Reopening Inquiry into Cognitive Processes in Writing-To-Learn

Writing produces generally positive, but inconsistent, effects on learning. The reasons for this inconsistency are unknown. This review examines four hypotheses about writing-to-learn: Writers spontaneously generate knowledge at the point of utterance (Britton, 1980/1982); writers externalize ideas in text, then reread them to generate new inferences (Young and Sullivan, 1984); writers use genre structures to organize relationships among elements of text, and thereby among elements of knowledge (Newell, 1984); and writers set rhetorical goals, then solve content problems to achieve these goals (Bereiter and Scardamalia, 1987; Flower and Hayes, 1980a). These four hypotheses invoke different aspects of writing, and so are mutually compatible. The genre hypothesis has been supported by empirical research; the other three hypotheses have been tentatively supported by research concerning writing-to-learn, or indirectly supported by other research concerning learning or writing. Further investigation is needed concerning: The empirical validity of the four hypotheses, and interactions among the processes that they identify; the declarative and procedural knowledge that underpins writing-to-learn; and the educational effectiveness of applying cognitive strategy instruction to learning through writing.     

Institutional and departmental satisfaction of women faculty

Using the exploratory data analysis method of median polishing, this study examined the institutional and departmental satisfaction of women who relatively recently entered the academic profession. Results indicated that women's satisfaction with both department and institution differed by institutional type (Carnegie classifications) and discipline type (pure versus applied). Women in applied fields in Research II and Doctoral-Granting II institutions were much less satisfied with both their departments and their institutions than would be expected given their institutional and discipline types. Similarly, the institutional satisfaction of those women at Research I institutions and the departmental satisfaction of women in pure fields at Doctoral-Granting I's was lower than would be expected. Higher levels of departmental satisfaction were shown by women in pure fields at Liberal Arts I institutions.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, St. Louis, November 1988.     

The Effects of Rhetorical and Content Subgoals on Writing and Learning

Argument writing is challenging for elementary students. Previous experimental research has focused on scaffolding rhetorical goals, leaving content goals relatively unexplored. In a randomized experiment, 73 students in grades 5, 6, and 7 wrote persuasive texts about difficult-to-classify vertebrates. Each student received one of three sets of writing prompts: a persuasive goal only (control); a persuasive goal + rhetorical-subgoal prompts; or a persuasive goal + content-subgoal prompts. Rhetorical subgoals increased text quality, variety of rhetorical moves, number of complex propositions, and classification knowledge. Content subgoals increased the number of simple propositions in text. A path analysis indicated that content-subgoal prompts and rhetorical-subgoal prompts elicited different paths to writing and learning.     

Notes on Classroom Practice and the Ownership and Use of Personal Computers Amongst Egyptian Science and Mathematics Teachers

This paper reports a study of the acquisition and use of personal computers by Egyptian science and mathematics teachers. Self-report data was collected from the same teachers on how they had changed their classroom activities and professional practice since their return to Egypt following a twelve-week in-service course in the United Kingdom. The data from this sample of teachers is compared with that from a second sample, who also attended the same in-service programme, but did not report the purchase of a personal computer. Analysis indicates that the Egyptian teachers with personal computers have tended to concentrate on improving the quality of current practice, through better preparation and student testing, rather than introducing major, paradigmatic, changes to their teaching.     

Counterintuitive effects of online feedback in middle school math: results from a randomized controlled trial in ASSISTments

This study compared the effects of three different feedback formats provided to sixth grade mathematics students within a web-based online learning platform, ASSISTments. A sample of 196 students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (1) text-based feedback; (2) image-based feedback; and (3) correctness only feedback. Regardless of condition, students solved a set of problems pertaining to the division of fractions by fractions. This mathematics content was representative of challenging sixth grade mathematics Common Core State Standard (6.NS.A.1). Students randomly assigned to receive text-based feedback (Condition A) or image-based feedback (Condition B) outperformed those randomly assigned to the correctness only group (Condition C). However, these differences were not statistically significant (F(2,108) = 1.394, p = .25). Results of this study also demonstrated a completion-bias. Students randomly assigned to Condition B were less likely to complete the problem set than those assigned to Conditions A and C. To conclude, we discuss the counterintuitive findings observed in this study and implications related to developing and implementing feedback in online learning environments for middle school mathematics.     

A study of urban middle school students with high and low attitudes toward science

Scientific literacy is essential to survive in this technological world, but it appears that scientific literacy is not of high priority for many students. This research project was undertaken to gather demographic data, intentions to engage in science, and attitudes of urban, middle school students. Scores on the Simpson-Troost Attitude Instrument were analyzed using the Statistical Analysis System. Results indicate less than 50% of the students come from high-school-graduated parents who work full-time to support the family. Less than 50% of these students indicate any interest to engage in science at the high school level, yet many plan to enter a science-related career. A majority of the students possess an uncertain attitude toward their science teachers and science curricula. However, all possessed high achievement motivations, strong positive attitudes toward their families, and high self-concepts.     

Dyslexia: Anomaly or normal variation?

This paper is an interim report on a large-scale survey. The background to the authors’ research into dyslexia is briefly outlined. Next comes an explication of the contrast between “anomaly” and “normal variation.” Some details are then provided of a survey of 12,905 children, age ten, who were given a variety of educational and cognitive tests relevant to a diagnosis of dyslexia. It is shown that the resultant distributions of scores are incompatible with the hypothesis of normal variation. The counter-hypothesis, viz. that dyslexia involves some kind of anomaly, has, therefore, to that extent resisted refutation. The 1980 CHES follow-up study was funded by grants from the Department of Health and Social Security, the Joseph Rowntree Memorial Trust, the Department of Education and Science, and the National Institutes of Health in the USA.     

Adapting Secular Post-Graduate Education in Counseling to Meet the Needs of Ministers

As the demand for counseling within a religious setting increases, clergymen are expressing a need for more counselor education. If pastoral counseling is considered distinctly different from other counseling, then pastoral counseling education is the province of the seminaries. If the pastoral counselor is not considered basically different from other counselors, a secular counselor education program can serve the needs of ministers as well as other counselors by having a central core of required professional courses and then optional branches for specialization in counseling. Finding appropriate instructors for the pastoral counseling courses could be a problem. Candidates for pastoral counseling should be as carefully screened and tested as other graduate students in counseling. The counseling program should offer ministers the opportunity to learn about group work and, ideally, the opportunity for supervised practicum work in several different settings. There should be some provision for individual and group therapy for the pastoral counselors themselves as a means of enhancing their own effectiveness. When a secular institution feels that it cannot adapt its regular program to fit the needs of pastoral counselors, it can be of service by arranging special workshops and conferences for the clergymen of the area, and counselor educators can be available as consultants to seminaries and churches that request assistance.     

The identity of educated women in India: confluence or divergence?

Under the combined effects of commercialisation, urbanisation, migration and employment, significant changes are taking place in India’s process of modernisation. One change is the emergence of a population of women with degrees in higher education. These degrees, and the individuals’ desire to pursue professional positions that relate to their education, may influence the ways in which women perceive their identity. This study explores the situations and circumstances of college‐educated Indian females’ identity and illuminates the complexities and consequences of the university‐educated Indian woman’s life. Twenty‐five women from different parts of India were interviewed. The findings, which emerged by marital status, showed identities of single women appeared to be influenced by their interest to maintain a positive attitude about life, develop cognitive intelligence that relates to an interest, and explore the meanings of and learn independence. The identity of married, divorced and widowed women appeared to be affected by their goal to pursue an interest; need to balance personal interests and family responsibilities; and obligation to live in an extended family. The results are discussed in the context of shifting roles of women and the adoption of multifaceted identities.