don't know when to stop reading and become unhappy. 3. Online assignments: automatically graded assignments that force the student to keep up with reading. 4. Questions of the day: in-class handouts, with diagrams that the students either complete, or answer questions about. They are handed in and tallied, but not graded. They also inform the instructor of misconceptions. 5. Thought questions: student answers are posted on a threaded discussion list, and are due prior to lecture. The answers provide instructor feedback and guide the lecture

The Intersection between Out-of-Class Language Learning Strategies and In-Class Activities

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Saad, Noor Saazai Mat; Yunus, Melor Md; Embi, Mohamed Amin

2013-01-01

Studies on out-of-class language learning strategies (OCLLSs) are usually divorced from the activities in class. Thus, this study addresses the connection of the two entities. The participants in this study were nine international postgraduate students who were undergoing their English language proficiency course in an institution in Malaysia.…

Writing and mathematical problem solving in Grade 3

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Belinda Petersen

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This article looks at writing tasks as a methodology to support learners’ mathematical problemsolving strategies in the South African Foundation Phase context. It is a qualitative case study and explores the relation between the use of writing in mathematics and development of learners’ problem-solving strategies and conceptual understanding. The research was conducted in a suburban Foundation Phase school in Cape Town with a class of Grade 3 learners involved in a writing and mathematics intervention. Writing tasks were modelled to learners and implemented by them while they were engaged in mathematical problem solving. Data were gathered from a sample of eight learners of different abilities and included written work, interviews, field notes and audio recordings of ability group discussions. The results revealed an improvement in the strategies and explanations learners used when solving mathematical problems compared to before the writing tasks were implemented. Learners were able to reflect critically on their thinking through their written strategies and explanations. The writing tasks appeared to support learners in providing opportunities to construct and apply mathematical knowledge and skills in their development of problem-solving strategies.

Lexical bundles in an advanced INTOCSU writing class and engineering texts: A functional analysis

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Alquraishi, Mohammed Abdulrahman

The purpose of this study is to investigate the functions of lexical bundles in two corpora: a corpus of engineering academic texts and a corpus of IEP advanced writing class texts. This study is concerned with the nature of formulaic language in Pathway IEPs and engineering texts, and whether those types of texts show similar or distinctive formulaic functions. Moreover, the study looked into lexical bundles found in an engineering 1.26 million-word corpus and an ESL 65000-word corpus using a concordancing program. The study then analyzed the functions of those lexical bundles and compared them statistically using chi-square tests. Additionally, the results of this investigation showed 236 unique frequent lexical bundles in the engineering corpus and 37 bundles in the pathway corpus. Also, the study identified several differences between the density and functions of lexical bundles in the two corpora. These differences were evident in the distribution of functions of lexical bundles and the minimal overlap of lexical bundles found in the two corpora. The results of this study call for more attention to formulaic language at ESP and EAP programs.

The Process Genre Writing Approach; An Alternative Option for the Modern Classroom

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Tudor, Emma

2017-01-01

"Writing involves knowledge about the language, the context in which writing happens and skills in using language. Writing development happens by drawing out the learners' potential and providing input to which learners respond" (Badger & White, 2000.) Taking this in to account, the Process Genre Approach in writing classes can be…

Writing Across the Curriculum -- An Online Course in Computer Security

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Neelu Sinha, Ph.D.

2006-07-01

Full Text Available Writing fosters both critical thinking and student learning, serving as one of the most effective ways to understand a topic. Writing across the Curriculum (WAC began in the late 1970’s, as a pedagogical reform movement in response to a perceived deficiency in literacy among college students. Over the past two decades universities have worked to broaden the scope of student writing from composition classes to classes in the students’ major. This paper chronicles the application of WAC into the discipline of Computer Science. The purpose of this study is to develop an online Computer Security course (for sophomores and juniors in Computer Science, under the umbrella of WAC, to help improve the students’ writing overall and focus on skills students require in upper level courses in the major. Developing this course as an online course (rather than a traditional face-to-face course offers flexible configurability and scalability, features that are useful to prepare students for constantly changing real world security challenges. This paper includes all aspects of course design and insight into lessons learned. Results indicate that both the faculty and students benefit from such a writing intensive course. Reading and responding to the students’ writing enables faculty to gain valuable insights into the students’ thoughts, ideas, problems, and other issues. Students reported increased knowledge and comprehension of the subject material, deeper understanding of the conventions within Computer Science, improved analysis and reporting skills, ability to understand and present abstract concepts effectively, and skill in producing professional documents.

Application of Learning Style in Media Writing.

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Cranston, Charles M.

1992-01-01

Describes a study that examined whether statistically significant differences existed among performance levels of college students in a beginning media writing class when compared according to cognitive style and learning style subgroups. Results are reported for five mass media formats--broadcast news, television copywriting, documentary,…

Writing Professional Documents in English

CERN Multimedia

2003-01-01

This course is designed for people with a good level of spoken English who need to improve their professional writing (administrative, scientific, technical). Duration: 20 hours (2 hours a week) Price: 440 CHF (for 8 students) Date and timetable will be fixed when there are sufficient participants enrolled. Oral Expression This course is intended for people with a good knowledge of English who want to practise and maintain their speaking skills while extending their vocabulary. There will be approximately 8 participants in a class. Speaking activities will include discussions, meeting simulations, role-plays etc. depending on the needs of the students. Duration: 20 hours (2 hours a week) Timetable: Thursdays from 12.00 to 14.00 Price: 440 CHF (for 8 students) For registration and further information on these two courses, please contact Mr. Liptow: tel. 72957.

Process-Product Approach to Writing: the Effect of Model Essays on EFL Learners’ Writing Accuracy

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Parastou Gholami Pasand

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Writing is one the most important skills in learning a foreign language. The significance of being able to write in a second or foreign language has become clearer nowadays. Accordingly, different approaches to writing such as product approach, process approach and more recently process-product approach came into existence and they have been the concern of SL/FL researchers. The aim of this study is to answer the question that whether the use of an incomplete model text in process-product approach to writing and asking the learners to complete the text rather than copying it can have a positive impact on EFL learners’ accuracy in writing. After training a number of EFL learners on using process approach, we held a two-session writing class. In the first session students wrote in the process approach, and in the second one they were given a model text to continue in the process-product approach. The writing performance of the students in these two sessions was compared in term of accuracy. Based on the students’ writing performance, we came to the conclusion that completing the model text in process-product writing can have a rather positive influence in some aspects of their writing accuracy such as punctuation, capitalization, spelling, subject-verb agreement, tense, the use of connectors, using correct pronouns and possessives. Also the results of the paired t-test indicate that using a model text to continue increased students’ writing accuracy.

Applying Cultural Project Based Learning to Develop Students’ Academic Writing

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Lulus Irawati

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Writing is considered to be the most demanding and difficult skill for many college students, since there are some steps to be followed such as prewriting, drafting, editing, revising and publishing. The interesting topic like culture including lifestyle, costume, and custom is necessary to be offered in Academic Writing class. Accordingly, this article aims to elaborate the application of a cultural project based learning to develop students’ ability in academic writing. This descriptive qualitative research was conducted in Academic Writing class consisting of 20 students of the fourth semester. The students were divided into some groups, each consisting of 4-5 people assigned to make a cultural project within 6 weeks, in the form of essay. Each member of the groups has to create his/ her own essay and then compile the essays to be a mini-journal. Therefore, one group has one mini-journal consisting of 4-5 essays. To check the content of mini-journal, the lecturer also asked the groups to present in front of the class to get some suggestions, feedback, or comments.

Is Their Class in This Room?: Focusing on Class in Diverse Classrooms

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Hiraldo, Carlos

2011-01-01

As the increasing racial diversity of the United States continues to be reflected in colleges and universities across the country, academics who think and write about their teaching philosophy remain more comfortable arguing for a curriculum that deals with race and gender than for one that centers on class and social mobility. Some academics feel…

Going Out on a Limb: A Reading and Writing Course about the Fourth Dimension.

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Putz, John F.

2001-01-01

Describes a reading and writing course about the fourth dimension that involves readings selected from both mathematical and non-mathematical literature, frequent class discussion, several invited speakers from disciplines other than mathematics, and some hands-on and group activities. (Author/ASK)

Write to read: the brain's universal reading and writing network.

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Perfetti, Charles A; Tan, Li-Hai

2013-02-01

Do differences in writing systems translate into differences in the brain's reading network? Or is this network universal, relatively impervious to variation in writing systems? A new study adds intriguing evidence to these questions by showing that reading handwritten words activates a pre-motor area across writing systems. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

IMPROVING THE SKILL AND THE INTEREST OF WRITING ADVERTISEMENTS AND POSTERS THROUGH ESA SEQUENCE

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author Fatma Yuniarti

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The action reserach aims at improving the students’ writing skill especially to write advertsements and posters. Both are the short functional texts to be learned at the second semester. According to the data on pre cycle, the students of second semester got difficulties to write advertisements and posters. A treatment was necessary to help the students overcome their problem. To consider the related literature, the writer decided to implement ESA sequence (Harmer 2001 in the class. The elements of teaching in ESA Sequence are Engage (to arouse the students’ interests, Study (learn the language focus, and Activate (use the language freely and communicatively. The data were taken from the test of the linguistic competence mastery, the students writing, and the questionnaire. The students’ linguistic competence got increased as shown by the score (58 in pre-cycle, 66 in cycle 1, and 70 in cycle 2. The students’ ability to write the short functional texts also get improved as indicated by the average score on writing tasks (53 in pre-cycle, 63 in cycle 1, 72 in cycle 2. The interest also gets better as shown by the score of the questionnaire (22,3 in pre-cycle, 33,5 in cycle 1, and 37 in cycle 2. It means ESA Sequence can improve the studets’ ability to write advertisements and posters.Key words : advertisement, ESA (Engange Study Activate, poster

Becoming a Professional Nudist: Writing with One's Students.

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Boswell, Bill; And Others

1995-01-01

Uses the provocative metaphor of becoming a nudist to illustrate that teachers should write, and share their writing, with their students. Describes a program in which student teachers spent six weeks in class and seven weeks in student teaching and were required to keep journals in which they reflected on what they had learned. (PA)

Connecting Mathematics and Writing Workshop: It's Kinda like Ice Skating

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Carter, Susan

2009-01-01

Second-grade students struggle with writing about mathematical topics during math class, so the teacher begins to integrate mathematical topics into their Writing Workshop. Content journals are used during math, and students are encouraged to write about personal connections to mathematical situations, as well as incorporate mathematical concepts…

Student, Teacher and Class-Level Correlates of Flemish Late Elementary School Children's Writing Performance

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De Smedt, Fien; Van Keer, Hilde; Merchie, Emmelien

2016-01-01

In Flanders, there are neither Flemish assessments nor teacher surveys to provide insights into the current practice and outcomes of writing instruction. In the present study, we provide a-state-of-the-art study of the practice of writing instruction in Flemish late elementary education by investigating: (a) how writing is taught, (b) how teachers…

"Once upon a Time There Was a Mouse": Children's Technology-Mediated Storytelling in Preschool Class

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Skantz Åberg, Ewa; Lantz-Andersson, Annika; Pramling, Niklas

2014-01-01

With the current expansion of digital tools, the media used for narration is changing, challenging traditional literacies in educational settings. The present study explores what kind of activities emerge when six-year-old children in a preschool class write a digital story, using a word processor and speech-synthesised feedback computer software.…

Cascaded-focus laser writing of low-loss waveguides in polymers.

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Pätzold, Welm M; Reinhardt, Carsten; Demircan, Ayhan; Morgner, Uwe

2016-03-15

Waveguide writing in poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) with femtosecond laser radiation is presented. An adequate refractive index change is induced in the border area below the irradiated focal volume. It supports an almost symmetric fundamental mode with propagation losses down to 0.5  dB/cm, the lowest losses observed so far in this class of materials. The writing process with a cascaded focus is demonstrated to be highly reliable over a large parameter range.

ERRORS AND CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK IN WRITING: IMPLICATIONS TO OUR CLASSROOM PRACTICES

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Maria Corazon Saturnina A Castro

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Error correction is one of the most contentious and misunderstood issues in both foreign and second language teaching. Despite varying positions on the effectiveness of error correction or the lack of it, corrective feedback remains an institution in the writing classes. Given this context, this action research endeavors to survey prevalent attitudes of teachers and students toward corrective feedback and examine their implications to classroom practices.  This paper poses the major problem:  How do teachers’ perspectives on corrective feedback match the students’ views and expectations about error treatment in their writing? Professors of the University of the Philippines who teach composition classes and over a hundred students enrolled in their classes were surveyed.  Results showed that there are differing perceptions of teachers and students regarding corrective feedback. These oppositions must be addressed as they have implications to current pedagogical practices which include constructing and establishing appropriate lesson goals, using alternative corrective strategies, teaching grammar points in class even in the tertiary level, and further understanding the learning process.

Dual Rubrics and the Process of Writing: Assessment and Best Practices in a Developmental English Course

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Pireh, Diane Flanegan

2014-01-01

This article presents strategies for using two types of essay-writing rubrics in a developmental English class of students transitioning into college-level writing. One checklist rubric is student-facing, designed to serve as a guide for students throughout the writing process and as a self-assessment tool. The other checklist rubric is…

Reducing resistance and emotional blocks in writing

OpenAIRE

Majda Cencič

1996-01-01

Writing is as much a communicative as it is a cognitive process an active individual is involved in. In this paper some characteristics of writing as a communicative process and some characteristics of writing as a cognitive process are stated. Further a model engaging both communicative and cognitive elements of writing is added, these elements being connected with linguistic resources. The author considers some prejudices, myths or emotional blocks to be destroyed as not to hinder the write...

Informational Writing in High School Science: The Importance of Genre, Apprenticeship, and Publication

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Kohnen, Angela M.

2013-01-01

As states continue to implement CCSS, science teachers will be asked to incorporate more discipline-specific reading and writing in their classes. Yet, according to national studies, few science teachers have previous experience to draw upon and most have little to no training in writing pedagogy. This article reports on one science teacher's…

Observation of peers in learning to write: Practice and research

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Rijlaarsdam, Gert

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Elke Van Steendam, Anne Toorenaar,Journal of Writing Research 1(1, 53-83In this paper we discuss the role of observation in learning to write. We argue that the acquisition of skill in such a complex domain as writing relies on observation, the classical imitatio. An important phase in learning to write, at all ages, is learning to write by observing and evaluating relevant processes: writing processes, reading processes or communication processes between writers and readers.First, we present two practical cases: writing lessons in which observation and inquiry are amongst other key elements and where students participate in a community of learners. Then, we review research that may inspire and substantiate proposals for implementing observation as a learning activity in writing education. Two types of studies are discussed: studies in which learners acquire strategies by observing and evaluating writing and reading processes of peers, as a prewriting instructional activity, and studies in which learners are stimulated to 'pre-test' and then revise their first draft, as a post writing instructional activity. The paper closes with some recommendations for further research.

A mandatory course in scientific writing for undergraduate medical students.

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Roland, C G; Cox, B G

1976-02-01

All students at Mayo Medical School take a course in scientific writing during their sophomore and junior years. Early in the sophomore year they receive a self-instructional text designed to help them avoid 15 common writing faults. Comparison of pretest and posttest results for two classes, with a total of 89 students, indicates significant improvement (p less than .001). Later in his sophomore year, each student writes a minithesis; and during his junior year he reports on work done in a clinical or laboratory research project, preparing it as a paper submissible to a scientific journal. Professional editors work as preceptors with the students, critiquing their manuscripts, which are revised until they receive satisfactory ratings.

Writing, Literacy and Technology: Toward a Cyborg Writing.

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Olson, Gary A.

1996-01-01

Presents an interview with feminist social critic Donna Haraway about her call for "cyborg writing," writing that replaces the idea of an authoritative or dominant story with an acknowledgment of the wide range of narratives to be told in science, technology, and other areas. Also questions Haraway about activism for academics, particularly as it…

Thinking Critically, Speaking Famously, and Writing Effortlessly: An Alternative Performative Public Speaking Assignment

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Charlesworth, Dacia

2005-01-01

Although the concepts of style and delivery occupy a significant portion of any public speaking class, students often fail to make use of stylistic devices or delivery techniques while writing and presenting their speeches. This activity invites students to critically analyze a public speech and then present the critique using their own voice…

Changes in occupational class differences in leisure-time physical activity: a follow-up study

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Lahelma Eero

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Physical activity is known to have health benefits across population groups. However, less is known about changes over time in socioeconomic differences in leisure-time physical activity and the reasons for the changes. We hypothesised that class differences in leisure-time physical activity would widen over time due to declining physical activity among the lower occupational classes. We examined whether occupational class differences in leisure-time physical activity change over time in a cohort of Finnish middle-aged women and men. We also examined whether a set of selected covariates could account for the observed changes. Methods The data were derived from the Helsinki Health Study cohort mail surveys; the respondents were 40-60-year-old employees of the City of Helsinki at baseline in 2000-2002 (n = 8960, response rate 67%. Follow-up questionnaires were sent to the baseline respondents in 2007 (n = 7332, response rate 83%. The outcome measure was leisure-time physical activity, including commuting, converted to metabolic equivalent tasks (MET. Socioeconomic position was measured by occupational class (professionals, semi-professionals, routine non-manual employees and manual workers. The covariates included baseline age, marital status, limiting long-lasting illness, common mental disorders, job strain, physical and mental health functioning, smoking, body mass index, and employment status at follow-up. Firstly the analyses focused on changes over time in age adjusted prevalence of leisure-time physical activity. Secondly, logistic regression analysis was used to adjust for covariates of changes in occupational class differences in leisure-time physical activity. Results At baseline there were no occupational class differences in leisure-time physical activity. Over the follow-up leisure-time physical activity increased among those in the higher classes and decreased among manual workers, suggesting the emergence of

Changes in occupational class differences in leisure-time physical activity: a follow-up study.

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Seiluri, Tina; Lahti, Jouni; Rahkonen, Ossi; Lahelma, Eero; Lallukka, Tea

2011-03-01

Physical activity is known to have health benefits across population groups. However, less is known about changes over time in socioeconomic differences in leisure-time physical activity and the reasons for the changes. We hypothesised that class differences in leisure-time physical activity would widen over time due to declining physical activity among the lower occupational classes. We examined whether occupational class differences in leisure-time physical activity change over time in a cohort of Finnish middle-aged women and men. We also examined whether a set of selected covariates could account for the observed changes. The data were derived from the Helsinki Health Study cohort mail surveys; the respondents were 40-60-year-old employees of the City of Helsinki at baseline in 2000-2002 (n = 8960, response rate 67%). Follow-up questionnaires were sent to the baseline respondents in 2007 (n = 7332, response rate 83%). The outcome measure was leisure-time physical activity, including commuting, converted to metabolic equivalent tasks (MET). Socioeconomic position was measured by occupational class (professionals, semi-professionals, routine non-manual employees and manual workers). The covariates included baseline age, marital status, limiting long-lasting illness, common mental disorders, job strain, physical and mental health functioning, smoking, body mass index, and employment status at follow-up. Firstly the analyses focused on changes over time in age adjusted prevalence of leisure-time physical activity. Secondly, logistic regression analysis was used to adjust for covariates of changes in occupational class differences in leisure-time physical activity. At baseline there were no occupational class differences in leisure-time physical activity. Over the follow-up leisure-time physical activity increased among those in the higher classes and decreased among manual workers, suggesting the emergence of occupational class differences at follow-up. Women in

The Implementation of Scaffolding in Writing Recount Texts in SMP Joannes Bosco Yogyakarta

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Tiara Maria Dewi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In this research, scaffolding is implemented in English class of the 8th grade students of SMP Joannes Bosco Yogyakarta when they learn about recount text. This research aims to find out the process of how scaffolding is implemented and to know what the benefits of scaffolding in writing recount text. There were two research problems. The first was “How is scaffolding for the 8th grade students of SMP Joannes Bosco in writing a recount text?” and the second was “What are the benefits of scaffolding in writing a recount text in SMP Joannes Bosco Yogyakarta?” The writers conducted a descriptive qualitative research in this study. The data was gathered by interviewing the English teacher, writing on the field notes, distributing the questionnaires, and interviewing the students. Analyzing the students’ writings was used as the supplementary data to make the result stronger. The result of this study showed that the implementation of scaffolding gave benefits for the students. The benefits were challenging the students through deep learning and discovery, engaging the students in meaningful and dynamic discussions in the small and the large classes, and motivating the learners to become better students. In conclusion, scaffolding does give benefits for the students so that teachers are able to use scaffolding as one of the effective teaching techniques.   DOI: https://doi.org/10.24071/llt.2016.190104

Deconstructing Attitudes towards Plagiarism of Japanese Undergraduates in EFL Academic Writing Classes

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Teeter, Jennifer

2015-01-01

In this study, a qualitative analysis of 276 first-year Japanese university science major responses to plagiarism to deconstruct prevailing generalizations regarding the incidence of plagiarism by Japanese university students. These students were enrolled in a compulsory yearlong English academic writing course. While utilizing a contextualized…

Is Active Learning Like Broccoli? Student Perceptions of Active Learning in Large Lecture Classes

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Smith, C. Veronica; Cardaciotto, LeeAnn

2011-01-01

Although research suggests that active learning is associated with positive outcomes (e.g., memory, test performance), use of such techniques can be difficult to implement in large lecture-based classes. In the current study, 1,091 students completed out-of-class group exercises to complement course material in an Introductory Psychology class.…

Expressive writing promotes self-reported physical, social and psychological health among Chinese undergraduates.

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Yang, Zhihan; Tang, Xiaoqing; Duan, Wenjie; Zhang, Yonghong

2015-03-01

The present study examines the efficacy of expressive writing among Chinese undergraduates. The sample comprised of 74 undergraduates enrolled in a 9-week intervention (35 in experimental class vs. 39 in control class). The writing exercises were well-embedded in an elective course for the two classes. The 46-item simplified Chinese Self-Rated Health Measurement Scale, which assesses psychological, physical and social health, was adopted to measure the outcome of this study. Baseline (second week) and post-test (ninth week) scores were obtained during the classes. After the intervention on the eighth week, the self-reported psychological, social and physical health of the experimental class improved. Psychological health obtained the maximum degree of improvement, followed by social and physical health. Furthermore, female participants gained more psychological improvement than males. These results demonstrated that the expressive writing approach could improve the physical, social and psychological health of Chinese undergraduates, and the method can be applied in university psychological consulting settings in Mainland China. © 2014 International Union of Psychological Science.

Reading, writing, and reserve: Literacy activities are linked to hippocampal volume and memory in multiple sclerosis.

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Sumowski, James F; Rocca, Maria A; Leavitt, Victoria M; Riccitelli, Gianna; Meani, Alessandro; Comi, Giancarlo; Filippi, Massimo

2016-10-01

Engagement in cognitive leisure activities during early adulthood has been linked to preserved memory and larger hippocampal volume in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS). To investigate which specific types of cognitive leisure activities contribute to hippocampal volume and memory. We investigated links between three types of cognitive activities (Reading-Writing, Art-Music, Games-Hobbies) and (a) hippocampal volume within independent samples of Italian (n=187) and American (n=55) MS patients and (b) memory in subsamples of Italian (n=97) and American (n=53) patients. Reading-Writing was the only predictor of hippocampal volume (rp=.204, p=.002), and the best predictor of memory (rp=.288, p=.001). Findings inform the development of targeted evidence-based enrichment programs aiming to bolster reserve against memory decline. © The Author(s), 2016.

My Changed Body: Background, development and acceptability of a self-compassion based writing activity for female survivors of breast cancer.

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Przezdziecki, Astrid; Alcorso, Jessica; Sherman, Kerry A

2016-05-01

To assess consumer and health professional user acceptability of a web-based self-compassion writing activity to minimize psychological distress related to the negative impact of breast cancer on body image. "My Changed Body" is a web-based writing activity that combines expressive writing with a self-compassionate approach that focuses on cancer-related adverse body image alterations. Breast cancer survivors (n=15) and health professionals (n=20) provided feedback via a survey regarding the appearance, organization and content of the website and writing activity. Both breast cancer survivors and health professionals rated the website highly in terms of design, layout and content. Participants commented positively on the website's clear wording, appealing design and ease of navigation. Suggestions for improving the website included simplifying the instructions for the writing activity and allowing participants' writing to be saved. Results from both breast cancer survivors and health professionals suggest a moderate to high level of user acceptability and positive ratings for the overall impression of the website. Self-compassion based writing interventions can be translated to a web-based self-administered activity for body image difficulties after breast cancer treatment in a format that is acceptable to consumers and health professionals. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

The Development of Students' Writing Skills by Teaching Critical Thinking

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久保田, 祐歌

2011-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to present some approaches to teaching critical thinking to college students for developing their Japanese academic writing skills. By examining the literature of critical thinking and writing, this paper shows the following. (1)How philosophy faculty can teach critical thinking skills to their own students the way they can improve their skills necessary for writing argumentative essays. (2)By what class and curriculum students' academic writing skills can be fost...

How to write cases and teaching notes in marketing education?

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Damnjanović Vesna

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents guidelines for developing cases and teaching notes for marketing classes in higher education. Cases are often used in problem-based learning, where students are placed in a problem or decision-making situation and are encouraged to take the role of problem solvers. The recommendations for case writing are based on analysis of high-level examples of marketing cases, published in the most prominent global publishing databases, along with more than 15 years of experience of the authors. This paper explains the process of writing cases depending on the source of data and tackles all necessary issues that should be addressed. Writing teaching notes is focused on providing the supportive material for a case that helps a lecturer understand the reason for writing the case, the questions that might arise from it and the professional or theoretical points that should be raised in discussion. This paper should contribute to interactive learning and provide lecturers with detailed recommendations for writing cases in the marketing field.

The Impact of Project Work and the Writing Process Method on Writing Production

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Díaz Ramírez, Marcela

2014-01-01

This article presents the outcomes of an investigation whose main goal was to implement the methodology of project work and a process approach in order to improve writing production in an English class of Colombian university students since their diagnostic tests showed that their written production had the lowest score. Based on data collected,…

Effects of Multiple Intelligences Activities on Writing Skill Development in an EFL Context

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Gündüz, Zennure Elgün; Ünal, Ismail Dogan

2016-01-01

This study aims at exploring the effects of multiple intelligences activities versus traditional method on English writing development of the sixth grade students in Turkey. A quasi-experimental research method with a pre-test post-test design was applied. The participants were 50 sixth grade students at a state school in Ardahan in Turkey. The…

The use of group work and journal writing in reinventing ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... a multidisciplinary Masters programme in Planning, Management and Practice of ... Most concepts (participation, sustainability, planning, development, and so ... In addition to formal lectures and discussion classes, writing skill workshops to ... need for more structure and guidance to steer individual learning processes.

Improving Geoscience Learning and Increasing Student Engagement Using Online Interactive Writing Assignments with Calibrated Peer Review.

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Harbor, Jon

2014-05-01

Peer review is a hallmark of the publication process for scientific research, yet it is rarely used as a pedagogical approach in university geoscience courses. Learning outcomes for university geoscience courses include content knowledge and critical thinking and analysis skills, and often include written communication of scientific issues or concepts. Because lecture and memorization is not the most effective learning approach for many students, instructors are increasingly exploring teaching approaches that involve active engagement. In this context, writing assignments that engage students in using content, constructing arguments, and critiquing other students' work are highly desirable. However, many of us struggle with extensive writing requirements in our courses because the workload associated with having the instructor provide detailed comments on writing is daunting, especially in large-enrollment courses, and organizing effective peer review by students is very challenging. Calibrated Peer Review (CPR) is a web-based program that involves students in writing and in reviewing each other's writing. It is designed to allow for more involved writing and feedback experiences with much less instructor time. Here we report on the results of a qualitative-methods analysis of narrative survey responses from students using CPR in an introductory geoscience class. In addition to an impact on the students' writing and their understanding of what goes in to effective writing, the results indicate that CPR acted as reinforcement for content learning, and an impetus for gaining a deeper understanding of content material. It allowed students to see how other students explained and analyzed content, and to check their understanding of a topic in relation to other students in the class. Not surprisingly, the instructor reported that students performed far better on exam questions that tested knowledge covered by CPR assignments.

The Cortical Network for Braille Writing in the Blind.

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Likova, Lora T; Tyler, Christopher W; Cacciamani, Laura; Mineff, Kristyo; Nicholas, Spero

2016-01-01

Fundamental forms of high-order cognition, such as reading and writing, are usually studied in the context of one modality - vision. People without sight, however, use the kinesthetic-based Braille writing, and haptic-based Braille reading. We asked whether the cognitive and motor control mechanisms underlying writing and reading are modality-specific or supramodal. While a number of previous functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies have investigated the brain network for Braille reading in the blind, such studies on Braille writing are lacking. Consequently, no comparative network analysis of Braille writing vs. reading exists. Here, we report the first study of Braille writing, and a comparison of the brain organization for Braille writing vs Braille reading. FMRI was conducted in a Siemens 3T Trio scanner. Our custom MRI-compatible drawing/writing lectern was further modified to provide for Braille reading and writing. Each of five paragraphs of novel Braille text describing objects, faces and navigation sequences was read, then reproduced twice by Braille writing from memory, then read a second time. During Braille reading, the haptic-sensing of the Braille letters strongly activated not only the early visual area V1 and V2, but some highly specialized areas, such as the classical visual grapheme area and the Exner motor grapheme area. Braille-writing-from-memory, engaged a significantly more extensive network in dorsal motor, somatosensory/kinesthetic, dorsal parietal and prefrontal cortex. However, in contrast to the largely extended V1 activation in drawing-from-memory in the blind after training (Likova, 2012), Braille writing from memory generated focal activation restricted to the most foveal part of V1, presumably reflecting topographically the focal demands of such a "pin-pricking" task.

Teaching Persuasive Writing with a Class Blog: An Exploratory Study in an Urban Sixth Grade Classroom

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Palombo, Marielle S.

2011-01-01

Adolescent writing proficiency is widely considered to be in a state of crisis nationally, and new instructional approaches are needed to raise writing proficiency among all adolescents, with special attention to those students who struggle most (Graham & Perin, 2007). The affordances of digital communication media, such as online discussion…

The Challenge of Evaluating Students' Scientific Literacy in a Writing-to-Learn Context

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Tomas, Louisa; Ritchie, Stephen M.

2015-01-01

This paper reports on the challenge of evaluating students' scientific literacy in a writing-to-learn context, as illustrated by our experience with an online science-writing project. In this mixed methods study, year 9 students in a case study class (13-14 year olds, n?=?26) authored a series of two "hybridised" short stories that…

Active Learning and Cooperative Learning in the Organic Chemistry Lecture Class

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Paulson, Donald R.

1999-08-01

Faculty in the physical sciences are one of the academic groups least receptive to the use of active learning strategies and cooperative learning in their classrooms. This is particularly so in traditional lecture classes. It is the objective of this paper to show how effective these techniques can be in improving student performance in classes. The use of active learning strategies and cooperative learning groups in my organic chemistry lecture classes has increased the overall pass rate in my classes by an astounding 20-30% over the traditional lecture mode. This has been accomplished without any reduction in "standards". The actual methods employed are presented as well as a discussion of how I came to radically change the way I teach my classes.

THE ROLES OF TED TALKS AND VLOG IN ENHANCING STUDENTS‘ ACTIVENESS IN SPEAKING CLASS

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Candradewi Wahyu Anggraeni

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The aims of this research are to describe the roles of TED Talks and Vlog in enhancing students‘ activeness in speaking class and to explain the students‘ perspectives toward the use of TED Talks and Vlog in speaking class. The research method used in this research is qualitative research design in the form of case study. The instruments of data collection are documents of students‘ vlog, observation, questionnaire, and interview. The participants of this research are the students of speaking class. This research has three significances which consist of theoretical, practical, and pedagogical significances. The theoretical significance is the research contributes to prove and add the speaking theories, whereas the practical significance is the research can be conducted by teachers, lecturers, or researchers to figure out the roles and the ways to improve students‘ participation in speaking class. In addition, the pedagogical significance shows that this research provides a reference of the use TED Talks and Vlog in enhancing students‘ activeness in speaking class, helps the students to be active in speaking class by following the lecturer‘s instruction toward the speaking activities given, and can be used as the empirical research finding toward students‘ activeness in speaking class. The findings show that TED Talks and Vlog have seven roles in order to help the students to be more active in speaking class and reveal the students‘ perceptions about virtues and hurdles toward the use of TED Talks and Vlog in speaking class.

Reflective Writing for a Better Understanding of Scientific Concepts in High School

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El-Helou, Joseph; Kalman, Calvin S.

2018-02-01

Science teachers can always benefit from efficient tools that help students to engage with the subject and understand it better without significantly adding to the teacher's workload nor requiring too much of class time to manage. Reflective writing is such a low-impact, high-return tool. What follows is an introduction to reflective writing, and more on its usefulness for teachers is given in the last part of this article.

PROJECT BASED TASK TO IMPROVE THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDENTS‘ MASTERY IN CRITICAL WRITING

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Ribut Surjowati

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The paper is aimed at describing the students‘ writing improvement in the EFL classroom after the implementation of Project Based Task (PBT was done in writing class of the fourth semester students in FBS-UWKS. For them, writing is difficult and complicated subject, they almost had no idea of what and how to write, which were caused by their lack of motivation and information of how and what they are writing. This research is classroom action research (CAR and the fourth semester students of UWKS were the subjects. Before PBT was implemented, 25% students got 70. It was due to their lack of motivation and anthusiam so that they had no idea of how to write the essay correctly. However, after PBT was implemented, the students‘ anthusiatic was increasing in writing. It is because they were involved in the learning process and designing their own challenging task. There were two cycles implemented and the students‘ writing score was improving significantly in the first cycle and in the second cycle, 81% students‘s passed success indicator. In conclusion, this PBT is a teaching technique which can improve the students‘ writing mastery

Teaching micro skills Through Communicative Activities in EFL Classes in Albania

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Marsela HARIZAJ

2015-07-01

Full Text Available In English language teaching and learning, an essential role is played by grammar and vocabulary. The main question stated in the study lays on how grammar is taught in our English classes, inductively or deductively? In EFL classes, it is thought that grammar is not particularly special, but studies show that teaching it communicatively enables student to improve communicative ability in foreign language. This paper focuses on: How grammar and vocabulary are taught? What is their importance in language learning? What kind of strategies and activities may be used to facilitate teaching in English classes? What is the perception of students about communicative activities used in class? This paper is based on theoretical analysis and practical analyses. When the purpose of learning is to achieve communication, skills and microskills are learned in meaningful contexts.

Learners’ preferences towards Corrective feedback in writing assignments in tertiary education

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Horbacauskiene Jolita

2015-12-01

Full Text Available For several decades, there has been a heated debate about the value of providing corrective feedback in writing assignments in English as a foreign language (EFL classes. Despite the fact that corrective feedback in writing has been analysed from various angles, learners’ expectations regarding feedback given by language instructors are still to be considered, especially in different learning settings. Student attitudes have been found to be associated with motivation, proficiency, learner anxiety, autonomous learning, etc. (Elwood & Bode, 2014. Thus, the aim of this paper was to compare EFL learners’ attitudes towards corrective feedback and self-evaluation of writing skills in different learning settings. Students at two technological universities in France and Lithuania were surveyed and asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire combining the Likert scale and rank order questions. The results indicate that frequency of writing assignments seems to have little or no impact on students’ self-evaluation of writing skills. Moreover, although the two groups of students showed preference for feedback on different error types (e.g., feedback on structure vs. feedback on grammar, nevertheless, indirect corrective feedback with a clue was favoured by all the respondents.

IMPROVING STUDENTS’ WRITING ABILITY THROUGH CUE CARDS TECHNIQUE

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Fenny Thresia

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This research is a qualitative research with two variables. The classroom action research is conducted at phisics study program of Muhammadiyah University of Metro. The subject of this research is first semester students of physics study program. The number of the students is 22. The objective of this research was to know how cue cards technique improve the students’ writing ability in descriptive text. The researcher choose one class because they have problem in writing ability. This research was conducted in two cycles. Each cycle consisted of planning, acting, observing and reflecting. The data were collected from test (pre test and post test, observation. The result of this research can be seen from the average score of pre test (before treatment was 61,86, in cycle 1 was 70,90 and in post test cycle 2 was 78. That was involved in upgrading maximally. It implied that cue cards technique can improve the students writing ability in descriptive text. In other words, the class had fulfilled criteria success of standard students competency from the school.It was supported by the observation of the students. From the result of the discussion, the researcher concludes that in this research there is an improvement student writing ability in descriptive text using cue cards technique at the students of physics academic year 2015/2016. Key Words : Descriptive Text, Writing Ability, Cue Cards Technique

Applying Cultural Project Based Learning to Develop Students' Academic Writing

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Irawati, Lulus

2015-01-01

Writing is considered to be the most demanding and difficult skill for many college students, since there are some steps to be followed such as prewriting, drafting, editing, revising and publishing. The interesting topic like culture including lifestyle, costume, and custom is necessary to be offered in Academic Writing class. Accordingly, this…

Promoting linguistic complexity, greater message length and ease of engagement in email writing in people with aphasia: initial evidence from a study utilizing assistive writing software.

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Thiel, Lindsey; Sage, Karen; Conroy, Paul

2017-01-01

Improving email writing in people with aphasia could enhance their ability to communicate, promote interaction and reduce isolation. Spelling therapies have been effective in improving single-word writing. However, there has been limited evidence on how to achieve changes to everyday writing tasks such as email writing in people with aphasia. One potential area that has been largely unexplored in the literature is the potential use of assistive writing technologies, despite some initial evidence that assistive writing software use can lead to qualitative and quantitative improvements to spontaneous writing. This within-participants case series design study aimed to investigate the effects of using assistive writing software to improve email writing in participants with dysgraphia related to aphasia. Eight participants worked through a hierarchy of writing tasks of increasing complexity within broad topic areas that incorporate the spheres of writing need of the participants: writing for domestic needs, writing for social needs and writing for business/administrative needs. Through completing these tasks, participants had the opportunity to use the various functions of the software, such as predictive writing, word banks and text to speech. Therapy also included training and practice in basic computer and email skills to encourage increased independence. Outcome measures included email skills, keyboard skills, email writing and written picture description tasks, and a perception of disability assessment. Four of the eight participants showed statistically significant improvements to spelling accuracy within emails when using the software. At a group level there was a significant increase in word length with the software; while four participants showed noteworthy changes to the range of word classes used. Enhanced independence in email use and improvements in participants' perceptions of their writing skills were also noted. This study provided some initial evidence

A Heuristic Tool for Teaching Business Writing: Self-Assessment, Knowledge Transfer, and Writing Exercises

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Ortiz, Lorelei A.

2013-01-01

To teach effective business communication, instructors must target students’ current weaknesses in writing. One method for doing so is by assigning writing exercises. When used heuristically, writing exercises encourage students to practice self-assessment, self-evaluation, active learning, and knowledge transfer, all while reinforcing the basics…

Webcasts promote in-class active participation and learning in an engineering elective course

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Freguia, Stefano

2017-09-01

This paper describes the design and outcomes of an educational intervention undertaken to improve the quality of delivery of a fourth-year engineering elective course - Industrial Wastewater and Solid Waste Management at the University of Queensland. The objective was to increase the level of active participation of students in planned active-learning classroom activities, including whole-class discussions and small group project-type work. According to a flipped classroom model, new online material in the form of webcasts was proposed to students before class. Students reacted very positively to the webcasts: the percentage of students viewing the webcast before planned workshop sessions ranged between 80% and 92% over the five weeks of the intervention. Enhanced engagement led also to increased attendance (85-92% at workshop sessions), and remarkable active participation in class (half of observed teams were ∼80% active). Remarkably, team performance as quantified by their report marks linearly correlated with the level of active participation in class.

Functional Anatomy of Writing with the Dominant Hand

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Najee-ullah, Muslimah ‘Ali; Hallett, Mark

2013-01-01

While writing performed by any body part is similar in style, indicating a common program, writing with the dominant hand is particularly skilled. We hypothesized that this skill utilizes a special motor network supplementing the motor equivalence areas. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging in 13 normal subjects, we studied nine conditions: writing, zigzagging and tapping, each with the right hand, left hand and right foot. We identified brain regions activated with the right (dominant) hand writing task, exceeding the activation common to right-hand use and the writing program, both identified without right-hand writing itself. Right-hand writing significantly differed from the other tasks. First, we observed stronger activations in the left dorsal prefrontal cortex, left intraparietal sulcus and right cerebellum. Second, the left anterior putamen was required to initiate all the tested tasks, but only showed sustained activation during the right-hand writing condition. Lastly, an exploratory analysis showed clusters in the left ventral premotor cortex and inferior and superior parietal cortices were only significantly active for right-hand writing. The increased activation with right-hand writing cannot be ascribed to increased effort, since this is a well-practiced task much easier to perform than some of the other tasks studied. Because parietal-premotor connections code for particular skills, it would seem that the parietal and premotor regions, together with basal ganglia-sustained activation likely underlie the special skill of handwriting with the dominant hand. PMID:23844132

Functional anatomy of writing with the dominant hand.

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Horovitz, Silvina G; Gallea, Cecile; Najee-Ullah, Muslimah 'ali; Hallett, Mark

2013-01-01

While writing performed by any body part is similar in style, indicating a common program, writing with the dominant hand is particularly skilled. We hypothesized that this skill utilizes a special motor network supplementing the motor equivalence areas. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging in 13 normal subjects, we studied nine conditions: writing, zigzagging and tapping, each with the right hand, left hand and right foot. We identified brain regions activated with the right (dominant) hand writing task, exceeding the activation common to right-hand use and the writing program, both identified without right-hand writing itself. Right-hand writing significantly differed from the other tasks. First, we observed stronger activations in the left dorsal prefrontal cortex, left intraparietal sulcus and right cerebellum. Second, the left anterior putamen was required to initiate all the tested tasks, but only showed sustained activation during the right-hand writing condition. Lastly, an exploratory analysis showed clusters in the left ventral premotor cortex and inferior and superior parietal cortices were only significantly active for right-hand writing. The increased activation with right-hand writing cannot be ascribed to increased effort, since this is a well-practiced task much easier to perform than some of the other tasks studied. Because parietal-premotor connections code for particular skills, it would seem that the parietal and premotor regions, together with basal ganglia-sustained activation likely underlie the special skill of handwriting with the dominant hand.

Teaching Children to Write: A Meta-analysis of Writing Intervention Research

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Monica Koster

2015-10-01

Full Text Available It has been established that in the Netherlands, as in other countries, a majority of students do not attain the desired level of writing skills at the end of elementary school. Time devoted to writing is limited, and only a minority of schools succeed in effectively teaching writing. An improvement in the way writing is taught in elementary school is clearly required. In order to identify effective instructional practices we conducted a meta-analysis of writing intervention studies aimed at grade 4 to 6 in a regular school setting. Average effect sizes were calculated for ten intervention categories: strategy instruction, text structure instruction, pre-writing activities, peer assistance, grammar instruction, feedback, evaluation, process approach, goal setting, and revision. Five of these categories yielded statistically significant results. Pairwise comparison of these categories revealed that goal setting (ES = 2.03 is the most effective intervention to improve students’ writing performance, followed by strategy instruction (ES = .96, text structure instruction (ES = .76, peer assistance (ES = .59, and feedback (ES = .88 respectively. Further research is needed to examine how these interventions can be implemented effectively in classrooms to improve elementary students’ writing performance.

Movie-Generated EFL Writing: Discovering the Act of Writing through Visual Literacy Practices

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Hekmati, Nargess; Ghahremani Ghajar, Sue-san; Navidinia, Hossein

2018-01-01

The present article explores the idea of using movies in EFL classrooms to develop students' writing skill. In this qualitative study, 15 EFL learners were engaged in different writing activities in a contextualized form of movies, meaning that the films acted as text-books, and activities were designed based on the contexts of the films. Taking…

Creativity in the English Class: Activities to Promote EFL Learning

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Hernán A. Avila

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This article introduces a pedagogical intervention that includes a set of creative activities designed to improve the oral and written production of students in the English classroom, especially those who have shown a lack of interest or attention. It was observed that participants initially seemed careless about studying the language. Eventually they responded to the proposed methods positively and were more willing and motivated to participate in chain games, creative writing, and screenwriting exercises. The activities helped develop the students’ fluency in both oral and written production and improved their understanding of English grammar and structure.

Collaborative Writing in a Statistics and Research Methods Course.

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Dunn, Dana S.

1996-01-01

Describes a collaborative writing project in which students must identify key variables, search and read relevant literature, and reason through a research idea by working closely with a partner. The end result is a polished laboratory report in the APA style. The class includes a peer review workshop prior to final editing. (MJP)

The Utility of Writing Assignments in Undergraduate Bioscience

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Libarkin, Julie; Ording, Gabriel

2012-01-01

We tested the hypothesis that engagement in a few, brief writing assignments in a nonmajors science course can improve student ability to convey critical thought about science. A sample of three papers written by students (n = 30) was coded for presence and accuracy of elements related to scientific writing. Scores for different aspects of scientific writing were significantly correlated, suggesting that students recognized relationships between components of scientific thought. We found that students' ability to write about science topics and state conclusions based on data improved over the course of three writing assignments, while the abilities to state a hypothesis and draw clear connections between human activities and environmental impacts did not improve. Three writing assignments generated significant change in student ability to write scientifically, although our results suggest that three is an insufficient number to generate complete development of scientific writing skills. PMID:22383616

How Role Play Addresses the Difficulties Students Perceive when Writing Reflectively about the Concepts They are Learning in Science

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Millar, Susan

, remember and think about a concept and to plan the sequence of their reflective writing. This study was undertaken in four different classes at junior to senior levels. The difficulties identified by students were successfully addressed by role play and the activities that are integral to it. These include physical or kinaesthetic activity, social construction, the use of drawing, diagrams and text, and the provision of a concrete model of the concept. Through the enactment effect, kinaesthetic activity enables students to automatically remember and visualise concepts, whilst visual stimuli and social construction provide opportunities for students to both visualise and verbalise concepts. In addition, the provision of a concrete model enables most students to visualise and understand abstract concepts to some extent. These activities, embedded in role play, enable students to understand, remember, sequence and think about a concept as they engage in reflective writing. This, in turn, enhances understanding and memory. Role play has hitherto been regarded as a useful teaching technique when dealing with very young students. This study demonstrates that role play can be highly effective when teaching Science at the secondary level. This investigation looks at the activities embedded in role play, and demonstrates how they can be effectively translated from theoretical constructs into classroom practice. Grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss, 1967; Glaser, 1978; 1998; 2002) was selected as the most appropriate methodology for this investigation. The problems of identifying and controlling variables in an educational setting were essentially resolved using this qualitative, interpretative approach. Students from four classes in Years 8, 10 and 11 were investigated. Data were gathered using classroom observations, informal interviews, and formal written interviews, focus group conversations and samples of student writing.

FUNCTIONALITY OF STUDENTS WITH PHYSICAL DEFICIENCY IN WRITING AND COMPUTER USE ACTIVITIES

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Fernanda Matrigani Mercado Gutierres de Queiroz

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The educational inclusion is focused on the learning of all students that have confronts barriers in to effective participation in the school life. In the inclusive education perspective, the students with disabilities must meet be served preferably in the regular education and the special education that needs to offer the educational attendance specialized to complement their educational needs. In this context, the objective of the research is defined in: Describe the functionality of students with physical disabilities, in the Multifunctional Resource Rooms, for activities of writing and computer use, according to the perception of the teachers. The participants of this analysis were teachers of the Educational Service Specialist that are serving students with disabilities. For data collection was used instrument School Function Assessment. The data were organized into a single document, the categories being presented. 1Written work; 2Use of the computer and the equipment. The conclusion was that students with physical disabilities, especially those with impaired upper-limb functionality can have find difficult to write using conventional materials, so they need Assistive Technology to develop their writing skills. Therefore, it is important to improve the profile analysis of the student, thus to choose the more appropriate resource as, it is necessary to improve the materials of the Multifunctional Resource Rooms to meet the diversity of all students with physical disabilities, since the type of furniture, didactic-pedagogical materials and equipment, are not favor in the use by students with serious motor disabilities.

Designing Content for A Web-Based Application Used in Blended Composition Classes: Things to Consider in The EFL/ESL Context

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Irfan Rifai

2014-10-01

Full Text Available In the world of composition teaching, teachers of writing play just as vital role. Their tasks are demonstrating, motivating, supporting, responding, and evaluating. The days of these teachers are often filled with editing and additional feedback sessions. Thus, in order to have a web especially designed as a tool for learning to write in ESL, the five tasks mentioned by Harmer should be made as important points to consider (teachers’ preferences. The content of such web should be also based on careful considerations that include factors like students’ preferences (user experience. It is to make sure that the web being created meets the preference of the users. With the thoughts, two groups of students were gathered in a study involving two writing classes in which online technology being used as a platform for students and Instructor to exchange ideas, review and edit drafts, provide writing tips links and leave comments on others’ pieces of writing. Students’ online activities were observed and their feedback during group discussion was used as the base to construct the content of the web. 

Writing for Science Literacy

Science.gov (United States)

Chamberlin, Shannon Marie

Scientific literacy is the foundation on which both California's currently adopted science standards and the recommended new standards for science are based (CDE, 2000; NRC, 2011). The Writing for Science Literacy (WSL) curriculum focuses on a series of writing and discussion tasks aimed at increasing students' scientific literacy. These tasks are based on three teaching and learning constructs: thought and language, scaffolding, and meta-cognition. To this end, WSL is focused on incorporating several strategies from the Rhetorical Approach to Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking to engage students in activities designed to increase their scientific literacy; their ability to both identify an author's claim and evidence and to develop their own arguments based on a claim and evidence. Students participated in scaffolded activities designed to strengthen their written and oral discourse, hone their rhetorical skills and improve their meta-cognition. These activities required students to participate in both writing and discussion tasks to create meaning and build their science content knowledge. Students who participated in the WSL curriculum increased their written and oral fluency and were able to accurately write an evidence-based conclusion all while increasing their conceptual knowledge. This finding implies that a discourse rich curriculum can lead to an increase in scientific knowledge.

Microcomputer Activities Which Encourage the Reading-Writing Connection.

Science.gov (United States)

Balajthy, Ernest

Many reading teachers, cognizant of the creative opportunities for skill development allowed by new reading-writing software, are choosing to use microcomputers in their classrooms full-time. Adventure story creation programs capitalize on reading-writing integration by allowing children, with appropriate assistance, to create their own…

Writing and Science Literacy

Science.gov (United States)

Weiss-Magasic, Coleen

2012-01-01

Writing activities are a sure way to assess and enhance students' science literacy. Sometimes the author's students use technical writing to communicate their lab experiences, just as practicing scientists do. Other times, they use creative writing to make connections to the topics they're learning. This article describes both types of writing…

21 CFR 14.174 - Advice and recommendations in writing.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... specific drug or a class of drugs are ordinarily in the form of a written report. The report may consist of the approved minutes of the meeting or a separate written report. The report responds to the specific... 21 Food and Drugs 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Advice and recommendations in writing. 14.174...

First-Year Composition Teachers' Uses of New Media Technologies in the Composition Class

Science.gov (United States)

Mina, Lilian W.

2014-01-01

As new media technologies emerge and evolve rapidly, the need to make informed decisions about using these technologies in teaching writing increases. This dissertation research study aimed at achieving multiple purposes. The first purpose was to catalog the new media technologies writing teachers use in teaching first-year composition classes.…

Using gamification to develop academic writing skills in dental undergraduate students.

Science.gov (United States)

El Tantawi, Maha; Sadaf, Shazia; AlHumaid, Jehan

2018-02-01

To assess the satisfaction of first-year dental students with gamification and its effect on perceived and actual improvement of academic writing. Two first-year classes of dental undergraduate students were recruited for the study which extended over 4 months and ended in January 2015. A pre-intervention assessment of students' academic writing skills was performed using criteria to evaluate writing. The same criteria were used to evaluate the final writing assignment after the intervention. Students' satisfaction with game aspects was assessed. The per cent change in writing score was regressed on scores of satisfaction with game aspects controlling for gender. Perceived improvement in writing was also assessed. Data from 87 (94.6%) students were available for analysis. Students' overall satisfaction with the gamified experience was modest [mean (SD) = 5.9 (2.1)] and so was their overall perception of improvement in writing [mean (SD) = 6.0 (2.2)]. The per cent score of the first assignment was 35.6 which improved to 80 in the last assignment. Satisfaction with playing the game was significantly associated with higher percentage of improvement in actual writing skills [regression coefficient (95% confidence interval) = 21.1 (1.9, 40.2)]. Using gamification in an obligatory course for first-year dental students was associated with an improvement in academic writing skills although students' satisfaction with game aspects was modest and their willingness to use gamification in future courses was minimal. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

"Anything Could Happen": Managing Uncertainty in an Academic Writing Partnership

Science.gov (United States)

DiPardo, Anne; Staley, Sara; Selland, Makenzie; Martin, Adam; Gniewek, Olivia

2012-01-01

This article describes a writing partnership that involved university preservice teachers and ninth grade students enrolled in an integrated social studies/language arts class. While the high school students found the experience exciting and satisfying, the preservice teachers expressed anxieties and concerns as they endeavored to foster academic…

Dissociation of writing processes: functional magnetic resonance imaging during writing of Japanese ideographic characters.

Science.gov (United States)

Matsuo, K; Nakai, T; Kato, C; Moriya, T; Isoda, H; Takehara, Y; Sakahara, H

2000-06-01

Dissociation between copying letters and writing to dictation has been reported in the clinical neuropsychological literature. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was conducted in normal volunteers to detect the neurofunctional differences between 'copying Kanji', the Japanese ideographic characters, and 'writing Kanji corresponding to phonological information'. Four tasks were conducted: the copying-Kanji task, the writing-Kanji-corresponding-to-phonogram task, the Kanji-grapheme-puzzle task, and the control task. The right superior parietal lobule was extensively activated during the copying-Kanji task (a model of the copying letters process) and the Kanji-grapheme-puzzle task. These observations suggested that this area was involved in referring the visual stimuli closely related to the ongoing handwriting movements. On the other hand, Broca's area, which is crucial for language production, was extensively activated during the writing-Kanji-corresponding-to-phonogram task (a model of the writing-to-dictation process). The Kanji-grapheme-puzzle task activated the bilateral border portions between the inferior parietal lobule and the occipital lobe, the left premotor area, and the bilateral supplementary motor area (SMA). Since the Kanji-grapheme-puzzle task involved manipulospatial characteristics, these results suggested cooperation between visuospatial and motor executive functions, which may be extensively utilized in demanding visual language processing. The neurofunctional difference between 'copying Kanji' and 'writing Kanji corresponding to phonogram' was efficiently demonstrated by this fMRI experiment.

The effects of bedtime writing on difficulty falling asleep: A polysomnographic study comparing to-do lists and completed activity lists.

Science.gov (United States)

Scullin, Michael K; Krueger, Madison L; Ballard, Hannah K; Pruett, Natalya; Bliwise, Donald L

2018-01-01

Bedtime worry, including worrying about incomplete future tasks, is a significant contributor to difficulty falling asleep. Previous research showed that writing about one's worries can help individuals fall asleep. We investigated whether the temporal focus of bedtime writing-writing a to-do list versus journaling about completed activities-affected sleep onset latency. Fifty-seven healthy young adults (18-30) completed a writing assignment for 5 min prior to overnight polysomnography recording in a controlled sleep laboratory. They were randomly assigned to write about tasks that they needed to remember to complete the next few days (to-do list) or about tasks they had completed the previous few days (completed list). Participants in the to-do list condition fell asleep significantly faster than those in the completed-list condition. The more specifically participants wrote their to-do list, the faster they subsequently fell asleep, whereas the opposite trend was observed when participants wrote about completed activities. Therefore, to facilitate falling asleep, individuals may derive benefit from writing a very specific to-do list for 5 min at bedtime rather than journaling about completed activities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Differences in Active and Collaborative Learning by Race for Community College Developmental Writing Students

Science.gov (United States)

Barhoum, Sim; Wood, J. Luke

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not there were significant differences in the self-reported frequency of active and collaborative learning by racial/ethnic affiliation between students who have completed a developmental writing course and those that plan to take one. Drawing upon data from the Community College Survey of…

Scientific writing and editing: a new role for the library.

Science.gov (United States)

Stephens, P A; Campbell, J M

1995-10-01

Traditional library instruction programs teach scientists how to find and manage information, but not how to report their research findings effectively. Since 1990, the William H. Welch Medical Library has sponsored classes on scientific writing and, since 1991, has offered a fee-based editing service for affiliates of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. These programs were designed to fill an educational gap: Although formal instruction was offered to support other phases of the scientific communication process, the medical institutions had no central resource designed to help scientists develop and improve their writing skills. The establishment of such a resource at Welch has been well received by the community. Attendance at classes has grown steadily, and in 1993 a credit course on biomedical writing was added to the curriculum. The editing service, introduced in late 1991, has generated more requests for assistance than can be handled by the library's editor. This service not only extends the library's educational outreach but also generates a revenue stream. The Welch program in scientific writing and editing, or elements of it, could provide a model for other academic medical libraries interested in moving in this new direction.

First-Year and Non-First-Year Student Expectations Regarding In-Class and Out-of-Class Learning Activities in Introductory Biology †

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Tanya L.; Brazeal, Kathleen R.; Couch, Brian A.

2017-01-01

National calls for teaching transformation build on a constructivist learning theory and propose that students learn by actively engaging in course activities and interacting with other students. While interactive pedagogies can improve learning, they also have the potential to challenge traditional norms regarding class participation and learning strategies. To better understand the potential openness of students to interactive teaching practices, we administered a survey during the first week of two sections of an introductory biology course to characterize how students envisioned spending time during class as well as what activities they expected to complete outside of class during non-exam weeks and in preparation for exams. Additionally, we sought to test the hypothesis that the expectations of first-year students differed from those of non-first-year students. Analyses of closed-ended and open-ended questions revealed that students held a wide range of expectations and that most students expressed expectations consistent with some degree of transformed teaching. Furthermore, first-year students expected more active learning in class, more out-of-class coursework during non-exam weeks, and more social learning strategies than non-first-year students. We discuss how instructor awareness of incoming student expectations might be used to promote success in introductory science courses. PMID:28512514

The Impact of Observer Ring Technique on the Writing Achievement: A case of Iranian EFL Learners

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jahanbakhsh Nikoopour

2010-11-01

Full Text Available This study was conducted to probe the effect of the observer ring technique on the participants’ writing achievement. In so doing, the researchers utilized a quasi-experimental design with 20 participants in the control group and 18 in the experimental group. Instrumentation included a writing handout, an Oxford Placement Test (standard proficiency test, and a rating scale of writing. As a treatment, the participants in the experimental group were asked to write at home and bring their papers to the class to be corrected by their classmates and the teacher was the supervisor. In the control group, the papers were corrected by the teacher. The results of the pre-test indicated that the participants of the two groups were homogeneous with regard to proficiency level as well as their writing ability. The results of the post-test revealed that the writing ability of the participants in the experimental group had improved during the study. Moreover, the observer ring technique had a positive and significant effect on the participants' writing ability. The findings may promise implications for incorporating this new interactive feedback model into EFL writing classes.

The Impact of Coordination Methods on the Enhancement of Business Writing

Science.gov (United States)

Prater, Edmund; Rhee, Hyeun-Suk

2003-01-01

Universities with limited resources are being pressured to cover more material within their degree programs. Because of this, schools are looking to integrate material from different classes. This paper sets out to determine if students can learn business writing within the context of another class, specifically, an information systems class. The…

A Self-assessment Checklist for Undergraduate Students’ Argumentative Writing

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Vahid Nimehchisalem

2014-02-01

Full Text Available With a growing emphasis on students’ ability to assess their own written works in teaching English as a Second Language (ESL writing courses, self-assessment checklists are today regarded as useful tools. These checklists can help learners diagnose their own weaknesses and improve their writing performance. This necessitates development of checklists that guide the learners in assessing their own writing. In this study, a self-assessment checklist was developed for undergraduate students in an ESL context to help them with their argumentative essays. This paper presents the related literature and theories, based on which the checklist was developed. The checklist is described and its potential theoretical and practical implications in ESL writing classes are discussed. Further research is necessary to refine the checklist through focus group studies with lecturers and students.

Test Takers' Writing Activities during the "TOEFL iBT"® Writing Tasks: A Stimulated Recall Study. "TOEFL iBT"® Research Report. TOEFL iBT-25. ETS Research Report No. RR-15-04

Science.gov (United States)

Barkaoui, Khaled

2015-01-01

This study aimed to describe the writing activities that test takers engage in when responding to the writing tasks in the "TOEFL iBT"[superscript R] test and to examine the effects of task type and test-taker English language proficiency (ELP) and keyboarding skills on the frequency and distribution of these activities. Each of 22 test…

"Everybody Wants Somebody to Hear Their Story": High School Students Writing Screenplays

Science.gov (United States)

Bedard, Carol; Fuhrken, Charles

2010-01-01

Writing a screenplay was an assignment that was part of Storytelling Through Film, a program sponsored by the Austin Film Festival, a professional film organization. In six weeks, students in creative writing and English classes first learned about the genre of screenwriting and then wrote original screenplays. The curriculum was a collaborative…

Fostering critical thinking and collaborative learning skills among medical students through a research protocol writing activity in the curriculum.

Science.gov (United States)

Sahoo, Soumendra; Mohammed, Ciraj Ali

2018-06-01

This intervention was aimed to analyse the effect of academic writing and journal critiquing as educational approaches in improving critical thinking and collaborative learning among undergraduate medical students. A research proposal writing format was created for the 4th year medical students of Melaka Manipal Medical College, Malaysia during their ophthalmology clinical postings. The students worked in small groups and developed research protocols through an evidence based approach. This was followed by writing reflective summaries in academic portfolios about the activity undertaken. A mixed methods study was designed to explore the possible role of collaborative research proposal writing in enhancing critical thinking and collaborative learning. Analysis of reflections submitted by 188 medical students after the intervention indicate that majority of them found an improvement in their skills of critical thinking and collaborative learning as a result of research protocol writing. All participants agreed that the model helped in applying concepts to new situations in the form of designing their own study, which reflected in enhanced higher order cognitive skills. This study shows that the introduction of a structured module in the core medical curriculum that focuses on research writing skills embedded with collaborative and reflective practices can enhance collaborative learning, critical thinking, and reasoning among medical students.

Fostering critical thinking and collaborative learning skills among medical students through a research protocol writing activity in the curriculum

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soumendra Sahoo

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Purpose This intervention was aimed to analyse the effect of academic writing and journal critiquing as educational approaches in improving critical thinking and collaborative learning among undergraduate medical students. Methods A research proposal writing format was created for the 4th year medical students of Melaka Manipal Medical College, Malaysia during their ophthalmology clinical postings. The students worked in small groups and developed research protocols through an evidence based approach. This was followed by writing reflective summaries in academic portfolios about the activity undertaken.A mixed methods study was designed to explore the possible role of collaborative research proposal writing in enhancing critical thinking and collaborative learning. Results Analysis of reflections submitted by 188 medical students after the intervention indicate that majority of them found an improvement in their skills of critical thinking and collaborative learning as a result of research protocol writing. All participants agreed that the model helped in applying concepts to new situations in the form of designing their own study, which reflected in enhanced higher order cognitive skills. Conclusion This study shows that the introduction of a structured module in the core medical curriculum that focuses on research writing skills embedded with collaborative and reflective practices can enhance collaborative learning, critical thinking, and reasoning among medical students.

Storytelling in EFL Classes

OpenAIRE

Emine Bala

2015-01-01

Storytelling is one of the oldest ways of education and oral tradition that is continuously being used to transfer the previous nation‘s cultures, tradition and customs. It constructs a bridge between the new and the old. Storytelling in EFL classes usually provides a meaningful context, interesting atmosphere and is used as a tool to highly motivate students. Although it seems to be mostly based on speaking, it is used to promote other skills such as writing, reading, and listening. Storytel...

National Writing Project's Multimodal Literacies and Teacher Collaboration: Enhanced Student Learning on Global Social Issues

Science.gov (United States)

Iyengar, Kalpana; Hood, Caleb

2016-01-01

Iyengar and Hood, both teacher consultants with the San Antonio Writing Project (SAWP), and instructors of an undergraduate society and social issues class, collaborated to enhance their undergraduate students' writing experiences using the National Writing Project model (Lieberman & Wood, 2003). Iyengar and Hood used strategies such as…

An Imaginative Approach to Teaching Writing

Science.gov (United States)

Cuenca, Carmen Manuel; Carmona, Rodrigo Fernandez

2012-01-01

Mindful of the fact that one of the most important ingredients in learning to write in a foreign language is motivation, the authors have experimented in their classes with a wide range of exercises from a very useful source: Gianni Rodari's "Grammatico della Fantasia: lntroduzione all'arte di inventare storie" (Torino: Piccola Biblioteca Einandi,…

A Study on Creating Writing Strategy and Evaluation Tool for Book Summary

Science.gov (United States)

Konuk, Sümeyye; Ören, Zeyneb; Benzer, Ahmet; Sefer, Aysegül

2016-01-01

Summarizing is restating the most important ideas from an original text briefly. Students often need summary writing skill along the education life since it provides understanding and remembering the reading material. This study aims to apply book summary writing strategy which is based on in-class implementations, and to develop the students book…

The Practice of Feedback Provision in teaching writing skills: Adu ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study showed that the teachers and students had positive perception towards the contribution of feedback provision in improving writing skills. The study also showed that teachers don't provide regular writing activities which create conducive environment and encourage multi draft writing. The study further showed that ...

Dream and Creative Writing

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

杨公建

2015-01-01

Freud asserts that the unconscious will express its suppressed wishes and desires. The unconscious will then redirect andreshape these concealed wishes into acceptable social activities, presenting them in the form of images or symbols in our dreams and/or our writings. Dream is the unconscious which promotes the creative writing.

The Integration of Vocabulary and Effective Sentence Mastery towards Students’ Argumentative Writing Skills

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Tien Rafida

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The aims of this result to reveal the integrated of vocabulary and effective sentence mastery against the argumentation writing skill students’ PBI-SU FITK UIN the hypothesis proposed in this results are : (1 vocabulary mastery contribute to the argument to the arguments writing skill of students; (2 effective sentence mastery contribute to the argument writing skill of student; (3 vocabulary mastery and effective sentence mastery together contribute to the argument writing skill of students. This result uses a quantitative approach. The population in this study is PBI UIN-SU as many as 6 classes. As for the samples in this result are students of class II. By using cluster random sampling, obtained a sample of 140 students. The instrument used is a test. These results indicate that: (1 vocabulary mastery contributed positively and significantly to the argument essay writing skills of students. The amount of contribution is 18.4%; (2 Effective sentence mastery contribute positively and significantly to the argument essay writing skills of students. The amount of contribution is 11.7%; (3 mastery of vocabulary and mastery of effective sentences together contributed positively and significantly to the argument essay writing skills of students. The major contribution is 26.5%; (4 mastering vocabulary to effectively contribute by 16.39% against the argument essay writing skills of students; (5 Mastery effective sentence effectively contribute 13.11% against the argument essay writing skills of students. Based on the results of this study, it was concluded that the vocabulary and mastery of effective sentences are the two factors that influence the argument essay writing skills of students in addition to other factors. Therefore, the researchers suggest to all parties concerned to pay more attention to these two factors so that students' skills in essay writing can be further improved.

Active Learning in ASTR 101 Lectures

Science.gov (United States)

Deming, Grace L.

1998-12-01

The lecture is the most common teaching method used at colleges and universities, but does this format facilitate student learning? Lectures can be brilliantly delivered, but they are received by a passive audience. As time passes during a lecture, student attention and effective notetaking diminish. Many students become more interested in a subject and retain information longer in courses that rely on active rather than passive teaching methods. Interactive teaching strategies such as the think-pair-share-(write), the 3-minute paper, and the misconception confrontation can be used to actively engage students during lecture. As a cooperative learning strategy, the think-pair-share-(write) technique requires active discussion by everyone in the class. The "write" component structures individual accountability into the activity. The 3-minute paper is an expansion of the standard 1-minute paper feedback technique, but is required of all students rather than voluntary or anonymous. The misconception confrontation technique allows students to focus on how their pre- conceived notions differ from the scientific explanation. These techniques can be easily adopted by anyone currently using a standard lecture format for introductory astronomy. The necessary components are a commitment by the instructor to require active participation by all students and a willingness to try new teaching methods.

Scaffolding Singaporean Students to Write Vividly in the Chinese ‘Mother Tongue’, Mandarin

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Tzemin Chung

2014-02-01

Full Text Available This paper details results from a three-year study investigating how to help students in Singapore write vivid compositions in Mandarin, the Chinese ‘mother tongue’. Mastery of the mother tongue by Singaporean students has become an important government priority in recent years. The strategies employed by this study included the use of information and communications technology (ICT mediated scaffolds such as collaborative mind maps and online peer editing to help students learn micro-writing strategies. This paper outlines the process of using various scaffolds to support students to learn and apply the action chain micro-writing strategy. A class of 31 Primary 4 from a neighbourhood school participated in this study. Findings indicated that students were very enthusiastic about writing in the ICT-mediated environment. Contrary to the teacher’s initial belief, students could be scaffolded to write action chains quickly. Findings highlighted the potential of scaffolding students in learning small chunks of writing strategy in an ICT-mediated environment that enabled them to practice these strategies in their composition writing until they could master and apply them. These micro-writing strategies gradually built up to a complex set of skills, including expressive writing. Moreover, students enjoyed working in groups and editing their peers’ work online. This showed that peers could be engaged as scaffolders in the classroom to free up the teacher’ time, allowing the teacher more time to spend with students who were not performing well.

P.S. Write Soon! Teachers' Notes.

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Pat

Prepared to accompany an Australian letter writing guide for students, this teachers' guide provides suggestions for integrating letter writing into the school curriculum, either through regularly scheduled activities during the school year, or through special letter writing units of a few weeks. Topics covered in the guide include: (1) the craft…

A Multi-Class, Interdisciplinary Project Using Elementary Statistics

Science.gov (United States)

Reese, Margaret

2012-01-01

This article describes a multi-class project that employs statistical computing and writing in a statistics class. Three courses, General Ecology, Meteorology, and Introductory Statistics, cooperated on a project for the EPA's Student Design Competition. The continuing investigation has also spawned several undergraduate research projects in…

Journal writing in science: Effects on comprehension, interest, and critical reflection

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Kristin Wäschle

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Writing-to-learn assignments typically foster deep comprehension of learning contents. Journal writing, in particular, promotes the application of learning strategies, which promote learners’ comprehension, interest in a topic and ability to critically reflect on learning contents. Against this background, we conducted two longitudinal field studies. In Study 1, twenty-one students wrote learning journal entries after their biology lessons. After the intervention period, they showed better scores in comprehension, interest and critical reflection than the control class, in which students (n=25 completed other homework assignments. Mediation analyses revealed a domino effect: Journal writing improved comprehension, which led to raised interest, which resulted in superior critical reflection. Study 2 further investigated the role of learners’ interest in improving critical reflection. Students in the experimental condition (n=13 received a personal-utility prompt in addition to cognitive and metacognitive prompts to support journal writing. In the control group (n=11, students only received cognitive and metacognitive prompts. The experimental group showed higher interest scores after the intervention period and a better quality of critical reflections on a bio-ethical issue than the control group. Together, these studies illustrate the potentials of journal writing for improving learners’ comprehension, their interest and ability to critically reflect on complex scientific issues.

Java Foundation Classes in a Nutshell Desktop Quick Reference

CERN Document Server

Flanagan, David

1999-01-01

Java Foundation Classes in a Nutshell is an indispensable quick reference for Java programmers who are writing applications that use graphics or graphical user interfaces. The author of the bestsellingJava in a Nutshell has written fast-paced introductions to the Java APIs that comprise the Java Foundation Classes (JFC), such as the Swing GUI components and Java 2D, so that you can start using these exciting new technologies right away. This book also includes O'Reilly's classic-style, quick-reference material for all of the classes in the javax.swing and java.awt packages and their numerous

Ideation in mathematical writing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Misfeldt, Morten

2007-01-01

This paper considers idea generation during the mathematical writing process. Two contrasting explanations of the creative potential in connection to writing is presented; writing as a process of setting and obtaining rhetorical goals and writing as a process of discovery. These views...... are then related to two empirically found categories of functions that writing serves researchers in the field of mathematics, concluding that both views contributes to understanding the creative potential in relation to mathematical writing....

Are there any nukes in this class?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rossin, E.

1993-01-01

Perhaps the best way to get good news published in the news media is for journalism students to write it. Most of the students I knew were ready to follow the traditional rules and ethics of the trade, which they had just learned. The press, we were taught, is the unbiased, objective, and fair voice for the masses, the watchdog of the establishment and finder of truth. Luckily, in school, you are graded first on your ability to follow news writing rules and then on your creativity within those bounds and not on your ratings. In class, the professor would give you the basic facts on a story and 5 min to write your copy. Thirty students with the same guidelines for news writing and the same facts to go on will produce 30 similar but always different accounts of that story. Journalism is not an exact science. Every journalist depends on a short list of rules, but the result is never the same. The problem is that, upon graduation, you are no longer graded on how well you wrote your story. You need to start writing exciting stories, putting good pictures to it, interviewing good people for it, and getting it on the air. Journalists are only as good as their last story, and everyone else out there is ready to find one that is better

Cultivating Advanced Technical Writing Skills through a Graduate-Level Course on Writing Research Proposals

Science.gov (United States)

McCarthy, Brian D.; Dempsey, Jillian L.

2017-01-01

A graduate-level course focused on original research proposals is introduced to address the uneven preparation in technical writing of new chemistry graduate students. This course focuses on writing original research proposals. The general course structure features extensive group discussions, small-group activities, and regular in-class…

Brain Activation Associated with Practiced Left Hand Mirror Writing

Science.gov (United States)

Kushnir, T.; Arzouan, Y.; Karni, A.; Manor, D.

2013-01-01

Mirror writing occurs in healthy children, in various pathologies and occasionally in healthy adults. There are only scant experimental data on the underlying brain processes. Eight, right-handed, healthy young adults were scanned (BOLD-fMRI) before and after practicing left-hand mirror-writing (lh-MW) over seven sessions. They wrote dictated…

Expanding Canadian renewable and conservation expenses class 43.1 to include solar

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-01-01

Class 43.1 is a tax measure that allows for accelerated write-offs of renewable energy products for business use. Technologies that are included in the class for accelerated write off include renewable energy sources such as wind, small hydro, geo-thermal, fuel cells, bio-gas, cogeneration systems, and district heating and solar. In 2005, the federal budget announced 2 changes to class 43.1 The write off rate has been increased from 30 per cent to 50 per cent. This change would reduce the effective cost of solar energy for business owners. The class has also been extended to include distribution assets for district energy assets and biogas equipment. However, no changes to the restrictions for solar were announced. The Canadian Solar Industries Association (CanSIA) argues that class 43.1 currently does not help the solar industries, nor do the proposed changes solve this situation. The restrictions placed on solar eliminate about 90 per cent of the industrial applications for solar that class 43.1 should support. Class 43.1 currently covers only 1 per cent of photovoltaic applications, 2 per cent of solar hot water applications, and 9 per cent of solar air heating applications. CanSIA claims that an increase in tax write-offs for photovoltaic systems, solar hot water, and solar air heating would help increase the solar market from 1,060 kW to a market size of 11,600 kW. CanSIA has made recommendations to the federal government to remove the size restrictions for PV systems and to remove the restrictions on applications for solar thermal systems. 2 tabs

How specialized are writing-specific brain regions? An fMRI study of writing, drawing and oral spelling.

Science.gov (United States)

Planton, Samuel; Longcamp, Marieke; Péran, Patrice; Démonet, Jean-François; Jucla, Mélanie

2017-03-01

Several brain imaging studies identified brain regions that are consistently involved in writing tasks; the left premotor and superior parietal cortices have been associated with the peripheral components of writing performance as opposed to other regions that support the central, orthographic components. Based on a meta-analysis by Planton, Jucla, Roux, and Demonet (2013), we focused on five such writing areas and questioned the task-specificity and hemispheric lateralization profile of the brain response in an functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment where 16 right-handed participants wrote down, spelled out orally object names, and drew shapes from object pictures. All writing-related areas were activated by drawing, and some of them by oral spelling, thus questioning their specialization for written production. The graphemic/motor frontal area (GMFA), a subpart of the superior premotor cortex close to Exner's area (Roux et al., 2009), was the only area with a writing-specific lateralization profile, that is, clear left lateralization during handwriting, and bilateral activity during drawing. Furthermore, the relative lateralization and levels of activation in the superior parietal cortex, ventral premotor cortex, ventral occipitotemporal cortex and right cerebellum across the three tasks brought out new evidence regarding their respective contributions to the writing processes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Cognitive Demands of Writing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Torrance, Mark; Jeffery, Gaynor

1999-01-01

Writing is a complex activity that places demands on cognitive resources. This volume presents original theory and research exploring the ways in which the sub-components of the writing process (generating and organizing content, producing grammatical sentences, etc.) differ in their cognitive

REAL-LIFE ACTIVITIES: BOOSTING MY STUDENTS’ AWARENESS OF HONESTY IN CREATING GENRE

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Rr. Dewi Wahyu Mustikasari

2017-04-01

Full Text Available My students was strugled to write genre without copypasting sentences or texts from the internet. On the other hand, it was a huge challange for me to teach five big writing classes. Each class consisted of 25-30 students who tended (mostly collecting unoriginal writing works. This paper discusses the real-life activities that can be used to enhance my students’ aweareness of honesty in creating genre. My students must write some genres namely recount, descriptive (optional, spoof (optional, procedure, hortatory (optional and analytical exposition (optional text. I also took some benefits of ICT to equip the learning process. Browsing and experiencing the menu of premierskills.britishcouncil.org were the real-life activities that explore their personal memories to be told as the recount text. Then they defined the feature of one of the menu of the previous website to be informed as the descriptive text. Furthermore, they wrote their personal funny experiences which were related to the Indonesian culture as the spoof text. The procedure text can be produced by exploring the daily activities in the pictures such as how to make a cup of tea/coffee, cook a sunny side-up egg, insert sim card into mobile phone, etc. Next, my students visited the tourism and public places in Salatiga, and they observed the strength and weekness of those places as the production of hortatory or analytical exposition text. The real-life activities were able to foster my students’ awareness of honesty. It was fantastic that my students were able to create the genre honestly.

Executive functions in becoming writing readers and reading writers: note taking and report writing in third and fifth graders.

Science.gov (United States)

Altemeier, Leah; Jones, Janine; Abbott, Robert D; Berninger, Virginia W

2006-01-01

Results are reported for a study of 2 separate processes of report writing-taking notes while reading source material and composing a report from those notes-and related individual differences in executive functions involved in integrating reading and writing during these writing activities. Third graders (n = 122) and 5th graders (n = 106; overall, 127 girls and 114 boys) completed two reading-writing tasks-read paragraph (mock science text)-write notes and use notes to generate written report, a reading comprehension test, a written expression test, four tests of executive functions (inhibition, verbal fluency, planning, switching attention), and a working memory test. For the read-take notes task, the same combination of variables was best (explained the most variance and each variable added unique variance) for 3rd graders and 5th graders: Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-Second Edition (WIAT-II) Reading Comprehension, Process Assessment of the Learner Test for Reading and Writing (PAL) Copy Task B, WIAT-II Written Expression, and Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) Inhibition. For the use notes to write report task, the best combinations of variables depended on grade level: For 3rd graders, WIAT-II Reading Comprehension, WIAT-II Written Expression, D-KEFS Verbal Fluency, and Tower of Hanoi; for 5th graders, WIAT-II Reading Comprehension, D-KEFS Verbal Fluency, WIAT-II Written Expression, and PAL Alphabet Task. These results add to prior research findings that executive functions contribute to the writing development of elementary-grade students and additionally support the hypothesis that executive functions play a role in developing reading-writing connections.

Design of literacy activities to promote writing with children: An experience with second graders

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Nubia Cecilia Ruíz C.

2011-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper, I would like to share my experience as a kidwatcher in a private school in Bogotá, Colombia while designing and implementing a variety of literacy activities to promote writing in English in an EFL context for second grade students. It highlights the importance of understanding writing as a dynamic process as well as the role kidwatching had in helping me become a teacher who understood, respected, supported, learnt, enjoyed and loved the active manner in which children construct knowledge of the written language. At the same time, I gained insights about childrenʼs thoughts, feelings, and concerns about the world they live in. I hope, from this experience teachers are encouraged to explore their classroom contexts and make the best decisions that contribute to the development of their students as writers.

National Writing Project 2009 Annual Report

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National Writing Project (NJ1), 2009

2009-01-01

Writing as a tool for thinking, learning, and communicating is crucial to academic and career success as well as to active citizenship in a democracy. This annual report of the National Writing Project features teachers of math, chemistry, art, history, and business who develop their students as writers. These educators employ writing to engage…

Introducing a Writing Coach into an MBA Course: Perspectives of Students and Coaches

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Rice-Bailey, Tammy; Baker, Kimberly S.

2017-01-01

This article describes an interdisciplinary partnership that resulted in the introduction of a writing coach into an MBA class on critical and analytical thinking. By examining the response to this role by the writing coaches themselves and by the students enrolled in three sections of this new course, this exploratory study endeavors to answer…

English Writing via a Social Networking Platform

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Yu, Wei-Chieh Wayne

2018-01-01

This study examined students' perceptions of completing an English writing class via a social networking platform. Participants were 162 aboriginal students between 18 and 23 years of age at a nursing college in southern Taiwan. Different ethnicities were defined and represented by different memberships of indigenous groups or tribes, also known…

Mobile-Assisted Grammar Exercises: Effects on Self-Editing in L2 Writing

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zhi; Hegelheimer, Volker

2013-01-01

In this paper, we report on the development and implementation of a web-based mobile application, "Grammar Clinic," for an ESL writing class. Drawing on insights from the interactionist approach to Second Language Acquisition (SLA), the Noticing Hypothesis, and mobile-assisted language learning (MALL), "Grammar Clinic" was…

Evaluation of Reading, Writing, and Watching TV Using the Dutch ICF Activity Inventory

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bruijning, J.E.; van Rens, G.H.M.B.; Knol, D.L.; van Nispen, R.M.A.

2014-01-01

PURPOSE: To investigate the longitudinal outcomes of rehabilitation (from baseline to 4 and 12 months) at a multidisciplinary rehabilitation center. The three goals (“Reading,” “Writing,” and “Watching TV”) were measured with the Dutch ICF Activity Inventory (D-AI). In addition, outcomes were

WRITING VERSUS TYPING DURING SCIENCE TEACHING: CASE STUDY IN SLOVENIA

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Metka Kordigel Aberšek

2018-02-01

Full Text Available In a case study conducted in a biology class in Slovenia, six grade students participated in a biology project Writing Versus Typing in a Biology Class. The final task in this project was to write a chapter for a biology textbook with the title Urtica dioica. The task was performed twice: firstly, the text was written by the hand and secondly it was typed on the computer keyboard. Handwritten and keyboard typed scientific texts, textbook chapters, were compared with the special focus on the lexical, syntactic, and semantic level of the text. The purpose of this research was to find out the effect of replacing handwriting with typing in the process of teaching/learning science subjects, where the understanding of texts is of crucial importance. A closer look at the students’ text products in the typing modality reveals that students, while typing, seem to be cognitively overloaded. One of the consequences of this is a lower level of cognitive achievement in their typed text: students show less knowledge, less terminological accuracy, and, above all, a lesser understanding of the interconnection between the items of information provided.

TEACHING BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE FOR TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY THROUGH COLLABORATIVE WRITING APPROACH

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Budi Purnomo

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This research aims at answering problems: (1 ―How to teach business correspondence for tourism and hospitality (BCTH through collaborative writing approach (CWA?‖ (2 ―What are the advantages of teaching BCTH through CWA?‖ and (3 ―What are the disadvantages of teaching BCHT through CWA?‖ This study is a descriptive and qualitative research. It uses three techniques for collecting data: observation and field notes, questionnaire and in-depth interviewing. It was undertaken in a Business Correspondence class at Sahid Tourism Institute of Surakarta from July to December 2013. There are 28 undergraduate students of semester five and one English lecturer as research subjects. Through CWA students in pairs were given tasks to compose (1 introduction letter, (2 letter of inquiry and offer, (3 reservation letter, (4 letter of collection, (5 letter of changes and cancelation, (6 letter of complaint, (7 letter of joint venture, (8 invitation letter, (9 application letter, (10 letter of resignation, (11 letter of recommendation and (12 business report. The research findings show that procedures to teach BCTH through CWA are: teacher explains a BCTH topic and shows a model of letter; students choose their partners themselves; teacher gives a writing task to students; student A writes a letter and student B writes a reply letter; pairs exchange information during the process of writing; students submit their products of writing; teacher makes a correction for their products outside of class. The advantages of teaching BCTH through CWA are: CWA helps students work together to reach the best products of writing; CWA improves the content of writing; CWA develops grammatical and structural proficiency and CWA reduces stress and saves time. The disadvantages of teaching BCTH through CWA are: CWA affects a conflict related to personal learning style; CWA improves the use of unexpected spoken Indonesian and Javanese languages during doing the tasks and

Improving report writing by peer assessment using Coursera

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Henrik Lehrmann

2015-01-01

report writing. In the case of report writing active learning could include peer evaluation which is what is investigated in this paper. This paper presents a case study from the Technical University of Denmark. A course on mobile communication was redesigned to include peer evaluation as a tool......Report writing is a general engineering competence and it should therefore be part of any university engineering education to learn how to write a good report. Active leaning methods are well-known to be effective in supporting student learning; hence it should preferably also be used for teaching...... for improving report writing skills. The peer evaluation process was automated using the elearning tool Coursera. What was investigated was the improvement in report writing as well as the consistency and quality of the peer assessed grades....

Expressive/Exploratory Technical Writing (XTW) in Engineering: Shifting the Technical Writing Curriculum

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Warnock, Scott; Kahn, Michael

2007-01-01

While the importance of "expressive writing," or informal, self-directed writing, has been well established, teachers underutilize it, particularly in technical writing courses. We introduce the term expressive/exploratory technical writing (XTW), which is the use of informal, self-directed writing to problem-solve in technical fields. We describe…

Developing and Improving:A Study of the Middle School Students’ Writing Ability in the Second Language Education

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Bing WANG

2016-01-01

With the development and advancement of social and cultural communication between China and other countries in the world, the second language education is very popular with Chinese people. And usually, it will take the young for nearly 16 years to learn a second language, especially English. Most of them learn English from primary school until university. Besides having routine English classes at school, they also pay extra time and money to learn English in their spare time in many training companies. And now, English education has already become an industry in China and some training companies such as New Oriental English, are familiar to common people. And a crucial problem is that, after so many years of hard work, most of them are even having basic writing difficulties. The systemic and effective teaching method of writing in a second language education in China is being researched. This thesis attempts to cultivate the students’ subjective initiative in second language education activities, raise the students’ learning consciousness, and enhance their lasting interests in learning so as to reach the goal to improve the students’ writing ability in second language education.

Toward a parallel and cascading model of the writing system: A review of research on writing processes coordination

OpenAIRE

Thierry Olive

2014-01-01

Efficient coordination of the different writing processes is central to producing good-quality texts, and is a fundamental component of writing skill. In this article, I propose a general theoretical framework for considering how writing processes are coordinated, in which writing processes are concurrently activated with more or less overlap between processes depending on their working memory demands, and with the flow of information cascading from central to peripheral levels of processing....

Writing(s and subjectivation: From the modern citizen to the contemporary young subjectivity

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Monica Maria Bermudez Grajales

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The present text is related to the preponderant status that writing occupied in the political configuration of the modern citizen. Writing practices conceived for development of autonomy, self-control and domestication of passions were some of the ideas that promoted the construction of a rational individual who was able to participate in the public arena and activities conceived by the Nation-State. Nowadays, the meaning of modern writing has varied. Other writing styles are being developed in parallel to the economic, social and technological transitions. In fact, we do not require such a kind of modern writing as the only condition for the political participation. At present, social movements and the communicative and digital interactions of many youngsters, and their hyper textual narratives, show us a vindication of the oral, resounding and iconic as process of a political subjectivity that does not become a rational one in the modern sense but in a nomadic, vernacular and sensitive one.

High school boys' and girls' writing conceptions and writing self-efficacy beliefs : what is their role in writing performance?

OpenAIRE

Villalón Molina, Ruth; Mateos, Mar; Cuevas, Isabel

2015-01-01

ABSTRACT: This study investigated the conceptions about writing and writing self-efficacy beliefs held by high school students in relation to the students’ gender as well as their associations with writing achievement. The results show that female students have more sophisticated writing conceptions than their male counterparts but no gender differences were found in writing self-efficacy beliefs. In addition, results reveal that writing self-efficacy beliefs and gender play an important role...

Reading-to-write: A Practice of Critical Thinking

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Zhanfang Li

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Reading-to-write, a term taken from language testing studies, puts great emphasis on a student-centered learning atmosphere, on the situational context and cooperative learning, on an authentic learning environment, on making use of various information resources, and on the process of the individuals’ meaning construction and critical thinking. The application of this model in class will shed lights on College English teaching in China, providing the English teachers with a new perception of language teaching: Reading and writing can be integrated to elicit more authentic language use, and skill training and critical thinking are not two separate stages.

Engaging Students in Large Health Classes with Active Learning Strategies

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Elliott, Steven; Combs, Sue; Huelskamp, Amelia; Hritz, Nancy

2017-01-01

Creative K-12 health teachers can engage students in large classes by utilizing active learning strategies. Active learning involves engaging students in higher-order tasks, such as analysis and synthesis, which is a crucial element of the movement toward what is commonly called "learner-centered" teaching. Health education teachers who…

Yoruba Writing: Standards and Trends

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Tèmítọ́pẹ́ Olúmúyìwá Ph.D.

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the state of Yorùbá orthography. The first effort at standardizing Yorùbá writing system came in 1875, and there has been a great deal of refinements and orthographies since. Specifically, a great rush of activity in standardizing written Yorùbá came in the years after independence when effort to introduce the teaching of Nigerian languages in schools and the application of those languages to official activities. The present standards were established in 1974, however, there remains a great deal of contention over writing conventions-spelling, grammar, the use of tone marks. The paper explores examples from journalism, religious writing, education and literature, and advertising to demonstrate ongoing deviations from the approved orthography.

Implementing an Online Writing Assessment Strategy for Gerontology

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Brown, Pamela S.; Hanks, Roma S.

2008-01-01

Assessment of student learning is a growing concern for programs in gerontology. This report focuses on the conception, design, funding, and implementation of an innovative online workshop to assess and improve writing skills of students enrolled in distance-learning gerontology classes. The approach is multidisciplinary and involves a…

Examining the Value of a Scaffolded Critique Framework to Promote Argumentative and Explanatory Writings Within an Argument-Based Inquiry Approach

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Jang, Jeong-yoon; Hand, Brian

2017-12-01

This study investigated the value of using a scaffolded critique framework to promote two different types of writing—argumentative writing and explanatory writing—with different purposes within an argument-based inquiry approach known as the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) approach. A quasi-experimental design with sixth and seventh grade students taught by two teachers was used. A total of 170 students participated in the study, with 87 in the control group (four classes) and 83 in the treatment group (four classes). All students used the SWH templates as an argumentative writing to guide their written work and completed these templates during the SWH investigations of each unit. After completing the SWH investigations, both groups of students were asked to complete the summary writing task as an explanatory writing at the end of each unit. All students' writing samples were scored using analytical frameworks developed for the study. The results indicated that the treatment group performed significantly better on the explanatory writing task than the control group. In addition, the results of the partial correlation suggested that there is a very strong significantly positive relationship between the argumentative writing and the explanatory writing.

Mentored residential writing retreats: a leadership strategy to develop skills and generate outcomes in writing for publication.

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Jackson, Debra

2009-01-01

There is an increasing expectation that academic and clinical nurses will contribute to disciplinary and professional discourses through scholarly writing. However, the difficulties and challenges associated with writing for publication mean that many papers will never be written. This current paper describes an innovative approach developed to support skill development and outcomes in writing for publication. Intensive residential writing retreats informed by the principles of servant leadership and incorporating strategies such as mentoring and peer learning were conducted in 2005 and 2007. Positive outcomes and benefits included publications submitted to peer-reviewed journals, as well as positive effects on collegial relationships, and team building. Novice writers benefited from intensive and sustained support and coaching by experienced writers. Organisational benefits included increased participation by staff and research higher degree students in publication activities, enhanced collegial relationships and opportunities for senior established writers to work with inexperienced writers.

Teaching Writing and Critical Thinking in Large Political Science Classes

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Franklin, Daniel; Weinberg, Joseph; Reifler, Jason

2014-01-01

In the interest of developing a combination of teaching techniques designed to maximize efficiency "and" quality of instruction, we have experimentally tested three separate and relatively common teaching techniques in three large introductory political science classes at a large urban public university. Our results indicate that the…

Cerebral Activations Related to Writing and Drawing with Each Hand

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Potgieser, Adriaan R. E.; van der Hoorn, Anouk; de Jong, Bauke M.

2015-01-01

Background Writing is a sequential motor action based on sensorimotor integration in visuospatial and linguistic functional domains. To test the hypothesis of lateralized circuitry concerning spatial and language components involved in such action, we employed an fMRI paradigm including writing and

Help Your Child Learn To Write Well.

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Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC.

Addressing parents, this pamphlet describes ways to help children learn to write well and thereby excel in school, enjoy self-expression, and become more self-reliant. Writing is discussed as a practical, job-related, stimulating, social, and therapeutic activity that receives inadequate attention in many schools. It is emphasized that writing is…

IMPROVING THE SKILL AND THE INTEREST OF WRITING ADVERTISEMENTS AND POSTERS THROUGH ESA SEQUENCE

OpenAIRE

author Fatma Yuniarti

2015-01-01

The action reserach aims at improving the students’ writing skill especially to write advertsements and posters. Both are the short functional texts to be learned at the second semester. According to the data on pre cycle, the students of second semester got difficulties to write advertisements and posters. A treatment was necessary to help the students overcome their problem. To consider the related literature, the writer decided to implement ESA sequence (Harmer 2001) in the class. The elem...

Students’ Perception toward the Implementation of Peer-Assessment in Writing; Before and After Revision

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Husni Mubarok

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This study was aimed at elaborating students’ perception toward the implementation of peer assessment in writing class either before or after revision. Writing becomes one of skills which should be mastered by students in order to get higher level of literacy. Writing is a productive skill which asks students to arrange words and organize them into good writing which could be understood by readers. The success of writing is determined by the writing process itself starting from planning, first draft writing, revising, and editing. One of the strategies used in teaching writing is by implementing peer assessment. Peer assessment strategy becomes one of important parts in the process of writing because there will be feedback or suggestion from peers in doing a review. The number of the subject of this research was students in second semester of the English Education Department of UNISNU Jepara. This research was conducted on even semester. The total number of the students, which became respondents, was 37 students of English Education Department. The research design used was qualitative research which measured students’ perceptions of the implementation of peer assessment in writing: before and after revision. The result showed that before revision, students had negative perception toward their own writing. After revision, they had positive perceptions toward peer assessment strategy. Those included usefulness and meaningfulness, nature of feedback, reality of feedback, precision, validity, fairness, and personal goal-setting. Besides that, the score after revision (7.9 was higher than the score before revision (6.62. It meant that the result showed the increasing of students’ score after revision.

Effects of Pop Culture as Authentic Materials toward Students’ Writing Skill

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Ratnawati Ratnawati

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Writing, one of the four skills which has to be taught by educators in language learning. Starting from classroom observation implied that students confronted the difficulties in writing involving generating ideas, organizing words, and making compositions. This study supposes to explore some effects of pop culture as authentic materials for English language teaching in improving students‘ writing skill. Due to pop culture relates to students‘ life and experience, it is considered to be a stimulus for gaining students‘ ideas, information, motivation, and interest in teaching writing. The students of secondary school were involved in this study and descriptive case study was employed to observe the importance of pop culture in writing class. Also, questionnaires and students‘ works are the instruments to measure its effects. Both students‘ works and result of the questionnaires pointed out that significantly improvement obtained after applying pop culture. In line with findings, it can be said that pop cultures have significant effects toward students‘ writing skill. So, educators need to apply pop culture as their choices in future planning lesson.

Language Literacy in Writing

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Saeideh Ahangari

2008-05-01

Full Text Available This paper explores the ways in which the transfer of assumptions from first language (L1 writing can help the process of writing in second language (L2. In learning second language writing skills, learners have two primary sources from which they construct a second language system: knowledge and skills from first language and input from second language. To investigate the relative impact of first language literacy skills on second language writing ability, 60 EFL students from Tabriz Islamic Azad University were chosen as participants of this study, based on their language proficiency scores. The subjects were given two topics to write about: the experimental group subjects were asked to write in Persian and then translate their writing into English. The control group wrote in English. The results obtained in this study indicate that the content and vocabulary components of the compositions were mostly affected by the use of first language.

teachers say reading and writing in a university degree in the colombian caribbean.

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Luis Manuel Cárdenas Cárdenas

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Literacy practices in higher education: what students andThis article is the result of a survey conducted in 10 degrees in a University Colombian Caribbean whose general purpose was to describe, interpret and understand the literacy practices that take place in these degrees. To achieve this article was taken into account one aspect that research in general was conceived as the first specific objective. This aspect refers to the conceptions which teachers and students of the degrees on the teaching and learning of reading and writing academic texts in college. The study usually takes as a theoretical concept of academic literacy. Data collected through classroom observations, also came from surveys and interviews with students and teachers of the degrees. The results of the investigation determined that the teaching and learning of reading and writing in the undergraduate classroom is very limited. The development of pedagogical and didactic classes lacks reading and writing practices. 

Effect of Weblog-Based Process Approach on EFL Learners' Writing Performance and Autonomy

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Azari, Mohammad Hosein

2017-01-01

This article investigated the effect of weblog use in a process-based writing course on the writing performance of students as well as on their level of learner autonomy. The participants were 43 English language learners who were doing their BA in the field of English Language Teaching. The control group (n = 19) went through in-class writing…

Neural activity during affect labeling predicts expressive writing effects on well-being: GLM and SVM approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Memarian, Negar; Torre, Jared B; Haltom, Kate E; Stanton, Annette L; Lieberman, Matthew D

2017-09-01

Affect labeling (putting feelings into words) is a form of incidental emotion regulation that could underpin some benefits of expressive writing (i.e. writing about negative experiences). Here, we show that neural responses during affect labeling predicted changes in psychological and physical well-being outcome measures 3 months later. Furthermore, neural activity of specific frontal regions and amygdala predicted those outcomes as a function of expressive writing. Using supervised learning (support vector machines regression), improvements in four measures of psychological and physical health (physical symptoms, depression, anxiety and life satisfaction) after an expressive writing intervention were predicted with an average of 0.85% prediction error [root mean square error (RMSE) %]. The predictions were significantly more accurate with machine learning than with the conventional generalized linear model method (average RMSE: 1.3%). Consistent with affect labeling research, right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (RVLPFC) and amygdalae were top predictors of improvement in the four outcomes. Moreover, RVLPFC and left amygdala predicted benefits due to expressive writing in satisfaction with life and depression outcome measures, respectively. This study demonstrates the substantial merit of supervised machine learning for real-world outcome prediction in social and affective neuroscience. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press.

Comparison of the neural basis for imagined writing and drawing.

Science.gov (United States)

Harrington, Greg S; Farias, Dana; Davis, Christine H; Buonocore, Michael H

2007-05-01

Drawing and writing are complex processes that require the synchronization of cognition, language, and perceptual-motor skills. Drawing and writing have both been utilized in the treatment of aphasia to improve communication. Recent research suggests that the act of drawing an object facilitated naming, whereas writing the word diminished accurate naming in individuals with aphasia. However, the relationship between object drawing and subsequent phonological output is unclear. Although the right hemisphere is characteristically mute, there is evidence from split-brain research that the right hemisphere can integrate pictures and words, likely via a semantic network. We hypothesized that drawing activates right hemispheric and left perilesional regions that are spared in aphasic individuals and may contribute to semantic activation that supports naming. Eleven right-handed subjects participated in a functional MRI (fMRI) experiment involving imagined drawing and writing and 6 of the 11 subjects participated in a second fMRI experiment involving actual writing and drawing. Drawing and writing produced very similar group activation maps including activation bilaterally in the premotor, inferior frontal, posterior inferior temporal, and parietal areas. The comparison of drawing vs. writing revealed significant differences between the conditions in areas of the brain known for language processing. The direct comparison between drawing and writing revealed greater right hemisphere activation for drawing in language areas such as Brodmann area (BA) 46 and BA 37.

Intensive Class Training Model for Developing Lecturers’English Competence at IAIN Imam Bonjol Padang

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Darmayenti Darmayenti

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Research and Development (R&D project was used to develop lecturers’ English competence particularly on speaking and writing at State Institute of Islamic Studies of Imam Bonjol Padang.  The lecturers need to develop their competence in English in order to prepare themselves to add new information of lecturing materials and writing papers. Borg and Gall’s steps were used to develop the model. Twenty active lecturers who had s2 and s3 program, who were randomly selected, participated on this research. During the process of the research, observation, questionnaire, and TOEFL test, speaking and writing tests were used to collect the data. The experimental research type and one group pre test- post test design were used to conduct the research. The result of the research showed that 74% of respondents need intensive class training model to develop their English competence. The implementation of intensive class training model gave a significant effect toward lecturers’ English competence. It is concluded that this model is more effective to improve lecturers’ on English competences. Therefore, it is recommended that this model can be implemented at IAIN Imam Bonjol Padang in order to develop lecturers’ English competences and to enhance the quality of lecturers.

Writing Assignments that Promote Active Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Narayanan, M.

2014-12-01

Encourage students to write a detailed, analytical report correlating classroom discussions to an important historical event or a current event. Motivate students interview an expert from industry on a topic that was discussed in class. Ask the students to submit a report with supporting sketches, drawings, circuit diagrams and graphs. Propose that the students generate a complete a set of reading responses pertaining to an assigned topic. Require each student to bring in one comment or one question about an assigned reading. The assignment should be a recent publication in an appropriate journal. Have the students conduct a web search on an assigned topic. Ask them to generate a set of ideas that can relate to classroom discussions. Provide the students with a study guide. The study guide should provide about 10 or 15 short topics. Quiz the students on one or two of the topics. Encourage the students to design or develop some creative real-world examples based on a chapter discussed or a topic of interest. Require that students originate, develop, support and defend a viewpoint using a specifically assigned material. Make the students practice using or utilizing a set of new technical terms they have encountered in an assigned chapter. Have students develop original examples explaining the different terms. Ask the students to select one important terminology from the previous classroom discussions. Encourage the students to explain why they selected that particular word. Ask them to talk about the importance of the terminology from the point of view of their educational objectives and future career. Angelo, T. A. (1991). Ten easy pieces: Assessing higher learning in four dimensions. In T. A. Angelo (Ed.), Classroom research: Early lessons from success (pp. 17-31). New Directions for Teaching and Learning, No. 46. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Mentoring disadvantaged nursing students through technical writing workshops.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Molly K; Symes, Lene; Bernard, Lillian; Landson, Margie J; Carroll, Theresa L

2007-01-01

Recent studies have identified a problematic gap for nursing students between terse clinical writing and formal academic writing. This gap can create a potential barrier to academic and workplace success, especially for disadvantaged nursing students who have not acquired the disciplinary conventions and sophisticated writing required in upper-level nursing courses. The authors demonstrate the need for writing-in-the-discipline activities to enhance the writing skills of nursing students, describe the technical writing workshops they developed to mentor minority and disadvantaged nursing students, and provide recommendations to stimulate educator dialogue across disciplines and institutions.

Changing University Students' Alternative Conceptions of Optics by Active Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Hadžibegovic, Zalkida; Sliško, Josip

2013-01-01

Active learning is individual and group participation in effective activities such as in-class observing, writing, experimenting, discussion, solving problems, and talking about to-be-learned topics. Some instructors believe that active learning is impossible, or at least extremely difficult to achieve in large lecture sessions. Nevertheless, the…

Learning of Writing in a Non-Mother Tongue: the Case of Tarahumara Children

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Efrén Viramontes-Anaya

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract. This study analyzes the development of writing in Spanish among bilingual Tarahumara children (Chihuahua, Northern Mexico, from different perspectives: 1 A psychogenetic perspective, focusing on how the writing process is constructed by Tarahumara children; 2 A social perspective, focusing on the children’s family context, as well as the cultural and economic characteristics of their community, and; 3 A pedagogical perspective, focusing on the learning environments of two different kinds of schools these children attend (a “regular” school and a bilingual school for indigenous children. This study tries to identify how different factors have an impact on the development of writing. Data was collected for this multiple-case study through on-site observation, interviews and videotaping class sessions at both schools. Children’s notebooks and writing products were also collected. The data was analyzed transversally considering events, people and contexts related to the writing process. The results were interpretations on the social, cultural, cognitive and pedagogical factors that were perceived, associated to the learning process of how to write in a non-mother tongue, in the case of migrant indigenous children, in an environment different from that of their ancestors. The study was based on the hypothesis that, in the circumstances of the studied cases, it is better for these children to learn first how to write in their second language and, then, in their mother tongue, if necessary.

Association between physical activity, participation in Physical Education classes, and social isolation in adolescents.

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Santos, Simone José dos; Hardman, Carla Menêses; Barros, Simone Storino Honda; Santos da Franca, Carolina; Santos, Carolina da F B F; Barros, Mauro Virgilio Gomes de

2015-01-01

To analyze the association between physical activity, participation in Physical Education classes, and indicators of social isolation among adolescents. This was an epidemiological study based on secondary analysis of data from a representative sample of students (14-19 years) from public high schools (n=4,207). Data were collected through the questionnaire Global School-based Student Health Survey. The independent variables were the level of physical activity and enrollment in Physical Education classes, while the dependent variables were two indicators of social isolation (feeling of loneliness and having few friends). Descriptive and inferential procedures were used in the statistical analysis. Most of the adolescents were classified as insufficiently active (65.1%) and reported not attending Physical Education classes (64.9%). Approximately two in each ten participants reported feeling of loneliness (15.8%) and, in addition, about one in each five adolescents reported have only one friend (19.5%). In the bivariate analysis, a significantly lower proportion of individuals reporting social isolation was observed among adolescents who referred higher enrollment in Physical Education classes. After adjustment for confounding variables, binary logistic regression showed that attending Physical Education classes was identified as a protective factor in relation to the indicator of social isolation 'having few friends,' but only for girls. It was concluded that participation in Physical Education classes is associated with reduced social isolation among female adolescents. Copyright © 2015 Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Argument-Driven Inquiry: Using the Laboratory to Improve Undergraduates' Science Writing Skills through Meaningful Science Writing, Peer-Review, and Revision

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Walker, Joi Phelps; Sampson, Victor

2013-01-01

This paper presents preliminary evidence supporting the use of peer review in undergraduate science as a means to improve student writing and to alleviate barriers, such as lost class time, by incorporation of the peer-review process into the laboratory component of the course. The study was conducted in a single section of an undergraduate…

Individual Self-Monitoring & Peer-Monitoring in One Classroom in Writing Activities: Who Is at Disadvantage?

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Toofan, Zohreh Zare

2014-01-01

Writing is an important experience through which we are able to share ideas, arouse feelings, persuade and convince other people (white & Arndt, 1991). It is important to view writing not solely as the product of an individual, but as a cognitive, social and cultural act. Writing is an act that takes place within a context, that accomplishes a…

VIDEO TO AMPLIFY BANKING STUDENT’S WRITING PERFORMANCE

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Fenny Thresia -

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract: Writing is activity to mix between the idea, vocabulary and also grammar. By looking at the problems, the teacher should make the proper method in teaching writing in order to increase the students writing skill and also make the writing be an interesting activity to them. One of the good methods is using video as a media of learning. Video can stimulates the student’s to makes them easier to find the ideas in writing process, because video included 3D and also the complex media. This research was aimed at detecting the influence of using video as a media toward student's writing performance.This research was quantitative research form and the sampling technique was random sampling. The data collection method in this research used the documentation and test that consist of pre-test and pos-test. The data analysis technique of this research used T-test as the hypothetical statistic calculation. Based on the research analysis, there is any positive and significant influence of using video as a media toward students’ writing performance of banking students.

Self-Regulated Learning and Perceived Health among University Students Participating in Physical Activity Classes

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McBride, Ron E.; Altunsöz, Irmak Hürmeriç; Su, Xiaoxia; Xiang, Ping; Demirhan, Giyasettin

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore motivational indicators of self-regulated learning (SRL) and the relationship between self-regulation (SR) and perceived health among university students enrolled in physical activity (PA) classes. One hundred thirty-one Turkish students participating in physical education activity classes at two…

Investigation of Writing Strategies, Writing Apprehension, and Writing Achievement among Saudi EFL-Major Students

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Al Asmari, AbdulRahman

2013-01-01

The tenet of this study is to investigate the use of writing strategies in reducing writing apprehension and uncovering its effect on EFL students' writing achievement. It also attempts to explore associations between foreign language apprehension, writing achievement and writing strategies. The primary aims of the study were to explore the…

Writing lives in sport

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Mette Krogh

dealing with anonymous individuals, whose anonymity results from the confidentiality requirements of a social scientific research methodology, to those leaning more towards the literary-historical traditions of 'conventional' biographical writing. However, these examples are polar extremes and none...... in the academis world of sport studies. It does not set out to be a methodological treatise but through the writing of lives in sports does raise questions of method. Each essay in this collection deals with problems of writing sports-people's lives. These essays could be said to fall along a spectrum from those......Writing lives in sport is a book of stories about sports-persons. The people concerned include sports stars, sports people who are not quite so famous, and relatively unknown physical education teachers and sports scientists.Writing lives in sport raises questions about writing biographies...

Understanding the cognitive processes involved in writing to learn.

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Arnold, Kathleen M; Umanath, Sharda; Thio, Kara; Reilly, Walter B; McDaniel, Mark A; Marsh, Elizabeth J

2017-06-01

Writing is often used as a tool for learning. However, empirical support for the benefits of writing-to-learn is mixed, likely because the literature conflates diverse activities (e.g., summaries, term papers) under the single umbrella of writing-to-learn. Following recent trends in the writing-to-learn literature, the authors focus on the underlying cognitive processes. They draw on the largely independent writing-to-learn and cognitive psychology learning literatures to identify important cognitive processes. The current experiment examines learning from 3 writing tasks (and 1 nonwriting control), with an emphasis on whether or not the tasks engaged retrieval. Tasks that engaged retrieval (essay writing and free recall) led to better final test performance than those that did not (note taking and highlighting). Individual differences in structure building (the ability to construct mental representations of narratives; Gernsbacher, Varner, & Faust, 1990) modified this effect; skilled structure builders benefited more from essay writing and free recall than did less skilled structure builders. Further, more essay-like responses led to better performance, implicating the importance of additional cognitive processes such as reorganization and elaboration. The results highlight how both task instructions and individual differences affect the cognitive processes involved when writing-to-learn, with consequences for the effectiveness of the learning strategy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Contributory Role of Collaborative Assessment in Improving Critical Thinking and Writing

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Mansoor Fahim

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Instilling critical thinking skills in language learners’ mind and enhancing second language writing are gaining momentum in the field of English language teaching. Though some approaches to meeting these objectives have been proposed, review of the literature revealed that the contributory role of collaborative assessment in fostering critical thinking and second language writing has been overlooked to date. Thus, this study was conducted to delve into this issue. To this aim, two intact intermediate EFL classes in Iran, each of which contains 18 learners, were included in the study; they were randomly assigned to Student-Student (S-S collaborative assessment and Teacher-Student (T-S collaborative assessment groups.  After receiving six sessions of treatment, both groups wrote an essay on an IELTS topic. Results of the study indicated that collaborative assessment, regardless of its type, has the potential to foster critical thinking and writing proficiency. Further, it came to light that S-S collaborative assessment group significantly outperformed the T-S collaborative assessment group in terms of gains in critical thinking and writing proficiency. In light of the findings, language teachers are suggested to involve learners in collaborative assessment processes; further, some suggestions are offered at the end to show some fruitful avenues for further research.

Communication: Learning to Write for the Reader.

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Todd, Mavis M.

1980-01-01

A new approach to teaching students to write effective business letters is presented. It uses class members as resources, writers, and readers for the assignment. Four stages are described: the interview, discussion of models and format, revision, and the reply. Results of the exercise and suggestions for continued application are included. (CT)

WHY MUSLIM STUDENTS PLAGIARIZE IN WRITING ENGLISH TEXTS

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Wakhid Nashruddin

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Reasons for copy-pasting someone else’s works has attracted attention from many sides that copy-pasting activities, or more popular with term plagiarism, have been considered as a threat for academic life. It also happens at the case of muslim students, in which Islam teaches the students to be honest and not to steal from others. For understanding why it happens, this exploration is conducted. The students of English Department of IAIN Syekh Nurjati Cirebon have to write many of their assignments in English. The result of my observations, the quality of the students’ writing is not good enough. One of the cases found is the copy-paste works, or plagiarism. Using interviews instrument, I try to figure out why students of English Department of IAIN Syekh Nurjati Cirebon. There are at least three reasons behind why students act plagiarism; ignorance on the quotation and citation rules, poor writing skills, and the need of instant writing result. This paper tries to explore these reasons. Keywords: copy-paste, plagiarism, writing in English

Exploring the Amount and Type of Writing Instruction during Language Arts Instruction in Kindergarten Classrooms

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Puranik, Cynthia S.; Al Otaiba, Stephanie; Sidler, Jessica Folsom; Greulich, Luana

2014-01-01

The objective of this exploratory investigation was to examine the nature of writing instruction in kindergarten classrooms and to describe student writing outcomes at the end of the school year. Participants for this study included 21 teachers and 238 kindergarten children from nine schools. Classroom teachers were videotaped once each in the fall and winter during the 90 minute instructional block for reading and language arts to examine time allocation and the types of writing instructional practices taking place in the kindergarten classrooms. Classroom observation of writing was divided into student-practice variables (activities in which students were observed practicing writing or writing independently) and teacher-instruction variables (activities in which the teacher was observed providing direct writing instruction). In addition, participants completed handwriting fluency, spelling, and writing tasks. Large variability was observed in the amount of writing instruction occurring in the classroom, the amount of time kindergarten teachers spent on writing and in the amount of time students spent writing. Marked variability was also observed in classroom practices both within and across schools and this fact was reflected in the large variability noted in kindergartners’ writing performance. PMID:24578591

Exploring the Amount and Type of Writing Instruction during Language Arts Instruction in Kindergarten Classrooms.

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Puranik, Cynthia S; Al Otaiba, Stephanie; Sidler, Jessica Folsom; Greulich, Luana

2014-02-01

The objective of this exploratory investigation was to examine the nature of writing instruction in kindergarten classrooms and to describe student writing outcomes at the end of the school year. Participants for this study included 21 teachers and 238 kindergarten children from nine schools. Classroom teachers were videotaped once each in the fall and winter during the 90 minute instructional block for reading and language arts to examine time allocation and the types of writing instructional practices taking place in the kindergarten classrooms. Classroom observation of writing was divided into student-practice variables (activities in which students were observed practicing writing or writing independently) and teacher-instruction variables (activities in which the teacher was observed providing direct writing instruction). In addition, participants completed handwriting fluency, spelling, and writing tasks. Large variability was observed in the amount of writing instruction occurring in the classroom, the amount of time kindergarten teachers spent on writing and in the amount of time students spent writing. Marked variability was also observed in classroom practices both within and across schools and this fact was reflected in the large variability noted in kindergartners' writing performance.

Feminism and Cultural Studies in Composition: Locating Women and Men in College Writing Courses

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Perry, Merry G.

2006-01-01

Merry Perry teaches English courses (both writing and literature) where the majority of the students are white, middle class, and conservative. Perry begins the article by saying that in such an academic environment, her most challenging task is not teaching grammar, punctuation, or editing skills, but challenging these students to think about and…

Learning from the experts: exploring playground experience and activities using a write and draw technique.

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Knowles, Zoe Rebecca; Parnell, Daniel; Stratton, Gareth; Ridgers, Nicola Diane

2013-03-01

Qualitative research into the effect of school recess on children's physical activity is currently limited. This study used a write and draw technique to explore children's perceptions of physical activity opportunities during recess. 299 children age 7-11 years from 3 primary schools were enlisted. Children were grouped into Years 3 & 4 and Years 5 & 6 and completed a write and draw task focusing on likes and dislikes. Pen profiles were used to analyze the data. Results indicated 'likes' focused on play, positive social interaction, and games across both age groups but showed an increasing dominance of games with an appreciation for being outdoors with age. 'Dislikes' focused on dysfunctional interactions linked with bullying, membership, equipment, and conflict for playground space. Football was a dominant feature across both age groups and 'likes/dislikes' that caused conflict and dominated the physically active games undertaken. Recess was important for the development of conflict management and social skills and contributed to physical activity engagement. The findings contradict suggestions that time spent in recess should be reduced because of behavioral issues.

University writing

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Miguel Zabalza Beraza

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Writing in the University is a basic necessity and a long-range educational purpose. One of the basic characteristics of the university context is that it requires writing both as a tool of communication and as a source of intellectual stimulation. After establishing the basic features of academic writing, this article analyzes the role of writing for students (writing to learn and for teachers (write to plan, to reflect, to document what has been done. The article also discusses the contributions of writing for both students and teachers together: writing to investigate. Finally, going beyond what writing is as academic tool, we conclude with a more playful and creative position: writing for pleasure and enjoyment.

Professional Writing in the English Classroom: Professional Writing--What You Already Know

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Bush, Jonathan; Zuidema, Leah

2010-01-01

This article presents the first installment of "Professional Writing in the English Classroom." The authors begin by answering the obvious question: What is professional writing? It isn't remedial writing, and it involves much more than writing memos, business letters, and resumes (although it certainly includes those genres). Professional writing…

High School Boys' and Girls' Writing Conceptions and Writing Self-Efficacy Beliefs: What Is Their Role in Writing Performance?

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Villalón, Ruth; Mateos, Mar; Cuevas, Isabel

2015-01-01

This study investigated the conceptions about writing and writing self-efficacy beliefs held by high school students in relation to the students' gender as well as their associations with writing achievement. The results show that female students have more sophisticated writing conceptions than their male counterparts but no gender differences…

Writing the Ties that Bind: Service-Learning in the Writing Classroom.

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Cooper, David D.; Julier, Laura

1995-01-01

The Service Learning Writing Project at Michigan State University links service-learning and writing instruction. Students read and discuss American literary and historical texts, write academic analyses of ideas, and practice peer editing and revision in small workshops, while working in service placements in community and nonprofit…

The Effects of Self-Monitoring and Peer-Monitoring on Writing Activities

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Toofan, Zohreh Zare; Maghsoudi, Mojtaba; Madani, Davood

2014-01-01

Writing is an important experience through which we are able to share ideas, arouse feelings, persuade and convince other people (White & Arndt, 1991). It is important to view writing not solely as the product of an individual, but as a cognitive, social and cultural act. Writing is an act that takes place within a context, that accomplishes a…

A Learner’s Self-Regulated Learning in Writing

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Hapsari Hapsari

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to analyze  Self-Regulated Learning (SLR upon the process of  writing task.  The Motivated and Learning Strategies Questionnaire (MLSQ developed by Pintrich was used to generate the participant's cognitive and metacognitive activity.  Data were collected from the participant’s journal written during her task performance and from her scores from three essay assignments in Psychology and Instruction subject. The result indicated an improvement in the participant’s writing performance, such as recalling previous knowledge and reviewing her writing. It showed that the participant’s marks among the three assignments significantly increased. The result also indicated participant’s difficulties and strength in her writing. However, The study further suggested time expansion to obtain a more comprehensive SLR performance, such as motivational and emotional aspects. Permalink/DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v2i2.3085

15 CFR 908.14 - Business to be transacted in writing.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 15 Commerce and Foreign Trade 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Business to be transacted in writing... MAINTAINING RECORDS AND SUBMITTING REPORTS ON WEATHER MODIFICATION ACTIVITIES § 908.14 Business to be transacted in writing. All business transacted with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with...

GUIDED USE OF WRITING PROMPTS TO IMPROVE ACADEMIC WRITING IN COLLEGE STUDENTS

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Lina Marcela Trigos Carrillo

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The paper presents empirical data supporting the hypothesis that the systematic and guided use of academic writing prompts is a successful instructional strategy to improve the academic writing in Spanish of college students, mainly during their first semesters. A combined methodology, with pre- and post-tests, was used in this research project conducted from July 2009 to June 2010. The participants were freshmen students of different disciplines of the Human Sciences in a private university in Bogota, Colombia. The aim of this research project was twofold. First, it sought to identify the difficulties students faced in the writing process of academic texts when they are related to real communicative contexts. Second, it involved the design and application of the guided and systematic use of writing prompts for academic writing in a sequence called "The Cognitive Pedagogical Model of Writing for Higher Education". The results show empirical evidence supporting the use of writing prompts designed with specific academic purposes to improve the academic writing level of college students in their first stages of study. However, further research is needed to consolidate the results presented here.