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How Writing Shapes Thinking
A Study of Teaching and Learning

by Judith A. Langer and Arthur N. Applebee

Digitized by the Colorado State University Libraries

In this groundbreaking study, Langer and Applebee analyzed writing assignments and their teaching across the curriculum in U.S. secondary schools to see how they support learning. "To improve the teaching of writing, particularly in the context of academic tasks," they argue, "is also to improve the quality of thinking required of school children." But they further show here how differences in the kinds of writing students do lead students to do different kinds of thinking and learning.

This book is available in whole and in part in Adobe Acrobat's Portable Document Format (PDF). The PDF is presented in "text and image" format, which allows the reader to view the pages as they are presented in the print version of the book and to select and copy text from each page. To cite this book, consult the publication information provided at the end of this page.

Open the entire book: 6,559K

Open parts of the book:

• Front Matter, Table of Contents, and List of Tables (95K)
  
  
• Acknowledgements (60K)
  
  
Part I: Overview
• Chapter 1: Introduction (284K)
• Chapter 2: The Project (203K)
  
  
Part II: Studies of Teaching
• Chapter 3: The Participating Teachers (799K)
• Chapter 4: Writing in Academic Classrooms (1072K)
• Chapter 5: Teachers in Transition: Changing Conceptions of Teaching and Learning (771K)
  
  
Part III: Studies of Learning
• Chapter 6: Learning from Writing: An Initial Approach (443K)
• Chapter 7: Learning from Writing: Study Two (398K)
• Chapter 8: Learning from Writing: Study Three (608K)
  
  
Part IV: Conclusions
• Chapter 9: Learning from Writing in the Secondary Schools: Accomplishing Our Goals (679K)
• References (220K)



• Appendix 1: The Analysis of Meaning Construction Coding Manual (115K)
• Appendix 2: The Reading Passages: Synopses, Characteristics, and Tree Diagrams (164K)
• About the Authors (36K)

Publication Information: Langer, Judith A., and Applebee, Arthur N. (2007). How Writing Shapes Thinking: A Study of Teaching and Learning. WAC Clearinghouse Landmark Publications in Writing Studies: http://wac.colostate.edu/books/langer_applebee/. Originally Published in Print, 1987, by National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, Illinois.

Publication Date: October 11, 2007

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Contact Information:

Arthur N. Applebee: http://cela.albany.edu/researcher/applebee.htm
Email: aapplebee@uamail.albany.edu

Judith A. Langer: http://cela.albany.edu/researcher/langer.htm
Email: jlanger@uamail.albany.edu

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Copyright © 1987 National Council of Teachers of English. Used with Permission. You may view and print copies of the books found on this site. You may link to this page. You may not reproduce this book on another Web site. For permission to use materials from this book in other publications, please contact National Council of Teachers of English.