Integrating Scientific Argumentation to Improve Undergraduate Writing and Learning in a Global Environmental Change Course

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Koffman, Bess G. [School of Earth and Climate Sciences, 5790 Bryand Global Sciences Center, University of Maine, Orono, Maine 04469, USA; Department of Earth Sciences, 6105 Sherman Fairchild Hall, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755, USA; Kreutz, Karl J. [School of Earth and Climate Sciences, 5790 Bryand Global Sciences Center, University of Maine, Orono, Maine 04469, USA; Climate Change Institute, 300 Bryand Global Sciences Center, University of Maine, Orono, Maine 04469, USA; Trenbath, Kim [Maine Center for Research in STEM Education, 5727 Estabrooke Hall, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, 04469, USA; National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 15013 Denver West Parkway, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA

2017-08-01

We present a strategy for using scientific argumentation in an early undergraduate laboratory course to teach disciplinary writing practices and to promote critical thinking, knowledge transformation, and understanding of the scientific method. The approach combines targeted writing instruction; data analysis and interpretation; formulation of a hypothesis; and construction of an argument. Students submit and receive feedback on two drafts of two different argumentation essays, providing the opportunity for guided practice. Each written argument is intended to draw on several weeks' course material, including short lectures, discussions, readings, and problem sets. Thus our aim with these writing assignments is to help students synthesize content and concepts, deepening their learning. We have found that this inquiry-based approach to writing engages students in course material, and significantly improves both writing and learning. We observed the greatest improvement among students with the lowest initial scores, suggesting that lower-achieving students benefitted disproportionately from this approach. Students have responded positively to the use of writing in the course, many stating on course evaluations that this is the first time they have received instruction in scientific writing. They have also pointed to a greater 'big-picture' understanding of the course gained through writing. We describe the course and our curriculum, and provide suggestions for implementation as well as rubrics used to evaluate problem sets and student argumentation essays.

On the Strategies of Graduation Thesis Writing Teaching of Translation Major Undergraduates Based on Eco-Translatology

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Lin, Wang

2017-01-01

Graduation thesis is an indispensible procedure for each undergraduate, which is crucial for successful graduation, employment, further study and even further development. However, due to most undergraduates' ignorance of academic writing and the deficiency of current thesis writing course, thesis writing ability can hardly be enhanced and…

THE ANALYSIS OF INTERFERENCE ON WRITING ASSIGNMENTS OF THE MIDWIFERY STUDENTS

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I G. A. Agung Sintha Satwika

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This research aims at investigating and analyzing the interference which occurred in English text made by the students of Akademi Kebidanan Bali Wisnu Dharma. The data of this writing were collected from the writing assignment of the students at Akademi Kebidanan Bali Wisnu Dharma, which was divided into six groups. The data were obtained by reading intensively those texts and followed by applying the note taking technique. The result of this study indicates that the interference occurred on those writing assignments in terms of semantics level, spelling, copula, syntax, literal translation, redundancy, over generalization, and interference in terms of English pronoun.

The "Outsider/Insider" Assignment: A Pedagogical Innovation for Teaching Cross-Cultural Understanding

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Garcia, Angela Cora

2014-01-01

In this paper, I describe an innovative assignment for teaching undergraduate students cross-cultural understanding. The Outsider/Insider assignment simultaneously teaches facts about cultural difference and skills for managing cross-cultural encounters. Briefly, the assignment is to write two short papers, one in which the student describes a…

Undergraduate Psychological Writing: A Best Practices Guide and National Survey

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Ishak, Shaziela; Salter, Nicholas P.

2017-01-01

There is no comprehensive guide for teaching psychological writing, and little is known about how often instructors teach the topic. We present a best practices guide for teaching psychological writing beyond just American Psychological Association style, discuss psychology-specific writing assignments, and examine psychological writing…

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.

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.

Evaluating Pragmatic Competence in Nigerian Undergraduates' Language Errors within Descriptive ESL Writing

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Muhammad, Anas Sa'idu; Nair, Subadrah Madhawa

2017-01-01

This study investigates the level of pragmatic competence for ESL writing skills among Nigerian undergraduates. Methodologically, it adopts descriptive research design within the explanatory framework of the QUAN-Qual model. The instruments used are descriptive essay text and focus group interview questions. In writing the descriptive essays, a…

A Student-Led Feedback Protocol on Writing Assignments in a History of Mathematics Course

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White, Diana

2014-01-01

History of math courses are commonly offered in mathematics departments. Such courses naturally lend themselves to writing assignments, and a growing body of research supports writing as a means to learn mathematics. This article details two such assignments, providing an overview of the course in which they are situated, and a student-led…

Developing Team Skills through a Collaborative Writing Assignment

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Thomas, Theda Ann

2014-01-01

Employers want students who are able to work effectively as members of a team, and expect universities to develop this ability in their graduates. This paper proposes a framework for a collaborative writing assignment that specifically develops students' ability to work in teams. The framework has been tested using two iterations of an action…

A student guide to proofreading and writing in science.

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Hyatt, Jon-Philippe K; Bienenstock, Elisa Jayne; Tilan, Jason U

2017-09-01

Scientific writing requires a distinct style and tone, whether the writing is intended for an undergraduate assignment or publication in a peer-reviewed journal. From the first to the final draft, scientific writing is an iterative process requiring practice, substantial feedback from peers and instructors, and comprehensive proofreading on the part of the writer. Teaching writing or proofreading is not common in university settings. Here, we present a collection of common undergraduate student writing mistakes and put forth suggestions for corrections as a first step toward proofreading and enhancing readability in subsequent draft versions. Additionally, we propose specific strategies pertaining to word choice, structure, and approach to make products more fluid and focused for an appropriate target audience. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

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.

Improving Scientific Writing in Undergraduate Geosciences Degrees Through Peer Review

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Day, E. A.; Collins, G. S.; Craig, L.

2016-12-01

In the British educational system, students specialise early. Often geoscience undergraduates have not taken a class that requires extended writing since they were sixteen years old. This can make it difficult for students to develop the written skills necessary for a geoscience degree, which often has assessments in the form of essays and reports. To improve both the writing and editing skills of our undergraduates we have introduced a peer review system, in which seniors review the work of first year students. At Imperial College London we set written coursework in every year of the degree. Communication is taught and assessed in many courses. There are two major modules with substantial written components that bookend the undergraduate degree at Imperial; the freshmen all write an assessed essay, while all seniors take 'Science Communication', a course that aims to prepare them for a range of possible careers. In the 2015-16 academic year we linked these courses by introducing a modified form of peer marking and instruction. Seniors had to complete reviews of draft first year essays for credit in Science Communication. These reviews are completed for the department 'journal' and introduce the first and fourth years to the nature of peer review. Seniors learn how to critically, but kindly, evaluate the work of other students, and are also prepared for potentially submitting their senior theses to journals. Reviews were managed by volunteer seniors, who acted as associate editors. They allocated anonymous reviewers and wrote decision letters, which were sent to the freshmen before their final assessed essay submission. Ultimately the fourth year reviews were formally assessed and graded by members of staff, as were the revised and resubmitted first year essays. Feedback for both courses has improved since the introduction of student reviews of essays. The markers of the freshman essay have also commented on the improvement in the standard of the writing and a

Writing Assignments that Promote Active Learning

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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.

Drafting and acting on feedback supports student learning when writing essay assignments.

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Freestone, Nicholas

2009-06-01

A diverse student population is a relatively recent feature of the higher education system in the United Kingdom. Consequently, it may be thought that more "traditional" types of assessment based around essay writing skills for science undergraduates may be of decreasing value and relevance to contemporary students. This article describes a study in which the process of feedback on, and associated redrafting of, an essay was closely supervised to improve essay writing skills and subsequent exam performance. The results of this study show that students can significantly improve their learning and academic performance, as assessed by final examination mark, by a process that more closely mimics a "real-world" situation of review and redrafting. Additionally, the data show that students benefit from feedback only when this is used appropriately by the student. The article also discusses the continuing importance and relevance of essay writing skills so that writing, and acting upon feedback to do with that writing, remains an integral part of the process of learning.

Using Pinterest in Undergraduate Social Work Education: Assignment Development and Pilot Survey Results

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Baker, Lisa R.; Hitchcock, Laurel Iverson

2017-01-01

This article describes the development, implementation, and assessment of a social media assignment using Pinterest as a tool for student engagement and professional development in two undergraduate social work courses. Twenty-one undergraduate students enrolled in Human Behavior and the Social Environment (HBSE) courses completed the assignment…

Creative Writing Assignments in a Second Language Course: A Way to Engage Less Motivated Students

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Arshavskaya, Ekaterina

2015-01-01

This article makes a case for using creative writing in a second language course. Creative writing increases students' enthusiasm for writing skills development and supports students' creativity, which is a fundamental aspect of education. In order to engage less motivated students, a series of creative writing assignments was implemented in a…

Integrating Assessment into Teaching Practices: Using Checklists for Business Writing Assignments.

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Vice, Janna P.; Carnes, Lana W.

2002-01-01

Explains how to use checklists as a tool for developing, implementing, and evaluating business writing assignments. Gives an example of their use with memoranda, short reports, and analytical field reports. (SK)

Writing Chinese and mathematics achievement: A study with Chinese-American undergraduates

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Li, Chieh; Nuttall, Ronald

2001-04-01

Two recent studies indicated that writing Chinese is correlated to Chinese-American (CA) students' spatial skills. The current study investigated whether writing Chinese would have the same relationship to mathematics skills. The Scholastic Assessment Test—Mathematics (SAT-Math) scores were analysed for 150 CA undergraduates: 42 writers of Chinese and 108 non-writers of Chinese. The results suggested a strong correlation between writing Chinese and success on SAT-Math. An underlying mechanism may be the common cognitive components that encompass writing Chinese, spatial tasks, and SAT-Math. Contrary to previous findings with other populations in the USA, CA females scored slightly higher on SAT-Math than males. The finding supports the cultural relativity theory of gender difference on SAT-Math.

Developing Research Paper Writing Programs for EFL/ESL Undergraduate Students Using Process Genre Approach

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Tuyen, Kim Thanh; Bin Osman, Shuki; Dan, Thai Cong; Ahmad, Nor Shafrin Binti

2016-01-01

Research Paper Writing (RPW) plays a key role in completing all research work. Poor writing could lead to the postponement of publications. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a program of (RPW) to improve RPW ability for EFL/ESL writers, especially for undergraduate students in Higher Education (HE) institutions, which has caught less attention…

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.

Want to Improve Undergraduate Thesis Writing? Engage Students and Their Faculty Readers in Scientific Peer Review

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Reynolds, Julie A.; Thompson, Robert J.

2011-01-01

One of the best opportunities that undergraduates have to learn to write like a scientist is to write a thesis after participating in faculty-mentored undergraduate research. But developing writing skills doesn't happen automatically, and there are significant challenges associated with offering writing courses and with individualized mentoring. We present a hybrid model in which students have the structural support of a course plus the personalized benefits of working one-on-one with faculty. To optimize these one-on-one interactions, the course uses BioTAP, the Biology Thesis Assessment Protocol, to structure engagement in scientific peer review. By assessing theses written by students who took this course and comparable students who did not, we found that our approach not only improved student writing but also helped faculty members across the department—not only those teaching the course—to work more effectively and efficiently with student writers. Students who enrolled in this course were more likely to earn highest honors than students who only worked one-on-one with faculty. Further, students in the course scored significantly better on all higher-order writing and critical-thinking skills assessed. PMID:21633069

Online Features of Qzone Weblog for Critical Peer Feedback to Facilitate Business English Writing

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Gao, Xianwei; Samuel, Moses; Asmawi, Adelina

2016-01-01

Qzone weblog is one of the most popular weblogs in China. This study explores Qzone weblog for critical peer feedback to facilitate Business English writing among the Chinese undergraduates. A qualitative case study is conducted by NVivo 8 to analyze the three research data of semistructured interviews, Business English writing assignments, and…

Anxiety and Self-Efficacy's Relationship with Undergraduate Students' Perceptions of the Use of Metacognitive Writing Strategies

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Stewart, Graeme; Seifert, Tricia Anne; Rolheiser, Carol

2015-01-01

There is growing interest in promoting metacognition among college and university students, as this has been linked with positive student learning outcomes. This study explores the relationship between student writing anxiety and self-efficacy on undergraduate students' self-reported use of metacognitive writing strategies. Using undergraduate…

Exploring Undergraduate Gender Differences in Anxiety about Meeting Their Assigned Therapist

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Blau, Gary; DiMino, John; DeMaria, Peter A., Jr.; Beverly, Clyde; Chessler, Marcy

2016-01-01

An online survey sample of 166 non-urgent undergraduates, N = 47 (male) and N = 119 (female) waiting to begin counseling after triage found that females had significantly higher anxiety about meeting their assigned (intake) therapist than males. This gender difference of females being higher in counselor meeting anxiety could not be accounted for…

Undergraduate ESL Students’ Difficulties in Writing the Introduction for Research Reports

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Mirrah Diyana Binti Maznun

2017-02-01

Full Text Available This study was conducted to investigate the difficulties encountered by undergraduate ESL students in writing the introduction section of their project reports. Five introduction sections of bachelor of arts students, majoring in English language, were analyzed and a lecturer was interviewed regarding the areas of the students’ weaknesses. Swales’ create-a-research-space (cars model was used as the analytical framework of the study. The results revealed that students confronted problems in writing their introduction for each move especially for move 2, which consists of counter claiming, indicating research gap, raising questions from previous research and continuing tradition. It was also found that the students had difficulty in writing the background of the study, theoretical framework, and statement of the problem which indicated their unawareness of the appropriate rhetorical structure of the introduction section.

Writing to Learn: An Evaluation of the Calibrated Peer Review™ Program in Two Neuroscience Courses

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Prichard, J. Roxanne

2005-01-01

Although the majority of scientific information is communicated in written form, and peer review is the primary process by which it is validated, undergraduate students may receive little direct training in science writing or peer review. Here, I describe the use of Calibrated Peer Review™ (CPR), a free, web-based writing and peer review program designed to alleviate instructor workload, in two undergraduate neuroscience courses: an upper- level sensation and perception course (41 students, three assignments) and an introductory neuroscience course (50 students; two assignments). Using CPR online, students reviewed primary research articles on assigned ‘hot’ topics, wrote short essays in response to specific guiding questions, reviewed standard ‘calibration’ essays, and provided anonymous quantitative and qualitative peer reviews. An automated grading system calculated the final scores based on a student’s essay quality (as determined by the average of three peer reviews) and his or her accuracy in evaluating 1) three standard calibration essays, 2) three anonymous peer reviews, and 3) his or her self review. Thus, students were assessed not only on their skill at constructing logical, evidence-based arguments, but also on their ability to accurately evaluate their peers’ writing. According to both student self-reports and instructor observation, students’ writing and peer review skills improved over the course of the semester. Student evaluation of the CPR program was mixed; while some students felt like the peer review process enhanced their understanding of the material and improved their writing, others felt as though the process was biased and required too much time. Despite student critiques of the program, I still recommend the CPR program as an excellent and free resource for incorporating more writing, peer review, and critical thinking into an undergraduate neuroscience curriculum. PMID:23493247

Mini-Journals: Incorporating Inquiry, Quantitative Skills and Writing into Homework Assignments for Geochemistry and Planetary Science

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Whittington, A. G.; Speck, A.; Witzig, S.

2011-12-01

As part of an NSF-funded project, "CUES: Connecting Undergraduates to the Enterprise of Science," new inquiry-based homework materials were developed for two upper-level classes at the University of Missouri: Geochemistry (required for Geology majors, fulfills the computing requirement by having 50% of the grade come from five spreadsheet-based homework assignments), and Solar System Science (open to seniors and graduate students, co-taught and cross-listed between Geology and Physics & Astronomy). Inquiry involves activities where the learner engages in scientifically oriented questions, gives priority to evidence in responding to questions, formulates explanations from evidence, connects explanations to scientific knowledge, and communicates and justifies explanations. We engage students in inquiry-based learning by presenting homework exercises as "mini-journal" articles that follow the format of a scientific journal article, including a title, authors, abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion and citations to peer-reviewed literature. The mini-journal provides a scaffold and serves as a springboard for students to develop and carry out their own follow-up investigation. They then present their findings in the form of their own mini-journal. Mini-journals replace traditional homework problem sets with a format that more directly reflects and encourages scientific practice. Students are engaged in inquiry-based homework which encompass doing, thinking, and communicating, while the mini-journal allows the instructor to contain lines of inquiry within the limits posed by available resources. In the examples we present, research is conducted via spreadsheet modeling, where the students develop their own spreadsheets. Example assignments from Geochemistry include "Trace Element Partitioning During Mantle Melting and MORB Crystallization" and "Isotopic Investigations of Crustal Evolution in the Midcontinent US". The key differences between the old and new

Undergraduate nursing students writing therapeutic letters to families: an educational strategy.

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Erlingsson, Christen

2009-02-01

Writing therapeutic letters to families is discussed in this article as an educational strategy encouraging students to think reflectively about family nursing. At the University of Kalmar, Sweden, undergraduate nursing students in a primary care module interviewed families using the Calgary Family Assessment Model and wrote therapeutic letters to these families. This article describes (a) the examination process, which was the context for writing therapeutic letters, (b) results of analyses of the letters, and (c) student's post-examination evaluation comments. Results indicate that most students needed encouragement to focus on the family's strengths and resources instead of focusing on own feelings or problems they perceived the family as having. Students also needed support in relinquishing their hierarchical role of "expert nurse." Students' evaluation comments showed that writing therapeutic letters provided students with opportunities to reflect about the connections between family nursing theory and the family itself.

Using Cloud collaboration for writing assignments by students with disabilities: a case study using action research

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Kjrsten Keane

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Though separated by geographical distance, a student with disabilities, his advisor, and his writing coach consorted in the Cloud using Google applications to achieve a writing goal. Our scenario demonstrates how emerging technologies can bridge transactional distance and “virtually” supplant face-to-face conferencing around a college writing assignment. Individual levels of technical acumen with digital technology evolved to bridge the psychological and communication space between the student and his instructors. As a result, the telecollaborators developed an efficient coaching process adaptable for all students who need assistance in revising college writing assignments at a distance. Action research frames our discussion of the Cloud collaboration and provides a scaffold for student autonomy. The advantages as well and disadvantages of Cloud collaboration are outlined with reference to the National Institute of Standards of Technology definition of Cloud Computing and the Seven Principles of Universal Course Design.http://dx.doi.org/10.5944/openpraxis.6.1.79

A Pilot Intervention to Improve the Structural Quality of Exam Essay Writing in UK Undergraduate Psychology Students

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Connelly, Vincent; Dockrell, Julie E.; Barnett, Jo

2006-01-01

Psychology undergraduates need to produce good quality essays in order to succeed at university. Students find the transition to university writing difficult. Using a rubric, a profile of student weakness in psychology essay writing was described. The students were generally poor at the structural organisation of their essays. A pilot intervention…

Undergraduate Essay Writing: Online and Face-to-Face Peer Reviews

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Chong, Mike R.; Goff, Lori; Dej, Kimberly

2012-01-01

We implemented two different approaches of using peer review to support undergraduate essay assignments for students taking large second-year courses in life sciences and biology: a web-based online peer review (OPR) approach and a more traditional face-to-face peer review (FPR) approach that was conducted in tutorial settings. The essays…

Academic Boot Camp for the Writing of Psychology Research Reports

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Skues, Jason L.; Wise, Lisa

2014-01-01

Herein, we describe the implementation of, and responses to, a structured writing workshop in the form of an academic boot camp. Participants were 42 undergraduate psychology students from a medium-sized Australian university who were completing their major assignment for the semester. A majority of the students expressed satisfaction with the…

Application of Calibrated Peer Review (CPR) Writing Assignments to Enhance Experiments with an Environmental Chemistry Focus

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Margerum, Lawrence D.; Gulsrud, Maren; Manlapez, Ronald; Rebong, Rachelle; Love, Austin

2007-01-01

The browser-based software program, Calibrated Peer Review (CPR) developed by the Molecular Science Project enables instructors to create structured writing assignments in which students learn by writing and reading for content. Though the CPR project covers only one experiment in general chemistry, it might provide lab instructors with a method…

Effect of Writing-to-Learn Strategy on Undergraduates' Conceptual Understanding of Electrostatics

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Atasoy, Sengül

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of Writing-to-Learn (WTL) strategy on undergraduates' conceptual understanding of electrostatics. The sample of the study was 54 university students registered at elementary school mathematics education department. While the experimental group was asked to conduct WTL activities like explanatory…

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…

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.

Writing Assignments in Disguise: Lessons Learned Using Video Projects in the Classroom

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Wade, P.; Courtney, A.

2012-12-01

This study describes the instructional approach of using student-created video documentaries as projects in an undergraduate non-science majors' Energy Perspectives science course. Four years of teaching this course provided many reflective teaching moments from which we have enhanced our instructional approach to teaching students how to construct a quality Ken Burn's style science video. Fundamental to a good video documentary is the story told via a narrative which involves significant writing, editing and rewriting. Many students primarily associate a video documentary with visual imagery and do not realize the importance of writing in the production of the video. Required components of the student-created video include: 1) select a topic, 2) conduct research, 3) write an outline, 4) write a narrative, 5) construct a project storyboard, 6) shoot or acquire video and photos (from legal sources), 7) record the narrative, 8) construct the video documentary, 9) edit and 10) finalize the project. Two knowledge survey instruments (administered pre- and post) were used for assessment purposes. One survey focused on the skills necessary to research and produce video documentaries and the second survey assessed students' content knowledge acquired from each documentary. This talk will focus on the components necessary for video documentaries and the instructional lessons learned over the years. Additionally, results from both surveys and student reflections of the video project will be shared.

Indonesian EFL Students’ Perspective on Writing Process: A Pilot Study

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Imelda Hermilinda Abas

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The study was aimed at understanding the EFL Indonesian students’ perspective on the writing process. The pilot study involved two male Indonesian postgraduate students in Universiti Utara Malaysia. The Indonesian students were selected based on the following criteria: (1 had enough knowledge in English writing, indicated by the completion of Academic Writing and Research Methodology courses taken in UUM; (2 had written an unpublished thesis during their undergraduate studies in Indonesia and they are writing their master or doctoral thesis in English; (3 used English extensively in writing their assignments, and in daily activities. Pseudonyms were used to refer to the participants as Sukarno and Suharto. The data were collected through in-depth interviews with the participants. The interview sessions took approximately 15-20 minutes for each participant and were videotaped and audiotaped. Semi-structured interview with 15 questions and probes were used. The results showed that the two participants had positive feelings and attitudes towards writing in English. Although they had a hard time in English writing during their undergraduate in Indonesia, they become fond of writing in English in their postgraduate time due to the exposure to English extensively. In composing, they used brainstorming, drafting, pausing, revising and editing in a recursive manner. Keywords: in-depth interview, pilot study, writing process, English as a Foreign Language (EFL

Impact of reflective writing assignments on dental students' views of cultural competence and diversity.

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Isaac, Carol; Behar-Horenstein, Linda; Lee, Barbara; Catalanotto, Frank

2015-03-01

To respond to widespread disparities in access to oral health care, the Institute of Medicine, the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA), and the U.S. surgeon general have stressed that prospective dentists should become culturally competent, socially responsible practitioners. The aim of this study was to examine linguistic differences in dental students' reflective writing assignments before and after interviewing an individual who was culturally different from themselves. The authors analyzed 160 documents from 80 first-year dental students at the University of Florida in 2012. This cohort consisted of 36 male (45%) and 44 female (55%) students; 26 (32%) were from underrepresented minority (URM) groups and 54 (68%) were identified as white non-minority. Text analysis software identified word counts, categories, frequencies, and contexts. Significantly positive differences occurred for interviews between assignments 1 and 2 (p=0.005 to pcultural diversity. Differences were observed for Factor 1 ("important others' influence") between assignments (p<0.001), assignments by interview categories (p=0.033), and URM/majority participants by assignments by interview category (p=0.018). Factor 4 ("my social world in relation to others") was statistically different between assignments for URM/majority participants (p=0.019). Factor 5 ("wrong because") was statistically different for gender (p=0.041), suggesting that males may have experienced a rebound effect from stereotype suppression. The findings suggest that the use of reflective writing and interviews affected the students' awareness of how important others had influenced their lives and attitudes and facilitated their questioning preconceived assumptions. Reactions to coursework focusing on social and personal domains warrant further investigation.

Calibrated peer review assignments for the earth sciences

Science.gov (United States)

Rudd, J.A.; Wang, V.Z.; Cervato, C.; Ridky, R.W.

2009-01-01

Calibrated Peer Review ??? (CPR), a web-based instructional tool developed as part of the National Science Foundation reform initiatives in undergraduate science education, allows instructors to incorporate multiple writing assignments in large courses without overwhelming the instructor. This study reports successful implementation of CPR in a large, introductory geology course and student learning of geoscience content. For each CPR assignment in this study, students studied web-based and paper resources, wrote an essay, and reviewed seven essays (three from the instructor, three from peers, and their own) on the topic. Although many students expressed negative attitudes and concerns, particularly about the peer review process of this innovative instructional approach, they also recognized the learning potential of completing CPR assignments. Comparing instruction on earthquakes and plate boundaries using a CPR assignment vs. an instructional video lecture and homework essay with extensive instructor feedback, students mastered more content via CPR instruction.

How to incorporate academic writing pedagogy in undergraduate and postgraduate medical education.

Science.gov (United States)

Kostenko, Viktoriia G; Solohor, Iryna M

2018-01-01

Introduction: Medical researchers, who are non-native English speakers, are facing now the growing need to publish their research results in international journals switching to an English-only policy, to apply for grants and scholarship, but at the same time this puts many authors whose native language is not English at a disadvantage compared to their English-speaking counterparts. The aim: This paper aims at analysing the existing parameters of academic writing proficiency of medical undergraduate and postgraduate students; elucidating current approaches to develop academic writing competency and to promote academic multi-literacy of junior researchers, and outlining the general recommendations to improve the quality and sophistication of their writing by incorporating the principles and achievements of academic writing pedagogy into the system of medical training. Materials and methods: This study is an empirical applied research of a qualitative type mainly based on data elicited from informants (n=120) of the Ukrainian Medical Stomatological Academy aged from 20 - 35. Results and conclusions: All participants were able to identify personal problem areas, and virtually all they note dissatisfaction with the use of English in their scholarly writing. They stated the obvious difficulties in sentence patterns and keeping tone of scientific narrative format. Writing in genres other than original research articles seems to be quite demanding and is often associated with the lack of self-confidence and language anxiety. Attention to developing academic writing skills should focus on the basic elements of academic writing, characteristics of written genres across the disciplines, providing a framework in which expert and practical knowledge is internally organized.

Types of Sentences in EFL Students' Paragraph Assignments: A Quantitative Study on Teaching and Learning Writing at Higher Education Level

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Syayid Sandi Sukandi

2017-08-01

Full Text Available This research investigates Indonesian EFL students writing four types of English sentences in their paragraph writing assignments that were posted online in Writing 1 course of English Education at STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat. The analysed types of sentences are Simple Sentence (code: S.S., Compound Sentence (code: C.S.1, Complex Sentence (code: C.S.2, and Compound-Complex Sentence (code: C.C.S. The percentage of each type of sentences that appears in the students’ writings within each five genres represents the students’ syntactical composition. Moreover, this research focuses on quantitatively analysing the above five types of sentences that appeared in students’ assignments in each type of following genres: argumentative, descriptive, process, cause-effect, and comparison-contrast. Data are taken from 10% samples of all population. The finding shows that writing Simple Sentence in paragraphs is a common type of sentence that is used by the students. It indicates that the guiding process to teaching students about writing paragraphs with varied sentence types is important for further development of teaching process of writing.

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.

Evaluation of a computer-based prompting intervention to improve essay writing in undergraduates with cognitive impairment after acquired brain injury.

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Ledbetter, Alexander K; Sohlberg, McKay Moore; Fickas, Stephen F; Horney, Mark A; McIntosh, Kent

2017-11-06

This study evaluated a computer-based prompting intervention for improving expository essay writing after acquired brain injury (ABI). Four undergraduate participants aged 18-21 with mild-moderate ABI and impaired fluid cognition at least 6 months post-injury reported difficulty with the writing process after injury. The study employed a non-concurrent multiple probe across participants, in a single-case design. Outcome measures included essay quality scores and number of revisions to writing counted then coded by type using a revision taxonomy. An inter-scorer agreement procedure was completed for quality scores for 50% of essays, with data indicating that agreement exceeded a goal of 85%. Visual analysis of results showed increased essay quality for all participants in intervention phase compared with baseline, maintained 1 week after. Statistical analyses showed statistically significant results for two of the four participants. The authors discuss external cuing for self-monitoring and tapping of existing writing knowledge as possible explanations for improvement. The study provides preliminary evidence that computer-based prompting has potential to improve writing quality for undergraduates with ABI.

Expressive writing as a brief intervention for reducing drinking intentions.

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Young, Chelsie M; Rodriguez, Lindsey M; Neighbors, Clayton

2013-12-01

The present study examined the effectiveness of expressive writing in reducing drinking behavior. We expected that students prompted to write about negative drinking experiences would show greater decreases in future drinking intentions compared to the neutral and the positive writing conditions. We also expected that decreases in drinking intentions following the writing prompts might differ based on current drinking and AUDIT scores. Participants included 200 (76% female) undergraduates who completed measures of their current drinking behavior. They were then randomly assigned to either write about: a time when they had a lot to drink that was a good time (Positive); a time when they had a lot to drink that was a bad time (Negative); or their first day of college (Neutral), followed by measures assessing intended drinking over the next three months. Results revealed that participants intended to drink significantly fewer drinks per week and engage in marginally fewer heavy drinking occasions after writing about a negative drinking occasion when compared to control. Interactions provided mixed findings suggesting that writing about a positive event was associated with higher drinking intentions for heavier drinkers. Writing about a negative event was associated with higher intentions among heavier drinkers, but lower intentions among those with higher AUDIT scores. This research builds on previous expressive writing interventions by applying this technique to undergraduate drinkers. Preliminary results provide some support for this innovative strategy but also suggest the need for further refinement, especially with heavier drinkers. © 2013.

Thinking Like a Psychologist Introductory Psychology Writing Assignments: Encouraging Critical Thinking and Resisting Plagiarism

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Wentworth, Diane Keyser; Whitmarsh, Lona

2017-01-01

Teaching the general psychology course provides instructors with the opportunity to invite students to explore the dynamics of behavior and mental processes through the lens of theory and research. Three innovative writing assignments were developed to teach students to think like a psychologist, operationalized as enhancing critical thinking,…

A Writing-Intensive Course Improves Biology Undergraduates' Perception and Confidence of Their Abilities to Read Scientific Literature and Communicate Science

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Brownell, Sara E.; Price, Jordan V.; Steinman, Lawrence

2013-01-01

Most scientists agree that comprehension of primary scientific papers and communication of scientific concepts are two of the most important skills that we can teach, but few undergraduate biology courses make these explicit course goals. We designed an undergraduate neuroimmunology course that uses a writing-intensive format. Using a mixture of…

Teaching Tip: Improving Students' Email Communication through an Integrated Writing Assignment in a Third-Year Toxicology Course.

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Kedrowicz, April A; Hammond, Sarah; Dorman, David C

Client communication is important for success in veterinary practice, with written communication being an important means for veterinarian-client information sharing. Effective communication is adapted to clients' needs and wants, and presents information in a clear, understandable manner while accounting for varying degrees of client health literacy. This teaching tip describes the use of a mock electronic mail assignment as one way to integrate writing into a required veterinary toxicology course. As part of this project, we provide baseline data relating to students' written communication that will guide further development of writing modules in other curricula. Two independent raters analyzed students' writing using a coding scheme designed to assess adherence to the guidelines for effective written health communication. Results showed that the majority of students performed satisfactorily or required some development with respect to recommended guidelines for effective written health communication to facilitate client understanding. These findings suggest that additional instruction and practice should emphasize the importance of incorporating examples, metaphors, analogies, and pictures to create texts that are comprehensible and memorable to clients. Recommendations are provided for effective integration of writing assignments into the veterinary medicine curriculum.

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.

Identifying and Remediating Student Misconceptions in Introductory Biology via Writing-to-Learn Assignments and Peer Review.

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Halim, Audrey S; Finkenstaedt-Quinn, Solaire A; Olsen, Laura J; Gere, Anne Ruggles; Shultz, Ginger V

2018-06-01

Student misconceptions are an obstacle in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics courses and unless remediated may continue causing difficulties in learning as students advance in their studies. Writing-to-learn assignments (WTL) are characterized by their ability to promote in-depth conceptual learning by allowing students to explore their understanding of a topic. This study sought to determine whether and what types of misconceptions are elicited by WTL assignments and how the process of peer review and revision leads to remediation or propagation of misconceptions. We examined four WTL assignments in an introductory biology course in which students first wrote about content by applying it to a realistic scenario, then participated in a peer-review process before revising their work. Misconceptions were identified in all four assignments, with the greatest number pertaining to protein structure and function. Additionally, in certain contexts, students used scientific terminology incorrectly. Analysis of the drafts and peer-review comments generated six profiles by which misconceptions were addressed through the peer-review process. The prevalent mode of remediation arose through directed peer-review comments followed by correction during revision. It was also observed that additional misconceptions were elicited as students revised their writing in response to general peer-review suggestions.

Unpacking the Value of Writing: Exploring College Students' Perceptions of Writing

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Zumbrunn, Sharon; Carter, Yvette M.; Conklin, Sarah

2014-01-01

This study explored college students' beliefs about the value of writing, their past experiences with writing, and the relationship between students' prior experiences with writing and writing value beliefs. One hundred fourteen undergraduates from a public Southeastern university participated in the study. Using expectancy-value theory as a…

Personal Reflection: Reflections on a Family Health History Assignment for Undergraduate Public Health and Nursing Students

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Rooks, Ronica N.; Ford, Cassandra

2013-01-01

This personal reflection describes our experiences with incorporating the scholarship of teaching and learning and problem-based techniques to facilitate undergraduate student learning and their professional development in the health sciences. We created a family health history assignment to discuss key concepts in our courses, such as health…

Learning Science through Writing: Associations with Prior Conceptions of Writing and Perceptions of a Writing Program

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Ellis, Robert A.; Taylor, Charlotte E.; Drury, Helen

2007-01-01

Students in a large undergraduate biology course were expected to write a scientific report as a key part of their course design. This study investigates the quality of learning arising from the writing experience and how it relates to the quality of students' preconceptions of learning through writing and their perceptions of their writing…

Writing a Movie.

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Hoffner, Helen

2003-01-01

Explains a reading and writing assignment called "Writing a Movie" in which students view a short film segment and write a script in which they describe the scene. Notes that this assignment uses films to develop fluency and helps students understand the reading and writing connections. Concludes that students learn to summarize a scene from film,…

Journal Writing: Enlivening Elementary Linear Algebra.

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Meel, David E.

1999-01-01

Examines the various issues surrounding the implementation of journal writing in an undergraduate linear algebra course. Identifies the benefits of incorporating journal writing into an undergraduate mathematics course, which are supported with students' comments from their journals and their reflections on the process. Contains 14 references.…

Enjoy writing your science thesis or dissertation! a step-by-step guide to planning and writing a thesis or dissertation for undergraduate and graduate science students

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Fisher, Elizabeth

2014-01-01

This book is a step by step illustrated guide to planning and writing dissertations and theses for undergraduate and graduate science students. Topics covered include advice on writing each section of a thesis as well as general discussions on collecting and organizing references, keeping records, presenting data, interacting with a supervisor and avoiding academic misconduct. Recommendations about how to use word processors and other software packages effectively are included, as well as advice on the use of other resources. A concise summary of important points of English grammar is given, along with appendices listing frequently confused words and wordy phrases to avoid. Further appendices are provided, including one on Si units. The aim is to provide an easy-to-read guide that gives students practical advice about all aspects of writing a science thesis or dissertation, starting from writing a thesis plan and finishing with the viva and corrections to the thesis.

Importance of Technical Writing in Engineering Education

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Narayanan, M.

2010-12-01

It is important to recognize technical writing as a creative vehicle to communicate with the audience. It is indeed possible to motivate a reluctant learner by encouraging student writing combined with reading and research. John Kosakowski is of the opinion that writing assignments actually help to strengthen the self-confidence of a lethargic learner (Kosakowski, 1998). Researchers in the area of cognitive science and educational psychology are also of the opinion that encouraging students to writing actually helps the learners cultivate a positive attitude toward the subject matter in question. One must also recognize the fact that the students are indeed very reluctant to devote time and effort that requiress descriptive long writing assignments. One has to be more creative towards assignments that utilize problem-solving pedagogy (Saxe, 1988; Senge, 1990; Sims, 1995; Young & Young, 1999). Education World writer Gloria Chaika (Chaika, 2000) states that “Talent is important, but practice creates the solid base that allows that unique talent to soar. Like athletes, writers learn by doing. Good writing requires the same kind of dedicated practice that athletes put in. Young writers often lack the support they need to practice writing and develop their talent to the fullest, though.” Writing assignments have several key elements and the author has outlined below, some ideas for conducting assessment. 1. Identification of a purpose. 2. Focusing on the subject matter. 3. Attracting the attention of audience. 4. Format, flow and familiarity of the structure. 5. Observation of formality, voice and tone. 6. Promotion of critical thinking. 7. Importance of Logic and evidence-based reasoning. 8. Follows a realistic time line. 9. Process and procedure are properly outlined. References: Barr, R. B., & Tagg, J. (1995, November/December). From teaching to learning: A new paradigm for undergraduate education. Change: The Magazine of Higher Education, 13-24. Cox, M. D

Incorporating Inquiry into Upper-Level Undergraduate Homework Assignments: The Mini-Journal

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Whittington, Alan; Speck, Angela; Witzig, Stephen; Abell, Sandra

2010-05-01

The US National Science Education Standards (2000) state that science should be taught through inquiry. The five essential features of classroom inquiry are that the leaner (i) engages in scientifically oriented questions, (ii) gives priority to evidence in responding to questions, (iii) formulates explanations from evidence, (iv) connects explanations to scientific knowledge, and (v) communicates and justifies explanations. One difficulty in achieving this vision at the university level lies in the common perception that inquiry be fully open and unstructured, and that its implementation will be impractical due to time and material constraints. In an NSF-funded project, "CUES: Connecting Undergraduates to the Enterprise of Science," faculty developed new inquiry-based laboratory curriculum materials using a "mini-journal" approach, which is designed as an alternative to the cookbook laboratory and represents the way that scientists do science. Here we adapt this approach to a homework assignment in an upper-level Planetary Science class, and show that inquiry is achievable in this setting. Traditional homeworks in this class consisted of problem sets requiring algebraic manipulation, computation, and in most cases an appraisal of the result Longer questions are broken down into chunks worth 1 to 4 points. In contrast, the mini-journal is a short article that is modeled in the way that scientists do and report science. It includes a title, abstract, introduction (with clear statement of the problem to be tackled), a description of the methods, results (presented as both tables and graphs), a discussion (with suggestions for future work) and a list of cited work. Students devise their research questions and hypothesis from the paper based on a logical next step in the investigation. Guiding questions in the discussion can assist the students ("it would be interesting to evaluate the effect of ..."). Students submit their own minijournal, using the same journal

Where's Your Thesis Statement and What Happened to Your Topic Sentences? Identifying Organizational Challenges in Undergraduate Student Argumentative Writing

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Miller, Ryan T.; Pessoa, Silvia

2016-01-01

The authors examine the challenges students faced in trying to write organized texts using effective thesis statements and topic sentences by analyzing argumentative history essays written by multilingual students enrolled in an undergraduate history course. They use the notions of macro-Theme (i.e., thesis statement) and hyper-Theme (i.e., topic…

Doing peer review and receiving feedback: impact on scientific literacy and writing skills.

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Geithner, Christina A; Pollastro, Alexandria N

2016-03-01

Doing peer review has been effectively implemented to help students develop critical reading and writing skills; however, its application in Human Physiology programs is limited. The purpose of the present study was to determine the impact of peer review on Human Physiology majors' perceptions of their scientific literacy and writing skills. Students enrolled in the Scientific Writing course completed multiple writing assignments, including three revisions after receiving peer and instructor feedback. Students self-assessed their knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to science and writing in pre- and postcourse surveys (n = 26 with complete data). Seven survey items related to scientific literacy and writing skills impacted by peer review were selected for analysis. Scores on these survey items were summed to form a composite self-rating score. Responses to two questions regarding the most useful learning activities were submitted to frequency analysis. Mean postcourse scores for individual survey items and composite self-rating scores were significantly higher than precourse means (P writing skills. In conclusion, peer review is an effective teaching/learning approach for improving undergraduate Human Physiology majors' knowledge, skills, and attitudes regarding science and scientific writing. Copyright © 2016 The American Physiological Society.

Writing Inspired

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Tischhauser, Karen

2015-01-01

Students need inspiration to write. Assigning is not teaching. In order to inspire students to write fiction worth reading, teachers must take them through the process of writing. Physical objects inspire good writing with depth. In this article, the reader will be taken through the process of inspiring young writers through the use of boxes.…

Medical Students' Empathy for Vulnerable Groups: Results From a Survey and Reflective Writing Assignment.

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Wellbery, Caroline; Saunders, Pamela A; Kureshi, Sarah; Visconti, Adam

2017-12-01

As medical education curricula increasingly acknowledge the contributions of the social determinants of health to individual health, new methods of engaging students in the care of vulnerable groups are needed. Empathy is one way to connect students with patients, but little is known about how to nurture students' empathy on behalf of populations. This study examined the relationship between individual and social empathy as groundwork for cultivating students' empathy for vulnerable groups. In 2014-2015, first-year medical students completed the Social Empathy Index at the start and end of a two-semester population health course, and they completed a reflective writing assignment exploring the challenges of caring for vulnerable patients. Pre- and posttest mean survey scores were compared, and reflective writing assignments were analyzed for themes concerning social empathy. Data from 130 students were analyzed. Scores for the contextual understanding of systemic barriers domain increased significantly. There was a trend toward increased cumulative social empathy scores that did not reach statistical significance. Students' essays revealed three themes relating to individual empathy as the foundation for social empathy; civic and moral obligations; and the role of institutional practices in caring for vulnerable groups. This study extends understanding of empathy beyond care for the individual to include care for vulnerable groups. Thus, social empathy may function as a valuable concept in developing curricula to support students' commitment to care for the underserved. Educators first need to address the many barriers students cited that impede both individual and social empathy.

The Benefits of Peer Review and a Multisemester Capstone Writing Series on Inquiry and Analysis Skills in an Undergraduate Thesis.

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Weaver, K F; Morales, V; Nelson, M; Weaver, P F; Toledo, A; Godde, K

2016-01-01

This study examines the relationship between the introduction of a four-course writing-intensive capstone series and improvement in inquiry and analysis skills of biology senior undergraduates. To measure the impact of the multicourse write-to-learn and peer-review pedagogy on student performance, we used a modified Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education rubric for Inquiry and Analysis and Written Communication to score senior research theses from 2006 to 2008 (pretreatment) and 2009 to 2013 (intervention). A Fisher-Freeman-Halton test and a two-sample Student's t test were used to evaluate individual rubric dimensions and composite rubric scores, respectively, and a randomized complete block design analysis of variance was carried out on composite scores to examine the impact of the intervention across ethnicity, legacy (e.g., first-generation status), and research laboratory. The results show an increase in student performance in rubric scoring categories most closely associated with science literacy and critical-thinking skills, in addition to gains in students' writing abilities. © 2016 K. F. Weaver et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2016 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).

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…

The Impact of Blended e-Learning on Undergraduate Academic Essay Writing in English (L2)

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Ferriman, Nicholas

2013-01-01

This paper describes a quasi-experimental study into the impact of a blended e-learning environment on academic writing assignments in English (L2) at a Thai international college. An experimental group of 15 students used an on-line bulletin board, as well as face-to-face (F2F) communication in class, to share information for essay topics they…

Exploring Conceptions about Writing and Learning: Undergraduates' Patterns of Beliefs and the Quality of Academic Writing (Acercamiento a las concepciones sobre la escritura y el aprendizaje: patrones de creencias de los universitarios y la calidad de su redacción académica)

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Martínez-Fernández, J. R.; Corcelles, M.; Bañales, G.; Castelló, M.; Gutiérrez-Braojos, C.

2016-01-01

Introduction: In this study, the conceptions of learning and writing of a group of undergraduates enrolled in a teacher education programme were identified. The relationship between them were analysed, and a set of patterns of beliefs about learning and writing were defined. Finally, the relation between these patterns and the quality of a text…

Technical Writing Redesign and Assessment: A Pilot Study

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Winter, Gaye Bush

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to compare scores on writing assignments from traditional, fully online courses in technical writing to pilot, hybrid courses at a southern university. A total of 232 students' assignments were compared in this study. All writing assignments were scored by six trained instructors of English using the same five point…

Student Perceptions of Scholarly Writing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shirley Peganoff O'Brien

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Learning the process of scholarly writing, including the significance of peer review, is an essential element in the preparation of students for professional practice. This descriptive research study, using Scholarship of Teaching and Learning methodology, explores one approach to teaching scholarly writing in an occupational science/occupational therapy curriculum. The writing assignment was designed to offer multiple points for feedback and revision and instructional features to reinforce learning. A survey of students [n = 169] participating in this scholarly writing project was conducted yearly to gather their perceptions of learning. The results revealed four key elements: instructional strategies are needed to support scholarly writing, students value explicit instructor feedback, a successful writing experience opens the possibility for students to write in their professional future, and students will develop the habits of a writer given structure and pedagogical considerations in the assignment construction. This experience shows students will work to achieve the expected standard for scholarship once writing is made an essential part of the course and their efforts are supported by scaffolding the assignment. Through this experience, it was also learned students need opportunities for repetition and practice to refine scholarly writing. Suggestions for future research are proposed.

The Write Stuff: Teaching the Introductory Public Relations Writing Course.

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King, Cynthia M.

2001-01-01

Outlines an introductory public relations writing course. Presents course topics and objectives, and assignments designed to meet them. Provides a sample grading rubric and evaluates major public relations writing textbooks. Discusses learning and assessment strategies. (SR)

States, Traits, and Dispositions: The Impact of Emotion on Writing Development and Writing Transfer across College Courses and Beyond

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Driscoll, Dana Lynn; Powell, Roger

2016-01-01

Drawing from a five-year longitudinal data set following thirteen college writers through undergraduate writing and beyond, we explore the impact of students' emotions and emotional dispositions on their ability to transfer writing knowledge and on their overall writing development. Participants experienced a range of emotions concerning their…

Undergraduate Medical Education Research in Malaysia: Time for a Change.

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Salam, Abdus; Hamzah, Jemaima Che; Chin, Tan Geok; Siraj, Harlina Halizah; Idrus, Ruszymah; Mohamad, Nabishah; Raymond, Azman Ali

2015-01-01

Special Study Module (SSM) is a mandatory research module implemented in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). The objective of this paper is to provide a brief overview on the student research activities and to find out the outcome measures in terms of publication. It was a retrospective study done on SSM research projects at UKM. The SSM research is conducted from beginning of year-4 until 1(st) seven weeks of year-5. In year-4, students are assigned to a faculty-supervisor in small groups and spend every Thursday afternoon to plan and carry the research. Whole first seven weeks of year-5, students are placed with their supervisor continuously to collect data, do analysis, write report and present in the scientific conference. Outcomes of 5-years SSM research-projects starting from 2008/2009 to 2012/2013 academic session were analyzed. Total 257 projects were completed and presented in annual scientific meetings from which 57 (22.2%) articles were published in peer reviewed journals. Mandatory undergraduate student research project brings an opportunity to develop students' capacity building from conception to final report writing and thereby narrowing the gap between education and practice. Medical schools should implement research module to bring changes in research and publication culture of undergraduate medical education.

Evaluation of Candidate Teachers Related to the Weblog Writing Process

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Çelik, Tugba; Demirgünes, Sercan

2016-01-01

Weblogs offer a new writing and reading environment. Most people in the education process may improve their writing skills and achieve new perspectives related to writing via weblogs. In this study the changes that weblog writing process created in undergraduates'/candidate teachers' minds regarding writing are revealed. The weblog writing process…

The Value of Understanding Students' Prior Writing Experience in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

How should undergraduate science students' writing be understood when it does not meet the conventions of scientific writing? Studies have shown that the writing that students produce in their course work on tasks that imitate authentic scientific writing practices often do not match the tone, vocabulary and grammatical ...

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

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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 Exploration of the Characteristics of Effective Undergraduate Peer-Mentoring Relationships

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Douglass, April G.; Smith, Dennie L.; Smith, Lana J.

2013-01-01

In this article, we explored the effectiveness of peer mentoring of undergraduate education students enrolled in core curriculum, writing-intensive courses. The context for our study was the use of peer mentors in undergraduate education writing-intensive courses. Peer mentors who had previously taken the courses were selected and trained as…

Technical report writing today

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Riordan, Daniel G

2014-01-01

"Technical Report Writing Today" provides thorough coverage of technical writing basics, techniques, and applications. Through a practical focus with varied examples and exercises, students internalize the skills necessary to produce clear and effective documents and reports. Project worksheets help students organize their thoughts and prepare for assignments, and focus boxes highlight key information and recent developments in technical communication. Extensive individual and collaborative exercises expose students to different kinds of technical writing problems and solutions. Annotated student examples - more than 100 in all - illustrate different writing styles and approaches to problems. Numerous short and long examples throughout the text demonstrate solutions for handling writing assignments in current career situations. The four-color artwork in the chapter on creating visuals keeps pace with contemporary workplace capabilities. The Tenth Edition offers the latest information on using electronic resum...

Field Botany and Creative Writing: Where the Science of Writing Meets the Writing of Science

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Killingbeck, Keith

2006-01-01

Merging science and writing to enhance both subjects was the objective of a venture known as "Plant Notes." At first, teacher-written notes served as the inspiration for this writing assignment. Later, eclectic student-written novellas, poems, song lyrics, mnemonic devices, and field trip recollections made their way into "Plant Notes" and stole…

The Evolution of a Writing Program.

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White, Bonnie J; Lamson, Karen S

2017-07-01

Scholarly writing is required in nursing, and some students are unable to communicate effectively through writing. Faculty members may struggle with the grading of written assignments. A writing team, consisting of a nursing faculty member, the school of nursing library liaison, and members from academic support services, implemented strategies including workshops, handouts, and use of exemplars to improve student writing and to provide support to faculty. Few students sought help from the writing team. An online writing center within the existing learning management system was developed to address nursing students' and faculty's scholarly writing needs. The writing center includes guides, tutorials, and exemplars. Anecdotal evidence indicates the use of the writing center during afternoons and evenings and prior to due dates of written assignments. Online writing resources were used more frequently than face-to-face support. Further research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(7):443-445.]. Copyright 2017, SLACK Incorporated.

ERROR ANALYSIS ON INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY STUDENTS’ SENTENCE WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

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Rentauli Mariah Silalahi

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Students’ error analysis is very important for helping EFL teachers to develop their teaching materials, assessments and methods. However, it takes much time and effort from the teachers to do such an error analysis towards their students’ language. This study seeks to identify the common errors made by 1 class of 28 freshmen students studying English in their first semester in an IT university. The data is collected from their writing assignments for eight consecutive weeks. The errors found were classified into 24 types and the top ten most common errors committed by the students were article, preposition, spelling, word choice, subject-verb agreement, auxiliary verb, plural form, verb form, capital letter, and meaningless sentences. The findings about the students’ frequency of committing errors were, then, contrasted to their midterm test result and in order to find out the reasons behind the error recurrence; the students were given some questions to answer in a questionnaire format. Most of the students admitted that careless was the major reason for their errors and lack understanding came next. This study suggests EFL teachers to devote their time to continuously check the students’ language by giving corrections so that the students can learn from their errors and stop committing the same errors.

Undergraduate Medical Education Research in Malaysia: Time for a Change

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Salam, Abdus; Hamzah, Jemaima Che; Chin, Tan Geok; Siraj, Harlina Halizah; Idrus, Ruszymah; Mohamad, Nabishah; Raymond, Azman Ali

2015-01-01

Objective: Special Study Module (SSM) is a mandatory research module implemented in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). The objective of this paper is to provide a brief overview on the student research activities and to find out the outcome measures in terms of publication. Methods: It was a retrospective study done on SSM research projects at UKM. The SSM research is conducted from beginning of year-4 until 1st seven weeks of year-5. In year-4, students are assigned to a faculty-supervisor in small groups and spend every Thursday afternoon to plan and carry the research. Whole first seven weeks of year-5, students are placed with their supervisor continuously to collect data, do analysis, write report and present in the scientific conference. Outcomes of 5-years SSM research-projects starting from 2008/2009 to 2012/2013 academic session were analyzed. Results: Total 257 projects were completed and presented in annual scientific meetings from which 57 (22.2%) articles were published in peer reviewed journals. Conclusion: Mandatory undergraduate student research project brings an opportunity to develop students’ capacity building from conception to final report writing and thereby narrowing the gap between education and practice. Medical schools should implement research module to bring changes in research and publication culture of undergraduate medical education. PMID:26150832

How to Create High-Impact Writing Assignments That Enhance Learning and Development and Reinvigorate WAC/WID Programs: What Almost 72,000 Undergraduates Taught Us

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Anderson, Paul; Anson, Chris M.; Gonyea, Robert M.; Paine, Charles

2016-01-01

This article reports on a study that suggests ways that Writing Across the Curriculum/Writing in the Disciplines (WAC/WID) programs can increase the effectiveness of their efforts, including implementation of writingintensive courses, which are one of the Association of American Colleges and Universities' High-Impact Educational Practices. The…

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…

Grant Writing Skill Building: A Business Administration Curriculum Proposal

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Blankenship, Dianna; Jones, Irma; Lovett, Marvin

2010-01-01

This paper reviews the need for grant writing skills within various types of organizations and the resulting proposal for including grant writing within business administration curriculum at the undergraduate and/or graduate levels. An introduction precedes the results of a survey regarding current grant writing courses within AACSB schools of…

The Effect of Text Chat Assisted with Word Processors on Saudi English Major Students' Writing Accuracy and Productivity of Authentic Texts

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Ahmad Mosa Batianeh

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Abstractــ-This study explored the effects of using online chat and word processors on students' writing skills that include; organizing a text, spelling, punctuation, grammar, phrasal verbs, idioms, idiomatic expressions, pragmatics, creativity, vocabulary growth, content, relational words, conjunctions, authenticity, figures of speech, imagination, coherence, style, socio-cultural aspects, language use, and the production of authentic text. The study group consisted of students in the Department of Languages and Translation at Taibah University who registered for the Writing Two course in the first semester of the 2012 - 2013 academic year. Fourty subjects were divided into two sections: section one was assigned as an experimental group (supported by Facebook and Skype and section two was assigned as a control group and was asked to write their essays with paper and pencil. Facebook and Skype accounts were created for every student in the experimental group. Data was analyzed from pre-test and post-test results to evaluate the question posed by the study: Does the use of online text chat assisted with word processors help undergraduate students develop their writing skills more than traditional methods of teaching? The results revealed that students who worked with Facebook and Skype showed a significant improvement in their writing skills when compared to the control group. In light of these findings, it is recommended that online discussions via Facebook, Skype, and other social media sites should be utilized when teaching writing and the other language skills.

Writing to Like Writing: A Longitudinal First-Person Education Experiment

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Iran-Nejad, Asghar; Xu, Yuejin; Mansouri, Behzad

2013-01-01

Reported in this article was an experiment in which 143 undergraduates in an educational psychology course were encouraged to engage in the performance learning activity (PLA) of "seeking their own revelations (or insights) and reflecting on them in writing." The hypothesis, grounded in the biofunctionally-based, first-person…

Journal Writing as a Teaching Technique to Promote Reflection

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Walker, Stacy E

2006-01-01

Objective: To introduce the process of journal writing to promote reflection and discuss the techniques and strategies to implement journal writing in an athletic training education curriculum. Background: Journal writing can facilitate reflection and allow students to express feelings regarding their educational experiences. The format of this writing can vary depending on the students' needs and the instructor's goals. Description: Aspects of journal writing assignments are discussed, including different points to take into account before assigning the journals. Lastly, various factors to contemplate are presented when providing feedback to the students regarding their written entries. Clinical Advantages: Journal writing assignments can benefit students by enhancing reflection, facilitating critical thought, expressing feelings, and writing focused arguments. Journal writing can be adapted into a student's clinical course to assist with bridging the gap between classroom and clinical knowledge. In addition, journals can assist athletic training students with exploring different options for handling daily experiences. PMID:16791310

Diverse Lessons (Undergraduate Program at Texas A&M)

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Kerschbaum, Stephanie L.; Killingsworth, M. Jimmie

2007-01-01

The number of first-year writing and writing­-across-the-curriculum programs has been increasing at institutions across the United States, but a similar rise has not been seen in the growth of concentrations in rhetoric and writing as an undergraduate major or minor. In this program profile, the authors describe how the Discourse Studies faculty…

Designing a Website to Support Students' Academic Writing Process

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Åberg, Eva Svärdemo; Ståhle, Ylva; Engdahl, Ingrid; Knutes-Nyqvist, Helen

2016-01-01

Academic writing skills are crucial when students, e.g., in teacher education programs, write their undergraduate theses. A multi-modal web-based and self-regulated learning resource on academic writing was developed, using texts, hypertext, moving images, podcasts and templates. A study, using surveys and a focus group, showed that students used…

Analysis of an Air Conditioning Coolant Solution for Metal Contamination Using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy: An Undergraduate Instrumental Analysis Exercise Simulating an Industrial Assignment

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Baird, Michael J.

2004-01-01

A real-life analytical assignment is presented to students, who had to examine an air conditioning coolant solution for metal contamination using an atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). This hands-on access to a real problem exposed the undergraduate students to the mechanism of AAS, and promoted participation in a simulated industrial activity.

Nudging Students into Writing Creatively (Teaching Ideas).

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Perreault, George; And Others

1996-01-01

Describes ideas for writing prompts and assignments proposed by three different teachers: (1) writing poems inspired by smells of herbs and spices; (2) writing about past perceptions and feelings after looking at a photograph; and (3) writing a "self-portrait." (TB)

Contextualize Technical Writing Assessment to Better Prepare Students for Workplace Writing: Student-Centered Assessment Instruments

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Yu, Han

2008-01-01

To teach students how to write for the workplace and other professional contexts, technical writing teachers often assign writing tasks that reflect real-life communication contexts, a teaching approach that is grounded in the field's contextualized understanding of genre. This article argues to fully embrace contextualized literacy and better…

A Writing Intensive Course in "Natural Disasters: Geoethics and the Layman"

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Fryer, P.

2011-12-01

One course with a contemporary ethics focus is a graduation requirement under the University of Hawaii at Manoa's General Education rules. The goal of the University of Hawaii General Education Committee is to encourage faculty to design ethics-focus courses for each field of undergraduate concentration. Undergraduate students are also required to take 5 writing intensive courses. It is permitted to combine the ethics and writing intensive foci in a given course, as long as one third of the course is devoted to each focus. The course I designed uses current disasters as the subject matter, thus course content varies from year to year. The prerequisite for enrollment is one introductory course in geoscience, to ensure students are familiar with basic geologic processes. I bring in geo-professionals, active in the fields we study, to discuss with students the realities of dealing with civil authorities, elected officials, the media, and the public during a natural disaster. This is one of the aspects of the course the students most enjoy. Such a course could be designed for any locality. Learning outcomes by which the students' work is assessed are as follows. The best student: (1) clearly identifies the inherent ethical choices and implications involved in the professional geoscientist's role during contemporary natural hazard situations; (2) gives evidence of understanding the effects of perspective, context, personal views as pertains to natural hazards; (3) specifies the decision-makers and stakeholders involved in hazard situations; (4) integrates clear descriptions of relevant ethical ambiguities/dilemmas into the overall analysis of a given hazard situation; (5) draws upon frameworks, principles of ethics to develop pertinent arguments and/or positions; (6) develops and presents alternate arguments/positions; (7) discusses and/or debates ethical issues with sensitivity to others' perspectives and the context, while also defending own position with logic and

Writing Clinical Research Papers for Publication | Arotiba | Nigerian ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Potential minefields of academic research and writing such as authorship, plagiarism, duplicate publication and 'salami-slicing' were highlighted. Recommendation: Education in the 'art' of writing and presentation of scientific papers and the critical appraisal of scientific literature need to be included in our undergraduate ...

Incorporating A Structured Writing Process into Existing CLS Curricula.

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Honeycutt, Karen; Latshaw, Sandra

2014-01-01

Good communication and critical thinking are essential skills for all successful professionals, including Clinical Laboratory Science/Medical Laboratory Science (CLS/MLS) practitioners. Professional programs can incorporate writing assignments into their curricula to improve student written communication and critical thinking skills. Clearly defined, scenario-focused writing assignments provide student practice in clearly articulating responses to proposed problems or situations, researching and utilizing informational resources, and applying and synthesizing relevant information. Assessment rubrics, structured feedback, and revision writing methodologies help guide students through the writing process. This article describes how a CLS Program in a public academic medical center, located in the central United States (US) serving five centrally-located US states has incorporated writing intensive assignments into an existing 11-month academic year using formal, informal and reflective writing to improve student written communication and critical thinking skills. Faculty members and employers of graduates assert that incorporating writing intensive requirements have better prepared students for their professional role to effectively communicate and think critically.

STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION ON THE ACT OF PLAGIARISM IN WRITING FINAL ASSIGNMENT (PERSEPSI MAHASISWA TERHADAP TINDAKAN PLAGIA-RISME DALAM PENYUSUNAN TUGAS AKHIR

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Hana Silvana

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract, This research is based on the issue of plagiArism in the academic world especially in Higher Education. The main issue studied in this study is the perception of students on the act of plagiarism in writing final assignment. This study was conducted with the aim to describe the act of plagiarism in preparing the final assignment of students. The method used in this research is descriptive analytical method. The informants are students of UPI Education Sciences Faculty . The research was conducted in 2017 at odd semester. The research results showed that there were lack of knowledge about styles of writing, limited time availability in the preparation of the final task of students, the development of information technology facilitates and opens opportunities to cheat. Moreover, many lecturers have not addressed plagiarism issue, use of anti plagiarism ap-plication is minimum, and socialization of plagiarism issue is still not sufficient. This research also found that training on final assignment writing has not been done as needed. Abstrak, Penelitian ini dilatar belakangi dengan isu plagiarisme dalan dunia akademik khususnya di Perguruan Tinggi. Permasalahan pokok yang dikaji pada penelitian ini persepsi ma-hasiswa terhadap tindak plagiarisme di dalam penyusunan tugas akhir mahasiswa. Penelitian ini dilakukan dengan tujuan untuk mendeskripsikan tentang tindak plagiarisme di dalam penyusunan tugas akhir mahasiswa. Pendekatan penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan metode yang digunakan yaitu metode deskriptif. Informan penelitian ini adalah mahasiswa di ling-kungan Fakultas Ilmu Pendidikan UPI. Adapun hasil penelitian yang diperoleh adalah minimnya pengetahuan mengenai gaya selingkung penulisan, ketersediaan waktu yang terbatas dalam penyusunan tugas akhir mahasiswa, perkembangan teknologi informasi (khususnya internet yang memudahkan dan membuka peluang berbuat curang, sebagian dosen belum protektif pada isu pla

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,…

Business Writing in Freshman English.

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Larmouth, Donald W.

1980-01-01

Suggests incorporating business writing into a freshman English course. Outlines three writing and research assignments: a financial status memorandum, a management analysis report, and an evaluation of applicants for a position at a university. (TJ)

Scaffolding Assignments and Activities for Undergraduate Research Methods

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Fisher, Sarah; Justwan, Florian

2018-01-01

This article details assignments and lessons created for and tested in research methods courses at two different universities, a large state school and a small liberal arts college. Each assignment or activity utilized scaffolding. Students were asked to push beyond their comfort zone while utilizing concrete and/or creative examples,…

Teaching Technical Writing in a Lab Course in Chemical Engineering

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Lombardo, Stephen J.

2010-01-01

Techniques are presented for improving the technical writing of chemical engineering students enrolled in an undergraduate laboratory course. The principles of writing covered are adopted from the book, Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace, by Joseph M. Williams: General examples of writing are taken from this book and then are recast into examples…

Live from the Writing Center: Technological Demands and Multiliterate Practice in a Virtual Writing Center.

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Swarts, Jason

"Online Writing Tutorial" (OWI) was designed and piloted in the summer of 2000 as a one to two credit writing course intended for Rensselaer Polytechnic students on co-op assignment in New York and across the country. Similar to its ancestor course, "Writing Workshop" (WW), which was a one-credit course designed to fit the…

One of My Favorite Assignments: Automated Teller Machine Simulation.

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Oberman, Paul S.

2001-01-01

Describes an assignment for an introductory computer science class that requires the student to write a software program that simulates an automated teller machine. Highlights include an algorithm for the assignment; sample file contents; language features used; assignment variations; and discussion points. (LRW)

Strategies to Support PGCE Mathematics and Science Students Preparing for Assignments at Masters Level

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Tas, Maarten; Forsythe, Sue

2010-01-01

The main aim of this study was to analyse and evaluate the effectiveness of support strategies being put into place for students who need to write assignments at Masters Level. In preparation for writing a 5000 word assignment on an aspect of teaching Mathematics or Science, 57 Science and Mathematics PGCE students were asked to write a 500 word synopsis which included an introduction, description of the main focus, questions that the assignment would address and possible strategies for teach...

Teaching Writing in Economics

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Schmeiser, Katherine

2017-01-01

In this article, the author provides motivation and a template for integrating and teaching writing in a variety of economics courses: core theory or introductory courses, topic courses, and economic writing/research courses. For each assignment, pedagogical reasoning and syllabus integration are discussed. Additionally, the author shows that…

University Student Conceptions of Learning Science through Writing

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Ellis, Robert A.; Taylor, Charlotte E.; Drury, Helen

2006-01-01

First-year undergraduate science students experienced a writing program as an important part of their assessment in a biology subject. The writing program was designed to help them develop both their scientific understanding as well as their written scientific expression. Open-ended questionnaires investigating the quality of the experience of…

Embracing different semiotic modes in undergraduate assignments

OpenAIRE

Leedham, Maria

2012-01-01

The traditional focus within English for Academic Purposes (EAP) teaching of writing in Higher Education is on language produced as linear prose within genres such as the essay, report or case study. While attention is increasingly paid to disciplinary variation and, to a lesser extent, the different range of genres required in assessment, little research has been conducted on additional semiotic modes which may be employed. This paper focuses on resources such as images and layout and the wa...

Expressive Writing as a Brief Intervention for Reducing Drinking Intentions

OpenAIRE

Young, Chelsie M.; Rodriguez, Lindsey M.; Neighbors, Clayton

2013-01-01

The present study examined the effectiveness of expressive writing in reducing drinking behavior. We expected that students prompted to write about negative drinking experiences would show greater decreases in future drinking intentions compared to the neutral and the positive writing conditions. We also expected that decreases in drinking intentions following the writing prompts might differ based on current drinking and AUDIT scores. Participants included 200 (76% female) undergraduates who...

7 CFR 1900.5 - Assignment of cases.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 12 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Assignment of cases. 1900.5 Section 1900.5 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL HOUSING SERVICE, RURAL BUSINESS... REGULATIONS GENERAL Delegations of Authority § 1900.5 Assignment of cases. The State Director may, in writing...

Improving Undergraduates' Argumentative Group Essay Writing through Self-Assessment

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Fung, Yong Mei; Mei, Hooi Chee

2015-01-01

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…

A Self-Assessment Checklist for Undergraduate Students' Argumentative Writing

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Nimehchisalem, Vahid; Chye, David Yoong Soon; Jaswant Singh, Sheena Kaur A/P; Zainuddin, Siti Zaidah; Norouzi, Sara; Khalid, Sheren

2014-01-01

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…

A Model Of Critical Peer Feedback To Facilitate Business English Writing Using Qzone Weblogs Among Chinese Undergraduates

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Gao Xianwei

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to explore critical thinking skills in peer feedback for Business English writing in order to facilitate the quality of peer feedback and quality of Business English writing. “Critical peer feedback” was conceptualized with the integration of “critical thinking” and “peer feedback” in order to improve the quality of peer feedback. This study explored the process, content and factors of critical peer feedback through Qzone weblogs, and summarized the model of critical peer feedback. A qualitative case study was conducted with a group of six junior students majoring in Business English for one semester in a Chinese university. Three models of critical thinking including Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy, Paul-Elder Model and Reichenbach’s Six Steps Model, were transferred to the participants in the workshops. Three kinds of data including semi-structured interview transcripts, six writing assignments and artifacts of critical peer feedback, were analyzed by QSR NVivo 8. The findings revealed that the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy is more acceptable for the beginners of critical peer feedback which provides a six-step model of critical thinking. The process of critical peer feedback in online context was summarized as four steps- “intake”, “critical thinking”, “output”, and “post-output”. Each of the four steps had several mental processes in critical peer feedback. This study may be significant for the knowledge of higher-order peer feedback to facilitate the quality of higher-level writing.

Main Ingredients for Success in L2 Academic Writing: Outlining, Drafting and Proofreading.

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Munoz-Luna, Rosa

2015-01-01

Spanish undergraduates of English Studies are required to submit their essays in academic English, a genre which most of them are not acquainted with. This paper aims to explore the extralinguistic side of second language (L2) academic writing, more specifically, the combination of metalinguistic items (e.g. transition and frame markers, among others) with students' writing strategies when composing an academic text in L2 English. The research sample conveys a group of 200 Spanish undergraduates of English Studies; they are in their fourth year, so they are expected to be proficient in English academic writing but their written production quality varies considerably. Results are analysed following a mixed methodology by which metalinguistic items are statistically measured, and then contrasted with semi-structured interview results; SPSS and NVivo provide quantitative and qualitative outcomes, respectively. The analyses reveal that undergraduate students who produce complex sentences and more coherent texts employ a wider range of writing strategies both prior and while writing, being able to (un)consciously structure and design their texts more successfully. These high-scoring students make more proficient use of complex transition markers for coherence and frame markers for textual cohesion; their commonly used (pre-)writing strategies are drafting, outlining, and proofreading.

Main Ingredients for Success in L2 Academic Writing: Outlining, Drafting and Proofreading.

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Rosa Munoz-Luna

Full Text Available Spanish undergraduates of English Studies are required to submit their essays in academic English, a genre which most of them are not acquainted with. This paper aims to explore the extralinguistic side of second language (L2 academic writing, more specifically, the combination of metalinguistic items (e.g. transition and frame markers, among others with students' writing strategies when composing an academic text in L2 English. The research sample conveys a group of 200 Spanish undergraduates of English Studies; they are in their fourth year, so they are expected to be proficient in English academic writing but their written production quality varies considerably. Results are analysed following a mixed methodology by which metalinguistic items are statistically measured, and then contrasted with semi-structured interview results; SPSS and NVivo provide quantitative and qualitative outcomes, respectively. The analyses reveal that undergraduate students who produce complex sentences and more coherent texts employ a wider range of writing strategies both prior and while writing, being able to (unconsciously structure and design their texts more successfully. These high-scoring students make more proficient use of complex transition markers for coherence and frame markers for textual cohesion; their commonly used (pre-writing strategies are drafting, outlining, and proofreading.

Main Ingredients for Success in L2 Academic Writing: Outlining, Drafting and Proofreading

Science.gov (United States)

Munoz-Luna, Rosa

2015-01-01

Spanish undergraduates of English Studies are required to submit their essays in academic English, a genre which most of them are not acquainted with. This paper aims to explore the extralinguistic side of second language (L2) academic writing, more specifically, the combination of metalinguistic items (e.g. transition and frame markers, among others) with students’ writing strategies when composing an academic text in L2 English. The research sample conveys a group of 200 Spanish undergraduates of English Studies; they are in their fourth year, so they are expected to be proficient in English academic writing but their written production quality varies considerably. Results are analysed following a mixed methodology by which metalinguistic items are statistically measured, and then contrasted with semi-structured interview results; SPSS and NVivo provide quantitative and qualitative outcomes, respectively. The analyses reveal that undergraduate students who produce complex sentences and more coherent texts employ a wider range of writing strategies both prior and while writing, being able to (un)consciously structure and design their texts more successfully. These high-scoring students make more proficient use of complex transition markers for coherence and frame markers for textual cohesion; their commonly used (pre-)writing strategies are drafting, outlining, and proofreading. PMID:26046836

The Great Instauration: Restoring Professional and Technical Writing to the Humanities.

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Di Renzo, Anthony

2002-01-01

Gathers some of Sir Francis Bacon's educational ideas from his various writings and applies them to the five stages of undergraduate professional and technical writing program development: planning, implementation, mission, design and development, staffing, and administration. (SG)

"Argument!" Helping Students Understand What Essay Writing Is About

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Wingate, Ursula

2012-01-01

Argumentation is a key requirement of the essay, which is the most common genre that students have to write. However, how argumentation is realised in disciplinary writing is often poorly understood by academic tutors, and therefore not adequately taught to students. This paper presents research into undergraduate students' concepts of argument…

Evaluating Pragmatic Competence in Nigerian Undergraduates’ Language Errors within Descriptive ESL Writing

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Anas Sa’idu Muhammad

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the level of pragmatic competence for ESL writing skills among Nigerian undergraduates. Methodologically, it adopts descriptive research design within the explanatory framework of the QUAN-Qual model. The instruments used are descriptive essay text and focus group interview questions. In writing the descriptive essays, a total of 402 undergraduates’ participated through convenience sampling. Quantitatively, an independent samples t-test was carried out. The results indicated the females required putting more efforts towards improving their pragmatic competence in the ESL writing as they achieved a higher means for language errors, compared to that of the males. Moreover, the ttest value demonstrated that the females lacked skills in the pragmatic skills of mechanical structure, grammatical function, and sentence structures and this made them commit more language errors. Qualitatively, a focus group interview was held randomly with 12 participants out of the 402 undergraduates through purposive sampling. The results of the interview sessions revealed novelties of culture-specific, learning feasibility and the academic discourse as the key elements that constraint most of the Nigerian undergraduates ESL writing skills, particularly the females. Therefore, this study revealed strong implications on how best to develop Nigerian learners’ pragmatic competence in ESL writing skills

Making Communication Matter: Integrating Instruction, Projects and Assignments to Teach Writing and Design

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Riddell, William T.; Courtney, Jennifer; Constans, Eric; Dahm, Kevin; Harvey, Roberta; von Lockette, Paris

2010-01-01

An integrated technical writing and design course has been developed at Rowan University. This course was developed using aspects of project-based learning and recent discussions about design education, as well as pedagogical approaches from the write-to-learn and the writing in the disciplines (WID) movements. The result is a course where the…

Evaluative Indices Assigned to Contraceptive Methods by University Undergraduates

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McDermott, Robert J.; Malo, Teri L.; Dodd, Virginia J.; Daley, Ellen M.; Mayer, Alyssa B.

2011-01-01

Background: Preordinate attitudes and beliefs about contraception may influence acceptance or rejection of a particular method. Purpose: We examined the attitudes about contraception methods held by undergraduate students (N=792) at two large southeastern universities in the United States. Methods: Twelve methods were rated on 40 semantic…

English Education for Engineers in the World of Globalization : A Report of an Undergraduate and Graduate English Program with an Emphasis on Writing

Science.gov (United States)

Shimazu, Nobuko

In an increasingly globalized world, demand for engineers well versed in English remains strong. As a professor of English in the Faculty of Computer Science and Systems Engineering at the Kyushu Institute of Technology, I have sought with the aid of two associate professors to improve the English program for our engineering students together to help meet that very demand. In order to assist other English teachers in similar situations to improve their own English programs, I would like to report on the ideas and methods presently used in our undergraduate English program, specifically the first-year compulsory and common course with its emphasis on paragraph writing which students from each of the five departments within the Faculty of Computer Science and Systems Engineering are required to take. In addition, I would also like to report my ideas and teaching methods for a graduate research paper writing course. The objective of this course is to teach graduate students how to write presentations for conferences and papers for journals at the international level.

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

Exploring Undergraduate Disciplinary Writing: Expectations and Evidence in Psychology and Chemistry

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Moran, Katherine E.

2013-01-01

Research in the area of academic writing has demonstrated that writing varies significantly across disciplines and among genres within disciplines. Two important approaches to studying diversity in disciplinary academic writing have been the genre-based approach and the corpus-based approach. Genre studies have considered the situatedness of…

Reading to Write an Argumentation: The Role of Epistemological, Reading and Writing Beliefs

Science.gov (United States)

Mateos, Mar; Cuevas, Isabel; Martin, Elena; Martin, Ana; Echeita, Gerardo; Luna, Maria

2011-01-01

The general aim of this study was to examine the relations among epistemological, reading and writing beliefs held by psychology undergraduates and the role played by these three types of belief in influencing the degree of perspectivism manifested in a written argumentation task based on reading two texts presenting conflicting perspectives on…

Learning and Writing about Local History Using the Internet

Science.gov (United States)

Risinger, C. Frederick

2010-01-01

Decades of research into which instructional strategies are successful in K-12 history and social studies conclude that having students write is extremely important. Effective writing assignments--whether a 3- to 5-paragraph essay, a longer term-paper-style assignment, or even a fictional short story based on a historical period or event--require…

Literature as a Network: Creative-Writing Scholarship in Literary Magazines

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Green, Harriett E.

2014-01-01

With the increase in undergraduate and graduate programs for creative writing at institutions of higher education in North America, literary journals and magazines now serve as leading scholarly publishing outlets and research resources for creative-writing faculty and students. This study analyzes ten years of citations from nineteen leading…

103 Risk in Postgraduate Writing: Voice, Discourse and Edgework ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Test

offers new ways of thinking about writing that brings the decisions that writers and readers make to the fore. A focus ... is usually seen as a matter for undergraduates, and hence of teaching and learning; or it is displaced to the write-up ... independent self persists in a context of massification of higher education. A connection ...

Information literacy in science writing: how students find, identify, and use scientific literature

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Klucevsek, Kristin M.; Brungard, Allison B.

2016-11-01

For undergraduate students to achieve science literacy, they must first develop information literacy skils. These skills align with Information Literacy Standards and include determining appropriate databases, distinguishing among resource types, and citing resources ethically. To effectively improve information literacy and science literacy, we must identify how students interact with authentic scientific texts. In this case study, we addressed this aim by embedding a science librarian into a science writing course, where students wrote a literature review on a research topic of their choice. Library instruction was further integrated through the use of an online guide and outside assistance. To evaluate the evolution of information literacy in our students and provide evidence of student practices, we used task-scaffolded writing assessments, a reflection, and surveys. We found that students improved their ability and confidence in finding research articles using discipline-specific databases as well as their ability to distinguish primary from secondary research articles. We also identified ways students improperly used and cited resources in their writing assignments. While our results reveal a better understanding of how students find and approach scientific research articles, additional research is needed to develop effective strategies to improve long-term information literacy in the sciences.

Simulation in JFL: Business Writing

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Fukushima, Tatsuya

2007-01-01

This article discusses a simulation wherein learners of Japanese as a Foreign Language (JFL) in a business writing course at an American university are assigned tasks to write a series of business letters based on situations that are likely to occur in actual business settings. After an overview of the theoretical background, this article…

Holistic versus Analytic Evaluation of EFL Writing: A Case Study

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Ghalib, Thikra K.; Al-Hattami, Abdulghani A.

2015-01-01

This paper investigates the performance of holistic and analytic scoring rubrics in the context of EFL writing. Specifically, the paper compares EFL students' scores on a writing task using holistic and analytic scoring rubrics. The data for the study was collected from 30 participants attending an English undergraduate program in a Yemeni…

Orchestrating Authorship: Teaching Writing across the Psychology Curriculum

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Soysa, Champika K.; Dunn, Dana S.; Dottolo, Andrea L.; Burns-Glover, Alyson L.; Gurung, Regan A. R.

2013-01-01

This article describes the kinds of writing that could be introduced at the beginner, intermediate, and advanced course levels in the psychology major. We present exemplars of writing assignments across three institutions, including textual analysis, integrating intratext and intertext writing, and a capstone thesis project, where the skills…

The Impact of Peer Review on Writing in a Psychology Course: Lessons Learned

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Bhullar, Naureen; Rose, Karen C.; Utell, Janine M.; Healey, Kathryn N.

2014-01-01

The authors assessed the impact of peer review on student writing in four sections of an undergraduate Developmental Psychology course. They hypothesized that peer review would result in better writing in the peer review group compared to the group with no peer review. Writing was rated independently by two instructors who were blind to the…

Undergraduate research: a case study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koppelman, Hermannus; van Dijk, Elisabeth M.A.G.; van der Hoeven, Gerrit

This paper describes a one semester research course for undergraduates of computing programs. Students formulate a research proposal, conduct research and write a full paper. They present the results at a one-day student conference. On the one hand we offer the students a lot of structure and

Active Learning by Design: An Undergraduate Introductory Public Health Course

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Karin eYeatts

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Principles of active learning were used to design and implement an introductory public health course. Students were introduced to the breadth and practice of public health through team and individual-based activities. Team assignments covered topics in epidemiology, biostatistics, health behavior, nutrition, maternal and child health, environment, and health policy. Students developed an appreciation of the population perspective through an experience trip and related intervention project in a public health area of their choice. Students experienced several key critical component elements of a public health undergraduate major; they cover key public health domains, experience public health practice, and integrated concepts with their assignments. In this paper, course assignments, lessons learned, and student successes are described. Given the increased growth in the undergraduate public health major, these active learning assignments may be of interest to undergraduate public health programs at both liberal arts colleges and research universities.

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.

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.

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

Writing apprehension and academic procrastination among graduate students.

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Onwuegbuzie, A J; Collins, K M

2001-04-01

Academic procrastination has been associated with both fear of failure and task aversiveness. Researchers have reported that most undergraduate and graduate students delay academic tasks. Among the latter, a large proportion report procrastination in writing term papers. Such procrastination may originate from and lead to anxiety about writing so the present purpose was to investigate the relationship between scores on Daly and Miller's 1975 Writing Apprehension Test and on the two dimensions, i.e., fear of failure and task aversiveness, of Solomon and Rothblum's 1984 Procrastination Assessment Scale-Students. Participants were 135 graduate students of varied disciplinary backgrounds. Correlations between writing apprehension and academic procrastination stemmed from fear of failure (29) and task aversiveness (.41). Implications are discussed.

Identifying Problems in Students’ Final Projects Based on Scientific Writing Guidelines

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Endang Ernawati

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Article analyzed student’s difficulties and abilities in writing their final projects, which were undergraduate theses and undergraduate paper conducted by some students at the English Department, Bina Nusantara University. This was a preliminary study to support an appropriate student guideline in writing their final project. The study was conducted by applying qualitative methods that was by analyzing the four theses and one paper in terms of their format: titles, introduction, theoretical background, analysis, conclusion, bibliography, and paper rubric to analyze the contents. It can be concluded that generally, students, guided by their mentor/lecturer, understand the final paper guidelines and they are able to apply it in their thesis and paper. But, there are still lack of clarity and relevancy in expressing their ideas properly, and their ability in writing in both English and Bahasa Indonesia must be improved. These problems can be overcome by socializing the writing guidelines to both students and lecturers, providing them with critical thinking skills, cooperation with library that will guide them in information literacy skills, and language center that will improve their writing skills. 

Self-efficacy and Its Relation to ESL Writing Proficiency and Academic Disciplines

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Saeid Raoofi

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Writing is an essential skill for academic development within any disciplinary area. Despite the rapidly growing body of research on the various aspects of second language writing, research on writing self-efficacy remains scarce. This study investigated the relationship the between writing self-efficacy and writing proficiency in English as a second language. In this cross-sectional study, 304 Malaysian undergraduate students completed a writing self-efficacy questionnaire. The participants’ writing proficiency was assessed using two different writing tasks. The results showed that there was a significant difference in writing self-efficacy among the three writing proficiency groups. It was also found that science students had significantly higher writing self-efficacy than those in social sciences. Limitations of the study and Implications for second language writing instruction are also discussed.

Drawing versus Writing: The Role of Preference in Regulating Short-Term Affect

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Drake, Jennifer E.; Hodge, Adeline

2015-01-01

In a pilot study we investigated whether the most effective medium for regulating short-term affect depends on one's preference for drawing or writing, and also investigated the emotion regulation strategy (distraction versus expression) spontaneously chosen when drawing and writing. Eighty undergraduates indicated their preference for drawing or…

Teaching Writing and Communication in a Mathematical Modeling Course

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Linhart, Jean Marie

2014-01-01

Writing and communication are essential skills for success in the workplace or in graduate school, yet writing and communication are often the last thing that instructors think about incorporating into a mathematics course. A mathematical modeling course provides a natural environment for writing assignments. This article is an analysis of the…

The Effect of Online Dictionaries Usage on EFL Undergraduate Students' Autonomy

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Tananuraksakul, Noparat

2015-01-01

Due to EFL undergraduate students' ineffective learning strategies, which mirror lack of autonomy, this paper is a pilot study into how use of Cambridge Dictionaries Online can affect undergraduate students' autonomy or self-reliance in a Thai EFL context. The link was selectively integrated in a writing classroom as a tool to improve their…

What Are They Thinking? Automated Analysis of Student Writing about Acid-Base Chemistry in Introductory Biology

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Haudek, Kevin C.; Prevost, Luanna B.; Moscarella, Rosa A.; Merrill, John; Urban-Lurain, Mark

2012-01-01

Students' writing can provide better insight into their thinking than can multiple-choice questions. However, resource constraints often prevent faculty from using writing assessments in large undergraduate science courses. We investigated the use of computer software to analyze student writing and to uncover student ideas about chemistry in an…

FROM NEEDS ANALYSIS TO DESIGNING ACADEMIC WRITING MATERIALS FOR DIPLOMA STUDENTS OF MARA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY (UITM, MALAYSIA

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Nancy Chiuh @ Noemi

2015-12-01

Full Text Available When students begin their undergraduate studies, they will need to adjust to the demands of the undergraduate studies with regard to academic English at university level. Dudley-Evans & St. John (1998, p.37 maintain that “their English tuition up to the tertiary level will generally have been in the area of General English, and is unlikely to have included specific preparation for study at university level…” Barker (2000, p.8, in his study on first year students’ perception of writing difficulties, found that the students “come to realise during first semester that they are not adequately prepared for the writing demands required at university”. Pecorari (as cited in Phakiti & Li, 2011 found that Asian ESL students had problems in academic writing; “the students begin their aca-demic writing from ‘copying’ which implies a lack of training in academic writing and arouses accusations of plagiarism in their writing” (p.232. Being an English-medium public university in Malaysia, MARA University of Technology (UiTM poses challenges to both its students and instructors, as a good command of English is essential. In its attempt to equip its undergraduate students with language skills, UiTM has introduced credit-bearing English courses. This paper presents the findings from a research project to identify the academic writing needs of first-year Diploma in Public Administration students in UiTM Sabah. A total of 110 Diploma in Public Administration students and six instructors responded to the questionnaires. The research examined the students’ and instructors’ perceptions of the importance of academic writing skills the students need in order to complete their undergraduate programmes, assessment of the students’ academic writing skills, and the difficulty of academic writing skills. The findings indicated that there was consistency of response between the students and instructors. The follow-up interviews and focus groups with

INCREASING EFL STUDENTS’ WRITING ABILITIES USING PEER RESPONSE ACTIVITIES VIA FACEBOOK

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M. Zaini Miftah

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This study was aimed to increase EFL students’ abilities in writing argumentative essay via Facebook by developing peer response activities. The classroom action research was employed in cyclic activities. The subjects were 25 Indonesian fourth-year undergraduate EFL students who enrolled in Writing III course. The data were gained from writing task, observation, and field notes. The result shows that this strategy with the appropriate instructional procedures can increase the EFL students’ abilities in writing argumentative essay. It is indicated by the increases of the students’ writing achievement and involvement in writing class during peer response activities via Facebook. Hence, it gives insights to employ this way as an alternative teaching technique in writing classroom because of its effectiveness.

Increasing EFL Students’ Writing Abilities Using Peer Response Activities via Facebook

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M. Zaini Miftah

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This study was aimed to increase EFL students’ abilities in writing argumentative essay via Facebook by developing peer response activities. The classroom action research was employed in cyclic activities. The subjects were 25 Indonesian fourth-year undergraduate EFL students who enrolled in Writing III course. The data were gained from writing task, observation, and field notes. The result shows that this strategy with the appropriate instructional procedures can increase the EFL students’ abilities in writing argumentative essay. It is indicated by the increases of the students’ writing achievement and involvement in writing class during peer response activities via Facebook. Hence, it gives insights to employ this way as an alternative teaching technique in writing classroom because of its effectiveness.

Writing for Immediacy: Narrative Writing as a Teaching Technique in Undergraduate Cultural Geography

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Summerby-Murray, Robert

2010-01-01

Narrative inquiry is an innovative means of encouraging students to internalize concepts, reflect on experiences or create applications for theoretical ideas. The use of first-person creative writing in a second-year cultural geography course prompted initial scepticism from students but eventually highlighted their constructivist engagement with…

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

"Hello, I'm Carbon.": Writing about Elements and Compounds

Science.gov (United States)

Stout, Roland P.

2010-01-01

General chemistry students are asked to assume the identity of an element and to write their own story. In the spirit of pedagogical approaches such as writing-to-learn and writing across the curriculum, this assignment has several objectives, most significantly to connect students to the discipline of chemistry in a robust way. Facilitating this…

Undergraduate Economics Journals: Learning by Doing

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Leekley, Robert M.; Davis-Kahl, Stephanie; Seeborg, Michael C.

2013-01-01

Although there are currently only a few undergraduate journals in economics, we expect their numbers to increase substantially in the future because of several developments: (1) research and writing activity is increasing in economics programs, (2) online publication is now more feasible and cost efficient than ever, and (3) students are…

Incorporating Primary Literature in Undergraduate Crop Science Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, Lori K.; Simmons, Steve R.

2006-01-01

Primary literature is an underutilized learning resource for undergraduate courses in crop science. Reading assignments from scientific journals were utilized in an undergraduate University of Minnesota crop physiology course at Southwest Minnesota State University from 2002 to 2004. The subjects of the articles corresponded to the lecture topics.…

The science writing tool

Science.gov (United States)

Schuhart, Arthur L.

This is a two-part dissertation. The primary part is the text of a science-based composition rhetoric and reader called The Science Writing Tool. This textbook has seven chapters dealing with topics in Science Rhetoric. Each chapter includes a variety of examples of science writing, discussion questions, writing assignments, and instructional resources. The purpose of this text is to introduce lower-division college science majors to the role that rhetoric and communication plays in the conduct of Science, and how these skills contribute to a successful career in Science. The text is designed as a "tool kit," for use by an instructor constructing a science-based composition course or a writing-intensive Science course. The second part of this part of this dissertation reports on student reactions to draft portions of The Science Writing Tool text. In this report, students of English Composition II at Northern Virginia Community College-Annandale were surveyed about their attitudes toward course materials and topics included. The findings were used to revise and expand The Science Writing Tool.

Principled Eclecticism: Approach and Application in Teaching Writing to ESL/EFL Students

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Alharbi, Sultan H.

2017-01-01

The principal purpose of this paper is to critically examine and evaluate the efficacy of the principled eclectic approach to teaching English as second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) writing to undergraduate students. The paper illustrates that this new method adapts mainstream writing pedagogies to individual needs of learners of ESL/EFL in order to…

Translanguaging in English Academic Writing Preparation

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Adamson, John; Coulson, David

2015-01-01

We investigate translanguaging (i.e. the co-use of first and second languages) in a Content and Language Integrated Learning course, as a pragmatic means to promote the skill of young university students in extended critical academic writing. We aimed to prepare new undergraduate students (n = 180) for courses where partial English-medium…

Teaching Complaint and Adjustment Letters--And Tact (My Favorite Assignment).

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Deimling, Paula

1992-01-01

Describes a three-part assignment in which each student writes a complaint letter and an adjustment letter responding to another student's complaint letter. Discusses how the third part of the assignment--journal entries--allows students to formulate their own criteria for excellent letters based upon their reactions to the letters they receive.…

Cultivating Undergraduates' Plagiarism Avoidance Knowledge and Skills with an Online Tutorial System

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Liu, Gi-Zen; Lu, Hui-Ching; Lin, Vivien; Hsu, Wei-Chen

2018-01-01

With the increased use of digital materials, undergraduate writers in English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts have become more susceptible to plagiarism. In this study, the researchers designed a blended English writing course with an online writing tutorial system entitled "DWright." The study examined the effectiveness of the…

Written Assignments for Abnormal Psychology at Howard Community College, Fall 1988.

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Bell, James

Designed for students enrolled in an Abnormal Psychology course at Howard Community College (Maryland), this booklet explains the requirements for the course's writing assignments, which are designed to teach the skills of comparison and contrast, analysis, critical thinking, and synthesis. Following an overview of class assignments and…

Doing Publishable Research with Undergraduate Students

Science.gov (United States)

Fenn, Aju J.; Johnson, Daniel K. N.; Smith, Mark Griffin; Stimpert, J. L.

2010-01-01

Many economics majors write a senior thesis. Although this experience can be the pinnacle of their education, publication is not the common standard for undergraduates. The authors describe four approaches that have allowed students to get their work published: (1) identify a topic, such as competitive balance in sports, and have students work on…

Journal of Undergraduate Research, Volume IX, 2009

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stiner, K. S.; Graham, S.; Khan, M.; Dilks, J.; Mayer, D.

2009-01-01

Each year more than 600 undergraduate students are awarded paid internships at the Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Laboratories. Th ese interns are paired with research scientists who serve as mentors in authentic research projects. All participants write a research abstract and present at a poster session and/or complete a fulllength research paper. Abstracts and selected papers from our 2007–2008 interns that represent the breadth and depth of undergraduate research performed each year at our National Laboratories are published here in the Journal of Undergraduate Research. The fields in which these students worked included: Biology; Chemistry; Computer Science; Engineering; Environmental Science; General Science; Materials Science; Medical and Health Sciences; Nuclear Science; Physics; Science Policy; and Waste Management.

Teaching Epidemiology at the Undergraduate Level: Considerations and Approaches.

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Goldmann, Emily; Stark, James H; Kapadia, Farzana; McQueen, Matthew B

2018-06-01

The rapid growth in undergraduate public health education has offered training in epidemiology to an increasing number of undergraduate students. Epidemiology courses introduce undergraduate students to a population health perspective and provide opportunities for these students to build essential skills and competencies such as ethical reasoning, teamwork, comprehension of scientific methods, critical thinking, quantitative and information literacy, ability to analyze public health information, and effective writing and oral communication. Taking a varied approach and incorporating active learning and assessment strategies can help engage students in the material, improve comprehension of key concepts, and further develop key competencies. In this commentary, we present examples of how epidemiology may be taught in the undergraduate setting. Evaluation of these approaches and others would be a valuable next step.

Effects of creative writing on adolescent students’ literary response

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janssen, T.; Braaksma, M.; Burke, M.; Fialho, O.; Zyngier, S.

2016-01-01

This chapter examines whether creative writing prior to reading influences students’ reading process and appreciation of short stories. Participants were 53 fifteen year old students, assigned to two conditions. In the writing condition students composed their own stories, and then read the authors᾽

Personal Narratives: A Pedagogical Proposal to Stimulate Language Students’ Writing

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Fredy Orlando Salamanca González

2015-04-01

Full Text Available In a public university in Tunja (Colombia, undergraduate language students mentioned that writing was important and yet, they kept at a distance from it due to its requirements. The aim of this pedagogical intervention was to find a strategy to encourage students to write and, more importantly, to feel an identity with their texts. For this pedagogical intervention, students were required to write narratives that allowed them to portray their experiences using the target language and to look for the most accurate words and descriptions. From a pedagogical perspective, writing the narratives provided the teacher with the possibility of knowing his students better and to feel an affiliation towards them.

Writing a Research Proposal to The Research Council of Oman

OpenAIRE

Al-Shukaili, Ahmed; Al-Maniri, Abdullah

2017-01-01

Writing a research proposal can be a challenging task for young researchers. This article explains how to write a strong research proposal to apply for funding, specifically, a proposal for The Research Council (TRC) of Oman. Three different research proposal application forms are currently used in TRC, including Open Research Grant (ORG), Graduate Research Support Program (GRSP), and Faculty-mentored Undergraduate Research Award Program (FURAP). The application forms are filled and submitted...

Learning to Write and Writing to Learn Social Work Concepts: Application of Writing across the Curriculum Strategies and Techniques to a Course for Undergraduate Social Work Students

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Horton, E. Gail; Diaz, Naelys

2011-01-01

Although writing is of great importance to effective social work practice, many students entering social work education programs experience serious academic difficulties related to writing effectively and thinking critically. The purpose of this article is to present an introductory social work course that integrates Writing Across the Curriculum…

Practices of reading and writing in five diferent programs of the Sergio Arboleda university

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Blanca González

2010-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the results of an investigation into the practices of reading and writing present in five courses of different programs assigned at the Sergio Arboleda University (Bogotá. The research derives from the following questions: What is the role of reading and writing process in the course of some programs at the University? How is assign, directed and accompanied the task of reading and writing? and how are assessed the progress and results in the process of reading and writing? The information was obtained from written tests, surveys, classroom observations and interviews with teachers of these programs. After the analysis process, were set up five units of information, which in the case of reading were reading assignment, intervention guidance, intervention to clarify, evaluation and assessments of teachers, and for the case of writing: defining text types, intervention process, intervention in the correction process, evaluation and assessments of teachers.

Helping Undergraduates Think Like a CEO: The APPLE Analysis as a Teaching Tool for Strategic Management

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Domke-Damonte, Darla J.; Keels, J. Kay; Black, Janice A.

2013-01-01

This paper presents a class assignment, entitled the APPLE Analysis, for developing pre-analysis comprehension about company conditions, resources and challenges as a part of the undergraduate strategic management capstone course. Because undergraduate students lack the causal maps of seasoned executives, this assignment helps students to develop…

AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ FREE WRITING

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Rahmi Phonna

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Writing contains a compound process to be expressed that entails the writer to pay more attention on linking appropriate words together. Most linguists agree that a writer should attain high level of understanding to pursue the lifelong learning of academic writing pedagogy. This study aimed to analyze the students’ free writing by identifying the category of mistakes that often appear on their writing assignment. 28 free writings were collected, as the main data, from 28 students as the samples for this study. They were then analyzed by using the guidelines of correction symbols from Hogue (1996 and Oshima & Hogue (1999. The results revealed that 11 categories of grammar that often applied incorrectly on the students’ free writing. The misused of verb-agreement (V/A was the most frequent category occurred, followed by word form (Wf and Spelling (Sp. The least category of errors identified on the students’ free writing was conjunction (Conj and wrong word (Ww categories. Overall, 175 errors from different grammatical conventions were repeated in the students’ free writing.

Accounting for Sustainability: An Active Learning Assignment

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Gusc, Joanna; van Veen-Dirks, Paula

2017-01-01

Purpose: Sustainability is one of the newer topics in the accounting courses taught in university teaching programs. The active learning assignment as described in this paper was developed for use in an accounting course in an undergraduate program. The aim was to enhance teaching about sustainability within such a course. The purpose of this…

Asset Mapping: A Course Assignment and Community Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Crozier, Mary; Melchior, Florence

2013-01-01

Asset mapping is a relatively new data collection strategy to identify services, staff capacity, programs, resources, values, and other protective factors in a geographic area that can be juxtaposed to risk factors when initiating community planning. A substance abuse prevention course for undergraduates added an assignment of assessing community…

Materials for Assessing the Writing Skill

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Vahid Nimehchisalem

2010-07-01

Full Text Available This paper reviews the issues of concern in writing scale development in English as Second Language (ESL settings with an intention to provide a useful guide for researchers or writing teachers who wish to develop or adapt valid, reliable and efficient writing scales considering their present assessment situations. With a brief discussion on the rationale behind writing scales, the author considers the process of scale development by breaking it into three phases of design, operationalization and administration. The issues discussed in the first phase include analyzing the samples, deciding on the type of scale and ensuring the validity of its design. Phase two encompasses setting the scale criteria, operationalization of definitions, setting a numerical value, assigning an appropriate weight for each trait, accounting for validity and reliability. The final phase comprises recommendations on how a writing scale should be used.

Crossing the Divide Between Writing Cultures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Krogh, Ellen

2018-01-01

This chapter examines the different writing cultures in secondary and upper secondary Danish schools and investigates the issue of transitioning between these two writing cultures by focussing on the experiences of one adolescent student writer, Sofia. The study elucidates the writing cultures...... and the “possibilities of selfhood” (Ivanič, 1998) experienced by Sofia, and examines her responses to these shifts in her written papers as well as in interviews. A focal point in the shift in subject writing culture is the use of texts in assignments; in the study of Danish as a subject at lower secondary texts...... of two selected “constellations of writing” comprising prompt, student paper and teacher response, combined with interviews, Sofia’s transition between the two writing cultures is explored. The analyses document that Sofia is a proficient writer with extraordinary textual resources who identifies...

Through Rubrics and Scaffolded Instruction: A Programmatic Self-Study of Writing Expectations

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Hanfu Mi

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Colleagues in a teacher education program describe their journey of programmatic self-study as they examine how they teach and assess teacher candidates’ writing in a series of three required and sequenced undergraduate literacy courses. They lead the reader through the questions they asked themselves about their instruction and their reflective process with a goal of improving teacher candidates’ technical, reflective, and creative writing. Readers are encouraged to reflect on their expectations for teacher candidates’ writing in light of instruction and assessment. Implications for teacher education are explored.

Understanding the Gap between High School and College Writing

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Beil, Cheryl; Knight, Melinda A.

2007-01-01

A recent article in "The Chronicle of Higher Education" comparing perceptions of college preparedness in writing from the vantage point of high school teachers and college faculty shows that the two groups have dramatically different views. What accounts for these differences in perception? What types of writing assignments are high school…

Re-Framing Race in Teaching Writing across the Curriculum

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Poe, Mya

2013-01-01

Although faculty across the curriculum are often faced with issues of racial identity in the teaching of writing, WAC has offered little support for addressing race in assignment design, classroom interactions, and assessment. Through examples from teaching workshops, I offer specific ways that we can engage discussions about teaching writing and…

Generic versus discipline-specific writing interventions: Report on a ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Departing from a socio-constructivist perspective, the main purpose of the research on which this article reports was to indicate the effectiveness of both discipline-specific and generic approaches in teaching academic writing to undergraduate university students. A quasi-experimental design was followed, comparing the ...

Selections from the ABC 2014 Annual Conference, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Let Favorite Assignments Ring: Sharpening Communication Tools and Self and Career Development

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Whalen, D. Joel; Crenshaw, Cheri; Ortiz, Lorelei A.; Vik, Gretchen N.; Meredith, Michael J.; Deambrosi, Alfredo; Luck, Susan L.; Rausch, Georgi; Canas, Kathryn; Hicks, Nancy; Newman, Amy; Hofacker, Cynthia M.; Webb, Susan Hall; Zizik, Catherine H.

2015-01-01

This article, the first of a two-part series, catalogs teaching innovations from the 2014 Association for Business Communication Annual Conference. These 12 assignments debuted during two "My Favorite Assignment" sessions. Learning experiences included job-seeking skills--résumé writing, writing job applications, sharpening interview…

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…

Communicating across the Curriculum in an Undergraduate Business Program: Management 100--Leadership and Communication in Groups

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Tuleja, Elizabeth A.; Greenhalgh, Anne M.

2008-01-01

Educating undergraduate business students in the 21st century requires more than addressing the quantitative side of business; rather, it calls for including the more qualitative "soft skills," such as speaking and writing. This article examines the design, delivery, and effectiveness of an undergraduate program dedicated to leadership,…

Case Study: A Step-by-Step Guide to Students Writing Case Studies (and Tools for Novice Case Authors)

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Prud'homme-Genereux, Annie

2015-01-01

In experimenting with ways of structuring the assignment and providing guidance to students, the author developed a series of tools that may be of interest to instructors wishing to implement a case-writing assignment in their course. This assignment is more suited for instructors experienced in case writing, as their knowledge of how to design a…

The Impact of Writing Assignments in Business Education: Toward a Competitive Advantage in the Workplace

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Washington, Melvin C.

2014-01-01

Twenty-first century organizations are increasingly becoming global information networks where the emphasis on written communication is growing exponentially. Effective writing skills are becoming more essential to workplace success and thus a central focus in business programs across the country. This article addresses writing issues in business…

Attitudes of Jordanian Undergraduate Students towards Using Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL

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Farah Jamal Abed Alrazeq Saeed

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The study aimed at investigating the attitudes of Jordanian undergraduate students towards using computer assisted -language learning (CALL and its effectiveness in the process of learning the English language.  In order to fulfill the study’s objective, the researchers used a questionnaire to collect data, followed-up with semi-structured interviews to investigate the students’ beliefs towards CALL. Twenty- one of Jordanian BA students majoring in English language and literature were selected according to simple random sampling. The results revealed positive attitudes towards CALL in facilitating the process of writing assignments, gaining information; making learning enjoyable; improving their creativity, productivity, academic achievement, critical thinking skills, and enhancing their knowledge about vocabulary grammar, and culture. Furthermore, they believed that computers can motivate them to learn English language and help them to communicate and interact with their teachers and colleagues. The researchers recommended conducting a research on the same topic, taking into consideration the variables of age, gender, experience in using computers, and computer skills.

Teaching information literacy skills to sophomore-level biology majors.

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Thompson, Leigh; Blankinship, Lisa Ann

2015-05-01

Many undergraduate students lack a sound understanding of information literacy. The skills that comprise information literacy are particularly important when combined with scientific writing for biology majors as they are the foundation skills necessary to complete upper-division biology course assignments, better train students for research projects, and prepare students for graduate and professional education. To help undergraduate biology students develop and practice information literacy and scientific writing skills, a series of three one-hour hands-on library sessions, discussions, and homework assignments were developed for Biological Literature, a one-credit, one-hour-per-week, required sophomore-level course. The embedded course librarian developed a learning exercise that reviewed how to conduct database and web searches, the difference between primary and secondary sources, source credibility, and how to access articles through the university's databases. Students used the skills gained in the library training sessions for later writing assignments including a formal lab report and annotated bibliography. By focusing on improving information literacy skills as well as providing practice in scientific writing, Biological Literature students are better able to meet the rigors of upper-division biology courses and communicate research findings in a more professional manner.

Effective Utilization of ICT in English Language Learning--The Case of University of Botswana Undergraduates

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Umunnakwe, Ngozi; Sello, Queen

2016-01-01

The study investigates the effective utilization of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) by first year undergraduates of the University of Botswana (UB) in their reading and writing skills. The first year students are not first language (L1) learners of English. They have not utilized computers for learning reading and writing in their…

“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

The Nevada Proficiency Examination Program: Evaluating the Writing Samples.

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Howard, Edward H.

Writing tests are part of the mandated statewide proficiency examination in Nevada. The ninth-grade screening test and the eleventh-grade diploma-certifying test require that a student write a paragraph and a business letter, each on an assigned topic and each at an acceptable level of proficiency. Pilot tests, extended discussion, and statistical…

Teaching Sport Management Through Service-Learning: An Undergraduate Case Study.

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Jackowski, Mick; Gullion, Laurie

1998-01-01

Students in an undergraduate sport management writing course experienced a service learning component via outreach with local sport organizations. Class instructors supported students and evaluated student logs, class presentations, student memorandums, product review, and interviews with agency personnel and students. Results indicated that…

Process Memos: Facilitating Dialogues about Writing between Students and Instructors

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Parrott, Heather Macpherson; Cherry, Elizabeth

2015-01-01

We have created a new teaching tool--process memos--to improve student writing. Process memos are guided reflections submitted with scaffolded assignments that facilitate a written dialogue between students and instructors about the process of writing. Within these memos, students critically assess available teaching tools, discuss their writing…

THE ORTHOGRAPHIC NORM IN SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS

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Ivana Đorđev

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the results of research conducted with the primary objective to determine in which areas secondary school students usually make orthographic mistakes when writing (official written assignments. Starting from the hypothesis that the punctuation writing of whole and split words are areas in which secondary school students (regardless of age and school orientation achieved the weakest achievements an (exploratory research was conducted on a corpus of 3,135 written assignments written in the school year of 2010/11. The research sample was intentional, descriptive and analytical methods were used for the description and the analysis of the results. The results showed the following (1 secondary school students usually make mistakes in punctuation of written assignments - we recorded 4,487 errors in the use of signs to denote intonation and meaning of a text (errors of this type make 53.93% of the total number of spelling errors reported in the corpus of research; by frequency of errors the second are errors related to writing whole and split words (11.02%, the third error is in the use of the capital letter (9.34%; (2 most problems in orthography have second grade students, quantum of mistakes is almost the same with first graders and seniors, but in all grades the most frequent errors are in punctuation, writing of whole and split words and the use of capital letters; (3 Although school orientation affects the spelling skills of pupils, the weakest orthographic achievements are also recorded in punctuation, writing of whole and split words and capitalization, so those are areas that need to be thoroughly addressed in teaching and methodology literature. The results are, on the one hand, a picture of the current status of teaching orthography and grammar knowledge of secondary school students. On the other hand, the research results can be applied in all phases of methodical practical work in teaching orthography, the upgrading the

An Empirical Examination of the Roles of Ability and Gender in Collaborative Homework Assignments

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Parker, Jeffrey

2010-01-01

The author investigates how ability and gender affect grades on homework projects performed by assigned pairs of students in an undergraduate macroeconomics course. The assignment grade is found to depend on the ability of both students, and the relative importance of the stronger and weaker student differs in predictable ways depending on the…

Developing and Evaluating Clinical Written Assignment in Clinical Teaching for the Senior B.S. Nursing Students: An action research

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Leila Valizadeh

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction: In a four-year undergraduate level , the nursing students have to get prepared in the patients education, designing care plans, applying nursing processes and exercise the clinical decisions, in addition to learning practical skills. Therefore, multiple clinical teaching strategies in nursing must be applied. In this study the sheets for the mentioned fields were designed and used. Methods: In this action research in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, 64 nursing senior students and related instructors participated. Clinical written assignment included the patient’s health condition sheet, tables showing the used medicines and the precautions, the clinical and paraclinical tests and the results, identifying the patient problems, designing and implementing care plan and writing nursing reports with SOAPIE method. The instructors’ viewpoints were achieved through the group discussions and their notes taken. The perceived competency of the students was obtained through a questionnaire. The qualitative data was analyzed by the content analysis and quantitative using SPSS. Results: Both the students and the instructors agreed with the clinical written assignment. The desired care competency of the students before and after assignment was statistically significant (p<0.05. According to the instructors, intervention was useful for the senior students who have passed the courses needed for completing and using the different parts of these forms. Conclusion: Since a need is always felt in the trends of the nursing clinical teaching, the researchers recommend the clinical written assignment and their application along with other strategies for senior nursing students in clinical teaching.

Identification and Formulation of Polymers: A Challenging Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Chemistry Lab Assignment

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Guedens, Wanda J.; Reynders, Monique

2017-01-01

Prior to the recycling process, raising awareness of plastic waste impact, e.g., polluting oceans worldwide, is undoubtedly a first attempt to tackle this pandemic environmental issue. With this in mind, the presented practical session is an effort to entice an interdisciplinary audience of science undergraduates toward a sustainable future. The…

Using a Personalized System of Instruction to Improve the Writing Skills of Undergraduates.

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Allen, George J.

1984-01-01

A traditional abnormal psychology course was restructured to emphasize writing using a personalized system of instruction. The major benefit was that students showed significant improvement in writing style and clarity. The major costs of the course were the high student turnover and the abnormally large workload for students and instructor. (RM)

Computational Linguistic Assessment of Genre Differences Focusing on Text Cohesive Devices of Student Writing: Implications for Library Instruction

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Wang, Xin; Cho, Kwangsu

2010-01-01

This study examined two major academic genres of writing: argumentative and technical writing. Three hundred eighty-four undergraduate student-produced texts were parsed and analyzed through a computational tool called Coh-Metrix. The results inform the instructional librarians that students used genre-dependent cohesive devices in a limited way…

SMS Language and College Writing :The languages of the College Texters

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Norizul Azida Darus

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Many students have become avid texters and are seriously reinventing language to accommodate the 160-character limit of short messages. They are more interested in getting their messages across and thus becoming less concerned about correct spelling, grammar and punctuation. Since texting has become a way of life of many students, it is feared that the SMS language can affect students’ written performance. This research examines the effects of frequent usage of text messaging (SMS on undergraduates academic writing. For the purpose of the study, 264 Diploma students of UiTM Perlis were selected as participants. They were 94 male texters and 170 female texters aged between 18 – 22 years old who were taking three different English courses namely Preparatory English, Mainstream English 1 and Mainstream English 2. The data includes participants’ SMS messages, class assignments and examinations scripts which were analyzed in order to detect the existence of SMS language by using measuring instruments of Orthographic forms (Shortis, 2001. The findings reveal that there were few occurrences of SMS language in students’ examinations scripts among weak students.

Problem-based writing with peer review improves academic performance in physiology.

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Pelaez, Nancy J

2002-12-01

The aim of this study was to determine whether problem-based writing with peer review (PW-PR) improves undergraduate student performance on physiology exams. Didactic lectures were replaced with assignments to give students practice explaining their reasoning while solving qualitative problems, thus transferring the responsibility for abstraction and generalization to the students. Performance on exam items about concepts taught using PW-PR was compared with performance on concepts taught using didactic lectures followed by group work. Calibrated Peer Review, a Web-delivered program, was used to collect student essays and to manage anonymous peer review after students "passed" three calibration peer reviews. Results show that the students had difficulty relating concepts. Relationship errors were categorized as (1) problems recognizing levels of organization, (2) problems with cause/effect, and (3) overgeneralizations. For example, some described cells as molecules; others thought that vesicles transport materials through the extracellular fluid. With PW-PR, class discussion was used to confront and resolve such difficulties. Both multiple-choice and essay exam results were better with PW-PR instead of lecture.

Collaborative Work as an Alternative for Writing Research Articles (El trabajo colaborativo como alternativa para la escritura de artículos investigativos)

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Carvajal Medina, Nancy Emilce; Roberto Flórez, Eliana Edith

2014-01-01

Academic writing in English in our context is a significant aspect that can be innovative when a convergence model of writing stages is used along with collaborative work. This article reports on a study aimed at analyzing how collaborative work relates to undergraduate electronics students' academic writing development in English as a foreign…

The 'Build-Up' Approach to Academic Writing Skills Development: The Case for a Discipline-Driven Collaborative Design

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O'Brien, Orna; Dowling-Hetherington, Linda

2013-01-01

This paper discusses the design and delivery of support for academic writing skills development. The paper also presents a case study of such support on an undergraduate, part-time degree programme at University College Dublin (UCD). Elton (2010) suggests that the approach to academic writing is discipline dependent and that neither specialists in academic writing nor practising academics in a discipline can separately provide students with the necessary support to develop the ability to writ...

Investigate the "Issues" in Chinese Students' English Writing and Their "Reasons": Revisiting the Recent Evidence in Chinese Academia

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Sang, Yuan

2017-01-01

This research synthesis collected, compiled, and analyzed 29 academic research articles that were published in China in recent years. It addressed and explored the issues in Chinese undergraduate students' English writing and the possible reasons causing and/or explaining the issues. It was discovered that many Chinese undergraduate students have…

Python Source Code Plagiarism Attacks on Introductory Programming Course Assignments

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Karnalim, Oscar

2017-01-01

This paper empirically enlists Python plagiarism attacks that have been found on Introductory Programming course assignments for undergraduate students. According to our observation toward 400 plagiarism-suspected cases, there are 35 plagiarism attacks that have been conducted by students. It starts with comment & whitespace modification as…

Photography and Writing: Alternative Ways of Learning for ESL Students

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Friesen, Helen Lepp

2012-01-01

To writing, painting, drawing, and photography as artistic media, the author would like to add teaching as a creative endeavor as well. Especially in a classroom where English is not the first language for many students, the writing teacher needs to be creative with assignments and activities that address nontraditional ways of learning. Her…

A Mandatory Course in Scientific Writing for Undergraduate Medical Students

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Roland, Charles G.; Cox, Barbara G.

1976-01-01

Describes a course required for Mayo Medical School students that includes a self-instructional test on 15 common writing faults, a minithesis, and a clinical laboratory research project prepared as a paper submissible to a scientific journal and critiqued by professional editors. (JT)

Writing and teaching education: challenges in writing practice in initial training for teaching in portuguese

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Tânia Guedes Magalhães

2017-08-01

Full Text Available This work shows the result of a research with Portuguese Language students of Federal University of Juiz de Fora (MG that analysed their understanding about academic genres written in supervised internship of Portuguese Language in last period of full time course in 2014. We understand that the student’s insertion in written practices of academic genres is an important socialization process. Methodologically, we used open questionnaire applied at the end of the period when the students wrote their texts, after writing – rewriting – reflection about written. The data show us that a a minority of students is immersed in academic written practice during the Portuguese Language undergraduation; b the students face up difficulties in writing not detected along the course; c there is more student’s engagement in the written of paper and reports in circulation context.

Changing the Scholarly Sources Landscape with Geomorphology Undergraduate Students

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Blackburn, Heidi; Dere, Ashlee

2016-01-01

Science is a core discipline in academia yet the focus of most undergraduate technical writing is generally on the data and results, not the literature review. The Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) librarian and a new geology professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) collaborated to develop an information literacy…

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.

Using Primary Literature in an Undergraduate Assignment: Demonstrating Connections among Cellular Processes

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Yeong, Foong May

2015-01-01

Learning basic cell biology in an essential module can be daunting to second-year undergraduates, given the depth of information that is provided in major molecular and cell biology textbooks. Moreover, lectures on cellular pathways are organised into sections, such that at the end of lectures, students might not see how various processes are…

English Language Writing Anxiety among Final Year Engineering Undergraduates in University Putra Malaysia

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Min, Lau Sing; Rahmat, Nurhazlini

2014-01-01

Second Language Writing Anxiety (SLWA) is considered one of the most crucial factors affecting all second language learning. This study focused on a group of final year Engineering students' English Language writing anxiety (N = 93) in relation to their gender, race and MUET results. The findings showed that the male gender, Chinese and MUET band…

EFL Writing Apprehension: The Macro or the Micro?

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Mohammad Alnufaie

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This study was part of a doctoral project to explore the writing apprehension levels of 121 second-year undergraduate Saudi student writers who were studying English as a foreign language and for specific purposes in a Saudi industrial college.The study draws on Dörnyei’s (1994 framework of L2 motivation levels and their micro-motivational conditions in L2 learning situations, and addresses EFL writing apprehension in strategy-related conditions. For data collection, aWriting Strategy Apprehension Scale (WSAS was developed and adapted from a test designed by John Daly and Michael Miller (1975 and from the Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI designed by Cheng (2004.The participants were classified into three levels of apprehension (apprehensive strategy users, average apprehensive strategy users, and low apprehensive strategy users. The results showwhile the majority of the participants (57.9% were average in their stress and apprehension levels towards writing strategies, almost a third of them (31.4% were highly apprehensive. In addition, the most stressful strategies were those that indicate the lack of generating ideas, the care about accuracy, and the follow of teacher’s expectations.

Interdisciplinary Collaborative Learning: Using Decision Analysts to Enhance Undergraduate International Management Education

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Palocsay, Susan W.; White, Marion M.; Zimmerman, D. Kent

2004-01-01

This article describes an experiential learning activity designed to promote the development of decision-making skills in international management students at the undergraduate level. Students from an undergraduate management science course in decision analysis served as consultants on a case assigned to teams in an international management class.…

Peer Evaluation in CMC Learning Environment and Writing Skill

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Morteza Mellati

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Peer evaluation and technology-based instruction as the various domains of language teaching perspectives might affect language development. Group work in a technology-based environment might be more successful when learners are involved in developing the assessment process particularly peer assessment. This study investigated the effectiveness of peer evaluation in technology-based language environment and its effects on English writing ability. To reach this goal, 70 Iranian learners were participated in English language writing context. They were divided into two groups, one group assigned to CMC (Computer-Mediated Communication language learning context and the other assigned to a traditional learning environment. Both groups were encouraged to evaluate their classmates’ writing tasks. In addition, interviews were conducted with two learners. Comparing these two groups provides comprehensive guidelines for teachers as well as curriculum designers to set adjusted writing language environment for more effective and creative language teaching and learning. E-collaboration classroom tasks have high intrinsic motivation as well as significant effects on learners’ outcomes. Cooperative tasks specifically in technology-based environment lead learners to group working and consequently group learning. Computer-Mediated Communication is meaningful, especially in contexts in which teachers stimulate group work activities.

Using Cloud Collaboration for Writing Assignments by Students with Disabilities: A Case Study Using Action Research

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Keane, Kjrsten; Russell, Miriam

2014-01-01

Though separated by geographical distance, a student with disabilities, his advisor, and his writing coach consorted in the Cloud using Google applications to achieve a writing goal. Our scenario demonstrates how emerging technologies can bridge transactional distance and "virtually" supplant face-to-face conferencing around a college…

Expressive Writing: Enhancing the Emotional Intelligence of Human Services Majors

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Castillo, Yuleinys; Fischer, Jerome M.

2017-01-01

The skills and tasks in the human services field are highly connected to emotional intelligence abilities. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of an expressive writing program involving human service students in an undergraduate rehabilitation services course. The program was developed to enhance their emotional intelligence.…

Group Supervision and Japanese Students' Successful Completion of Undergraduate Theses

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Yamada, Kiyomi

2013-01-01

This paper explores, from a sociocultural perspective, the nature and functions of "zemi" or seminars in which Japanese undergraduate students received group supervision for research and thesis writing. The study also investigates how the "zemi" contributed to completion of their theses. It was found that the "zemi"…

Comparison of Categorical Assignments of the BSRI and the PAQ.

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Gaa, John P.; Liberman, Dov

The degree of agreement between the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) and the Personality Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ) in assigning sex role categories was investigated by administering both instruments to undergraduate education majors. As a result of scoring, subjects were classified as androgynous, masculine, feminine, or undifferentiated. It was…

Matrix groups for undergraduates

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Tapp, Kristopher

2016-01-01

Matrix groups touch an enormous spectrum of the mathematical arena. This textbook brings them into the undergraduate curriculum. It makes an excellent one-semester course for students familiar with linear and abstract algebra and prepares them for a graduate course on Lie groups. Matrix Groups for Undergraduates is concrete and example-driven, with geometric motivation and rigorous proofs. The story begins and ends with the rotations of a globe. In between, the author combines rigor and intuition to describe the basic objects of Lie theory: Lie algebras, matrix exponentiation, Lie brackets, maximal tori, homogeneous spaces, and roots. This second edition includes two new chapters that allow for an easier transition to the general theory of Lie groups. From reviews of the First Edition: This book could be used as an excellent textbook for a one semester course at university and it will prepare students for a graduate course on Lie groups, Lie algebras, etc. … The book combines an intuitive style of writing w...

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…

Exploring Engineering instructors' views about writing and online tools to support communication in Engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Howard, Sarah K.; Khosronejad, Maryam; Calvo, Rafael A.

2017-11-01

To be fully prepared for the professional workplace, Engineering students need to be able to effectively communicate. However, there has been a growing concern in the field about students' preparedness for this aspect of their future work. It is argued that online writing tools, to engage numbers of students in the writing process, can support feedback on and development of writing in engineering on a larger scale. Through interviews and questionnaires, this study explores engineering academics' perceptions of writing to better understand how online writing tools may be integrated into their teaching. Results suggest that writing is viewed positively in the discipline, but it is not believed to be essential to success in engineering. Online writing tools were believed to support a larger number of students, but low knowledge of the tools limited academics' understanding of their usefulness in teaching and learning. Implications for innovation in undergraduate teaching are discussed.

DISCOURSE AWARENESS IN IMPROVING NON-NATIVE STUDENTS’ ABILITY IN GENERIC WRITING

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Hussain AL SHAROUFI

2014-04-01

Full Text Available This study explores the importance of teaching discourse patterns to non-native university students. I used particular discourse patterns in teaching generic writing to undergraduate students at the Gulf University for Science and Technology, GUST, in Kuwait. The assumption of this study was that undergraduate non-native students should be aware of the importance of discourse patterns in generic writing. This hidden tactic is not obvious unless consciously taught to them. To study the importance of generic patterns, I opted to teach discourse patterns that are used in newspaper editorials, the rationale of which was that students would grasp discourse patterns and apply them to their own writing. I chose two groups of students randomly, one of which was an experimental group and the second of which was a control group. I conducted a detailed analysis afterwards to examine the validity of my assumption. I taught the experimental group the chosen model of analysis, and instructed the control group to read sample editorials, and write their own editorials afterwards. The results of this experiment were substantial. Based on the level of compliance with the suggested format, triads, movements, and artifacts in newspaper editorials, students in the experimental group were evaluated on a scale of 0 to 10. The performance of the experimental group was above average, 75.3%, in comparison to the control group that complied quite poorly with the chosen model, < 30 %.

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

What Do Students Learn from a Classroom Experiment: Not Much, Unless They Write a Report on It

Science.gov (United States)

Cartwright, Edward; Stepanova, Anna

2012-01-01

The authors ask whether writing a report on a classroom experiment increases a student's performance in an end-of-course test. To answer this question, the authors analyzed data from a first-year undergraduate course based on classroom experiments and found that writing a report has a large positive benefit. They conclude, therefore, that it is…

The impacts and "best practices" of undergraduate - graduate student mentoring relationships in undergraduate research experiences

Science.gov (United States)

Campanile, Megan Faurot

With the growth of undergraduate research in the U.S., over the past two decades, faculty are more often assigning graduate students to mentor undergraduate students than providing the one-on-one mentoring themselves. A critical gap that exists in the literature is how undergraduate -- graduate student mentoring relationships in undergraduate research influences both students' academic and career paths. The research questions that framed this study were: (1) What, if any, changes occur in the academic and career paths of undergraduate and graduate students who participate in undergraduate research experiences? and (2) Are there variables that constitute "best practices" in the mentoring relationships in undergraduate research experiences and, if so, what are they? The study context was the National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates program at Illinois Institute of Technology and the 113 undergraduate researchers and 31 graduate student mentors who participated from 2006 -- 2014. Surveys and interviews were administered to collect pre- and post-program data and follow-up data during the 2014 -- 2015 academic year. Descriptive statistics, content analysis method, and constant comparative method were used to analyze the data. Key findings on the undergraduate researchers were their actual earned graduate degree types (Ph.D. 20%, M.D. 20%, M.S. 48%, other 12%) and fields (STEM 57%, medical 35%, other 8%) and the careers they were pursuing or working in. All the graduate student mentors were pursuing or working in the STEM fields (academia 50%, industry 40%, government 10%). More than 75% of both the undergraduate and graduate students reported that their mentoring relationships had a somewhat to extremely influential impact on their academic and career paths. A set of "best practices" of mentoring were developed for both the undergraduate and graduate students and focused on the mentoring experiences related to learning and teaching about

The Importance of Search as Intertextual Practice for Undergraduate Research

Science.gov (United States)

Bodemer, Brett B.

2012-01-01

By first reassessing the role of search in the literacy event of the lower division undergraduate paper, this article argues that searching is not a lower-order mental activity but a concurrent, integral component of the research-writing process. This conclusion has large implications for information literacy instructional design, and several…

Using a Vaccine Proposal Assignment to Help Students Synthesize Topics Covered in an Undergraduate Immunology Course

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Rebecca L. Sparks-Thissen

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Undergraduate students often have difficulty keeping track of all the pieces of the immune response and how they relate to each other.  To help students synthesize the information in an upper-level, undergraduate immunology course, the students in my course investigate the immune response to pathogen of their choosing and then use that information to design a vaccine to that pathogen.

THE INSTRUCTIONAL DELIVERY OF WRITING COURSE AT ENGLISH DEPARTMENT OF UMS: A NATURALISTIC STUDY

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Fibrian Anindyawati

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The objective of this research is to get a thorough description of the teaching learning process of Writing Course at English Department of Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta, covering the syllabuses, the learning objectives, the instructional materials, the teachers’ roles, the students’ roles, the classroom techniques, the classroom procedures, the teaching media, and the assessment models. The data of this research were collected through observation, interview, and documentation. This research was a naturalistic study. The result shows that the syllabus used in Writing I & II is grammatical syllabus and Writing III & IV task-based syllabus. The learning objectives categorized into two namely, general objectives and specific objectives. The instructional materials were divided into three categories: printed materials, visual materials, and materials from the internet. The teachers’ roles were as organizer, consultant, feedback provider, assessor, and motivator. The students’ roles were as active participant, peer reviewer, and peer editor. The classroom techniques consist of brainstorming, discussion, question and answer, self-correction, assignment. The classroom procedures of Writing I & II were BKOF-MOT-ICOT; Writing III were reviewing, gathering ideas, organizing, build writing activity; and Writing IV were reviewing, explaining the materials, gathering ideas, organizing, build writing activity. The media used were LCD Projector, board, slides, and videos. The assessment model consisted of: multiple choices, weekly assignments, quizzes, mid-test, and final-test.     Keywords: Instruction, writing course, teaching writing

Main Ingredients for Success in L2 Academic Writing: Outlining, Drafting and Proofreading

OpenAIRE

Munoz-Luna, Rosa

2015-01-01

Spanish undergraduates of English Studies are required to submit their essays in academic English, a genre which most of them are not acquainted with. This paper aims to explore the extralinguistic side of second language (L2) academic writing, more specifically, the combination of metalinguistic items (e.g. transition and frame markers, among others) with students' writing strategies when composing an academic text in L2 English. The research sample conveys a group of 200 Spanish undergradua...

How to develop and write a case for technical writing

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Couture, B.; Goldstein, J.

1981-01-01

Case of different sizes and shapes for teaching technical writing to engineers at Wayne State University have been developed. The case approach was adopted for some assignments because sophomores and juniors lacked technical expertise and professional knowledge of the engineering world. Cases were found to be good exercises, providing realistic practice in specific writing tasks or isolating particular skills in the composing process. A special kind of case which narrates the experiences of one technical person engaged in the problem-solving process in a professional rhetorical situation was developed. This type of long, realistic fiction is called a an "holistic" case. Rather than asking students to role-play a character, an holistic case realistically encompasses the whole of the technical writing process. It allows students to experience the total communication act in which the technical task and data are fully integrated into the rhetorical situation and gives an opportunity to perform in a realistic context, using skills and knowledge required in communication on the job. It is believed that the holistic case most fully exploits the advantages of the case method for students of professional communication.

Using journal writing to evoke critical thinking skills of students in teacher education

OpenAIRE

Baldwin, Dolly Angela Serreno

1991-01-01

There has been little research which shows that students use critical thinking skills when they write. The use of journal writing has been studied for a variety of purposes, but little evidence exists that journal writing can enhance critical thinking skills. The writing assignments presented in this study were designed to enhance the critical thinking skills of college students enrolled in a reading methods course at a small college in southern West Virginia. Case studies were used to descri...

Student perceptions of writing projects in a university differential-equations course

Science.gov (United States)

Latulippe, Christine; Latulippe, Joe

2014-01-01

This qualitative study surveyed 102 differential-equations students in order to investigate how students participating in writing projects in university-level mathematics courses perceive the benefits of writing in the mathematics classroom. Based on previous literature on writing in mathematics, students were asked specifically about the benefits of writing projects as a means to explore practical uses of mathematics, deepen content knowledge, and strengthen communication. Student responses indicated an awareness of these benefits, supporting justifications commonly cited by instructors assigning writing projects. Open-ended survey responses highlighted additional themes which students associated with writing in mathematics, including using software programs and technology, working in groups, and stimulating interest in mathematics. This study provides student feedback to support the use of writing projects in mathematics, as well as student input, which can be utilized to strengthen the impact of writing projects in mathematics.

Degrees of systematic thoroughness: A text analysis of student technical science writing

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Esch, Catherine Julia

This dissertation investigates student technical science writing and use of evidence. Student writers attended a writing-intensive undergraduate university oceanography course where they were required to write a technical paper drawing from an instructor-designed software program, Our Dynamic Planet. This software includes multiple interactive geological data sets relevant to plate tectonics. Through qualitative text analysis of students science writing, two research questions frame the study asking: How are the papers textually structured? Are there distinctions between high- and low-rated papers? General and specific text characteristics within three critical sections of the technical paper are identified and analyzed (Observations, Interpretations, Conclusions). Specific text characteristics consist of typical types of figures displayed in the papers, and typical statements within each paper section. Data gathering consisted of collecting 15 student papers which constitute the population of study. An analytical method was designed to manage and analyze the text characteristics. It has three stages: identifying coding categories, re-formulating the categories, and configuring categories. Three important elements emerged that identified notable distinctions in paper quality: data display and use, narration of complex geological feature relationships, and overall organization of text structure. An inter-rater coding concordance check was conducted, and showed high concordance ratios for the coding of each section: Observations = 0.95; Interpretations = 0.93; and Conclusions = 0.87. These categories collectively reveal a larger pattern of general differences in the paper quality levels (high, low, medium). This variation in the quality of papers demonstrates degrees of systematic thoroughness, which is defined as how systematically each student engages in the tasks of the assignment, and how thoroughly and consistently the student follows through on that systematic

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.

E-mail Writing: Providing Background Information in the Core of Computer Assisted Instruction

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Behzad NAZARI

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The present study highly supported the effective role of providing background information via e-mail by the teacher to write e-mail by the students in learners’ writing ability. A total number of 50 EFL advanced male students aged between 25 and 40 at different branches of Iran Language Institute in Tehran, Tehran. Through the placement test of Oxford English Language Placement Test (OELPT the students' proficiency level seems to be nearly the same. Participants were randomly assign into two groups of experimental and control, each consisting of 25 students. After the administration of the proficiency test, all groups were assigned to write topic 1 as the pre-test. Next, the teacher involved the learners in the new instruction (treatment. During writing topics 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 experimental group’s background knowledge was activated through e-mail before writing and e-mailing topics while the control group received no background knowledge activation through e-mail. After the treatment was given to the experimental group, the students in both groups were required to write another composition about the last topic, topic 8. Again, in this phase, none of the groups received any background information. The results indicated that providing background information via e-mail by the teacher to write e-mail by the students significantly improved learners’ writing ability.

Predictors of expressive writing content and posttraumatic stress following a mass shooting.

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Reddy, Madhavi K; Seligowski, Antonia V; Rabenhorst, Mandy M; Orcutt, Holly K

2015-05-01

This study examined relations among experiential avoidance, state dissociation during writing, cognitive-emotional processing, and posttraumatic stress in the context of an expressive writing task among 58 undergraduate females who were students at a large midwestern university that had recently experienced a mass shooting. Experiential avoidance significantly predicted reported suppression during the writing task. Additionally, posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) at the time of the writing task were significantly associated with state dissociation, suppression, and the use of positive emotion words during the writing. Finally, at the zero-order level, prospective PTSS were associated with state dissociation and suppression during the earlier writing task. However, in a full regression model, only experiential avoidance and PTSS at the time of the writing task significantly predicted prospective PTSS. Supplemental analyses suggest processes may operate differently across levels of exposure. Findings from the present study provide further support for the role of experiential avoidance, state dissociation during writing, and cognitive-emotional processing in predicting PTSS. Additionally, experiential avoidance may play an important role in how individuals use cognitive-emotional processing to narrate a traumatic event. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Green Writing Curriculum: Showing Your Students How to Make A Difference

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Munger, Roger

2010-01-01

A growing group of green writers are persuading people to change their thinking and their behaviors for the benefit of our planet and its inhabitants. Adding a green writing assignment, unit, or course to your curriculum, the author argues, is an excellent strategy for showing students how their writing can make a difference in their community.…

Designing Internet research assignments: building a framework for instructor collaboration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Ward

2000-01-01

Full Text Available Internet knowledge is increasing steadily among instructors in the academic world. As courses incorporate more instructional technology, traditional undergraduate research assignments are adapting to reflect the changing world of information and information access. New library assignments reflect this shift as well, with term papers and research projects asking students to use Web sites as an information resource, in addition to the standard literature of periodicals and monographs. But the many pitfalls the library profession has learned in its own metamorphosis during the past decade are often repeated in these newer course assignments. The authors in this paper present a framework for librarians to interact with instructors to incorporate Internet resources into traditional term paper and research assignments. They suggest a framework for creating sample assignments librarians can take to campus instructional units, to show the teaching community at large what the library profession has learned from first-hand experience.

Writing on the board as students' preferred teaching modality in a physiology course.

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Armour, Chris; Schneid, Stephen D; Brandl, Katharina

2016-06-01

The introduction of PowerPoint presentation software has generated a paradigm shift in the delivery of lectures. PowerPoint has now almost entirely replaced chalkboard or whiteboard teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels. This study investigated whether undergraduate biology students preferred to have lectures delivered by PowerPoint or written on the board as well as the reasons behind their preference. Two upper-division physiology courses were surveyed over a period of 7 yr. A total of 1,905 students (86.7%) indicated they preferred lectures delivered by "writing on the board" compared to 291 students (13.3%) who preferred PowerPoint. Common themes drawn from explanations reported by students in favor of writing on the board included: 1) more appropriate pace, 2) facilitation of note taking, and 3) greater alertness and attention. Common themes in favor of PowerPoint included 1) increased convenience, 2) focus on listening, and 3) more accurate and readable notes. Based on the students' very strong preference for writing on the board and the themes supporting that preference, we recommend that instructors incorporate elements of the writing on the board delivery style into whatever teaching modality is used. If instructors plan to use PowerPoint, the presentation should be paced, constructed, and delivered to provide the benefits of lectures written on the board. The advantages of writing on the board can be also incorporated into instruction intended to occur outside the classroom, such as animated narrated videos as part of the flipped classroom approach. Copyright © 2016 The American Physiological Society.

Design of Online Report Writing Based on Constructive and Cooperative Learning for a Course on Traditional General Physics Experiments

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Lo, Hao-Chang

2013-01-01

The objective of this study was to develop an online report writing activity that was a constructive and cooperative learning process for a course on traditional general physics experiments. Wiki, a CMC authoring tool, was used to construct the writing platform. Fifty-eight undergraduate students (33 men and 25 women), working in randomly assigned…

Writing to Learn Law and Writing in Law: An Intellectual Property Illustration

OpenAIRE

Madison, Michael

2017-01-01

This essay, prepared as part of a Symposium on teaching intellectual property law, describes a method of combining substantive law teaching with a species of what is commonly called "skills" training. The method involves assessing students not via traditional final exams but instead via research memos patterned after assignments that junior lawyers might encounter in actual legal practice. The essay grounds the method in the theoretical disposition known generally as "writing to learn." It ar...

The effectiveness of self-compassion and self-esteem writing tasks in reducing body image concerns.

Science.gov (United States)

Seekis, Veya; Bradley, Graham L; Duffy, Amanda

2017-12-01

This study investigated whether single-session self-compassion and self-esteem writing tasks ameliorate the body image concerns evoked by a negative body image induction. Ninety-six female university students aged 17-25 years (M age =19.45, SD=1.84) were randomly assigned to one of three writing treatment groups: self-compassion, self-esteem, or control. After reading a negative body image scenario, participants completed scales measuring state body appreciation, body satisfaction, and appearance anxiety. They then undertook the assigned writing task, and completed the three measures again, both immediately post-treatment and at 2-week follow-up. The self-compassion writing group showed higher post-treatment body appreciation than the self-esteem and control groups, and higher body appreciation than the control group at follow-up. At post-treatment and follow-up, self-compassion and self-esteem writing showed higher body satisfaction than the control. The groups did not differ on appearance anxiety. Writing-based interventions, especially those that enhance self-compassion, may help alleviate certain body image concerns. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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.

English Language Writing Anxiety among Final Year Engineering Undergraduates in University Putra Malaysia

OpenAIRE

Lau Sing Min; Nurhazlini Rahmat

2014-01-01

Second Language Writing Anxiety (SLWA) is considered one of the most crucial factors affecting all second language learning. This study focused on a group of final year Engineering students’ English Language writing anxiety (N=93) in relation to their gender, race and MUET results. The findings showed that the the male gender, Chinese and MUET band 4 participants faced higher levels of anxiety as compared to the other groups respectively. Somatic anxiety was recorded to be the highest subscal...

"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…

Astrobites: The Online Astronomy Research Digest for Undergraduates

Science.gov (United States)

Faesi, Christopher; Astrobites Collaboration

2013-06-01

Astrobites (http://astrobites.org) is an innovative science education initiative developed by graduate students in astrophysics for an undergraduate audience. Our goal is to help undergraduates make the transition from the classroom to careers in research by introducing them to the astronomical literature in a pedagogical, approachable, and comprehensible way. Every day we select one new journal article posted to the astrophysics preprint server (http://arXiv.org/astro-ph) and prepare a brief summary describing methods and results, explaining jargon, and providing context. We also write regular blog posts containing career advice, such as tips for applying for graduate school, how to install astronomical software, or demystifying the publishing process. The articles are written by a team of about 30 graduate students in astrophysics from throughout the US and Europe. Since its founding in 2010, Astrobites has grown dramatically, now reaching more than 1000 daily readers in over 100 countries worldwide. Our audience includes not only undergraduates, but also interested non-scientists, educators, and professional researchers. More broadly, Astrobites is interested in fostering the development of vital communication skills that are crucial to a successful science career, yet not formally taught in most astronomy PhD programs. In addition to providing our graduate student authors with valuable opportunities to practice these skills through writing and editing articles, we organize events such as the upcoming workshop Communicating Science 2013, at which graduate students in all science fields from around the country will learn from and interact with panelists who are experts in science communication.

Demystifying values-affirmation interventions: writing about social belonging is a key to buffering against identity threat.

Science.gov (United States)

Shnabel, Nurit; Purdie-Vaughns, Valerie; Cook, Jonathan E; Garcia, Julio; Cohen, Geoffrey L

2013-05-01

Two experiments examined for the first time whether the specific content of participant-generated affirmation essays-in particular, writing about social belonging-facilitated an affirmation intervention's ability to reduce identity threat among negatively stereotyped students. Study 1, a field experiment, revealed that seventh graders assigned to a values-affirmation condition wrote about social belonging more than those assigned to a control condition. Writing about belonging, in turn, improved the grade point average (GPA) of Black, but not White students. In Study 2, using a modified "belonging-affirmation" intervention, we directly manipulated writing about social belonging before a math test described as diagnostic of math ability. The more female participants wrote about belonging, the better they performed, while there was no effect of writing about belonging for males. Writing about social belonging improved performance only for members of negatively stereotyped groups. Implications for self-affirmation theory and practice are discussed.

Study on Related Courses to Help Undergraduate Students Write Research Reports: A Curriculum Evaluation

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Eny Winarti

2014-02-01

Full Text Available From the experience of joining the boards in the students’ research report defence, teaching education research methodology, and classroom action research, the researcher indicated that students had challenges related with the logic of research methods and academic research writing.  These findings encouraged the researcher to study the courses that have potential in helping students writing their research reports.  To study the courses, the researcher analysed related documents, such as syllabi and lesson plans.  The researcher also interviewed teachers and students to clarify the relevance of the syllabi and the classroom learning.  The results of the study indicated that logic, academic writing, statistics, research methodology, and classroom action research had the potential of helping the students write their research report.  The researcher also indicated that the content of the courses should have been more helpful.  The fact, however, was that the students still had challenges understanding the materials after taking the courses.  Further study about this fact is then recommended.

Social media: a cure or a cause of aliteracy in undergraduates of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Social media: a cure or a cause of aliteracy in undergraduates of federal ... do not have enough time to read their books while they made use of social media sites. ... and finally that it has not in any way increased their desire to read and write.

An Empirical Study on Alleviating Career English Writing Anxiety through Cooperative Learning in a Chinese Polytechnic Institute

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Jiang, Dongmei

2016-01-01

This study investigated the effect of cooperative learning on writing anxiety alleviation through a pre-test/post-test assessment. 120 EFL learners from a Chinese polytechnic institute were assigned into two groups: one experimental (cooperative writing) and the other comparison (solitary writing). Results revealed that cooperative learning…

What Consultation and Freelance Writing Can Do for You and for Your Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Muller, John A.

This paper advises teachers of technical writing to "practice what they preach" by occasionally doing field work in technical communication. The possibilities for off-campus work include consultation, perhaps for an in-house manual of technical writing procedures and skills, editing assignments for businesses and public agencies, and freelance…

Designing Writing Assignments for Vocational-Technical Courses. A Guide for Teachers in the Two-Year College and Technical Institute.

Science.gov (United States)

Killingsworth, Jimmie, Ed.; And Others

The 27 articles in this 6-part guide provide information on developing and implementing writing instruction as part of content-area courses in two-year vocational-technical colleges. Part One, General Concerns, includes "Making Writing Work for You in the Interactive Classroom" (Killingsworth, Rude); "Evaluating and Responding to Student Writing"…

A writing intensive introductory course for RN to BSN students.

Science.gov (United States)

Tesh, Anita S; Hyde, Yolanda M; Kautz, Donald D

2014-01-01

This article describes learning strategies used with RN to BSN students in their 1st nursing course to successfully learn how to write formal papers using the American Psychological Association (APA) format. This 1st nursing course, a writing intensive, requires 4 short papers with self, peer, and teacher critiques and opportunities to rewrite. Students learn the style of professional nursing discourse, mastery of APA format, and development of additional skills in following directions and in critiquing their own work. An additional benefit is to enhance learning about professional nursing topics. By mastering writing skills in this initial course, students are able to successfully complete writing assignments in future courses and, in some cases, move on to publication.

Ordinary Lives Illuminated: Writing Oral History.

Science.gov (United States)

Gandesbery, Jean

1990-01-01

Describes how writing oral history can help students to feel that they are participating in a lively intellectual and cultural process that travels beyond the limits of the classroom. Says students claim that their obligations to the assignment are surpassed by their feelings of gratification in having created living works with lasting vitality.…

Writing A Scientific Paper For Publication And Publication Ethics

OpenAIRE

Team, Redaksi

2012-01-01

Why Do We have to Write?•Complete assignments for assessment •Share ideas and expertise •Disseminate the research findings •Promote career, academic work •Expand knowledge and skills •Gain personal satisfaction

Development and Effects of a Writing and Thinking Course in Psychology

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, E. Jean; Tuskenis, Albert D.; Howell, Glenna L.; Jaroszewski, Kimberly

2011-01-01

The authors developed and assessed a new undergraduate psychology course: Thinking and Writing in Psychology. A description of how the course was developed using the APA learning goals as well as results from an analysis of the course's effectiveness are offered. The course demonstrated a positive impact on the overall grade point average and…

Proposing a Wiki-Based Technique for Collaborative Essay Writing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mabel Ortiz Navarrete

2014-10-01

Full Text Available This paper aims at proposing a technique for students learning English as a foreign language when they collaboratively write an argumentative essay in a wiki environment. A wiki environment and collaborative work play an important role within the academic writing task. Nevertheless, an appropriate and systematic work assignment is required in order to make use of both. In this paper the proposed technique when writing a collaborative essay mainly attempts to provide the most effective way to enhance equal participation among group members by taking as a base computer mediated collaboration. Within this context, the students’ role is clearly defined and individual and collaborative tasks are explained.

Prescribing knowledge in the light of undergraduate clinical pharmacology and therapeutics teaching in India: views of first-year postgraduate students

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Upadhyaya P

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Prerna Upadhyaya,1 Vikas Seth,2 Monika Sharma,1 Mushtaq Ahmed,1 Vijay Vasant Moghe,1 Zafar Yab Khan,1 Vinay Kumar Gupta,1 Shipra Vikram Jain,1 Utkarsh Soni,1 Manohar Bhatia,1 Kumar Abhijit,1 Jaswant Goyal11Department of Pharmacology, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College, Jaipur, 2Department of Pharmacology, Hind Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, IndiaObjectives: The study aimed to review the prescribing knowledge of first-year postgraduate doctors in a medical college in India, using the principles of good prescribing, to suggest strategies to improve rational prescribing, and to recommend what curriculum planners can do to accomplish this objective.Methods: Fifty first-year postgraduate doctors were asked to fill in a structured questionnaire that sought information regarding their undergraduate training in clinical pharmacology and therapeutics, prescribing habits, and commonly consulted drug information sources. Also, the questionnaire assessed any perceived deficiencies in their undergraduate clinical pharmacology teaching and sought feedback regarding improvement in the teaching.Results: Eighty-eight percent of residents said that they were taught prescription writing in undergraduate pharmacology teaching; 48% of residents rated their prescribing knowledge at graduation as average, 28% good, 4% excellent, 14% poor, and 4% very poor; 58% felt that their undergraduate training did not prepare them to prescribe safely, and 62% felt that their training did not prepare them to prescribe rationally. Fifty-eight percent of residents felt that they had some specific problems with writing a prescription during their internship training, while 92% thought that undergraduate teaching should be improved. Their suggestions for improving teaching methods were recorded.Conclusions: This study concludes that efforts are needed to develop a curriculum that encompasses important aspects of clinical pharmacology and therapeutics along with incorporation of

Exploring the Research Mindset and Information-Seeking Behaviors of Undergraduate Music Students

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Clark, Joe C.; Johnstone, Jennifer

2018-01-01

This article examines the mindset and process of undergraduate music majors conducting research in their discipline. While working with students in a writing-intensive music history class, the authors conducted several surveys, focus groups, and task-based assessments. Results indicated that most were overconfident in their research abilities,…

Audience, Purpose, and Civic Engagement: A Reassessment of Writing Instruction in Political Science

Science.gov (United States)

Anson, Ian G.

2017-01-01

In the present study I examine meaning-making as an integral aspect of successful writing assignments in political science. Results of a semester-long quasi-experimental pilot study show that meaning-making writing tasks help students in Introduction to American Politics courses become more politically engaged through the inculcation of civic…

The A.I.D.A. Plan and the Writing of Sales Letters.

Science.gov (United States)

Jong, Rowena

A study based on textual analysis of sales letters is reported that evaluates the Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action (AIDA) approach to teaching the writing of sales letters. Thirty business letters written by undergraduate business students and executives were analyzed. The forms of cohesion, voice pattern, and information focus of the…

Enhancing Student Writing and Computer Programming with LATEX and MATLAB in Multivariable Calculus

Science.gov (United States)

Sullivan, Eric; Melvin, Timothy

2016-01-01

Written communication and computer programming are foundational components of an undergraduate degree in the mathematical sciences. All lower-division mathematics courses at our institution are paired with computer-based writing, coding, and problem-solving activities. In multivariable calculus we utilize MATLAB and LATEX to have students explore…

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

Science.gov (United States)

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…

When Students Join the Debate about the Control of Writing Courses

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Jones, Nathan Brian

2004-01-01

In a debate in the Forum section of the "TESOL Quarterly", Jones and Silva (1998) exchanged views about the merits and demerits of teacher-assigned themes and topics in tertiary-level EFL/ESL writing classes. However, much more remains to be explored. Should teachers assign the topics of papers, or even the content themes for the entire…

The Effect of Pre-teaching Extended Prefabricated Lexical Bundles on the Writing Development of

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Seiyed Mahdi Araghi

2014-03-01

Full Text Available This study attempts to shed light on how a teacher’s instruction and guidance can cast aside writing inhibitions and bring about remarkable changes in the writing ability of advanced EFL students through the collaborative construction of extended chunks of language with the aim of enhancing lexical density and complexity and consequently injecting into learners a sense of satisfaction with their work. The sample included 40 TOEFL students selected out of 75 TOEFL students on the basis of their scores on a TOEFL test. The participants were randomly assigned into two groups-the control group and experimental group. After 20 instructional sessions both groups were assigned five writing tasks. The results reveal that the participants in experimental group outperformed their counterparts in control group. Overall, it is concluded that pre-teaching extended prefabricated lexical bundles can be a useful means of helping advanced students to improve their writing quality.

Motivation of first semester undergraduate students

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schlichter, Bjarne; Sigvardsen, Kari; Jonsson, Sofia

in the curriculum. Method - The study is based on interpretative research (Walsham, 2006; Yin, 2003) and the method chosen was a qualitative case study (Myers, 2009). The data for this study was collected through fieldwork and semi-structured interviews. The fieldwork was conducted during the autumn semester 2010...... of first semester undergraduate students. Keywords -Motivation; first year undergraduate students; Management Information Systems; teaching assistants. Paper type - Research paper....... to the processes in a company. 2) Methods for formal modeling of processes, data and occurrences. 3) An introduction to a company's information systems and the relationship of these to business strategies. In addition to the lectures and tutorials, the students have to hand in a prescribed group assignment...

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…

Practicing Sociological Imagination through Writing Sociological Autobiography

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Kebede, Alem

2009-01-01

Sociological imagination is a quality of mind that cannot be adopted by simply teaching students its discursive assumptions. Rather, it is a disposition, in competition with other forms of sensibility, which can be acquired only when it is practiced. Adhering to this important pedagogical assumption, students were assigned to write their…

Effects of Expressive Writing on Psychological and Physical Health: The Moderating Role of Emotional Expressivity

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Haltom, Kate E.; Mulvenna, Catherine M.; Lieberman, Matthew D.; Stanton, Annette L.

2013-01-01

The current study assessed main effects and moderators (including emotional expressiveness, emotional processing and ambivalence over emotional expression) of the effects of expressive writing in a sample of healthy adults. Young adult participants (N = 116) were randomly assigned to write for 20 minutes on four occasions about deepest thoughts and feelings regarding their most stressful/traumatic event in the past five years (expressive writing) or about a control topic (control). Dependent variables were indicators of anxiety, depression, and physical symptoms. No significant effects of writing condition were evident on anxiety, depressive symptoms, or physical symptoms. Emotional expressiveness emerged as a significant moderator of anxiety outcomes, however. Within the expressive writing group, participants high in expressiveness evidenced a significant reduction in anxiety at three-month follow-up, and participants low in expressiveness showed a significant increase in anxiety. Expressiveness did not predict change in anxiety in the control group. These findings on anxiety are consistent with the matching hypothesis, which suggests that matching a person’s naturally elected coping approach with an assigned intervention is beneficial. These findings also suggest that expressive writing about a stressful event may be contraindicated for individuals who do not typically express emotions. PMID:23742666

"Turnitin Said It Wasn't Happy": Can the Regulatory Discourse of Plagiarism Detection Operate as a Change Artefact for Writing Development?

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Penketh, Claire; Beaumont, Chris

2014-01-01

This paper centres on the tensions between the introduction of plagiarism detection software (Turnitin) for student and tutor use at undergraduate level and the aim to promote a developmental approach to writing for assessment at a UK university. Aims to promote developmental models for writing often aim to counteract the effects of the structural…

Academic Achievements and Satisfaction of the Clicker-Aided Flipped Business English Writing Class

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Zhonggen, Yu; Guifang, Wang

2016-01-01

The flipped classroom has been achieving a great success in teaching innovation. This study, aiming to determine the effectiveness of the flipped model in business English writing course, combined the quantitative with the qualitative research methods. Participants were randomly selected from undergraduate students majoring in business English.…

Grammar Errors in the Writing of Iraqi English Language Learners

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Yasir Bdaiwi Jasim Al-Shujairi

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Several studies have been conducted to investigate the grammatical errors of Iraqi postgraduates and undergraduates in their academic writing. However, few studies have focused on the writing challenges that Iraqi pre-university students face. This research aims at examining the written discourse of Iraqi high school students and the common grammatical errors they make in their writing. The study had a mixed methods design. Through convenience sampling method, 112 compositions were collected from Iraqi pre-university students. For purpose of triangulation, an interview was conducted. The data was analyzed using Corder’s (1967 error analysis model and James’ (1998 framework of grammatical errors. Furthermore, Brown’s (2000 taxonomy was adopted to classify the types of errors. The result showed that Iraqi high school students have serious problems with the usage of verb tenses, articles, and prepositions. Moreover, the most frequent types of errors were Omission and Addition. Furthermore, it was found that intralanguage was the dominant source of errors. These findings may enlighten Iraqi students on the importance of correct grammar use for writing efficacy.

Point-of-view writing: A method for increasing medical students' empathy, identification and expression of emotion, and insight.

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Shapiro, Johanna; Rucker, Lloyd; Boker, John; Lie, Desiree

2006-03-01

Although interest exists among medical educators in using writing that reflects on clinical experience to enhance medical students' communication skills, empathy, and overall professionalism, little empirical research documents the value of this approach. This study explored whether students trained in one type of writing would first demonstrate increased awareness of emotional aspects of a clinical encounter in their writing; and second, be evaluated more positively in an OSCE situation by standardized patients. Ninety-two students were assigned to either a point-of-view writing or a clinical reasoning condition as part of a second year doctoring course. At the end of the year, students were evaluated in an OSCE format on 3 cases, and completed a writing assignment about an ER death from cardiac arrest. Student essays were scored according to presence or absence of various themes. A linguistic analysis of the essays was also performed. Point-of-view and clinical reasoning group scores were compared on both measures, as well as on the standardized patient OSCE ratings. Students trained in point-of-view writing demonstrated significantly more awareness of emotional and spiritual aspects of a paper case in a writing assignment than did students trained in clinical reasoning. By contrast, students in the clinical reasoning group were more likely to distance from the scenario. The two groups did not differ on SP OSCE ratings. Training in point-of-view writing can improve medical students' written skills on certain affective dimensions. It is not clear that these skills can translate into clinical behavior.

Undergraduate Research Program Between SCU and SOFIA

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Kulas, Kristin Rose; Andersson, B.-G.

2018-06-01

We present results on an undergraduate research program run in collaboration between Santa Clara University (SCU), a predominately undergraduate liberal arts college and the SOFIA Science Center/USRA. We have started a synergistic program between SCU and SOFIA (located at NASA Ames) where the students are able to be fully immersed in astronomical research; from helping to write telescope observing proposal; to observing at a world-class telescope; to reducing and analyzing the data that they acquired and ultimately to presenting/publishing their findings. A recently awarded NSF collaborative grant will allow us to execute and expand this program over the next several years. In this poster we present some of our students research and their success after the program. In addition, we discuss how a small university can actively collaborate with a large government-funded program like SOFIA, funded by NASA.

Writing Essays on a Laptop or a Desktop Computer: Does It Matter?

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Ling, Guangming; Bridgeman, Brent

2013-01-01

To explore the potential effect of computer type on the Test of English as a Foreign Language-Internet-Based Test (TOEFL iBT) Writing Test, a sample of 444 international students was used. The students were randomly assigned to either a laptop or a desktop computer to write two TOEFL iBT practice essays in a simulated testing environment, followed…

Manuscript Architect: a Web application for scientific writing in virtual interdisciplinary groups

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Menezes Andreia P

2005-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Although scientific writing plays a central role in the communication of clinical research findings and consumes a significant amount of time from clinical researchers, few Web applications have been designed to systematically improve the writing process. This application had as its main objective the separation of the multiple tasks associated with scientific writing into smaller components. It was also aimed at providing a mechanism where sections of the manuscript (text blocks could be assigned to different specialists. Manuscript Architect was built using Java language in conjunction with the classic lifecycle development method. The interface was designed for simplicity and economy of movements. Manuscripts are divided into multiple text blocks that can be assigned to different co-authors by the first author. Each text block contains notes to guide co-authors regarding the central focus of each text block, previous examples, and an additional field for translation when the initial text is written in a language different from the one used by the target journal. Usability was evaluated using formal usability tests and field observations. Results The application presented excellent usability and integration with the regular writing habits of experienced researchers. Workshops were developed to train novice researchers, presenting an accelerated learning curve. The application has been used in over 20 different scientific articles and grant proposals. Conclusion The current version of Manuscript Architect has proven to be very useful in the writing of multiple scientific texts, suggesting that virtual writing by interdisciplinary groups is an effective manner of scientific writing when interdisciplinary work is required.

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

The performance assessment of undergraduate students in physics laboratory by using guided inquiry

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Mubarok, H.; Lutfiyah, A.; Kholiq, A.; Suprapto, N.; Putri, N. P.

2018-03-01

The performance assessment of basic physics experiment among undergraduate physics students which includes three stages: pre-laboratory, conducting experiment and final report was explored in this study. The research used a descriptive quantitative approach by utilizing guidebook of basic physics experiment. The findings showed that (1) the performance of pre-laboratory rate among undergraduate physics students in good category (average score = 77.55), which includes the ability of undergraduate physics students’ theory before they were doing the experiment. (2) The performance of conducting experiment was in good category (average score = 78.33). (3) While the performance of final report was in moderate category (average score = 73.73), with the biggest weakness at how to analyse and to discuss the data and writing the abstract.

Impacts of a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience in Introductory Astronomy Using Robotic Telescopes

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Dobaria, Archana S.; Coble, Kimberly A.; Alejandra, Le; Berryhill, Katie; McLin, Kevin M.; Cominsky, Lynn R.

2018-06-01

As part of a general education undergraduate astronomy course at a minority-serving university in the Midwestern US, students completed an observing project with the Global Telescope Network (GTN), where they participated in realistic practices used by professional astronomers, including proposal writing and peer review. First, students went through the process of applying for telescope time by choosing an astronomical object and writing an observing proposal. Then they performed an NSF-style review of classmates’ proposals, including written peer reviews and a review panel. After obtaining images from GTN telescopes, students presented their project and findings in front of the class.This study investigates students’ experiences and perceived impacts of participation in the project. The data analyzed includes an essay assignment [N = 59] administered over seven semesters and individual interviews [N = 8] collected over two semesters. Students were prompted to address what they liked, disliked, or would change about the project experience. These data were coded iteratively into nine categories. A Kruskal-Wallis (KW) test was used to determine that essay results from different semesters could be combined. We find that students expressed an overall strong positive affect, increased perception of self-efficacy, enjoyment of the experience of peer review, an appreciation for being able to use real scientific tools and to take on the role of astronomers, as well as a small number of dislikes such as real-world constraints on observing.

Assessing Aspects of Undergraduate Research through Journaling

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Mimbs, Debra

2017-01-01

It is necessary while mentoring students in undergraduate research to conduct assessments in order to determine how well the research experience is progressing. It may also be necessary to assign a grade to a student's performance at the conclusion of such a venture. Journaling may be used both as a formative assessment tool and as a summative…

Study on Related Courses to Help Undergraduate Students Write Research Reports: a Curriculum Evaluation

OpenAIRE

Winarti, Eny

2014-01-01

From the experience of joining the boards in the students’ research report defence, teaching education research methodology, and classroom action research, the researcher indicated that students had challenges related with the logic of research methods and academic research writing.  These findings encouraged the researcher to study the courses that have potential in helping students writing their research reports.  To study the courses, the researcher analysed related documents, such as ...

Relationship between Students' Scores on Research Methods and Statistics, and Undergraduate Project Scores

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Ossai, Peter Agbadobi Uloku

2016-01-01

This study examined the relationship between students' scores on Research Methods and statistics, and undergraduate project at the final year. The purpose was to find out whether students matched knowledge of research with project-writing skill. The study adopted an expost facto correlational design. Scores on Research Methods and Statistics for…

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

Effects of Expressive Writing Effects on Disgust and Anxiety in a Subsequent Dissection

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Randler, Christoph; Wüst-Ackermann, Peter; im Kampe, Viola Otte; Meyer-Ahrens, Inga H.; Tempel, Benjamin J.; Vollmer, Christian

2015-01-01

Emotions influence motivation and achievement, but negative emotions have rarely been assessed in science education. In this study, we assessed the influence of two different expressive writing assignments on disgust and anxiety in university students prior to the dissection of a trout. We randomly assigned students to one of two expressive…

The surfacing of past assessment strategies within interdisciplinary teams when encountering an open-ended assignment in an undergraduate sustainability course

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Hartman, K.; Dzulkifli, D. D. B.; Moynihan, M. A.; Salman, R.; Goodkin, N.

2017-12-01

267 undergraduate students in an interdisciplinary environmental sustainability course were divided into 66 groups for the duration of the semester. The formation of the groups proceeded by first assigning all of the science majors to groups in a random order. This was followed by assigning the engineering majors, the liberal arts majors, and finally the business majors in turn. After all of the students had been assigned to a group, every group had at least one engineering student and one science student. 11 groups had a liberal arts student but no business student. 26 groups had a business student but no liberal arts student. 29 groups were composed of students from all four majors. During the semester, the groups created an environmental action plan to address one of Singapore's major sustainability concerns: food. In service of the course's emphasis on interdisciplinary communication, the groups were required to create a video to support their environmental action plan. The evaluation method for the videos built on our prior work with rubrics (Hartman & Goodkin, 2016). While we provided a number of examples of videos communicating environmental action plans, students were not prescribed a particular format for their video. To the consternation of some students, the instructor deliberately left the video assessment open-ended. After the semester ended, a researcher coded all 66 videos for the food sustainability issues they identified, their proposed solutions, and their video approach. Approaches included animations, virtual handwriting/drawing, role-playing, PowerPoint presentations, and picture slideshows. Given the open-ended nature of the video project, we hypothesized that groups would converge on approaches that at least one team member was familiar with. We knew from prior work with the business school, that its students engage in role-play activities fairly frequently. Teams with a business major and without a liberal arts major adopted the role

Writing Skill and Categorical Error Analysis: A Study of First Year Undergraduate University Students

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Adnan Satariyan

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract This study identifies and analyses the common errors in writing skill of the first year students of Azad University of South Tehran Branch in relation to their first language (L1, the type of high school they graduated, and their exposure to media and technology in order to learn English. It also determines the categories in which the errors are committed (content, organisation/discourse, vocabulary, mechanics, or syntax and whether or not there is a significant difference in the percentage of errors committed and these categories. Participants of this study are 190 first year students that are asked to write an essay. An error analysis model adapted from Brown (2001 and Gayeta (2002 is then used to evaluate the essay writings in terms of content, organisation, vocabulary, mechanics, and syntax or language use. The results of the study show that the students have greater difficulties in organisation, content, and vocabulary and experience less difficulties in mechanics and syntax.

Experiential self-focus writing as a facilitator of processing an interpersonal hurt.

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Liao, Kelly Yu-Hsin; Wei, Meifen; Russell, Daniel W; Abraham, W Todd

2012-10-01

This study examined the effects of experiential self-focus writing on changes in psychological outcomes (i.e., unforgiveness and negative affect) after an interpersonal hurt and the buffering effects of experiential self-focus writing on the association between anger rumination and these psychological outcomes. A sample of 182 college students who had experienced interpersonal hurt were randomly assigned to either the experiential self-focus writing condition, in which participants wrote about their feelings and experiences related to the hurt, or to a control writing condition in which they wrote about a recent neutral event. Latent growth curve analyses indicated that changes in unforgiveness over time did not differ between the experiential self-focus writing and the control writing conditions. However, relative to the control writing condition, negative affect decreased faster during writing and increased more slowly at follow-ups in the experiential self-focus writing condition. The results supported the hypothesis that negative affect resulting from an interpersonal hurt would significantly decrease over time among participants in the experiential self-focus writing group compared with the control group. Implications of experiential self-focus writing for interpersonal hurt and directions for future studies are discussed. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Effect of a Self-Cueing Treatment on Top-Level Goal Setting Strategies and Attention to Task in Timed-Writing Sessions.

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Hindman, JaneE

A case study examined one college student's poor performances during timed-writing sessions to develop a method to allow students to maintain the quality and ease in writing they achieve in other writing situations. The student, assigned to write a movie review, volunteered to participate in two 90 minute talk-aloud protocol sessions to examine…

A Template Analysis of Writing Self-Efficacy Measures.

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Mitchell, Kim M; Rieger, Kendra L; McMillan, Diana E

2017-08-01

This investigation reviews the item content of writing selfefficacy (WSE) measures developed for undergraduate students. Bandura's self-efficacy theory and a writing theory by Flower and Hayes informed the a priori themes used to develop a template of WSE categories critical to the concept. Articles describing WSE measures were identified through Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PsycINFO, Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar (1984-2015). A template analysis method was used to analyze 182 individual items present on 11 WSE instruments. A nursing perspective was applied. The analysis identified 16 categories influencing WSE as well as gaps in current measurement items. The theoretical examination of WSE is the first step toward the development of a WSE measure specific to the nursing context and contributes to nursing education by advancing the measurement of WSE.

Linguistic Markers of Stance in Early and Advanced Academic Writing: A Corpus-Based Comparison

Science.gov (United States)

Aull, Laura L.; Lancaster, Zak

2014-01-01

This article uses corpus methods to examine linguistic expressions of stance in over 4,000 argumentative essays written by incoming first-year university students in comparison with the writing of upper-level undergraduate students and published academics. The findings reveal linguistic stance markers shared across the first-year essays despite…

"My Work Is Bleeding": Exploring Students' Emotional Responses to First-Year Assignment Feedback

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Shields, Sam

2015-01-01

This paper explores the emotional responses that assignment feedback can provoke in first-year undergraduates. The literature on the link between emotions and learning is well established, but surprisingly research on the relationship between emotions and feedback is still relatively scarce. This article aims to make an additional contribution to…

Randomized controlled trial of expressive writing for psychological and physical health: the moderating role of emotional expressivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Niles, Andrea N; Haltom, Kate E Byrne; Mulvenna, Catherine M; Lieberman, Matthew D; Stanton, Annette L

2014-01-01

The current study assessed main effects and moderators (including emotional expressiveness, emotional processing, and ambivalence over emotional expression) of the effects of expressive writing in a sample of healthy adults. Young adult participants (N=116) were randomly assigned to write for 20 minutes on four occasions about deepest thoughts and feelings regarding their most stressful/traumatic event in the past five years (expressive writing) or about a control topic (control). Dependent variables were indicators of anxiety, depression, and physical symptoms. No significant effects of writing condition were evident on anxiety, depressive symptoms, or physical symptoms. Emotional expressiveness emerged as a significant moderator of anxiety outcomes, however. Within the expressive writing group, participants high in expressiveness evidenced a significant reduction in anxiety at three-month follow-up, and participants low in expressiveness showed a significant increase in anxiety. Expressiveness did not predict change in anxiety in the control group. These findings on anxiety are consistent with the matching hypothesis, which suggests that matching a person's naturally elected coping approach with an assigned intervention is beneficial. These findings also suggest that expressive writing about a stressful event may be contraindicated for individuals who do not typically express emotions.

Writing a research paper at the university: authorship vs plagiarism

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Maria Fátima Alves

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Considering the need of producing academic texts at the university, many undergraduate students do it by copying texts that were already published. In this study we discuss the presence of plagiarism versus authorship marks in the introduction of academic articles produced by freshmen in a licenciateship degree. Therefore, we emphasize the issue of plagiarism and authorship, particularly from the perspective of the enunciative bakhtinian studies and then present the theoretical basis of Literacies, with the most recent studies on Literacies and Socio-Rhetorics. Data analysis revealed and confirmed the academic writing as a complex activity, given the practice of plagiarism found in the analyzed productions. The lack of knowledge of academic writing together not the theme domain contributed to the practice of plagiarism.

Exploring evidence of higher order thinking skills in the writing of first year undergraduates

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Lynette Faragher

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Research indicates that concern is often expressed about the language and discourse skills new students bring with them when they first enrol at university, which leads to assumptions being made about their academic abilities. In this paper, an argument is developed through detailed analysis of student writing, that many new first year students have nascent Higher Order Thinking Skills and the potential to be successful in their studies. The work of Robert Marzano and his associates (Marzano, 2001; Marzano & Kendall, 2007, 2008 is applied to student writing.

Undergraduate Electronics Projects Based on the Design of an Optical Wireless Audio Transmission System

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Oliveira, Luis Bica; Paulino, Nuno; Oliveira, João P.; Santos-Tavares, Rui; Pereira, Nuno; Goes, João

2017-01-01

The two projects presented in this paper can be used either as two separate assignments in two different semesters or as a final assignment for undergraduate students of electrical engineering. They have two main objectives: first, to teach basic electronic circuit design concepts and, second, to motivate the students to learn more about analog…

Disciplinary Epistemologies, Generic Attributes and Undergraduate Academic Writing in Nursing and Midwifery

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Gimenez, Julio

2012-01-01

Generic attributes such as "holding a critical stance", "using evidence to support claims", and "projecting an impersonal voice" are central to disciplinary academic writing in higher education. These attributes, also referred to as "skills", have for a long time been conceptualised as transferable in that…

Review of The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers by Jane E. Miller

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Neil Lutsky

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Miller, J. E. 2004. The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. 304 pp. Cloth $45 ISBN: 9780226526300, Softcover $17. ISBN: 9780226526317.The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers is a reference work suitable for anyone interested in understanding, using, or promoting quantitative thinking. Its primary aim is to identify and illustrate ways in which information associated with numbers can be conveyed most effectively given a particular communication purpose and context. The book is directed at writers who incorporate numbers in verbal or visual displays in documents, in oral presentations, or on the Web. The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers identifies overarching principles, offers concrete advice, and presents illuminating examples and models. The book can be used for instructional purposes for undergraduates, and a means of doing so is described. The review concludes by considering the book’s contributions to a wider call to help citizens write or argue more effectively by using numbers.

The Impact of Using Email on Improving the Writing Skills Among Iranian Students

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Abusaied Janfaza

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The need for the application of technology in education has been increased. One of the new approaches in technology is using email for learning a second or a foreign language. The present study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of using email in improving writing skills among Iranian EFL students. The participants of the study were 42 pre-intermediate Iranian EFL students in an English language institute in Shiraz, Iran. The participants were randomly assigned into an experimental and a control group. Each group consisted of 21 participants. The treatment continued for three weeks and 3 sessions a week. The students in the experimental group used email for sending their assignments. These students were in contact with their teacher via email and asked writing questions. In contrast, the students in the control group taught writing without using the computer in traditional way. To be sure of homogeneity of the participants, a pre-test was administered before the treatment. After three weeks treatment, a post-test was administered to check the students’ improvement in writing. The findings revealed that the students in in the experimental group performed significantly better than the students in the control group.

Students' Perceived Preference for Visual and Auditory Assessment with E-Handwritten Feedback

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Crews, Tena B.; Wilkinson, Kelly

2010-01-01

Undergraduate business communication students were surveyed to determine their perceived most effective method of assessment on writing assignments. The results indicated students' preference for a process that incorporates visual, auditory, and e-handwritten presentation via a tablet PC. Students also identified this assessment process would…

Emphasis: Five Ways to Cure Boring Student Writing.

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Foster, Mary Ellen

A careful use of emphasis by students in their writing can be promoted by some exercises assigned by composition teachers. A drawing exercise can help students learn that changing the length of sentences makes paragraphs more interesting. Using Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's five categories of grief to consider times of depression in students' lives…

Writing "In" and "Across" the Disciplines: The Historical Background.

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Ruszkiewicz, John J.

The forebears of writing "in" and "across" the disciplines are such historical figures as Aristotle and Cicero. They believed that rhetoric contained within itself all other disciplines. Renaissance rhetoricians also insisted upon assigning a moral cross-disciplinary dimension to rhetoric while at the same time the intellectual…

Academic Writing in Reflexive Professional Writing: Citations of Scientific Literature in Supervised Pre-Service Training Reports

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Lívia Chaves de Melo

2013-06-01

Full Text Available In this paper we investigate citation practices of scientific literature in reflexive writing from the genre of supervised pre-service training report produced by pre-service teachers enrolled in the mandatory pre-service training subject of English Language Teaching, at an undergraduate language teaching course. The aim of this research is to analyze how these pre-services teacher represent themselves based on citation practices of scientific literature, and characterize some of the functions deployed by the citations in the reflexive writing emerging in the academic sphere. We use the dialogic approach to language from Bakhtinian studies as a theoretical base, as well as theoretical and methodological contributions regarding types of sequences and of discourse proposed by Adam and Bronckart. The results of this research show that the practice of citation of scientific literature is an invocation of authority as a form of erudition, amplification and ornamentation of the discourse produced. This practice can also guide pedagogical action developed by pre-service teachers in their supervised training.

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…

Evaluating guilt and shame in an expressive writing alcohol intervention.

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Rodriguez, Lindsey M; Young, Chelsie M; Neighbors, Clayton; Campbell, Michelle T; Lu, Qian

2015-08-01

Expressive writing interventions have shown positive physical and psychological health benefits over time, with the presumed mechanism being emotional disclosure. However, work utilizing expressive writing in behavior change has been minimal. The current research applied the expressive writing paradigm to reduce drinking intentions among college students, and evaluated the role of event-related guilt and shame in intervention effects. College students (N=429) completed a baseline survey and were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: Negative (write about a heavy drinking event that was negative); Positive (write about a heavy drinking event that was positive); or Neutral (write about their first day of college). After writing, readiness to change and future drinking intentions were assessed. Results revealed intervention effects on intended drinks per week and intended number of drinks during peak and typical drinking occasions. Participants in the negative condition also displayed higher levels of event-related guilt and shame. Results showed that guilt mediated intervention effects on readiness to change, which also mediated the association between guilt-reparative behavior and drinking intentions. Results provide initial support for an expressive writing intervention on alcohol use and underscore the importance of eliciting emotions associated with reparative behavior when considering negative past experiences and future behavior change. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Diagnosing University Students' Academic Writing in English: Is Cognitive Diagnostic Modelling the Way Forward?

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Xie, Qin

2017-01-01

The study utilised a fine-grained diagnostic checklist to assess first-year undergraduates in Hong Kong and evaluated its validity and usefulness for diagnosing academic writing in English. Ten English language instructors marked 472 academic essays with the checklist. They also agreed on a Q-matrix, which specified the relationships among the…

English Language Writing Anxiety among Final Year Engineering Undergraduates in University Putra Malaysia

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Lau Sing Min

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Second Language Writing Anxiety (SLWA is considered one of the most crucial factors affecting all second language learning. This study focused on a group of final year Engineering students’ English Language writing anxiety (N=93 in relation to their gender, race and MUET results. The findings showed that the the male gender, Chinese and MUET band 4 participants faced higher levels of anxiety as compared to the other groups respectively. Somatic anxiety was recorded to be the highest subscale of anxiety faced by most of the participants. The findings of this study can help in making suitable amendments in the engineering programme course structure, especially in determining the suitable English papers to be offered to the students.

What Do Undergraduate Course Syllabi Say about Information Literacy?

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McGowan, Britt; Gonzalez, Melissa; Stanny, Claudia J.

2016-01-01

Librarians seek opportunities to improve outreach to faculty and promote shared interests in information literacy. A comprehensive review of syllabi for all undergraduate courses offered during one academic term examined course-level learning outcomes and graded assignments to see how well they aligned with the five Association of College and…

Learning to write in science: A study of English language learners' writing experience in sixth-grade science classrooms

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Qi, Yang

Writing is a predictor of academic achievement and is essential for student success in content area learning. Despite its importance, many students, including English language learners (ELLs), struggle with writing. There is thus a need to study students' writing experience in content area classrooms. Informed by systemic functional linguistics, this study examined 11 ELL students' writing experience in two sixth grade science classrooms in a southeastern state of the United States, including what they wrote, how they wrote, and why they wrote in the way they did. The written products produced by these students over one semester were collected. Also collected were teacher interviews, field notes from classroom observations, and classroom artifacts. Student writing samples were first categorized into extended and nonextended writing categories, and each extended essay was then analyzed with respect to its schematic structure and grammatical features. Teacher interviews and classroom observation notes were analyzed thematically to identify teacher expectations, beliefs, and practices regarding writing instruction for ELLs. It was found that the sixth-grade ELLs engaged in mostly non-extended writing in the science classroom, with extended writing (defined as writing a paragraph or longer) constituting roughly 11% of all writing assignments. Linguistic analysis of extended writing shows that the students (a) conveyed information through nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbial groups and prepositional phrases; (b) constructed interpersonal context through choices of mood, modality, and verb tense; and (c) structured text through thematic choices and conjunctions. The appropriateness of these lexicogrammatical choices for particular writing tasks was related to the students' English language proficiency levels. The linguistic analysis also uncovered several grammatical problems in the students' writing, including a limited range of word choices, inappropriate use of mood

Pleasure and pain: teaching neuroscientific principles of hedonism in a large general education undergraduate course.

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Bodnar, Richard J; Stellar, James R; Kraft, Tamar T; Loiacono, Ilyssa; Bajnath, Adesh; Rotella, Francis M; Barrientos, Alicia; Aghanori, Golshan; Olsson, Kerstin; Coke, Tricia; Huang, Donald; Luger, Zeke; Mousavi, Seyed Ali Reza; Dindyal, Trisha; Naqvi, Naveen; Kim, Jung-Yo

2013-01-01

In a large (250 registrants) general education lecture course, neuroscience principles were taught by two professors as co-instructors, starting with simple brain anatomy, chemistry, and function, proceeding to basic brain circuits of pleasure and pain, and progressing with fellow expert professors covering relevant philosophical, artistic, marketing, and anthropological issues. With this as a base, the course wove between fields of high relevance to psychology and neuroscience, such as food addiction and preferences, drug seeking and craving, analgesic pain-inhibitory systems activated by opiates and stress, neuroeconomics, unconscious decision-making, empathy, and modern neuroscientific techniques (functional magnetic resonance imaging and event-related potentials) presented by the co-instructors and other Psychology professors. With no formal assigned textbook, all lectures were PowerPoint-based, containing links to supplemental public-domain material. PowerPoints were available on Blackboard several days before the lecture. All lectures were also video-recorded and posted that evening. The course had a Facebook page for after-class conversation and one of the co-instructors communicated directly with students on Twitter in real time during lecture to provide momentary clarification and comment. In addition to graduate student Teaching Assistants (TAs), to allow for small group discussion, ten undergraduate students who performed well in a previous class were selected to serve as discussion leaders. The Discussion Leaders met four times at strategic points over the semester with groups of 20-25 current students, and received one credit of Independent Study, thus creating a course within a course. The course grade was based on weighted scores from two multiple-choice exams and a five-page writing assignment in which each student reviewed three unique, but brief original peer-review research articles (one page each) combined with expository writing on the first

Strategies for successful academic writing - institutional and non-institutional support for students.

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Gopee, Neil; Deane, Mary

2013-12-01

Students develop better academic writing skills as they progress through their higher education programme, but despite recent continuing monitoring of student satisfaction with their education in UK, there has been relatively little research into students' perceptions of the active support that they need and receive to succeed as academic writers. To examine the strategies that university students on health or social care courses utilise to develop as writers in the face of many pressures and demands from different sources. Qualitative research conducted at a British University into undergraduates' writing practices in the field of healthcare. Ten participants took part in semi-structured interviews, half of whom were international students. The data was analysed by the researchers from the field of writing development using thematic analysis. The main findings are that certain students struggle as academic writers if they do not receive tuition on appropriate and effective academic writing through institutional provisions, or through non-institutional strategies, that can promote success with the writing process. There is also uncertainty over the extent to which nurse educators are expected to teach academic writing skills, alongside their discipline-specific subject areas. Both institutional provisions for academic writing development, such as a dedicated writing support department, and non-institutional factors such as peer-collaboration should be fully recognised, supported and resourced in tertiary education at a time when students' satisfaction and performance are high on the agenda. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

"If I write like a scientist, then soy un cientifico": Differentiated Writing Supports and the Effects on Fourth-Grade English Proficient Students' and English Language Learners' Science Content Knowledge and Explanatory Writing About Magnetism and Electricity

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Lichon, Kathryn A.

The purpose of this pre-post quasi-experimental dissertation was to investigate the effects of differentiated writing supports on English Proficient Students' (EPSs) and English Language Learners' (ELLs) science content knowledge and explanatory writing about magnetism and electricity. Eighty-seven fourth-grade students (EPSs = 35; ELLs = 52) were randomly assigned to two groups based on two differentiated writing: guided questions ( n = 43) or targeted writing frames (n = 44). In the guided questions condition, students completed four question sets after a science investigation, and in the targeted writing frames condition, students completed the same four question sets, but with explicit support for vocabulary, transitions, and relational language in the form of if-then statements. Over the course of the four week intervention, students completed a total of nine writing tasks, and were pretested and posttested on six variables: magnetism and electricity content knowledge test, explanatory writing task, total number of words written, total number of sentences written, number of if-then statements, and number of content-based vocabulary words. Results indicate that EPSs and ELLs in both writing conditions improved significantly from pretest to posttest on six content and explanatory writing variables, with statistically significant gain scores occurring for the magnetism and electricity content knowledge test in which the targeted writing frames condition had a larger rate of gain. ANCOVA results indicated that in comparing writing conditions, a statistically significant difference was found for magnetism and electricity content knowledge posttests, when controlling for pretests. No statistically significant effects for language classification on the six variables were found when controlling for pretest scores. Interaction effects between writing condition and language classification were statistically significantly different for the interaction effect found on if

The extensive writing. Teaching writing in high school

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Daniel Cassany Comas

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Following the distinction between intensive and extensive reading, we introduce the extensive written tasks to promote the following learning objectives: 1 bringing writing closer to the learner’s personal life; 2 practicing the epistemic and communicative language functions; 3 giving the learner full responsibility for the creative act; 4 facilitating the development of cognitive processes, and 5 developing habits of written production in a variety of situations. As a consequence, extensive writing assignments produce longer texts, last longer, are self-directed by the learner-author, treat interdisciplinary topics and are not in the textbook. These tasks markedly differ from the more frequent written exercises in the classroom, which are teacher-led, contain shorter texts, work on executive or instrumental functions, and their correction is focused on spelling and grammar. We propose several educational tools in order to develop this type of tasks: portfolios (to save drafts, corrections and final versions of each text, formats (such as reading logs, lecture notes and laboratory protocols and contexts (common communicative tasks. We also discuss some basic parameters of extensive tasks, such as the length of the text, the use of several working sessions for text production, the practice of composition processes and the use of peer review, in pairs or teams.

THE STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC WRITING SKILL AFTER IMPLEMENTING BLENDED LEARNING USING FACEBOOK

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Dwi Sulisworo

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Almost all students use smartphone for their daily activities. Nowadays, the student’s literacy on information technology is very good, but sometimes it has not been considered in school learning. One of the essential competencies of undergraduate school is academic writing skill. There is a gap between the student competencies and the learning strategy in certain learning subjects. The aim of this research is to examine the effectiveness of blended mobile learning activity using Facebook to improve student writing skill. This research used timed essay examination to measure the writing skill after one semester learning activity using this strategy and student satisfaction responses to learning. There were four aspects used as criteria of writing skill: ideas, organization, wording, and flavor. The results showed that this learning approach had shown good results in some aspects, particularly in improving the skill of shaping ideas and organizing the ideas into written form. The uses of various learning strategies that make students more active and centered on students tend to increase the ability of students to search for new ideas creatively. Among others, the positive aspect is the students have the knowledge and understanding of new concepts that can support the idea of writing in the aspect of idea and various choices of words.

How to write a medical book chapter?

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Kendirci, Muammer

2013-01-01

Invited medical book chapters are usually requested by editors from experienced authors who have made significant contributions to the literature in certain fields requested by an editor from an experienced. Before the start of the writing process a consensus should be established between the editor and the author with regard to the title, deadline, specific instructions and content of the manuscript. Certain issues concerning a chapter can be negotiated by the parties beforehand, but some issues cannot. As writing a medical book chapter is seen as an honor in its own right, the assignment needs to be treated with sincerity by elucidating the topic in detail, and maximal effort should be made to keep in mind that the chapter will reach a large target audience. The purpose of this review article is to provide guidance to residents and junior specialists in the field of urology to improve their writing skills. PMID:26328134

Supporting the development of postgraduate academic writing skills in South African universities

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Schulze, Salome

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The ability to write according to the conventions and forms of disciplinary academic writing is essential to success at university. Meeting the demands of quality academic writing is a challenge to the increasing number of English Second Language (ESL students worldwide, from undergraduate to postgraduate level, who choose to study and publish in English. In particular, postgraduate students in South African universities struggle with the rigours of dissertation writing. Drawing on Lave and Wenger’s (1991 theory of collaborative learning in a community of practice (CoP, an exploratory, qualitative inquiry was undertaken to examine the support given by six selected South African higher education institutions (HEIs to promote the development of academic writing skills among master’s and doctoral students. Data were gathered from a purposeful sample of 10 expert informants through interviews, email communication, and scrutiny of institutional websites. Findings deal with academic writing skills as the core competence necessary for full participation in the academic CoP; the nature of postgraduate student engagement with core members of the CoP, such as supervisors and language experts; and the availability and efficacy of a range of intra-organisational resources, including informal and formal peer interaction with those who have more expertise in writing, books, manuals, visual representations, and technological tools, to develop academic writing among postgraduate students. Based on the findings, recommendations are made for ways in which institutions can strengthen, enrich, and extend the CoP to support academic writing skills of ESL postgraduate students.

Rethinking Plagiarism

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Nealy, Chynette

2011-01-01

Plagiarism, presenting someone's words or other creative products as one's own, is a mandatory discussion and writing assignment in many undergraduate business communication courses. Class discussions about this topic tend to be lively, ranging from questions about simply omitting identified sources to different standards of ethical behaviors…

Minority Politics Courses: Moving beyond Controversy and toward Active Learning.

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Alex-Assensoh, Yvette

2000-01-01

Focuses on an undergraduate course, "Outside Politics: How Minorities Play the Political Game". Describes how to create a foundation for active and collaborative learning and to promote critical thinking, discussion, and writing through reading assignments. Discusses the use of debates and role playing, autobiographies and videos, and…

Using HeLa cell stress response to introduce first year students to the scientific method, laboratory techniques, primary literature, and scientific writing.

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Resendes, Karen K

2015-01-01

Incorporating scientific literacy into inquiry driven research is one of the most effective mechanisms for developing an undergraduate student's strength in writing. Additionally, discovery-based laboratories help develop students who approach science as critical thinkers. Thus, a three-week laboratory module for an introductory cell and molecular biology course that couples inquiry-based experimental design with extensive scientific writing was designed at Westminster College to expose first year students to these concepts early in their undergraduate career. In the module students used scientific literature to design and then implement an experiment on the effect of cellular stress on protein expression in HeLa cells. In parallel the students developed a research paper in the style of the undergraduate journal BIOS to report their results. HeLa cells were used to integrate the research experience with the Westminster College "Next Chapter" first year program, in which the students explored the historical relevance of HeLa cells from a sociological perspective through reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. In this report I detail the design, delivery, student learning outcomes, and assessment of this module, and while this exercise was designed for an introductory course at a small primarily undergraduate institution, suggestions for modifications at larger universities or for upper division courses are included. Finally, based on student outcomes suggestions are provided for improving the module to enhance the link between teaching students skills in experimental design and execution with developing student skills in information literacy and writing. © 2015 The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Aza-Michael Reaction for an Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Laboratory

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Nigam, Manisha; Rush, Brittney; Patel, Jay; Castillo, Raul; Dhar, Preeti

2016-01-01

A green, aza-Michael reaction is described that can be used to teach undergraduate students conjugate addition of nitrogen nucleophile to an a,ß-unsaturated ester. Students analyze spectral data of the product obtained from the assigned reaction to determine product structure and propose the mechanism of its formation. The experiment requires…

The Role of Self-Regulated Learning Capacities in Iranian EFL Undergraduates’ Argumentative Writing Task Performance

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Ali Akbar Khomeijani Farahani

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The current study was an attempt to explore the relationship between Iranian EFL learners’ self-regulatory capacities and their argumentative writing task performance in order to analyze measures of complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF. To this end, 44 Iranian EFL undergraduates majoring in English literature at the University of Tehran were recruited based on convenience sampling to participate in this study. Employing a correlational design, the participants were required to perform an argumentative writing task and complete the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire designed by Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, and McKeachie (1991. Pearson product moment correlation indicated a significant relationship between self-regulated learning and writing task performance in relation to CAF measures. In addition, the results of multiple regression showed that resource management strategies and value component predicted 56.9% of grammatical accuracy of writing task. It was also shown that resource management strategies, value, and expectancy components predicted 56.5% of lexical complexity of writing task. Lastly, cognitive and metacognitive strategies, expectancy, and value components predicted 55.2% of the fluency of writing task. The findings of this study informs EFL writing pedagogy and English language teachers and syllabus designers  with regard to the benefits of applying self-regulatory strategies in teaching and assessing writing.

THE EFFECT OF USING SHORT SILENT ANIMATIONS ON EFL LEARNERS WRITING

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Hamid Marashi

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This study investigated the effect of short silent animations on pre-intermediate EFL learners writing. A homogenized group of 60 participants was non-randomly chosen and assigned as the control and experimental groups. Those in the control group watched five short animations with dialogue, while those in the experimental group had five short animations which were silent. The procedure lasted 10 sessions. In both groups, the participants were asked to write five writings regarding the subjects of the animations during the term and each of the writings should have contained a minimum of 90 and maximum of 140 words. The participants were provided both oral and written feedback. At the end of the instruction, a sample PET writing posttest was administered to both groups, an independent samples t-test was run on the mean scores of the two groups, and the results (t = -2.02, p = 0.037˂0.05 revealed that the experimental group outperformed the control group.

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…

The Knowledge Society and the Reform of Creative Writing

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Cristina-Emanuela DASCĂLU

2011-12-01

Full Text Available This article deals with how major top-down reforms in the Romanian higher education system have affected and will continue to affect student writing and have forever challenged and changed teachers’ and students’ traditional roles. The reform of student writing in Romania is initially due to the implementation in the Romanian education system of the Bologna Declaration of 2002 and continues ever stronger due to the extraordinary new Education Law passed by the Romanian Ministry of Education, Research and Innovation in 2011. One of the initial outcomes of the adherence of the Romanian education system to Bologna Declaration was that, while previously to this change Romanian universities demanded very little undergraduate writing especially the original, research-oriented one and, thus, grades relied heavily on the results of the traditional sit-down final examinations, most courses now in the Romanian higher education system include student essay writing and other types of writing and systematic teacher feedback. Creative writing has started to appear here and there, too in the university curriculum especially at private universities. As a result of Romania’s adherence to Bologna Declaration of 2002, Portfolio Assessment, which demands extended writing, has been also introduced in Romania, both at state universities and private ones. As a result of the new 2011 Education Law, even more emphasis will be placed on writing, research, competences and abilities, included practical ones, and creativity at all levels of education, higher education included therefore. The article presents some results from an evaluation of the educational reforms in Romania, mostly of the initial reforms following Romania’s adherence to Bologna Declaration of 2002, but the study considers some of the reforms that follow from the newly passed Romanian Education Law. Mainly the following questions are addressed in this research study (1 Why did the initial reforms

Engaging Undergraduates in Feminist Classrooms: An Exploration of Professors' Practices

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Spencer, Leland G.

2015-01-01

This article reports the results of a feminist action research project that sought to ascertain professors' best practices for engaging undergraduates in feminist classrooms. In semi-structured interviews, professors recommended assigning readings from a variety of positionalities; creating a safe space for class discussion; relying on data to…

Employing Concept Mapping as a Pre-Writing Strategy to Help EFL Learners Better Generate Argumentative Compositions

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Al-Shaer, Ibrahim M. R.

2014-01-01

The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of employing concept mapping at a pre-writing stage on English as a foreign language (EFL) students' ability to generate better argumentative essays. Thirty-eight participants were randomly assigned to two groups participating in Writing II course at Al-Quds Open University (QOU). Both groups…

Teaching Science Writing in an Introductory Lab Course

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Holstein, Sarah E.; Mickley Steinmetz, Katherine R.; Miles, John D.

2015-01-01

One challenge that many neuroscience instructors face is how to teach students to communicate within the field. The goal of this project was to improve students’ scientific writing in an introductory psychology laboratory course that serves as a feeder course into the neuroscience curriculum. This course included a scaffolded approach - breaking assignments into different sections that build upon each other to allow for more direction and feedback on each section. Students were also provided with examples of scientific writing, given direction on finding and reading journal articles, and were taught how to effectively peer review a paper. Research papers were assessed before (Year 1) and after (Year 2) this scaffolded approach was instituted. The assessment included measures of “Genre Knowledge” for each section of a research paper (abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion) as well as measures of “Writing Elements” (grammar, formatting, clarity, transitions, building to the hypothesis, using evidence). The results indicated that there was an improvement for Genre Knowledge scores when comparing Year 1 to Year 2. However, there was no systematic improvement in Writing Elements. This suggests that this teaching technique was most effective in improving students’ ability to write within the scientific genre. The logistics of implementing such an approach are discussed. PMID:25838801

Modelling the Preferences of Students for Alternative Assignment Designs Using the Discrete Choice Experiment Methodology

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Brendan Kennelly

2014-11-01

Full Text Available This paper outlines how a discrete choice experiment (DCE can be used to learn more about how students are willing to trade off various features of assignments such as the nature and timing of feedback and the method used to submit assignments. A DCE identifies plausible levels of the key attributes of a good or service and then presents the respondent with alternative bundles of these attributes and their levels and asks the respondent to choose between particular bundles. We report results from a DCE we conducted with undergraduate business students regarding their preferences for assignment systems. We find that the most important features of assignments are how relevant the assignments are for exam preparation and the nature of the feedback that students receive. We also find that students generally prefer online to paper assignments. We argue that the DCE approach has a lot of potential in education research.

A Phenomenological Study of Gay Male Undergraduate College Students' Experiences at a Jesuit Catholic University

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Willette, James M.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this interpretative phenomenological study was to understand how male undergraduate students who identify as openly gay experience marginality and mattering at a Jesuit Catholic university. There were 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States as of this writing, each with its own varying approach towards the treatment…

A Pedagogical Theory and Practice for College Writing Courses and Writing across the Curriculum Courses: A Social Constructionist Perspective on Learning through Argument.

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Soffree-Cady, Flore

To provide a writing pedagogy grounded in theory, a teaching method was developed which sequenced certain types of assignments. The classification of types and the organizational structure of the sequences were based on a teaching model that draws upon theories from various disciplines. Although the teaching activities are not new in themselves,…

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

Error Analysis in Academic Writing: A Case of International Postgraduate Students in Malaysia

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Fatemeh Amiri; Marlia Puteh

2017-01-01

This paper examines the different types of writing errors performed by 16 international postgraduate students undertaking an intensive English course at a public university in Malaysia. It was mandatory for international postgraduate students who obtained less than IELTS Band 6 to undertake an Intensive English Course (IEC) offered by the University, prior to entering their respective faculties’ academic programs. The students were required to write a 3-5 page term paper assignment on a topic...

Ethics education in undergraduate pre-health programs. The contribution of undergraduate colleges and universities to the ethical and moral development of future doctors in the medical and dental professions.

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Erratt, Tamie D

2011-08-01

There are many barriers to ethics education of students attending medical and dental schools. The question is asked, "Should more attention be given to addressing students' ethics education during their undergraduate years of preparation for professional healthcare programs?" This qualitative study utilizes digitally recorded personal interviews with two undergraduate pre-healthcare students, one medical student, one recently matriculated dental student, one undergraduate pre-healthcare faculty member, three dental school faculty members, and three medical school faculty members. Interview participants discuss areas of personal knowledge and experience concerning: the admissions process and screening of potential medical/dental students for ethical traits and behaviors, influences on student ethical development, undergraduate pre-healthcare ethics training, and preferred college major for pre-healthcare students. The study concludes that undergraduate pre-healthcare programs should take the initiative to be proactive and deliberate in strengthening the positive influences on students. Strategies include: 1) humanities curricula to broaden perspectives and increase non-prejudice; 2) mentoring and modeling by older students, faculty, and community and professional volunteers; 3) ethical case study discussions in class or extracurricular activities; and 4) volunteer/service learning activities. Additionally, curriculum learning is enhanced by the use of reflection and writing, discussions, and media.

The effects of different types of video modelling on undergraduate students’ motivation and learning in an academic writing course

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Mariet Raedts

2017-02-01

Full Text Available This study extends previous research on observational learning in writing. It was our objective to enhance students’ motivation and learning in an academic writing course on research synthesis writing. Participants were 162 first-year college students who had no experience with the writing task. Based on Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory we developed two videos. In the first video a manager (prestige model elaborated on how synthesizing information is important in professional life. In the second video a peer model demonstrated a five-step writing strategy for writing up a research synthesis. We compared two versions of this video. In the explicit-strategy-instruction-video we added visual cues to channel learners’ attention to critical features of the demonstrated task using an acronym in which each letter represented a step of the model’s strategy. In the implicit-strategy-instruction-video these cues were absent. The effects of the videos were tested using a 2x2 factorial between-subjects design with video of the prestige model (yes/no and type of instructional video (implicit versus explicit strategy instruction as factors. Four post-test measures were obtained: task value, self-efficacy beliefs, task knowledge and writing performances. Path analyses revealed that the prestige model did not affect students’ task value. Peer-mediated explicit strategy instruction had no effect on self-efficacy, but a strong effect on task knowledge. Task knowledge – in turn – was found to be predictive of writing performance.

Comparison of Two Different Techniques of Cooperative Learning Approach: Undergraduates' Conceptual Understanding in the Context of Hormone Biochemistry

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Mutlu, Ayfer

2018-01-01

The purpose of the research was to compare the effects of two different techniques of the cooperative learning approach, namely Team-Game Tournament and Jigsaw, on undergraduates' conceptual understanding in a Hormone Biochemistry course. Undergraduates were randomly assigned to Group 1 (N = 23) and Group 2 (N = 29). Instructions were accomplished…

Using Content Reading Assignments in a Psychology Course to Teach Critical Reading Skills

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Van Camp, Debbie; Van Camp, Wesley

2013-01-01

Liberal arts students are expected to graduate college with fully developed critical reading and writing skills. However, for a variety of reasons these skills are not always as well developed as they might be--both during and upon completion of college. This paper describes a reading assignment that was designed to increase students'…

A Model of Critical Peer Feedback to Facilitate Business English Writing Using Qzone Weblogs among Chinese Undergraduates

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Xianwei, Gao; Samuel, Moses; Asmawi, Adelina

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore critical thinking skills in peer feedback for Business English writing in order to facilitate the quality of peer feedback and quality of Business English writing. "Critical peer feedback" was conceptualized with the integration of "critical thinking" and "peer feedback" in…

Undergraduate and Postgraduate Pharmacy Students' Perceptions of Plagiarism and Academic Honesty

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Bonanno, Helen; Krass, Ines; Scouller, Karen; Smith, Lorraine

2009-01-01

Objectives To assess undergraduate and postgraduate pharmacy students' perceptions of plagiarism and academic honesty. Methods A questionnaire was administered to undergraduate and postgraduate pharmacy students to determine their levels of awareness of university policy concerning academic honesty; attitudes to plagiarism by rating the acceptability of a range of plagiarizing and cheating practices; and choice of appropriate penalties for a first and second occurrence. The choice of behaviors in response to a scenario about the preparation of a reading-based written assignment and the strategies that students would be prepared to use in order to submit the assignment on time were also assessed. Results Findings indicated widespread deficiencies in student knowledge of, and attitudes towards, plagiarism. Students did not perceive plagiarism as a serious issue and the use of inappropriate strategies for sourcing and acknowledging material was common. Conclusions The study highlights the importance of achieving a balance among the 3 dimensions of plagiarism management: prevention, detection and penalty. PMID:19885074

Undergraduate and postgraduate pharmacy students' perceptions of plagiarism and academic honesty.

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Ryan, Greg; Bonanno, Helen; Krass, Ines; Scouller, Karen; Smith, Lorraine

2009-10-01

To assess undergraduate and postgraduate pharmacy students' perceptions of plagiarism and academic honesty. A questionnaire was administered to undergraduate and postgraduate pharmacy students to determine their levels of awareness of university policy concerning academic honesty; attitudes to plagiarism by rating the acceptability of a range of plagiarizing and cheating practices; and choice of appropriate penalties for a first and second occurrence. The choice of behaviors in response to a scenario about the preparation of a reading-based written assignment and the strategies that students would be prepared to use in order to submit the assignment on time were also assessed. Findings indicated widespread deficiencies in student knowledge of, and attitudes towards, plagiarism. Students did not perceive plagiarism as a serious issue and the use of inappropriate strategies for sourcing and acknowledging material was common. The study highlights the importance of achieving a balance among the 3 dimensions of plagiarism management: prevention, detection and penalty.

Perceptions of Challenges in Writing Academically: Iranian Postgraduate Students’ Perspectives

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Sedigheh Shakib Kotamjani

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Academic writing skills are essential tools that postgraduate students reading for their doctoral degree have to master to be able to produce dissertations, research reports and academic assignments of quality in the course of their studies; and publish research-based articles in established journals. This paper discusses the perceptions of a group of Iranian postgraduate students pursuing their doctoral degrees at UPM (Universiti Putra Malaysia on the challenges they face in writing academically. They provided the data for this paper via their responses to a survey.  The findings indicate that these postgraduate students perceived some academic writing skills to be more challenging than the others.  The paper concludes with a discussion on the implications of the findings; and recommendations on how the situation can be improved.

Matching Vocabulary Learning Process with Learning Outcome in L2 Academic Writing: An Exploratory Case Study

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Ma, Qing

2013-01-01

This exploratory case study of two undergraduates links vocabulary learning approaches with lexical quality measured in academic writing. Employing an array of qualitative data, it is shown that in a "semi-language-rich" learning context, Chinese learners may dispense with rote learning and engage in a more natural learning approach in which…

Treating acute stress disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder with cognitive behavioral therapy or structured writing therapy: A randomized controlled trial

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Emmerik, A.A.P.; Kamphuis, J.H.; Emmelkamp, P.M.G.

2008-01-01

Background: Writing assignments have shown promising results in treating traumatic symptomatology. Yet no studies have compared their efficacy to the current treatment of choice, cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). The present study evaluated the efficacy of structured writing therapy (SWT) and CBT as

Moving from technical to critical reflection in journalling: an investigation of students' ability to incorporate three levels of reflective writing.

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Usher, K; Tollefson, J; Francis, D

2001-01-01

This paper outlines a research project aimed at changing the levels of reflection of preregistration nursing students in a tertiary institution. Whilst reflection is widely espoused now in nursing, few studies have been found that identify whether the level of reflective writing can be identified or developed by students. Anecdotal and research evidence (Powell 1989; van Manen 1977) however indicates that most student reflective writing occurs at the technical level. A descriptive exploratory study using both qualitative and quantitative techniques was undertaken to apply van Manen's (1977) levels in a structured way in an attempt to facilitate the student's understanding and use of the levels in their reflective writing. The findings of the study indicate that student self evaluation and identification of the levels in their own writing can lead to change in the levels of critical reflective writing achieved by undergraduate students.

Writing Retreat Increases Productivity And Community For Women Geoscientists

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O'Connell, S.; Holmes, M.

2011-12-01

Five, weeklong geoscientist writing retreats have been completed with an NSF ADANCE PAID grant. During the five nights and four and a half days, eight to twenty-four academics have gathered in a rural setting outside of Boston to get to focus on writing papers and proposals while getting to know each other. Participants range in age and experience from graduate students to emeritus professors. Over twenty papers and proposals acknowledge their production, in part to this writing retreat. Impact extends beyond papers as informal mentoring and discussions at meals and in the evenings centers on succeeding in academia. Research and teaching are foremost in the conversation. Post-docs learn strategies for applying for jobs and grants, and senior professors discuss strategies for working with academic administrations, running departments and mentoring students. They also learn new technologies and perspectives from younger participants. Particularly helpful are discussions on work-life balance. Networking opportunities extend beyond the retreat as participants join each other at their home institutions to give seminars, develop research projects and mentor each other's students. All weeks follow the same format. Participants arrive Sunday and meet during an evening welcome reception. Monday is devoted to writing. Tuesday a writing coach is available. In the morning, using examples from the scientific literature, she discusses strategies and techniques for writing clearly at a group session. During the afternoon, participants work with the coach individually or in small groups to improve their own writing projects. Wednesday evening a skill session is offered on a topic of interest. These have included undergraduate research, NSF funding, productive techniques for dealing with conflict, and generational characteristics and attitudes, which can hamper communication. A Thursday evening wrap-up session prepares participants for Friday's departure. We believe that this model

Pedagogy of the logic model: teaching undergraduates to work together to change their communities.

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Zimmerman, Lindsey; Kamal, Zohra; Kim, Hannah

2013-01-01

Undergraduate community psychology courses can empower students to address challenging problems in their local communities. Creating a logic model is an experiential way to learn course concepts by "doing." Throughout the semester, students work with peers to define a problem, develop an intervention, and plan an evaluation focused on an issue of concern to them. This report provides an overview of how to organize a community psychology course around the creation of a logic model in order for students to develop this applied skill. Two undergraduate student authors report on their experience with the logic model assignment, describing the community problem they chose to address, what they learned from the assignment, what they found challenging, and what they are doing now in their communities based on what they learned.

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

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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).

USC Undergraduate Team Research, Geological Field Experience and Outdoor Education in the Tuolumne Batholith and Kings Canyon, High Sierra Nevada

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Culbert, K. N.; Anderson, J. L.; Cao, W.; Chang, J.; Ehret, P.; Enriquez, M.; Gross, M. B.; Gelbach, L. B.; Hardy, J.; Paterson, S. R.; Ianno, A.; Iannone, M.; Memeti, V.; Morris, M.; Lodewyk, J.; Davis, J.; Stanley, R.; van Guilder, E.; Whitesides, A. S.; Zhang, T.

2009-12-01

writing in a semester-long research methods class. Throughout the class, undergraduates will apply their skills as they write proposals, abstracts and develop their own research projects. Many undergraduates in the program have been awarded university-wide grants to cover program-related expenses, and will continue to submit proposals for competitive grants. Students are also encouraged to interact with other faculty, encouraging future inter-university interaction between the three universities. With the help of their mentors, the groups will construct a comprehensive geological map of the TB and Kings Canyon and contribute to a growing pool of data collected by past groups.

Literacy and teacher training: some reflections on reading and writing

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Helenise Sangoi Antunes

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents reflections on reading and writing, from the research project “Literacy Lab: rethinking teacher training” which aims to establish exchanges between socially vulnerable schools and the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM and contribute to the training of undergraduates in Pedagogy and Special Education, as well as the teachers of the schools involved. Adopting a qualitative methodology based on studies of Bogdan and Bicklen (1994, the project seeks to support the literacy process by proposing reflection on the current pedagogical practices in the early years of elementary school. The results show the existence of practices in elementary school which mostly ignore the creative ability of the students. It was concluded that this project has enhanced the relationship between initial and continuous training of teachers and practices of reading and writing.

Writing a research paper at the university: authorship vs plagiarism

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Maria Fátima Alves

2016-09-01

Full Text Available http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/2175-8026.2016v69n3p77 Considering the need of producing academic texts at the university, many undergraduate students do it by copying texts that were already published. In this study we discuss the presence of plagiarism versus authorship marks in the introduction of academic articles produced by freshmen in a licenciateship degree. Therefore, we emphasize the issue of plagiarism and authorship, particularly from the perspective of the enunciative bakhtinian studies and then present the theoretical basis of Literacies, with the most recent studies on Literacies and Socio-Rhetorics. Data analysis revealed and confirmed the academic writing as a complex activity, given the practice of plagiarism found in the analyzed productions. The lack of knowledge of academic writing together not the theme domain contributed to the practice of plagiarism.

Truth, Memory, Selectivity: Understanding Historical Work by Writing Personal Histories

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Koerber, Duncan

2013-01-01

This paper considers the use of a simple assignment, the personal narrative, in teaching students the discursive issues involved in doing academic history. Focusing on autobiography, I present the results of a survey of Canadian university students into their experiences with writing personal histories. Specifically, the survey asked students to…

Writing-to-learn in undergraduate science education: a community-based, conceptually driven approach.

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Reynolds, Julie A; Thaiss, Christopher; Katkin, Wendy; Thompson, Robert J

2012-01-01

Despite substantial evidence that writing can be an effective tool to promote student learning and engagement, writing-to-learn (WTL) practices are still not widely implemented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, particularly at research universities. Two major deterrents to progress are the lack of a community of science faculty committed to undertaking and applying the necessary pedagogical research, and the absence of a conceptual framework to systematically guide study designs and integrate findings. To address these issues, we undertook an initiative, supported by the National Science Foundation and sponsored by the Reinvention Center, to build a community of WTL/STEM educators who would undertake a heuristic review of the literature and formulate a conceptual framework. In addition to generating a searchable database of empirically validated and promising WTL practices, our work lays the foundation for multi-university empirical studies of the effectiveness of WTL practices in advancing student learning and engagement.

THE STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC WRITING SKILL AFTER IMPLEMENTING BLENDED LEARNING USING FACEBOOK

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Dwi Sulisworo; Triwati Rahayu; Rifai Nur Akhsan

2016-01-01

Almost all students use smartphone for their daily activities. Nowadays, the student’s literacy on information technology is very good, but sometimes it has not been considered in school learning. One of the essential competencies of undergraduate school is academic writing skill. There is a gap between the student competencies and the learning strategy in certain learning subjects. The aim of this research is to examine the effectiveness of blended mobile learning activity using Facebook to ...

Understanding the Complex Relationship between Critical Thinking and Science Reasoning among Undergraduate Thesis Writers.

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Dowd, Jason E; Thompson, Robert J; Schiff, Leslie A; Reynolds, Julie A

2018-01-01

Developing critical-thinking and scientific reasoning skills are core learning objectives of science education, but little empirical evidence exists regarding the interrelationships between these constructs. Writing effectively fosters students' development of these constructs, and it offers a unique window into studying how they relate. In this study of undergraduate thesis writing in biology at two universities, we examine how scientific reasoning exhibited in writing (assessed using the Biology Thesis Assessment Protocol) relates to general and specific critical-thinking skills (assessed using the California Critical Thinking Skills Test), and we consider implications for instruction. We find that scientific reasoning in writing is strongly related to inference , while other aspects of science reasoning that emerge in writing (epistemological considerations, writing conventions, etc.) are not significantly related to critical-thinking skills. Science reasoning in writing is not merely a proxy for critical thinking. In linking features of students' writing to their critical-thinking skills, this study 1) provides a bridge to prior work suggesting that engagement in science writing enhances critical thinking and 2) serves as a foundational step for subsequently determining whether instruction focused explicitly on developing critical-thinking skills (particularly inference ) can actually improve students' scientific reasoning in their writing. © 2018 J. E. Dowd et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2018 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).

Rhetorical Numbers: A Case for Quantitative Writing in the Composition Classroom

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Wolfe, Joanna

2010-01-01

Contemporary argument increasingly relies on quantitative information and reasoning, yet our profession neglects to view these means of persuasion as central to rhetorical arts. Such omission ironically serves to privilege quantitative arguments as above "mere rhetoric." Changes are needed to our textbooks, writing assignments, and instructor…

Coping self-efficacy of Chinese nursing undergraduates with their research projects.

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Zhang, Wei; Li, Kun; Zhang, XiuMin; Chen, Li

2016-10-01

Undergraduate nursing education includes both professional knowledge and research skills. With regard to training nursing professionals for future healthcare settings, the ability to conduct research is fundamental for nurses after they graduate from universities. However, how nursing students develop coping self-efficacy and scientific skills as a specific ability during their professional study has received little attention. We studied nursing undergraduates' scientific research ability and its associated factors in the Chinese context and evaluated their self-efficacy for coping with research tasks. A total of 134 nursing undergraduates participated in the study. A purposely designed 22-item questionnaire was used to quantify students' research ability in implementing their research projects and the associated factors. Coping self-efficacy was measured with a modified Chinese version. The mean total self-efficacy score was 50.78±6.604 (M±SD). The majority (63.4%) of the students' coping self-efficacy was at a moderate level. Having "the ability to write a manuscript before conducting research projects" (P=0.006) and "topics determined by instructors after discussion with group members" (P=0.005) were the two predictive factors of good coping self-efficacy in students. Nursing undergraduates' self-efficacy was high enough to cope with their scientific research projects, but the information on procedures needed for project application was not abundant, and new training programs might be needed to meet the needs of nursing undergraduates. We should make full use of the predictors of good coping self-efficacy and promote nursing undergraduates' research ability. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Effect of the Peer-Review Technique on Students’ Writing Ability

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Martin Kustati

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The  aim of this  study  was  to investigate  if  there could be a  significant positive effect by using Peer-Review Technique (PRT on students‟ ability in writing  English. An experimental research  method  was used in this study. A writing test based on the indicators of Jacobs et al. (1981 was completed by 65  undergraduate  students  in  English  from  the  English Department  at  the Faculty  of Education and Teacher Training in the  State Institute for Islamic Studies “Imam Bonjol‟  at  Padang.  The students  were divided into two groups:  an  experimental group (n=33 and  a  control group (n=32. Both groups  were similar in terms of academic level,  the  given writing task and their  target language  [English]   proficiency. The experimental participants were introduced to  Peer-Review  Technique in  essay writing sessions whilst the control group participants were taught through the teacher’s traditional feedback (TTF whereby  students worked individually to produce their texts. The findings  showed that PRT gave  a  significant  improvement  effect on  the students‟ writing abilities. This study is expected to serve as (1  data  for further  developing PRT; (2 input for  lecturers  in  writing  to  develop more effective and innovative learning; and (3  additional  material  for  the development of critical and cooperative learning theories in teaching writing.

Writing by Number: Teaching Students to Read the Balance Sheet.

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Cross, Mary

1990-01-01

Describes an assignment in which students write a short memo report analyzing and comparing both what a company says in its annual report and what its balance sheet shows. Describes four simple mathematical formulas students can use to quickly diagnose a company's financial health. Appends a sample of the short report format. (RS)

Enhancing Critical Thinking across the Undergraduate Experience: An Exemplar from Engineering

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Ralston, Patricia A.; Bays, Cathy L.

2013-01-01

Faculty in a large, urban school of engineering designed a longitudinal study to assess the critical thinking skills of undergraduate students as they progressed through the engineering program. The Paul-Elder critical thinking framework was used to design course assignments and develop a holistic assessment rubric. The curriculum was re-designed…

Use of Concept Mapping in an Undergraduate Introductory Exercise Physiology Course

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Henige, Kim

2012-01-01

Physiology is often considered a challenging course for students. It is up to teachers to structure courses and create learning opportunities that will increase the chance of student success. In an undergraduate exercise physiology course, concept maps are assigned to help students actively process and organize information into manageable and…

Tagclouds and Group Cognition: Effect of Tagging Support on Students' Reflective Learning in Team Blogs

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Xie, Ying; Lin, Shu-Yuan

2016-01-01

We investigated the effects of supported tagging (a prompting mechanism for students to stop and think about their writing) for team blogging on undergraduate students' reflective learning and the relationship between tagclouds and group cognition. Thirty-nine students were randomly assigned to six groups and blogged for 5 weeks. Three groups were…

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.

The development and validation of the Blended Socratic Method of Teaching (BSMT: An instructional model to enhance critical thinking skills of undergraduate business students

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Eugenia Arazo Boa

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Enhancing critical thinking skills is one of the paramount goals of many educational institutions. This study presents the development and validation of the Blended Socratic Method of Teaching (BSMT, a teaching model intended to foster critical thinking skills of business students in the undergraduate level. The main objectives of the study were to 1 to survey the critical thinking skills of undergraduate business students, and 2 to develop and validate the BSMT model designed to enhance critical thinking skills. The research procedure comprised of two phases related to the two research objectives: 1 surveying the critical thinking skills of 371 undergraduate business students at Naresuan University International College focusing on the three critical thinking competencies of the RED model—recognize assumptions, evaluate arguments, and draw conclusion, and the determination of the level of their critical thinking; and 2 developing the instructional model followed by validation of the model by five experts. The results of the study were: 1 the undergraduate business students have deficient critical thinking based on the RED Model competencies as they scored “below average” on the critical thinking appraisal, and 2 the developed model comprised six elements: focus, syntax, principles of reaction, the social system, the support system, and application. The experts were in complete agreement that the model is “highly appropriate” in improving the critical thinking skills of the business students. The main essence of the model is the syntax comprising of five steps: group assignment, analysis and writing of case studies; group presentation of the business case analysis in class; Socratic discussion/questioning in class; posting of the case study on the class Facebook account; and online Socratic discussion/questioning. The BSMT model is an authentic and comprehensive model combining the Socratic method of teaching, information and

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. 

A Tiered Mentoring Model of Exposing and Engaging Students with Research Throughout the Undergraduate Curriculum

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Guerard, J.; Hayes, S. M.

2015-12-01

Incorporating research into undergraduate curricula has been linked to improved critical thinking, intellectual independence, and student retention, resulting in a graduating population more ready for the workforce or graduate school. We have designed a three-tier model of undergraduate chemistry courses that enable first-year students with no previous research experience to gain the skills needed to develop, fund and execute independent research projects by the close of their undergraduate studies. First-year students are provided with context through a broadly focused introductory class that exposes them to current faculty research activities, and also gives them direct experience with the research process through peer mentored research teams as they participate in faculty-directed projects. Mid-career undergraduate students receive exposure and support in two formats: illustrative examples from current faculty research are incorporated into lessons in core classes, and courses specially designed to foster research independence. This is done by providing content and process mentoring as students develop independent projects, write proposals, and build relationships with faculty and graduate students in research groups. Advanced undergraduates further develop their research independence performing student-designed projects with faculty collaboration that frequently result in tangible research products. Further, graduate students gain experience in mentoring though formal training, as well as through actively mentoring mid-career undergraduates. This novel, integrated approach enables faculty to directly incorporate their research into all levels of the undergraduate curriculum while fostering undergraduates in developing and executing independent projects and empowering mentoring relationships.

"On Course" for Supporting Expanded Participation and Improving Scientific Reasoning in Undergraduate Thesis Writing

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Dowd, Jason E.; Roy, Christopher P.; Thompson, Robert J., Jr.; Reynolds, Julie A.

2015-01-01

The Department of Chemistry at Duke University has endeavored to expand participation in undergraduate honors thesis research while maintaining the quality of the learning experience. Accomplishing this goal has been constrained by limited departmental resources (including faculty time) and increased diversity in students' preparation to engage in…

Anticipation of Personal Genomics Data Enhances Interest and Learning Environment in Genomics and Molecular Biology Undergraduate Courses.

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Weber, K Scott; Jensen, Jamie L; Johnson, Steven M

2015-01-01

An important discussion at colleges is centered on determining more effective models for teaching undergraduates. As personalized genomics has become more common, we hypothesized it could be a valuable tool to make science education more hands on, personal, and engaging for college undergraduates. We hypothesized that providing students with personal genome testing kits would enhance the learning experience of students in two undergraduate courses at Brigham Young University: Advanced Molecular Biology and Genomics. These courses have an emphasis on personal genomics the last two weeks of the semester. Students taking these courses were given the option to receive personal genomics kits in 2014, whereas in 2015 they were not. Students sent their personal genomics samples in on their own and received the data after the course ended. We surveyed students in these courses before and after the two-week emphasis on personal genomics to collect data on whether anticipation of obtaining their own personal genomic data impacted undergraduate student learning. We also tested to see if specific personal genomic assignments improved the learning experience by analyzing the data from the undergraduate students who completed both the pre- and post-course surveys. Anticipation of personal genomic data significantly enhanced student interest and the learning environment based on the time students spent researching personal genomic material and their self-reported attitudes compared to those who did not anticipate getting their own data. Personal genomics homework assignments significantly enhanced the undergraduate student interest and learning based on the same criteria and a personal genomics quiz. We found that for the undergraduate students in both molecular biology and genomics courses, incorporation of personal genomic testing can be an effective educational tool in undergraduate science education.

The effect of reflective writing interventions on the critical thinking skills and dispositions of baccalaureate nursing students.

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Naber, Jessica; Wyatt, Tami H

2014-01-01

The importance of critical thinking is well-documented by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the National League for Nursing. Reflective writing is often used to increase understanding and analytical ability. The lack of empirical evidence about the effect of reflective writing interventions on critical thinking supports the examination of this concept. Study objectives were: This study used an experimental, pretest-posttest design. The setting was two schools of nursing at universities in the southern United States. The convenience sample included 70 fourth-semester students in baccalaureate nursing programs. Randomly assigned control and experimental groups completed the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) and the California Critical Thinking Dispositions Inventory Test (CCTDI). The experimental group completed six reflective writing assignments. Both groups completed the two tests again. Results showed that the experimental group had a significant increase (p=0.03) on the truthseeking subscale of the CCTDI when compared to the control group. The experimental group's scores increased on four CCTST subscales and were higher than the control group's on three CCTST subscales. The results of this study make it imperative for nursing schools to consider including reflective writing-especially assignments based on Paul's (1993) model-in nursing courses. If future studies, testing over longer periods of time, show significant increases in critical thinking, those interventions could be incorporated into nursing curriculum and change the way nurse educators evaluate students. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Writing a Research Proposal to The Research Council of Oman.

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Al-Shukaili, Ahmed; Al-Maniri, Abdullah

2017-05-01

Writing a research proposal can be a challenging task for young researchers. This article explains how to write a strong research proposal to apply for funding, specifically, a proposal for The Research Council (TRC) of Oman. Three different research proposal application forms are currently used in TRC, including Open Research Grant (ORG), Graduate Research Support Program (GRSP), and Faculty-mentored Undergraduate Research Award Program (FURAP). The application forms are filled and submitted electronically on TRC website. Each of the proposals submitted to TRC is selected through a rigorous reviewing and screening process. Novelty and originality of the research idea is the most crucial element in writing a research proposal. Performing an in-depth review of the literature will assist you to compose a good researchable question and generate a strong hypothesis. The development of a good hypothesis will offer insight into the specific objectives of a study. Research objectives should be focused, measurable, and achievable by a specific time using the most appropriate methodology. Moreover, it is essential to select a proper study design in-line with the purpose of the study and the hypothesis. Furthermore, social/economic impact and reasonable budget of proposed research are important criteria in research proposal evaluation by TRC. Finally, ethical principles should be observed before writing a research proposal involving human or animal subjects.

Writing a Research Proposal to The Research Council of Oman

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Ahmed Al-Shukaili

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Writing a research proposal can be a challenging task for young researchers. This article explains how to write a strong research proposal to apply for funding, specifically, a proposal for The Research Council (TRC of Oman. Three different research proposal application forms are currently used in TRC, including Open Research Grant (ORG, Graduate Research Support Program (GRSP, and Faculty-mentored Undergraduate Research Award Program (FURAP. The application forms are filled and submitted electronically on TRC website. Each of the proposals submitted to TRC is selected through a rigorous reviewing and screening process. Novelty and originality of the research idea is the most crucial element in writing a research proposal. Performing an in-depth review of the literature will assist you to compose a good researchable question and generate a strong hypothesis. The development of a good hypothesis will offer insight into the specific objectives of a study. Research objectives should be focused, measurable, and achievable by a specific time using the most appropriate methodology. Moreover, it is essential to select a proper study design in-line with the purpose of the study and the hypothesis. Furthermore, social/economic impact and reasonable budget of proposed research are important criteria in research proposal evaluation by TRC. Finally, ethical principles should be observed before writing a research proposal involving human or animal subjects.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Counting Pizza Toppings: A Creative Writing Learning Strategy.

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Buchan, Laura; And Others

1996-01-01

This article describes the application of a proofreading mnemonic learning strategy for proofreading creative writing assignments. The mnemonic--Ninja Turtles Counting Pizza Toppings--reminds students to check their work for name, title, capitalization, punctuation, and transition words. Application of the strategy, possible pitfalls, and…

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.

Displaying a Poster, Unifying a Campus: Undergraduate Research Day at Penn State Wilkes-Barre

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Jennie Levine Knies

2015-11-01

Full Text Available This article describes the first official Undergraduate Research Day at Penn State Wilkes-Barre, a small campus with approximately 550 undergraduate students and 8 four-year degree programs. In 2015, an informal planning committee, consisting of two librarians and two faculty members, embarked on a project to turn what had been an informal course assignment into a campus-wide research event.  By remaining flexible, engaged, and open to collaboration, the committee made Undergraduate Research Day in April 2015 a success, and plans are underway to hold this event in subsequent years.  The event energized and motivated students, faculty, and staff on campus and paved the way toward a unified organizational identity on campus.

Making Microscopy Motivating, Memorable, & Manageable for Undergraduate Students with Digital Imaging Laboratories

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Weeks, Andrea; Bachman. Beverly; Josway, Sarah; North, Brittany; Tsuchiya, Mirian T.N.

2013-01-01

Microscopy and precise observation are essential skills that are challenging to teach effectively to large numbers of undergraduate biology students. We implemented student-driven digital imaging assignments for microscopy in a large enrollment laboratory for organismal biology. We detail how we promoted student engagement with the material and…

The value of reflective journaling in undergraduate nursing education: a literature review.

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Epp, Sheila

2008-09-01

The purpose of this literature review was to ascertain the evidence for the use of reflective journaling as a tool to promote the pedagogical strategy of reflection for the purpose of learning from practice for practice in undergraduate nursing education. Concept-centric. The literature review involved structured searches of all OVID gateway databases, EBSCO host databases, and Blackwell Synergy. Qualitative and Quantitative Studies from 1992 to 2006 were included if they focused on reflective journaling in undergraduate clinical education. Due to the vast plethora of literature on reflection, keywords were utilized to focus the search. Approximately 150 abstracts were reviewed for primary sources of research. A total of nine studies met the inclusion criteria. The review subsequently divided the literature into four content themes allowing for appraisal and analysis of the findings, followed by summary and key recommendations for nursing education and research. There was evidence that educators struggle to incorporate reflective processes into education; however, the research provided rationale and support for engaging undergraduate students in the reflective process. Researchers found reasonable levels of reflection in undergraduate students' journaling and educators reported students' learning as a result of reflective journaling. Further to this, there was evidence that writing reflectively improved over time; a learned skill also dependent on a good facilitator and trust. Unfortunately, there was a paucity of research that explored the undergraduate nurses' experiences with the process of having to create written communication, with a critical reflective focus on practice. Nursing educators are correct in pursuing the teaching and learning of the reflective process in undergraduate nursing education. Nurse educators need to utilize various tools and strategies for facilitating the growth of undergraduate students into reflective practitioners. Indeed there was

Effectiveness of Using a Video Game to Teach a Course in Mechanical Engineering

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Coller, B. D.; Scott, M. J.

2009-01-01

One of the core courses in the undergraduate mechanical engineering curriculum has been completely redesigned. In the new numerical methods course, all assignments and learning experiences are built around a video/computer game. Students are given the task of writing computer programs to race a simulated car around a track. In doing so, students…

Concordancers and Dictionaries as Problem-Solving Tools for ESL Academic Writing

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Yoon, Choongil

2016-01-01

The present study investigated how 6 Korean ESL graduate students in Canada used a suite of freely available reference resources, consisting of Web-based corpus tools, Google search engines, and dictionaries, for solving linguistic problems while completing an authentic academic writing assignment in English. Using a mixed methods design, the…

Introduction to Computational Physics for Undergraduates

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Zubairi, Omair; Weber, Fridolin

2018-03-01

This is an introductory textbook on computational methods and techniques intended for undergraduates at the sophomore or junior level in the fields of science, mathematics, and engineering. It provides an introduction to programming languages such as FORTRAN 90/95/2000 and covers numerical techniques such as differentiation, integration, root finding, and data fitting. The textbook also entails the use of the Linux/Unix operating system and other relevant software such as plotting programs, text editors, and mark up languages such as LaTeX. It includes multiple homework assignments.

Privileging Peer Review: Implications for Undergraduates

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Amy E. Mark

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Librarians and teaching faculty privilege peer review articles out of ideals rooted in academic culture more then for pedagogical reasons. Undergraduates would find greater benefit in the opportunity to search and critique sources related to their personal and creative interests as well as relevant to academic research projects. Librarians can adopt the role of change-agents by engaging relevant teaching faculty in discussions about the goal of research assignments relative to peer review literature. Framing this discussion is Paulo Freire’s theory of banking information discussed in Pedagogy of the Oppressed (2000.

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

Teaching General Education Students How to Write Scientific Arguments Using Real Earth Data

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Kelly, G. J.; Prothero, W. A.

2003-12-01

Writing activities can improve student understanding of scientific content and processes. We have studied student writing to identify the challenges that students face in composing scientific arguments and to clarify features that constitute quality in scientific writing. We have applied argumentation analysis for the assessment of students' use of evidence in a general education oceanography course. Argumentation analysis refers to the systematic examination of ways that conclusions are supported with evidence. The student writers were supported by an interactive CD-ROM, "Our Dynamic Planet," which provided students with "point and click" access to real earth data and allowed them to solve many problems associated with plate tectonics. Plate boundary types (using quakes, volcanoes, elevation profiles, and heat flow) and plate motion can be determined (seafloor age, island ages/hot spots) with this technology. First, we discuss the structure of scientific argument and how this structure can be made accessible to undergraduate students. Second, we present examples of argumentation analysis applied to student writing. These examples demonstrate how use of large scale geological data sets can be used to support student writing. Third, we present results from a series of studies to show ways that students adhere to the genre conventions of geological writing through use of theoretical claims, multiple lines of evidence, and cohesive terms. These results, combined with our evidence-based orientation to instruction, formed the basis for modifications in the course instruction. These instructional modifications include providing detailed examples of data based observations and interpretations, heuristics for assessing other students' arguments, and quick write exercises with similar but simplified writing tasks. More information about the CD-ROM may be found at http://oceanography.geol.ucsb.edu/.

Combined Training of One Cognitive and One Metacognitive Strategy Improves Academic Writing Skills.

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Wischgoll, Anke

2016-01-01

Academic writing is a challenging task. Expert writers apply various writing skills as they anticipate the reader's view of their text while paying attention to structure and content. Research in the high school setting shows that the acquisition of writing skills can be supported by single-strategy training. However, research in higher education is scarce. We tested whether the development of academic writing skills can also be effectively supported by training single strategies or even combined strategies. As metacognition is an important skill for advanced and adult learners, we focused in this study on the benefit of combined cognitive strategies with and without a metacognitive strategy. An experiment including three conditions was conducted (N = 60 German-speaking psychology undergraduates, M = 22.8, SD = 4.4), which lasted for three hours. Each group received a modeling intervention of a basic cognitive strategy on the application of text structure knowledge. Two groups received an additional modeling intervention with either a cognitive strategy treatment on text summarization or a metacognitive strategy treatment on self-monitoring the writing process. One group received no further strategy treatment. Prior knowledge and learning outcomes were measured with a specially developed test on academic writing skills. In addition, all participants wrote an abstract of an empirical article. We found that learners who received the additional self-monitoring strategy intervention benefited significantly more in terms of acquisition of academic writing skills and the quality of their texts than learners who did not receive this intervention. Thus, the results underline the importance of self-monitoring strategies in academic writing. Implications and further research opportunities are discussed.

Combined training of one cognitive and one metacognitive strategy improves academic writing skills

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Anke eWischgoll

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Academic writing is a challenging task. Expert writers apply various writing skills as they anticipate the reader’s view of their text while paying attention to structure and content. Research in the high school setting shows that the acquisition of writing skills can be supported by single-strategy training. However, research in higher education is scarce. We tested whether the development of academic writing skills can also be effectively supported by training single strategies or even combined strategies. As metacognition is an important skill for advanced and adult learners, we focused in this study on the benefit of combined cognitive strategies with and without a metacognitive strategy. An experiment including three conditions was conducted (N = 60 German-speaking psychology undergraduates, M=22.8, SD=4.4, which lasted for three hours. Each group received a modeling intervention of a basic cognitive strategy on the application of text structure knowledge. Two groups received an additional modeling intervention with either a cognitive strategy treatment on text summarization or a metacognitive strategy treatment on self-monitoring the writing process. One group received no further strategy treatment. Prior knowledge and learning outcomes were measured with a specially developed test on academic writing skills. In addition, all participants wrote an abstract of an empirical article. We found that learners who received the additional self-monitoring strategy intervention benefited significantly more in terms of acquisition of academic writing skills and the quality of their texts than learners who did not receive this intervention. Thus, the results underline the importance of self-monitoring strategies in academic writing. Implications and further research opportunities are discussed.

Combined Training of One Cognitive and One Metacognitive Strategy Improves Academic Writing Skills

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Wischgoll, Anke

2016-01-01

Academic writing is a challenging task. Expert writers apply various writing skills as they anticipate the reader’s view of their text while paying attention to structure and content. Research in the high school setting shows that the acquisition of writing skills can be supported by single-strategy training. However, research in higher education is scarce. We tested whether the development of academic writing skills can also be effectively supported by training single strategies or even combined strategies. As metacognition is an important skill for advanced and adult learners, we focused in this study on the benefit of combined cognitive strategies with and without a metacognitive strategy. An experiment including three conditions was conducted (N = 60 German-speaking psychology undergraduates, M = 22.8, SD = 4.4), which lasted for three hours. Each group received a modeling intervention of a basic cognitive strategy on the application of text structure knowledge. Two groups received an additional modeling intervention with either a cognitive strategy treatment on text summarization or a metacognitive strategy treatment on self-monitoring the writing process. One group received no further strategy treatment. Prior knowledge and learning outcomes were measured with a specially developed test on academic writing skills. In addition, all participants wrote an abstract of an empirical article. We found that learners who received the additional self-monitoring strategy intervention benefited significantly more in terms of acquisition of academic writing skills and the quality of their texts than learners who did not receive this intervention. Thus, the results underline the importance of self-monitoring strategies in academic writing. Implications and further research opportunities are discussed. PMID:26941671

Etched Impressions: Student Writing as Engaged Pedagogy in the Graduate Sport Management Classroom

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Veri, Maria J.; Barton, Kenny; Burgee, David; Davis, James A., Jr.; Eaton, Pamela; Frazier, Cathy; Gray, Stevie; Halsey, Christine; Thurman, Richard

2006-01-01

This article illustrates the pedagogical value of employing student narrative writing assignments in the graduate sport management classroom and advocates for cultural studies and critical pedagogy approaches to teaching sport management. The article considers students' autobiographical narratives within a theoretical framework of cultural…

DEVELOPING WRITING ABILITIES OF EFL STUDENTS THROUGH BLOGGING

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Orachorn KITCHAKARN

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Due to a rapid development and expansion of technology and, as a result, Web 2.0 technologies are providing both teachers and learners with new solutions to the limitations of traditional method in the field of language teaching and learning. The research compared students’ writing ability before and after they were taught through blog, a new medium or tool for written communication and interaction in many different languages around the world. The research design is a kind of one group pretest posttest. Participants were 35 first-year students. They were divided into eight groups. Four or five students in each group created a blog, www.blogger.com, and they worked together for twelve weeks to produce six pieces of writing assignments. Each member in the group worked through providing comments, editing and revising on the blog until the group got a final writing and submitted that to the teacher for grading. The instruments used in this study were: Ø two writing tests Ø a questionnaire surveying students’ attitude toward learning through blogs, and Ø postings on blogs to reflect their learning experiences. The results revealed that after the students worked together on weblogs, their English writing mean score of the posttest was higher than that of the pretest, and they had positive attitudes towards using weblogs in learning. Regarding cooperative learning experiences through using weblogs, most students thought that it was interesting, a new experience to work with their friends on the weblogs.

Cloud Computing Technologies in Writing Class: Factors Influencing Students' Learning Experience

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Wang, Jenny

2017-01-01

The proposed interactive online group within the cloud computing technologies as a main contribution of this paper provides easy and simple access to the cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) system and delivers effective educational tools for students and teacher on after-class group writing assignment activities. Therefore, this study…

Integrating scientific argumentation to improve undergraduate writing and learning in a global environmental change course

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Kreutz, K. J.; Koffman, B. G.; Trenbath, K. L.

2013-12-01

What makes a good scientific argument? We began ERS201: Global Environmental Change by asking students to reflect on the mechanics of a strong scientific argument. At the same time, we asked them to evaluate global CO2 and sea level data from different time periods in Earth's history to answer the question, 'Is there a relationship between atmospheric CO2 and sea level, and if so, why?' This question formed the theme for the course, a mid-level, inquiry-based class of about 20 students. Each week, students target specific aspects of the climate system through problem sets, which include experimental and laboratory work, basic statistical analyses of paleoclimate datasets, and the development of simple systems models using STELLA software. Every 2-4 weeks, we challenge students to write short (1500 word) data-driven scientific arguments, which require a synthesis of information from their problem sets and from the scientific literature. Students have to develop a clear, testable hypothesis related to each writing prompt, and then make their case using figures they have generated during the weekly problem sets. We evaluate student writing using a rubric that focuses on the structure and clarity of the argument, relevance of the data included, and integration and quality of the graphics, with a lesser emphasis placed on voice and style. In 2013, student scores improved from a median value of 86 × 9% to 94 × 8% over the course of the semester. More importantly, we found that incorporation of scientific argumentation served to increase student understanding of important and sometimes abstract scientific concepts. For example, on pre- and post-course assessments we asked the question, 'What would happen if a significant portion of the sea ice floating in the Arctic Ocean were to melt?' On the pre-assessment, 80% of students said that it would lead to more coastal flooding, while only 20% correctly stated that a decrease in the reflection of solar energy would lead to

Lexical and Grammatical Collocations in Writing Production of EFL Learners

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Maryam Bahardoust

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Lewis (1993 recognized significance of word combinations including collocations by presenting lexical approach. Because of the crucial role of collocation in vocabulary acquisition, this research set out to evaluate the rate of collocations in Iranian EFL learners' writing production across L1 and L2. In addition, L1 interference with L2 collocational use in the learner' writing samples was studied. To achieve this goal, 200 Persian EFL learners at BA level were selected. These participants were taking paragraph writing and essay writing courses in two successive semesters. As for the data analysis, mid-term, final exam, and also the assignments of L2 learners were evaluated. Because of the nominal nature of the data, chi-square test was utilized for data analysis. Then, the rate of lexical and grammatical collocations was calculated. Results showed that the lexical collocations outnumbered the grammatical collocations. Different categories of lexical collocations were also compared with regard to their frequencies in EFL writing production. The rate of the verb-noun and adjective-noun collocations appeared to be the highest and noun-verb collocations the lowest. The results also showed that L1 had both positive and negative effect on the occurrence of both grammatical and lexical collocations.

Alive and aware: Undergraduate research as a mechanism for program vitalization

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Rohs, C.

2013-12-01

Undergraduate research is a vital component of many geoscience programs across the United States. It is especially critical at those institutions that do not have graduate students or graduate programs in the geosciences. This paper presents findings associated with undergraduate research in four specific areas: The success of students that pursue undergraduate research both in the workforce and in graduate studies; the connections that are generated through undergraduate research and publication; the application of undergraduate research data and materials in the classroom; and the development of lasting connections between faculty and students to construct a strong alumni base to support the corresponding programs. Students that complete undergraduate research have the opportunity to develop research proposals, construct budgets, become familiar with equipment or software, write and defend their results. This skill set translates directly to graduate studies; however, it is also extremely valuable for self-marketing when seeking employment as a geoscientist. When transitioning from higher education into the workforce, a network of professional connections facilitates and expedites the process. When completing undergraduate research, students have a direct link to the faculty member that they are working with, and potentially, the network of that faculty member. Even more important, the student begins to build their own professional network as they present their findings and receive feedback on their research. Another area that benefits from undergraduate research is the classroom. A cyclical model is developed where new data and information are brought into the classroom by the faculty member, current students see the impact of undergraduate research and have the desire to participate, and a few of those students elect to participate in a project of their own. It turns into a positive feedback loop that is beneficial for both the students and the faculty members

The Effectiveness of Pre-Service English Teachers’ Collaborative Genre-Based Writing Feedback

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Didik Rinan Sumekto

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This study investigated the collaborative genre-based effectiveness among the pre-service English teachers (PSETs. Data collection used the genre-based writing feedback observation upon its reflection and instruction and need analysis questionnaire. The data analysis used multivariate statistics method to generalize the writing tests. The findings showed that the PSETs’ feedback supported the interaction, accountability, and interdependence. These aspects were due to the collaborative participation in groups, in which the PSETs worked with the flexibility, entirely performed the quality, andcontributed in positive attitude during the meetings and assignments. The feedback emphasized the learning improvement within the formative reflection through the general linear model (GLM repeated measures analysis, where F=6,114 and p<0,01. This study concludes that the collaborative genre-based writing feedback has the positive response from the PSETs. The determinant ranges gains in between 85% to 90% after a series of genre-based writing lectures were conducted.

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…

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.

Teaching Writing through the Arts in Urban Secondary Schools: A Case Study

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Brouillette, Liane R.; Burge, Kim; Fitzgerald, William; Walker, Pamela

2008-01-01

This article explores commonalties between literacy instruction and learning to understand the symbolic languages of the visual and performing arts. A detailed case study of an urban professional development program for secondary arts teachers looks at the learning initiated by writing assignments that prompted students to reflect on arts…

How to conduct a workshop on medical writing: Tips, advice and experience sharing.

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Rathore, Farooq Azam; Mansoor, Sahibzada Nasir

2015-06-01

Medical writing has become an essential skill for anybody in academia and engaged in teaching. Workshops on medical writing are an effective way to teach the essential skills of medical writing to students and faculty members. There is a huge demand for these workshops all around the globe. Usually there is no curriculum of medical writing for the undergraduates or dedicated structured training sessions for the faculty members. One of the authors won an Author AID grant to conduct a series of workshops on medical writing. Eight workshops were conducted in three months, benefitting more than 200 students and faculty staff. We share our experience of holding this successful series of workshops with the aim that it might serve as a guide for researchers and faculty members who are eager to share and transfer their skills and knowledge. We also offer lessons learnt during this educational activity, tips to improve the quality and delivery of the content with limited resources and maximizing the impact. Experienced medical writers need to conduct these workshops to transfer their skills and to facilitate their colleagues and students to become better medical writers. Planning, rehearsal, motivation, resource management, good team work, audience analysis and feedback can make a workshop successful. Well prepared workshop content delivered in an interactive way with a variety of activities makes the workshop an engaging and interesting educational activity.

Journal Writing: A Means of Professional Development in ESL Classroom at Undergraduate Level

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D. Samrajya Lakshmi

2009-10-01

Full Text Available The duty of the Teacher of English is not merely teaching English texts but he/she should help the students in enhancing various other skills like communicative, analytical, logical and soft skills. To compete with the growing demands on the English teachers, timely orientation towards professionalism is of dire importance. For over three decades now, it has been found that methodology, training and concept alone will not make a teacher competent enough to train the students at college level to meet the students’ requirements. In this fast changing global scenario, no other processes excepting reflective practice, which is highly exploratory is the best and could serve the ever growing needs of the English language learners and teachers by integrating both theory and practice. This paper focuses on the potential of journal writing as a reflective professional development tool, which is purely a personal low-tech way of incorporating reflective practice in day-to-day classroom teaching by individual teachers. My attempt through this paper is to advertise the use of journal writing not only to the experienced but also to the novice teacher to make his/her class effective.

Articles as Assignments - Modalities and Experiences of Wikipedia Use in University Courses

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Wannemacher, Klaus

In spite of perceived quality deficits, Wikipedia is a popular information resource among students. Instructors increasingly take advantage of the positive student attitude through actively integrating Wikipedia as a learning tool into university courses. The contribution raises the question if Wikipedia assignments in university courses are suited to make complex research, editing and bibliographic processes through which scholarship is produced transparent to students and to effectively improve their research and writing skills.

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

ENHANCING WRITING SKILL THROUGH WRITING PROCESS APPROACH

OpenAIRE

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 ...

A Method for the Analysis of Information Use in Source-Based Writing

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Sormunen, Eero; Heinstrom, Jannica; Romu, Leena; Turunen, Risto

2012-01-01

Introduction: Past research on source-based writing assignments has hesitated to scrutinize how students actually use information afforded by sources. This paper introduces a method for the analysis of text transformations from sources to texts composed. The method is aimed to serve scholars in building a more detailed understanding of how…

A Model Of Critical Peer Feedback To Facilitate Business English Writing Using Qzone Weblogs Among Chinese Undergraduates

OpenAIRE

Gao Xianwei; Moses Samuel; Adelina Asmawi

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore critical thinking skills in peer feedback for Business English writing in order to facilitate the quality of peer feedback and quality of Business English writing. “Critical peer feedback” was conceptualized with the integration of “critical thinking” and “peer feedback” in order to improve the quality of peer feedback. This study explored the process, content and factors of critical peer feedback through Qzone weblogs, and summarized the model of crit...

Using Writing as a Constructivist Instructional Tool

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Narayanan, M.

2006-12-01

Researchers in the area of cognitive science and educational psychology have shown that instructors who encourage student writing are actually helping in motivating a reluctant pupil. It has also been reported that writing indirectly rewards an individual with dynamic interest. Furthermore, it is believed that writing strengthens the self-confidence of a lethargic learner. (Kosakowski, 1998). All in all, promoting writing helps and supports learners cultivate a positive attitude toward the subject matter in question. The constructivist approach promotes a learning paradigm and helps individuals learn and understand by "constructing" knowledge. Learners are effectively encouraged to generate and build their own knowledge base. Learners document progress by constructing new concepts based on previously gained knowledge. The role of the teacher is actually to facilitate the creation of a learning environment. The constructivist approach when used in the classroom enables the students to become more active, independent thinkers of knowledge. Education World writer Gloria Chaika (Chaika, 2000) states that "Talent is important, but practice creates the solid base that allows that unique talent to soar. Like athletes, writers learn by doing. Good writing requires the same kind of dedicated practice that athletes put in. Young writers often lack the support they need to practice writing and develop their talent to the fullest, though." The author has successfully utilized some of these principles and techniques in a senior level course he teaches. He has encouraged students to try to solve problems their own way and has asked them to observe, document, assess and evaluate the results. In the classroom, the author takes the role of a coach and helps the students approach the problem with a different viewpoint. Eventually the students document their conclusions in a page-long essay. This type of writing assignment not only builds critical thinking abilities but also

Use of research in undergraduate nursing students' theses: A mixed methods study.

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Nordsteien, Anita; Horntvedt, May-Elin T; Syse, Jonn

2017-09-01

Health care personnel are expected to be familiar with evidence-based practice (EBP). Asking clinical questions, conducting systematic literature searches and conducting critical appraisal of research findings have been some of the barriers to EBP. To improve undergraduate nurses' research skills, a collaborative library-faculty teaching intervention was established in 2012. The aim of this study was to evaluate how the collaborative library-faculty teaching intervention affected the nursing students' research skills when writing their final theses. Both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis were used. The study focused on a final year undergraduate nurse training programme in Norway. 194 theses submitted between 2013 and 2015 were collected and assessed. The students were exposed to the intervention for respectively one, two and three years during this period. Descriptive statistics were used to compare each year's output over the three-year period and to examine the frequency of the use of various databases, types of information and EBP-tools. Qualitative data was used to capture the students' reasoning behind their selection processes in their research. The research skills with regard to EBP have clearly improved over the three years. There was an increase in employing most EBP-tools and the justifications were connected to important EBP principles. The grades in the upper half of the grading scale increased from 66.7 to 82.1% over the period 2013 to 2015, and a correlation was found between grades and critical appraisal skills. The collaborative library-faculty teaching intervention employed has been successful in the promotion of nursing student research skills as far as the EBP principles are concerned. Writing a thesis in the undergraduate nursing programme is important to develop and practice these research skills. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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.

The undergraduate research fellows program: a unique model to promote engagement in research.

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Vessey, Judith A; DeMarco, Rosanna F

2008-01-01

Well-educated nurses with research expertise are needed to advance evidence-based nursing practice. A primary goal of undergraduate nursing curricula is to create meaningful participatory experiences to help students develop a research skill set that articulates with rapid career advancement of gifted, young graduates interested in nursing research and faculty careers. Three research enrichment models-undergraduate honors programs, research assistant work-for-hire programs, and research work/mentorship programs-to be in conjunction with standard research content are reviewed. The development and implementation of one research work/mentorship program, the Boston College undergraduate research fellows program (UGRF), is explicated. This process included surveying previous UGRFs followed by creating a retreat and seminars to address specific research skill sets. The research skill sets included (a) how to develop a research team, (b) accurate data retrieval, (c) ethical considerations, (d) the research process, (e) data management, (f) successful writing of abstracts, and (g) creating effective poster presentations. Outcomes include evidence of involvement in research productivity and valuing of evidenced-based practice through the UGRF mentorship process with faculty partners.

A systemic analysis of cheating in an undergraduate engineering mechanics course.

Science.gov (United States)

Bertram Gallant, Tricia; Van Den Einde, Lelli; Ouellette, Scott; Lee, Sam

2014-03-01

Cheating in the undergraduate classroom is not a new problem, and it is recognized as one that is endemic to the education system. This paper examines the highly normative behavior of using unauthorized assistance (e.g., a solutions manual or a friend) on an individual assignment within the context of an upper division undergraduate course in engineering mechanics. The findings indicate that there are varying levels of accepting responsibility among the students (from denial to tempered to full) and that acceptance of responsibility can lead to identification of learning and necessary behavioral changes. The findings have implications for institutions and engineering faculty, in particular the need for consistent academic integrity education and the teaching of professional integrity and ethics.

"Not Necessarily a Bad Thing ...": A Study of Online Plagiarism amongst Undergraduate Students

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Selwyn, Neil

2008-01-01

Whilst the copying, falsification and plagiarism of essays and assignments has long been a prevalent form of academic misconduct amongst undergraduate students, the increasing use of the internet in higher education has raised concern over enhanced levels of online plagiarism and new types of "cyber-cheating". Based on a self-report…

We learn to write by reading, but writing can make you smarter We learn to write by reading, but writing can make you smarter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephen Krashen

2008-04-01

Full Text Available My goal in this paper is to make Iwo points: Writing style does not come from writing or from direct instruction, but from reading. Actual writing can help us solve problems and can make us smarter. Writing Style Comes from Readino, A substantial amount of research strongly suggests that we learn to write by reading. To be more precise, we acquire writing style, the special language of writing, by reading. Hypothesizing that writing style comes from reading, not from writing or instniction, is consistent with what is known about language acquisition: Most of language acquisition lakes place subconsciously, not through deliberate study, and it is a result of input (comprehension, not output (production (Krashen, 1982. My goal in this paper is to make Iwo points: Writing style does not come from writing or from direct instruction, but from reading. Actual writing can help us solve problems and can make us smarter. Writing Style Comes from Readino, A substantial amount of research strongly suggests that we learn to write by reading. To be more precise, we acquire writing style, the special language of writing, by reading. Hypothesizing that writing style comes from reading, not from writing or instniction, is consistent with what is known about language acquisition: Most of language acquisition lakes place subconsciously, not through deliberate study, and it is a result of input (comprehension, not output (production (Krashen, 1982.

Task Requirements, Task Representation, and Self-Reported Citation Functions: An Exploratory Study of a Successful L2 Student's Writing

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Petric, Bojana; Harwood, Nigel

2013-01-01

This mixed-method study investigates the citation behaviour of a successful L2 postgraduate management student, Sofie, in two pieces of writing, written in response to two assignment tasks in two management modules. The tasks belonged to the same assignment type, but differed in the level of direction provided: one was a directed task, accompanied…

A Progressive Reading, Writing, and Artistic Module to Support Scientific Literacy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephanie B. Stockwell

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Scientific literacy, marked by the ability and willingness to engage with scientific information, is supported through a new genre of citizen science—course-based research in association with undergraduate laboratories. A three-phased progressive learning module was developed to enhance student engagement in such contexts while supporting three learning outcomes: I present an argument based on evidence, II analyze science and scientists within a social context, and III experience, reflect upon, and communicate the nature of scientific discovery. Phase I entails guided reading and reflection of citizen science–themed texts. In Phase II, students write, peer-review, and edit position and counterpoint papers inspired by the following prompt, “Nonscientists should do scientific research.” Phase III involves two creative assignments intended to communicate the true nature of science. Students work collaboratively to develop public service announcement–like poster campaigns to debunk a common misconception about the nature of science or scientists. Individually, they create a work of art to communicate a specific message about the raw experience of performing scientific research. Suggestions for implementation and modifications are provided. Strengths of the module include the development of transferable skills, temporal distribution of grading demands, minimal in-class time needed for implementation, and the inclusion of artistic projects to support affective learning domains. This citizen science–themed learning module is an excellent complement to laboratory coursework, as it serves to surprise, challenge, and inspire students while promoting disciplinary values.

A Progressive Reading, Writing, and Artistic Module to Support Scientific Literacy.

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Stockwell, Stephanie B

2016-03-01

Scientific literacy, marked by the ability and willingness to engage with scientific information, is supported through a new genre of citizen science-course-based research in association with undergraduate laboratories. A three-phased progressive learning module was developed to enhance student engagement in such contexts while supporting three learning outcomes: I) present an argument based on evidence, II) analyze science and scientists within a social context, and III) experience, reflect upon, and communicate the nature of scientific discovery. Phase I entails guided reading and reflection of citizen science-themed texts. In Phase II, students write, peer-review, and edit position and counterpoint papers inspired by the following prompt, "Nonscientists should do scientific research." Phase III involves two creative assignments intended to communicate the true nature of science. Students work collaboratively to develop public service announcement-like poster campaigns to debunk a common misconception about the nature of science or scientists. Individually, they create a work of art to communicate a specific message about the raw experience of performing scientific research. Suggestions for implementation and modifications are provided. Strengths of the module include the development of transferable skills, temporal distribution of grading demands, minimal in-class time needed for implementation, and the inclusion of artistic projects to support affective learning domains. This citizen science-themed learning module is an excellent complement to laboratory coursework, as it serves to surprise, challenge, and inspire students while promoting disciplinary values.

A Progressive Reading, Writing, and Artistic Module to Support Scientific Literacy†

Science.gov (United States)

Stockwell, Stephanie B.

2016-01-01

Scientific literacy, marked by the ability and willingness to engage with scientific information, is supported through a new genre of citizen science—course-based research in association with undergraduate laboratories. A three-phased progressive learning module was developed to enhance student engagement in such contexts while supporting three learning outcomes: I) present an argument based on evidence, II) analyze science and scientists within a social context, and III) experience, reflect upon, and communicate the nature of scientific discovery. Phase I entails guided reading and reflection of citizen science–themed texts. In Phase II, students write, peer-review, and edit position and counterpoint papers inspired by the following prompt, “Nonscientists should do scientific research.” Phase III involves two creative assignments intended to communicate the true nature of science. Students work collaboratively to develop public service announcement–like poster campaigns to debunk a common misconception about the nature of science or scientists. Individually, they create a work of art to communicate a specific message about the raw experience of performing scientific research. Suggestions for implementation and modifications are provided. Strengths of the module include the development of transferable skills, temporal distribution of grading demands, minimal in-class time needed for implementation, and the inclusion of artistic projects to support affective learning domains. This citizen science–themed learning module is an excellent complement to laboratory coursework, as it serves to surprise, challenge, and inspire students while promoting disciplinary values. PMID:27047600

Extreme Apprenticeship – Emphasising conceptual understanding in undergraduate mathematics

OpenAIRE

Rämö , Johanna; Oinonen , Lotta; Vikberg , Thomas

2015-01-01

International audience; Extreme Apprenticeship (XA) is an educational method that has been used in teaching undergraduate mathematics in the University of Helsinki. In this paper, we analyse the course assignments and exam questions of a certain lecture course that has recently been reformed to an XA-based course. The results show that the XA method has made it possible to move the emphasis from rote learning towards understanding the concepts behind the procedures.

Enhancing Systems Engineering Education Through Case Study Writing

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Stevens, Jennifer Stenger

2016-01-01

Developing and refining methods for teaching systems engineering is part of Systems Engineering grand challenges and agenda for research in the SE research community. Retention of systems engineering knowledge is a growing concern in the United States as the baby boom generation continues to retire and the faster pace of technology development does not allow for younger generations to gain experiential knowledge through years of practice. Government agencies, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), develop their own curricula and SE leadership development programs to "grow their own" systems engineers. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) conducts its own Center-focused Marshall Systems Engineering Leadership Development Program (MSELDP), a competitive program consisting of coursework, a guest lecture series, and a rotational assignment into an unfamiliar organization engaged in systems engineering. Independently, MSFC developed two courses to address knowledge retention and sharing concerns: Real World Marshall Mission Success course and its Case Study Writers Workshop and Writers Experience. Teaching case study writing and leading students through a hands-on experience at writing a case study on an SE topic can enhance SE training and has the potential to accelerate the transfer of experiential knowledge. This paper is an overview of the pilot experiences with teaching case study writing, its application in case study-based learning, and identifies potential areas of research and application for case study writing in systems engineering education.

Using a digital storytelling assignment to teach public health advocacy.

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de Castro, A B; Levesque, Salem

2018-03-01

The need and expectation for advocacy is central to public health nursing practice. Advocacy efforts that effectively call attention to population health threats and promote the well-being of communities rely on strategies that deliver influential messaging. The digital story is a lay method to capture meaningful, impactful stories that can be used to advocate for public health concerns. Readily available, user-friendly digital technologies allow engagement in digital media production to create digital stories. This paper describes how digital story making can be utilized as an academic assignment to teach public health advocacy within an undergraduate nursing curriculum. Providing nursing students this artistic outlet can facilitate meeting academic learning goals, while also equipping them with creative skills that can be applied in future professional practice. Nursing educators can take advantage of institutional resources and campus culture to support the use of novel digital media assignments that facilitate application of advocacy concepts. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Using HeLa Cell Stress Response to Introduce First Year Students to the Scientific Method, Laboratory Techniques, Primary Literature, and Scientific Writing

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Resendes, Karen K.

2015-01-01

Incorporating scientific literacy into inquiry driven research is one of the most effective mechanisms for developing an undergraduate student's strength in writing. Additionally, discovery-based laboratories help develop students who approach science as critical thinkers. Thus, a three-week laboratory module for an introductory cell and molecular…

We learn to write by reading, but writing can make you smarter We learn to write by reading, but writing can make you smarter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephen Krashen

2008-04-01

Full Text Available My goal in this paper is to make two points: 1. Writing style does not come from writing or from direct instruction, but from reading. 2. Actual writing can help us solve problems and can make us smarter. Writing Style Comes from Reading A substantial amount of research slrongly suggests that wc learn to write by reading. To be more precise, wc acquire writing style, the special language of writing, by reading. Hypothesizing that writing style comes from reading, not from writing or instruction, is consistent with what is known about language acquisition: Most of language acquisition takes place subconsciously, not through deliberate study, and it is a result of input (comprehension, not output (production (Krashen, 1982. Thus, if you wrile a page a day, your writing style or your command of mechanics will not improve. On Ihe other hand, other good things may result from your writing, as we shall see in the second section of this paper. My goal in this paper is to make two points: 1. Writing style does not come from writing or from direct instruction, but from reading. 2. Actual writing can help us solve problems and can make us smarter. Writing Style Comes from Reading A substantial amount of research slrongly suggests that wc learn to write by reading. To be more precise, wc acquire writing style, the special language of writing, by reading. Hypothesizing that writing style comes from reading, not from writing or instruction, is consistent with what is known about language acquisition: Most of language acquisition takes place subconsciously, not through deliberate study, and it is a result of input (comprehension, not output (production (Krashen, 1982. Thus, if you wrile a page a day, your writing style or your command of mechanics will not improve. On Ihe other hand, other good things may result from your writing, as we shall see in the second section of this paper.

An Analysis of Errors Committed by Saudi Non-English Major Students in the English Paragraph Writing: A Study of Comparisons

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Nuruzzaman, Mohammed; Islam, A. B. M. Shafiqul; Shuchi, Israt Jahan

2018-01-01

The present study investigates the writing errors of ninety Saudi non-English major undergraduate students of different proficiency levels from three faculties, who studied English as a foundation course at the English Language Center in the College of Languages &Translation at King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia in the academic year 2016-17.…

The importance of academic literacy for undergraduate nursing students and its relationship to future professional clinical practice: A systematic review.

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Jefferies, Diana; McNally, Stephen; Roberts, Katriona; Wallace, Anna; Stunden, Annette; D'Souza, Suzanne; Glew, Paul

2018-01-01

This systematic review was designed to assess the importance of academic literacy for undergraduate nursing students and its relationship to future professional clinical practice. It aimed to explore the link between academic literacy and writing in an undergraduate nursing degree and the development of critical thinking skills for their future professional clinical practice. A systematic review of qualitative studies and expert opinion publications. A systematic literature search was undertaken of the following databases: ERIC, PubMed, CINAHL, MEDLINE and Scopus. All papers reviewed were from 2000 to 2016 and were written in English. We identified 981 studies and expert opinion papers from the selected databases. After reviewing key words and abstracts for the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 48 papers were selected for review. These were read and reread, with 22 papers, including one thesis, selected for quality appraisal. One paper was discarded due to the exclusion criteria. Three major themes were evident from this study. First, students need assistance to develop tertiary level academic literacy skills when they commence their undergraduate nursing degree. Second, that teaching practices need to be consistent in both designing assessments and in giving feedback to students, in order to assist improvement of academic literacy skills. And finally, academic literacy can facilitate critical thinking when students are assessed using discipline specific genres that relate to their future professional nursing practice. This review highlights the importance of critical thinking in clinical nursing practice and its strong relationship with academic writing skills. It has shown critical thinking is discipline specific and nursing students need to be taught discipline specific literacy genres in undergraduate nursing degrees. Nursing has a diverse educational and cultural mix of students, and educators should not assume academic literacy skills upon commencement of an

Effects of an expressive writing intervention on a group of public employees subjected to work relocation.

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Tarquini, Matteo; Di Trani, Michela; Solano, Luigi

2016-02-15

Pennebaker's writing technique has yielded good results on health, psychological and performance dimensions. In spite of the positive outcomes, the technique has rarely been applied directly within the workplace and its effects on burnout have never been tested. 18 public employees subjected to work relocation were asked to write about their present work situation or another difficult event of their life (Writing Group), while another 17 were not assigned any writing task (Control Group). To assess whether there was an improvement in burnout, alexithymia and psychological well-being in the Writing Group compared with the baseline measurement and the Control Group. While the baseline levels in the Writing and Control Groups in the 3 dimensions considered were similar, scores in the Writing Group at both a second (1 month after the end of the procedure) and third measurement (7 months after the end) improved when compared with the baseline, whereas those in the Control Group worsened. Pennebaker's writing technique appears to promote adaptive coping strategies in stressful situations, and to increase occupational and psychological well-being as well as the ability to process emotions. It also appears to buffer the negative effects of work-related stress.

Independent Study: The Culture of Mentored Undergraduate Research at The College of Wooster (Invited)

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Pollock, M.; Judge, S.; Wiles, G. C.; Wilson, M. A.

2013-12-01

The foundation of a Wooster education is the Independent Study (I.S.) program. Established in 1947, the I.S. program is widely recognized as an exemplary undergraduate research experience (AAC&U; US News and World Report; College that Change Lives by Loren Pope). I.S. requires every Wooster student to complete an original research project. This presentation describes the details of the Wooster I.S. and, based on our experiences, gives strategies for a successful mentored undergraduate research program. Overall, the I.S. process resembles a graduate research project. Students typically begin their work in the spring of their junior year when they review the literature, learn techniques, and write a proposal for their Senior I.S. research. Many students conduct field and lab work over the following summer, although this is not a requirement of the program. In their senior year, students work one-on-one with faculty members and sometimes in small (~4 person) research groups to drive their projects forward with an increasing sense of independence. I.S. culminates in a written thesis and oral defense. Most of our students present their work at national meetings and many projects are published in peer-reviewed journals. The success of the I.S. program is largely the result of two key components: (1) the integration of undergraduate research into the curriculum, and (2) the focus on student mentoring. We have thoughtfully structured our courses so that, as students move toward I.S., they progress from concrete to abstract concepts, and from simple to complex skills. The College also recognizes the value of I.S by assigning it credit; Students earn a full course credit for each semester of I.S. (3 courses total) and there is some credit in the faculty teaching load for I.S. advising. Advisors are really mentors who are invested in their students' academic and scholarly success. As mentors, we emphasize collaboration, provide guidance and support, and hold students

Passionate Writing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borgström, Benedikte

With care of writing as a method of inquiry, this paper engages in academic writing such as responsible knowledge development drawing on emotion, thought and reason. The aim of the paper is to better understand emancipatory knowledge development. Bodily experiences and responses shape academic...... writing and there are possibilities for responsible academic writing in that iterative process. I propose that academic writing can be seen as possibilities of passionate as well as passive writing....

Assessing Program Learning Objectives to Improve Undergraduate Physics Education

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Menke, Carrie

2014-03-01

Our physics undergraduate program has five program learning objectives (PLOs) focusing on (1) physical principles, (2) mathematical expertise, (3) experimental technique, (4) communication and teamwork, and (5) research proficiency. One PLO is assessed each year, with the results guiding modifications in our curriculum and future assessment practices; we have just completed our first cycle of assessing all PLOs. Our approach strives to maximize the ease and applicability of our assessment practices while maintaining faculty's flexibility in course design and delivery. Objectives are mapped onto our core curriculum with identified coursework collected as direct evidence. We've utilized mostly descriptive rubrics, applying them at the course and program levels as well as sharing them with the students. This has resulted in more efficient assessment that is also applicable to reaccreditation efforts, higher inter-rater reliability than with other rubric types, and higher quality capstone projects. We've also found that the varied quality of student writing can interfere with our assessment of other objectives. This poster outlines our processes, resources, and how we have used PLO assessment to strengthen our undergraduate program.

Assessment of Student Outcomes in Undergraduate Health Information Administration Programs

OpenAIRE

Smith, Jody

2006-01-01

The purpose of this research was to a) determine what assessment methods are being used in undergraduate health information administration programs to assess student learning and the usefulness of those methods, b) determine to what extent programs have incorporated good student learning assessment practices. Programs use a variety of assessment tools to measure student learning; the most useful include assessments by the professional practice supervisor, course tests, assignments, presentati...

Archives Alive!: librarian-faculty collaboration and an alternative to the five-page paper

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tom Keegan

2015-08-01

Full Text Available In brief: The short research paper is ubiquitous in undergraduate liberal arts education. But is this assignment type an effective way to assess student learning or writing skills? We argue that it rarely is, and instead serves as an artifact maintained out of instructor familiarity with and unnecessary allegiance to timeworn conceptions of “academia.” As […

Microteaching Writing on YouTube for Pre-Service Teacher Training: Lessons Learned

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Sun, Yu-Chih

2014-01-01

The purpose of the study is to investigate how pre-service teachers adopt YouTube technology into their microteaching as part of their assignments. The participants were twelve Taiwanese pre-service teachers in a Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages graduate program. They enrolled in a Second Language Writing course and worked in groups…

Student Perceptions of the Use of Writing in a Differential Equations Course

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DeDieu, Lauren; Lovric, Miroslav

2018-01-01

The use of writing to learn mathematics at the university-level is a pedagogical tool that has been gaining momentum. The setting of this study is a second-year differential equations class where written assignments have been incorporated into the course. By analyzing survey results and students' written work, we examine the extent to which…

Implementing CLIL in Higher Education in Thailand: The Extent to Which CLIL Improves Agricultural Students' Writing Ability, Agricultural Content, and Cultural Knowledge

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Chansri, Charinee; Wasanasomsithi, Punchalee

2016-01-01

The present study aimed to investigate the extent to which a CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) course at university level in Thailand improves undergraduate Agricultural students' writing ability, agricultural content, and cultural knowledge. The study sample consisted of 27 students majoring in Agriculture at a public university in…

[The competent surgeon. Bridging the gap between undergraduate final year and postgraduate surgery training].

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Kadmon, M; Ganschow, P; Gillen, S; Hofmann, H S; Braune, N; Johannink, J; Kühn, P; Buhr, H J; Berberat, P O

2013-10-01

Competency-based frameworks rely on relevant professional competency rather than formal regulations. The transitional phase between final year undergraduate and common trunk postgraduate medical training is characterized by an increase of professional responsibility whereby previously acquired knowledge, skills and abilities have to be merged and applied to patients. Undergraduate and postgraduate training programs should ensure a successive transfer of responsibility for medical practice to final year students and young residents depending on individual competence. The concept of entrustable professional activities (EPA) represents a curricular concept based on concrete medical tasks which may be assigned to the responsibility of the trainee.

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 Effect of Genre-based Scaffolding on Research Paper Writing of MA Candidates in an EFL Context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sara Salehpour

2014-11-01

Full Text Available In recent years, there has been an increasing amount of literature on genre-based approaches to writing instruction. However, scant attention has been paid to the use of genre-based scaffolding in the realm of academic writing. Hence, in an attempt to tackle the problems prevalent in academic writing, this study set out to investigate the effect of genre-based scaffolding through sentence starters and writing frames on MA candidates’ research paper writing. To this end, twenty MA candidates majoring in ELT were randomly assigned to two homogenous groups, one control and one experimental group, each including 10 participants. Both groups were exposed to a five-session genre-based instruction while the experimental group benefitted from the additional provision of sentence starters and writing frames relevant to different sections of a research paper. The analysis of the results, using independent sample of t-test, reveals that genre-based instruction can be a useful tool in improving academic writing. Moreover, the outperformance of the participants of the experimental group is indicative of the beneficial effect of scaffolding through starters and frames.

Improving Student Writing: Methods You Can Use in Science and Engineering Classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Hitt, S. J.; Bright, K.

2013-12-01

Many educators in the fields of science and engineering assure their students that writing is an important and necessary part of their work. According to David Lindsay, in Scientific Writing=Thinking in Words, 99% of scientists agree that writing is an integral part of their jobs. However, only 5% of those same scientists have ever had formal instruction in scientific writing, and those who are also educators may then feel unconfident in teaching this skill to their students (2). Additionally, making time for writing instruction in courses that are already full of technical content can cause it to be hastily and/or peremptorily included. These situations may be some of the contributing factors to the prevailing attitude of frustration that pervades the conversation about writing in science and engineering classrooms. This presentation provides a summary of past, present, and ongoing Writing Center research on effective writing tutoring in order to give science and engineering educators integrated approaches for working with student writers in their disciplines. From creating assignments, providing instruction, guiding revisions, facilitating peer review, and using assessments, we offer a comprehensive approach to getting your students motivated to improve their writing. Our new research study focuses on developing student writing resources and support in science and engineering institutions, with the goal of utilizing cross-disciplinary knowledge that can be used by the various constituencies responsible for improving the effectiveness of writing among student engineers and scientists. We will will draw upon recent findings in the study of the rhetoric and compositional pedagogy and apply them to the specific needs of the science and engineering classroom. The fields of communication, journalism, social sciences, rhetoric, technical writing, and philosophy of science have begun to integrate these findings into classroom practice, and we will show how these can also

The SEA-change Model in Information Literacy: Assessing Information Literacy Development with Reflective Writing

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Barbara Anne Sen

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Reflective writing is a key professional skill, and the University of Sheffield Information School seeks to develop this skill in our students through the use of reflective assessments. Reflection has been used as a means of supporting Information Literacy development in the Higher Education context and recent pedagogical IL frameworks highlight the important role of reflection. This paper presents an analysis of Undergraduate students’ reflective writing on one module. The writing is mapped against two models of reflection to understand the nature and depth of the students’ reflection and through this understand their Information literacy development, with the overall aim of improving the teaching and learning experience for the future. Key findings are that students did reflect deeply and identified a number of ways in which they felt their IL had developed (e.g. developing a knowledge of specialist sources, ways they could have improved their information literacy practices (e.g. through storing information in a more organised fashion, and ways that we could improve our teaching (e.g. by providing appropriate scaffolding for the activities.

A monograph assignment as an integrative application of evidence-based medicine and pharmacoeconomic principles.

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Law, Anandi V; Jackevicius, Cynthia A; Bounthavong, Mark

2011-02-10

To describe the development and assessment of monographs as an assignment to incorporate evidence-based medicine (EBM) and pharmacoeconomic principles into a third-year pharmacoeconomic course. Eight newly FDA-approved drugs were assigned to 16 teams of students, where each drug was assigned to 2 teams. Teams had to research their drug, write a professional monograph, deliver an oral presentation, and answer questions posed by faculty judges. One team was asked to present evidence for inclusion of the drug into a formulary, while another team presented evidence against inclusion. The teams' average score on the written report was 99.1%; on the oral presentation, 92.5%, and on the online quiz given at the end of the presentations, 77%. Monographs are a successful method of incorporating and integrating learning across different concepts, as well as increasing relevance of pharmacoeconomics in the PharmD curriculum.

The effect of intertextuality on Iranian EFL learners’ critical writing

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Saeideh Ahangari

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Intertextuality is the relation of each text with the texts surrounding it. Any word or phrase we are writing or saying has relationship with what we have heard or seen before. This shared language makes others understand us. On the other hand, critical thinking is the ability to think reasonably, reflectively and skillfully. Since it is believed that intertextuality results in critical thinking, this study aimed to focus on the effect of intertextuality on learners’ critical writing skill. To do so, the researchers selected 60 Advanced EFL students from three intact classes at the Iran Language Institute and assigned them randomly into three groups. After assuring the groups’ homogeneity in terms of their general English proficiency and writing skill in the beginning of the study, the researchers asked the first group, considered as the control group, to write a composition about Generation Gap. Then the first experimental group read two texts about Generation Gap and then wrote a composition about it; the second experimental group watched a short film about Generation Gap besides reading the texts and then wrote a composition about it. Having compared the written compositions in terms of critical thinking elements, the researchers found out that there is a meaningful relationship between intertextuality and critical writing. That is to say, the more intertextual relationship (in our case print and visual texts the learners are involved with, the more critical elements they utilize in their writing. Findings of this research have some pedagogical implications.

Historical and social contexts for scientific writing and use of passive voice: Toward an undergraduate science literacy course

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Dan Xiong

The passive voice is a major stylistic feature of modern scientific discourse, but such a feature did not dominate scientific writing until the 1890s. It has its roots in the philosophical thoughts of experimental science of Francis Bacon and his followers such as Thomas Sprat and John Locke. In the early seventeenth century. Bacon called for a new science that emphasized collective knowledge of nature. Such a science was a cooperative and public enterprise in which scientists should work as a group to advance knowledge of nature. When science was moving gradually toward a public enterprise from the early seventeenth century, the passive voice gradually replaced the active voice in science writing as a dominant stylistic feature. The passive voice in scientific writing is thus historically and socially conditioned. Scientists take advantage of the linguistic functions of the passive voice to serve their rhetorical and pragmatic purposes such as presenting experiments as they are for others to reproduce and verify the results. It embodies two major conventions of scientific communities: (1) science is a public enterprise and (2) it is also a cooperative venture. Other conventions are related to these two: the collective authority of an scientific community is above the personal authority of any one individual scientist; science is not an infallible force, so any research result needs to be verified by a scientific community before it becomes knowledge; scientists use passive voice to approach their writing to make it appear as if it were objective; and science is a human profession. Therefore, we need to teach science students to use the passive voice, and more importantly, why and when to use it. We should emphasize writing practice to have students' see that they use passives rhetorically to present experimental processes, materials and methods.

The Effect of Multi-step Oral-revision Processes on Iranian EFL Learners’ Argumentative Writing Achievement

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Farrokhlagha Heidari

2010-05-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to explore the role of two multi-step oral-revision processes as feedback providing tools on Iranian EFL learners’ argumentative writing achievement. The participants taking part in this study were 45 Iranian EFL students who were randomly assigned into three groups. The participants of the groups were given three argumentative writing assignments, each assignment demanding three separate drafts. In the control group, the participants revised their essays in response to teacher's written feedback, while the participants of the two experimental groups experienced oral-revision talks with their teacher or a peer. Two sets of quantitative and qualitative data were collected: Argumentative essays written at the beginning and the end of the semester and interviews. The results of the quantitative aspect of the study revealed the significant outperformance of the two experimental groups. Moreover, the data provided through interviews revealed some differences in terms of the effectiveness of feedback between the two experimental groups. The participants of the peer-led group reported more awareness of the rhetorical structures and an ability to revise surface errors. While, the teacher-led group reported more global writing concerns like content, organization of ideas,   and discourse. The obtained results point out that the mutual co-construction of participation roles and certain combinations of negotiation and scaffolding let the teacher provide a supportive conversational environment and assistance in accordance with the proficiency of learners of the teacher-led group to promote greater learner participation.

Technical writing versus technical writing

Science.gov (United States)

Dillingham, J. W.

1981-01-01

Two terms, two job categories, 'technical writer' and 'technical author' are discussed in terms of industrial and business requirements and standards. A distinction between 'technical writing' and technical 'writing' is made. The term 'technical editor' is also considered. Problems inherent in the design of programs to prepare and train students for these jobs are discussed. A closer alliance between industry and academia is suggested as a means of preparing students with competent technical communication skills (especially writing and editing skills) and good technical skills.

My Favorite Assignment.

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ABCA Bulletin, 1981

1981-01-01

Presents three ideas for use in business communication courses: (1) using advertisements to teach sales writing, (2) establishing strong student-teacher relationships, and (3) using proposal writing to increase student interest in business communication. (FL)

Effect of Instruction in Story Grammar on the Narrative Writing of EFL Students.

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El-Koumy, Abdel Salam A.

A study investigated the effects of explicit versus implicit instruction in story grammar on the narrative writing skills of English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) students at the university level. Subjects were 83 freshmen enrolled in English at the Faculty of Education at Suez Canal University (Egypt). The subjects were randomly assigned to…

Cloud Computing Technologies in Writing Class: Factors Influencing Students’ Learning Experience

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Jenny WANG

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The proposed interactive online group within the cloud computing technologies as a main contribution of this paper provides easy and simple access to the cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS system and delivers effective educational tools for students and teacher on after-class group writing assignment activities. Therefore, this study addresses the implementation of the most commonly used cloud applications, Google Docs, in a higher education course. The learning environment integrated Google Docs that students are using to develop and deploy writing assignments in between classes has been subjected to learning experience assessment. Using the questionnaire as an instrument to study participants (n=28, the system has provided an effective learning environment in between classes for the students and the instructor to stay connected. Factors influencing students’ learning experience based on cloud applications include frequency of interaction online and students’ technology experience. Suggestions to cope with challenges regarding the use of them in higher education including the technical issues are also presented. Educators are therefore encouraged to embrace cloud computing technologies as they design the course curriculum in hoping to effectively enrich students’ learning.

Does gratitude writing improve the mental health of psychotherapy clients? Evidence from a randomized controlled trial.

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Wong, Y Joel; Owen, Jesse; Gabana, Nicole T; Brown, Joshua W; McInnis, Sydney; Toth, Paul; Gilman, Lynn

2018-03-01

Although the past decade has witnessed growing research interest in positive psychological interventions (PPIs), their potential as adjunctive interventions for psychotherapy remains relatively unexplored. Therefore, this article expands the frontiers of PPI research by reporting the first randomized controlled trial to test a gratitude writing adjunctive intervention for psychotherapy clients. Participants were 293 adults seeking university-based psychotherapy services. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (a) control (psychotherapy only), (b) a psychotherapy plus expressive writing, and (c) a psychotherapy plus gratitude writing. Participants in the gratitude condition wrote letters expressing gratitude to others, whereas those in the expressive writing condition wrote about their deepest thoughts and feelings about stressful experiences. About 4 weeks as well as 12 weeks after the conclusion of the writing intervention, participants in the gratitude condition reported significantly better mental health than those in the expressive and control conditions, whereas those in the expressive and control conditions did not differ significantly. Moreover, lower proportions of negative emotion words in participants' writing mediated the positive effect of condition (gratitude versus expressive writing) on mental health. These findings are discussed in light of the use of gratitude interventions as adjunctive interventions for psychotherapy clients.

Stop. Write! Writing Grounded Theory

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Barney G. Glaser, PhD, Hon. PhD

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The message in this book, the dictum in this book, is to stop and write when the Grounded Theory (GT methodology puts you in that ready position. Stop unending conceptualization, unending data coverage, and unending listening to others who would egg you on with additional data, ideas and/or requirements or simply wait too long. I will discuss these ideas in detail. My experience with PhD candidates is that for the few who write when ready, many do not and SHOULD. Simply put, many write-up, but many more should.

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

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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

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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.

Can Personalized Nudges Improve Learning in Hybrid Classes? Experimental Evidence from an Introductory Undergraduate Course

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O'Connell, Stephen D.; Lang, Guido

2018-01-01

A field experiment was conducted to investigate whether personalized e-mail reminders can improve study consistency and learning outcomes in an introductory-level undergraduate course. By randomly assigning whether nearly 300 students would receive occasional e-mail messages encouraging out-of-class study, we find that these reminders increased…

Making Sense of Undergraduate Students' Reflections as They Learn through Writing an Action Research Proposal

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Maoto, S.

2011-01-01

This article explores learning opportunities offered by students' written reflections as they learn through writing an action research proposal. From tapping into students' reported struggles, I analysed data using three stages of qualitative data analysis: data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing (Miles and Huberman 1994). It emerged…

Writing Workshop.

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Novelli, Joan

2001-01-01

Six ideas for writing autobiographies with elementary school students include: model the writing process to get students started; read examples of autobiographies; brainstorm writing ideas; free-write the first draft; edit and revise; and publish the stories. Suggestions for mini-lessons are included. A student reproducible offers an editing…

Learning to Write with Interactive Writing Instruction

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Williams, Cheri

2018-01-01

Interactive writing is a process-oriented instructional approach designed to make the composing and encoding processes of writing overt and explicit for young students who are learning to write. It is particularly suitable for students who struggle with literacy learning. This article describes one first-grade teacher's use of interactive writing…

Embedded academic writing support for nursing students with English as a second language.

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Salamonson, Yenna; Koch, Jane; Weaver, Roslyn; Everett, Bronwyn; Jackson, Debra

2010-02-01

This paper reports a study which evaluated a brief, embedded academic support workshop as a strategy for improving academic writing skills in first-year nursing students with low-to-medium English language proficiency. Nursing students who speak English as a second language have lower academic success compared with their native English-speaking counterparts. The development of academic writing skills is known to be most effective when embedded into discipline-specific curricula. Using a randomized controlled design, in 2008 106 students pre-enrolled in an introductory bioscience subject were randomized to receive either the intervention, a 4-day embedded academic learning support workshop facilitated by two bioscience (content) nursing academics and a writing and editing professional, or to act as the control group. The primary focus of the workshop was to support students to work through a mock assignment by providing progressive feedback and written suggestions on how to improve their answers. Of the 59 students randomized to the intervention, only 28 attended the workshop. Bioscience assignment results were analysed for those who attended (attendees), those randomized to the intervention but who did not attend (non-attendees), and the control group. Using anova, the results indicated that attendees achieved statistically significantly higher mean scores (70.8, sd: 6.1) compared to both control group (58.4, sd: 3.4, P = 0.002) and non-attendees (48.5, sd: 5.5, P = 0.001). A brief, intensive, embedded academic support workshop was effective in improving the academic writing ability of nursing students with low-to-medium English language proficiency, although reaching all students who are likely to benefit from this intervention remains a challenge.

Initial Validation of a Technical Writing Rubric for Engineering Design

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Cheryl Bodnar

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Engineering design serves as the capstone experience of most undergraduate engineering programs. One of the key elements of the engineering design process is the compilation of results obtained into a technical report that can be shared and distributed to interested stakeholders including industry, faculty members and other relevant parties. In an effort to expand the tools available for assessment of engineering design technical reports, this study performed an initial validation of a previously developed Technical Writing rubric. The rubric was evaluated for its reliability to measure the intended construct, inter-rater reliability and external validity in comparison to an existing generalized written communication rubric. It was found that the rubric was reliable with Cronbach’s alpha for all dimensions between 0.817 and 0.976. The inter-rater reliability for the overall instrument was also found to be excellent at 0.85. Finally, it was observed that there were no statistically significant differences observed between the measurements obtained on the Technical Writing rubric in comparison to the more generalized Written Communication Value rubric. This demonstrates that although specific to engineering design environments the Technical Writing rubric was able to measure key constructs associated with written communication practice. This rubric can now serve as one additional tool for assessment of communication skills within engineering capstone design experiences.

Designing Writing Exercises to Emphasize Environmental Education

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Narayanan, M.

2008-12-01

In this presentation, the author stresses the importance of writing exercises to educate students in certain disciplines. The objective is to make the students become personally involved so that their educational experience is more geared towards a learning paradigm instead of a teaching paradigm. In addition to accumulating a wealth of knowledge the students also refine and expand their writing skills and abilities. One should be pragmatic in one's approach. In other words, the instructor should have a clear understanding of the skills the students need to develop. It is important to define the target and implementation mode while designing writing exercises. Effective learning can thus be combined with enthusiasm in classroom instructional development. It is extremely important that all undergraduate engineering students are provided with an adequate understanding and thorough background of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. At present, undergraduate students at Miami University of Ohio do not acquire any knowledge pertaining to this particular topic. The author proposes that a topic based on NEPA be introduced in the Fluid Mechanics Course at a Junior Level. The author believes that there is an absolute and urgent need for introducing the students to the fact that various documents such as EA (Environmental Assessment), EIS (Environmental Impact Statement), FONSI (Finding Of No Significant Impact), are an essential part of present-day workplace environment. In this presentation the author talks about introducing NEPA in the classroom. More than a decade ago Harvard University Professor Dr. Howard Gardner suggested the theory of Multiple Intelligences. Dr. Gardner proposed that eight different Intelligences accounted for the development of human potential (Gardner, 1983, 1993, 2000). Leading scholars in the area of Cognitive Science and Educational Methodologies also agree and have concluded that it is essential that students need to be taught

Investigating the Variables in a Mock Exam Study Session Designed to Improve Student Exam Performance in an Undergraduate Behavior Modification and Therapy Course

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Dotson, Wesley H.

2010-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to identify components of an optional mock exam review session (e.g. requiring students to write answers, providing students grading keys for questions) responsible for improvements in student performance on application-based short-essay exams in an undergraduate behavior modification course. Both…

Feedback providing improvement strategies and reflection on feedback use: Effects on students' writing motivation, process, and performance

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Duijnhouwer, H.; Prins, F.J.; Stokking, K.M.

2012-01-01

This study investigated the effects of feedback providing improvement strategies and a reflection assignment on students’ writing motivation, process, and performance. Students in the experimental feedback condition (n = 41) received feedback including improvement strategies, whereas students in the

Technology-Assisted Rehabilitation of Writing Skills in Parkinson’s Disease: Visual Cueing versus Intelligent Feedback

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Evelien Nackaerts

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Recent research showed that visual cueing can have both beneficial and detrimental effects on handwriting of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD and healthy controls depending on the circumstances. Hence, using other sensory modalities to deliver cueing or feedback may be a valuable alternative. Therefore, the current study compared the effects of short-term training with either continuous visual cues or intermittent intelligent verbal feedback. Ten PD patients and nine healthy controls were randomly assigned to one of these training modes. To assess transfer of learning, writing performance was assessed in the absence of cueing and feedback on both trained and untrained writing sequences. The feedback pen and a touch-sensitive writing tablet were used for testing. Both training types resulted in improved writing amplitudes for the trained and untrained sequences. In conclusion, these results suggest that the feedback pen is a valuable tool to implement writing training in a tailor-made fashion for people with PD. Future studies should include larger sample sizes and different subgroups of PD for long-term training with the feedback pen.

Minority Undergraduate Research in Prostate Cancer: Bridging Opportunities for Postbaccalaureate Education

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2012-03-01

students  were  assigned  to  read  both  popular  and   scientific  literature  regarding  the   genetic ,  socio...Biochemistry, Soma Jobbagy, BS Biochemistry, and Erica Boetefuer, Biological Sciences Judging Rubrics for the ASBMB Undergraduate Poster Competition 2007...Bruce Boman, Biological Sciences Role of miRNAs in Regulating Colon Cancer Stem Cells 37) Carrie Barnum and Jennifer Sabatino, Genetics Zohra Ali-Khan