Essay writing in biology: An example of effective student learning?

The views of first-year biology students (N=337) on an essay writing assignment were evaluated by means of a questionnaire. The students were asked to reflect on the strategies they employed, the number and type of resources used, their areas of difficulty and to evaluate their own performance. The data were used to elucidate possible areas of discrepancy between the approach taken by the students and that suggested by the Biology Department via information in student manuals and evaluation criteria. The data were also compared to similar studies on student writing previously reported for students of psychology and history. Finally a series of recommendations is made to help staff to allow their students to develop improved writing strategies, minimise the possible difficulties encountered and allow the writing exercise to fulfil its desired outcome, that of being an integral part of the process of learning.     

Writing as a learning tool: Testing the role of students’ writing strategies

The claim that writing facilitates students’ learning, although widely accepted, has little support from empirical research. A possible explanation for the lack of empirical evidence is that writing-to-learn research has disregarded that students use different writing strategies. The purpose of the present experimental study is to test whether it is effective to adapt writing-to-learn tasks to different writing strategies when teaching literature. A course “Learning to write argumentative texts about literature” was developed in two different versions: one adapted to a planning writing strategy, the other to a revising writing strategy. Participants were 113 tenth-grade high school students in the Netherlands. Our hypothesis is an adaptation hypothesis: we expect that the more a student will use a planning writing strategy, the more the student will profit from the lessons in the planning condition, and that the more a student uses a revising writing strategy, the more beneficial the revising condition will be. However, results show that for improving literary interpretation skill, a course adapted to the planning writing strategy is more effective for almost all students.     

大学英语写作教学中应用自动作文评分系统的实证研究

随着现代教育技术的发展,自动作文评分系统在英语写作教学中的应用越来越多。为了解自动作文评分系统在英语写作教学中的效果,在非英语专业的两个班级开展了共14周的对比教学实验。同时,以调查问卷的方式调查了学生对自动作文评分系统的看法。结果表明,基于自动作文评分系统的写作教学模式,较之于传统写作教学模式,更能促进学生英语写作能力的提高。研究还发现,应用自动作文评分系统过程中学生的写作策略亟需提高,教师的引导不容忽略。     

The effectiveness of a highly explicit, teacher-directed strategy instruction routine: changing the writing performance of students with learning disabilities

This study examined the effectiveness of a highly explicit, teacher-directed instructional routine used to teach three planning strategies for writing to fourth and fifth graders with learning disabilities. In comparison to peers who received process writing instruction, children who were taught the three planning strategies-goal setting, brainstorming, and organizing-spent more time planning stories in advance of writing and produced stories that were qualitatively better. One month after the end of instruction, students who had been taught the strategies not only maintained their advantage in story quality but also produced longer stories than those produced by their peers who were taught process writing. However, the highly explicit, teacher-directed strategy instructional routine used in this study did not promote transfer to an uninstructed genre, persuasive essay writing. These findings are discussed in terms of their relevance to effective writing instruction practices for students with learning disabilities.     

Bridge or Barrier? Writing in Secondary Art & Design Education in the UK

What role does writing play in secondary art & design education? In the context of current debates on access and participation in the visual arts, the nature of art discourse and the value of creative subjects within the curriculum, what impact do the existing requirements have on students, teachers and the broader arena of the visual arts? This article presents the findings‐to‐date of an ongoing pilot study which set out to explore these questions. Drawing on interviews with teachers and exam board representatives, and a review of student texts and exam board documents and resources, the study found that even though writing is only a minor part of what is an essentially practice‐based subject, it was a source of significant concern and confusion. A marked disconnect was revealed between intent and practice, which in turn highlighted a series of underlying values and beliefs that seemed to further drive this disconnect. The study calls for a wider discussion of the way writing is framed, used, supported and assessed in the art & design classroom, and the need to ensure that any pedagogy and resources developed align with the values as well as curriculum of art & design. It also previews how strategies created in the context of developing more inclusive and flexible writing skills among curators and other art museum professionals may offer a useful model. The study is part of a larger investigation into the discourse/s of the visual arts, with a focus on issues of access and participation.     

Using Interactive Journal Writing as a Strategy for Professional Growth

In recent years journal writing as a tool for reflective practice has gained prominence in teacher education programs. This paper reports the investigation of journal writing as a means for student teachers and university to better understand the process of learning to teach. The aims of the study were to examine how journals are used; to explore what students learn and what university teachers learn; and to identify which strategies work best. Survey and interview data were collected from the student authors of the journals. Analysis of the data contributed to our understanding of the process of interactive journal writing and the strategies we used as university teachers. Students used the journals in a number of ways. They used the journals to get direction on practice and planning, as a tool for analysis, as an emotion release, and as a way of 'sorting things out'. Students identified a number of strategies used by the university teachers as journal respondents which contributed to students' learning about teaching. This research focused our attention on interactive journal writing as a strategy that has the potential to promote reflective practice.     

An investigation into electronic‐source plagiarism in a first‐year essay assignment

Since the emergence of the electronic era, plagiarism has become an increasingly prevalent problem at tertiary institutions. This study investigated the role electronic sources of information played in influencing plagiarism in an essay assignment in a first‐year geography module at the University of KwaZulu‐Natal in South Africa. Despite explicit instruction in tutorials on academic writing, referencing and plagiarism, a quarter of students still plagiarised in their essay, with the majority having done so off the Internet. A survey questionnaire and interviews revealed that not only did the school writing experience prepare students poorly for academic writing discourses, but also highlighted that student ignorance with regard to acknowledgement of electronic sources, a pervasive perception of difference between electronic and print sources, as well as the availability of the copy‐and‐paste facility which reinforces the product view of writing, all contributed towards electronic‐source plagiarism. Active instructional engagement with electronic‐source material, and open dialogue on ownership of knowledge as well as on moral and ethical issues with students, are recommended as strategies to overcome such plagiarism.     

Development of first-year students' conceptions of essay writing

Findings are presented from a small-scalelongitudinal study of first-year psychologystudents' learning. Three developmentalhierarchies were derived in the analysis of theinterview data, which described differentaspects of the variation in students' accountsof their conceptions of essay writing. Althoughthe findings did suggest that the students madesome development in their conceptions, itseemed that by the end of the study many ofthem were still unable to describe what wasexpected for their essays in a way which fullymapped onto their tutors' accounts. Theeffects of advice given to students about theiressay writing were also investigated. Studentswere given help that seemed relevant todeveloping their conceptions, but there waslittle evidence in the interviews that thismade an impact on their learning and studentsoften described minimal engagement with adviceand feedback. Two case studies are presented togive a more holistic perspective on thestudents' accounts of their essay writing.These cases suggest the limitations of simplecategorisations, as they emphasise the complexand idiosyncratic nature of students'development.     

高职高专英语专业学生英语写作情况调查与分析

国内外的研究表明,英语写作有助于提高英语语言交际能力。以深圳职业技术学院应用外语系2001级69名专业学生为对象,采用问卷和面谈等研究工具,着重调查分析英语专业学生的英语写作时间分配,写作困难和解决困难的方式,学生对教师评改作业的要求,提出提高学生写作水平的对策。     

初中语文随笔生活化教学的内容与策略

初中语文随笔写作教学实践中,随笔生活化教学的内容主要体现在四个方面：随笔目标的生活化,随笔主题的生活化,随笔过程的生活化,随笔评价的生活化.初中语文随笔生活化教学的策略有：因人施教,疏导学生心理;多向激励,善用成功导向;出奇制胜,提高人文素养.     

随班就读轻度智力残疾学生写作能力研究

本研究做了随班就读轻度智力残疾学生写作能力的调查,目的是了解这一特殊群体写作能力的发展,研究共收集530份3-5年级随班就读轻度智力残疾学生和普通学生的语文考试试卷,对试卷中写作部分的字、词、句、篇进行分析和比较.结果显示,随班就读轻度智力残疾学生的写作能力低于普通学生,且个体差异较大,但随着年级的增长,随班就读轻度智力残疾学生的写作能力在逐渐提高.建议在对随班就读轻度智力残疾学生写作能力的培养上,从低年级起对此类学生加强基础知识教育、充实写作内容,并挑选适合的作文命题逐渐训练随班就读轻度智力残疾学生的写作能力.     

Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Research on Essay Writing: No One Way

In this article the results from two studies on essay writing are contrasted. One uses a qualitative method and the other a quantitative one. The qualitative study is rich in detail but, for those of a quantitative disposition, it lacks sufficient quantitative information. We are not told, for example, what proportion of the students involved are men or women, traditional-entry or mature, and what disciplines they are studying. The quantitative study provides details of this kind, but it does, however, have problems of its own. Internal inconsistencies in the data reveal that the validity of some of the findings is questionable. The article concludes by suggesting the necessity for combining - or sequentially chaining - different methods in research of this kind.     

国内外构思性写作研究对英语写作教学的启示

英语议论文写作教学在专业英语基础教学阶段占有重要地位。对学生来讲,英语议论文写作是英语专业四级测试（TEM-4）的一个弱项。典型地表现在学生写前没有构思的习惯、用汉语式的思维模式进行英语表达和缺乏足够的英语议论文输入。文章基于国内外写作构思的相关性研究提出了培养学生构思性写作的意识、构建英语议论文语篇结构和增加英语议论文的输入量,以达到促进英语议论文写作教学的良好效果。     

英语写作障碍分析

英语作为国际性语言在国际交流过程中发挥着无可替代的作用,流畅的英语写作是21世纪人才必须掌握的一项极为重要的技能。学生在学习英语的过程中,英语写作是一大难题。为帮助学生认清写作中存在的问题,提高写作技能,笔者对所教学生进行了问卷调查。通过对问卷调查结果的总结,分析学生英语写作中存在的障碍,并提出应对策略。     

ESL students’ perceptions and experiences of standardized English writing tests

The present study interviewed 16 international students (13 from Mainland China and 3 from Taiwan) in a Canadian university to explore their perceptions and experiences of two standardized English writing tests: the TWE (Test of Written English) and the essay task in LPI (English Language Proficiency Index). In Western Canada, TWE is used as an entrance test for international students who speak English as a second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) whereas LPI is required, in many post-secondary institutions, for all incoming ESL/EFL students and some native-English-speaking students whose final English mark from high school is below a certain level. As international students, all participants in the study passed TWE but many took LPI repeatedly before passing it. At the time of the interviews, five still had not passed LPI. Relevant findings illustrate that many participants passed TWE by relying on memorization of writing samples whereas they failed LPI because they lacked skills in constructing their own texts. The participants’ complaints about culturally biased essay prompts in LPI and a lack of understanding of what is expected of LPI also raise questions about the validity of the test from the students’ perspectives. The study generates pedagogical implications for standardized writing tests involving ESL undergraduates from various cultural backgrounds.     

通过随笔辅导促进学生心理健康

随笔作为一种比较自由的写作方式，可以实现心理辅导的意义表达、情绪宣泄、沟通与建构功能。在开展学生心理辅导过程中，教师通过学生的随笔了解学生，与学生对话，引导学生在随笔中吐露心声，反思生活，建构意义。教师在通过批语或面谈与学生对话中要坚持平等、理解、鼓励的原则。另外也可以通过随笔展示开展师生间、生生间的对话，以扩大辅导效果。     

Students' use of writing strategies and their English writing achievements in Taiwan

The purpose of this study was to explore the role of students' use of writing strategies in light of their English writing achievements in Taiwan. This research used a cognitive approach to examine the process of writing. Forty student writers (including 20 low and 20 high achievers) in Taiwan participated in this study. Strategies used for writing by high and low achievers as revealed by a concurrent think-aloud protocol and immediate retrospective interviews with students were investigated, analysed, and compared. Results indicated that compared to low-achieving student writers, high-achieving student writers were more aware of and focused more on formulating their position statement in planning, generating text, and revising and editing their text, such as changing the meaning and fixing grammatical and spelling errors during their review. The findings are discussed in light of writing strategies and implications for writing pedagogy and teacher education.     

The long-term effects of strategy-focussed writing instruction for grade six students

We compared 56 eighth-grade students who 28 months previously had received instruction in strategies for planning and revising their writing, with 21 students of similar academic ability from the same school who had not experienced the intervention. Both groups wrote an expository essay whilst logging their writing activities and completed writing metaknowledge and self-efficacy questionnaires. Students who had received the intervention showed a greater tendency to pre-plan (but not to revise) their texts, produced better quality and more reader-focused writing, and were more likely to show an awareness of the importance of text structure. These findings suggest persistent benefits for strategy-focused writing instruction.