supporting scholarly exchange about communication across the curriculum
Content Area:
Communication Across the Curriculum
Electronic Communication Across the Curriculum
Writing to Learn vs. Writing in the Disciplines
Discipline:
Welcome to the WAC Clearinghouse Theses and Dissertations Page. The theses are displayed below. If you'd like us to add a new thesis or dissertation to our list, please contact Kevin Eric De Pew.
Recent reports in the literature have criticized many teachers for being ill-prepared to effectively teach students to read and write. Improving the quality of teacher preparation for classroom reading and writing instruction, therefore, is of major importance to educators and teacher education programs Across the country. Some scholars have hypothesized teachers must be confident, avid readers and writers to be effective teachers of reading and writing. The purpose of this study was to explore this hypothesis.
This was a qualitative sub-study of a larger five-year research project conducted by the Center on English Learning and Achievement (CELA), based at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Informants were twenty-one fourth grade teachers from five states (CA, NH, NJ, NY, TX), nominated by their principals and/or language arts supervisors as effective reading and writing instructors. Interviews were the primary data source although observational field notes were also included. Three questions guided this study. First, how did teachers describe themselves as readers and writers? Two, how did teachers describe the relationship between their reading and writing and their teaching of reading and writing. Third, how did observational field notes characterize this relationship, if at all?
Findings indicated that most of these effective teachers considered themselves avid, confident readers, and enjoyed reading for recreational purposes. In contrast, most of these teachers described themselves as practical/not recreational writers, although they felt they could write competently when required. Teachers' reading and writing practices reportedly played a nominal role in their reading and writing instruction; however, descriptions were highly individualized. Most teachers believed that other factors (i.e., students' interests and needs; state, district, and teacher's curriculum goals) were more influential than their reading and writing practices on their personal and professional reading and writing instruction Field note data provided little or no insight into this relationship.
In conclusion, this study demonstrated little support for the hypothesis assuming that teachers' reading and writing must influence their reading and writing instruction, teachers should be encouraged to reflect on the nature and possibilities of this relationship in their lives as teachers and individuals.
This classroom study focuses on middle school students' historical thinking and writing about history, after their having worked with artifacts chosen to represent a specific historical period. Although this research contributes to a growing body of literature on the historical thinking and learning of school age children, it represents a beginning inquiry into how middle school students' historical thinking and writing about history are assisted through use of objects.
A Texas history class at a middle school in Austin, Texas provided the data for the study. The researcher taught a lesson in which students examined artifacts, classified them according to their possible use, and determined their relationship to one of four cultures living in Texas in 1685. The artifact assemblages included objects reflective of each culture (i.e., food items, arrow points, metal buttons, shells, etc.).
During the time students worked in groups and conversed about the significance of the artifacts, audio-tape recorders at each work station recorded their conversation. The transcribed audio-tapes served as part of the data. Following this activity, students composed individual essays to reveal their group's decision about what culture the artifacts they examined most represented. Students' compositions provided additional data.
The researcher created a four point hierarchical protocol, based on Wineburg's studies (1991 a & b), with each level representing a more cognitively complex way of thinking about history. The protocol was used for the purpose of analyzing the transcribed and written data, to determine the cognitive complexity of students' thinking and writing about history. In order to determine reliability, two independent readers coded the data, following the same guidelines used by the teacher/researcher. The obtained reliability was high.
The major finding of the study held that students' historical thinking and learning of a period in history were enhanced through their working with artifacts. Students' learning engaged their multiple senses. This finding supports the use of original sources and artifacts in the teaching of history as a means by which students might think and learn about history in a cognitively complex manner.
This pilot study examined the effects of journal writing on academic achievement for second-grade students in a Detroit Public School.
Two academically similar classes were chosen for this study. The control group was taught science with a traditional hands-on method, while the experimental group included interactive journal writing in their science program. A test was given to each group at the end of the unit and the means were calculated. The journals were also evaluated and the product-moment coefficient of correlation was calculated to see if there was a correlation between journal quality and test scores.
The difference in test scores between the total groups was not statistically significant. However, females in the experimental group scored significantly higher than males in the same group and females in the control group. The correlation between journal quality and test scores was determined to be positive and statistically significant.
Writing-to-learn strategies have been well documented in the promotion of student learning (Poirrier, 1997c). Less is known about how teachers come to use these strategies in every day instruction. This study is a description of the experiences of one science teacher at a large suburban high school who shared writing-to-learn strategies with his department to promote the use of these strategies in daily instruction of his colleagues. The strategies involved (1) improving reading comprehension using paraphrasing, (2) activating prior knowledge using generic questions: who, what, where, when, why, & how, and (3) writing before and after other classroom activities to activate prior knowledge and then better integrate new information. The strategies were shared during informal meetings at lunch. Participation was voluntary. of the eighteen faculty members, four chose to implement the strategies on a longer-term basis. Follow-up analysis in subsequent years, showed that the strategies were still in use and that the colleagues who used the strategies had passed them on to newly inducted members of the department. Results were discussed with regards to how teachers acquire or decline the incorporation of new teaching ideas in the normal course of their work in collegial settings.
This dissertation focused on literacy practices as interpretive social activities. This is to say that the Theoretical framework for this study viewed literacy practices from an interpretive perspective or, more specifically as discourse. Literacy as discourse means that literacy practices are also ways of enacting one's identity and social relationships. The problem this study focused on then, concerned the ways in which students made sense and use of the discourse of the literacy instruction they received in relation to their family and peer discourses. A secondary problem this study focused on was the differences in the discourses of high school, community college, and university writing classes..The design of this study consisted of case studies in three sites: a semester in a 12th grade English class, and a quarter each in a community college and university composition class. for each site, there were three case study participants. Data collected consisted of participant observation, documents, and interviews. The data collection was directed at the variety of discourses students engaged in their everyday life (i.e., classroom, peer groups, family, church) and the ways in which they forged and suppressed links and understandings among them. This study includes thick descriptions of students' literacy practices and the literacy pedagogies they encounter as discourses..This study was not designed to be generalizeable. Instead this study illustrates that if literacy learning (and literacy teaching) are interpretive social activities, and that the everyday is a complex socioliterate site, then literacy curriculum and pedagogy need to be designed (1) to account for and build upon the social practices that students are already proficient in, and (2) to guide students to understand that they are learning not simply new forms of written language, but that more so, they are learning to participate in unfamiliar forms of social interaction.
The purpose of this reading and language arts study was to determine how the use of portfolio evaluation in the curriculum of 6th grade students would effect: (1) students' correct use of grammar and mechanics in writing, (2) students' overall writing ability, (3) student attitudes towards writing, and (4) teachers' perception of portfolios. The participants were 20 students in a sixth grade middle school.
Students were administered pre- and posttests which included a writing sample and the Writer Self Perception Scale (Bottomely, Henk, & Melnick, 1998). Students were offered the chance to provide self reflection on their portfolios through the use of journals. The writing sample was analyzed for its overall writing score as well as for grammar and mechanics. The teacher was also given a pre- and posttest questionnaire and was interviewed regarding portfolios. T tests were used to evaluate the data.
The results indicated no statistically significant improvement in students' correct use of grammar and mechanics after being exposed to portfolio analysis. It was found that students' performance in overall writing did improve significantly. Results indicated no statistically significant increases in students' attitudes toward writing, however, students did produce positive feedback regarding attitude towards writing in their journals. The teacher developed a more positive attitude regarding the use of portfolios in the classroom and for instructional decision making.
The focus of this study was to examine the effect of guided Internet writing activities on students' writing. The W/IT plan (Writing using the Internet as a Tool) was a step-by-step guide with purposeful online literacy activities. Specifically, the study was designed to investigate the effect of using writing/Internet activities upon the writing of second grade children.
Two groups of second grade students were the subjects in the study. Twenty-eight students were in the control group and twenty-eight students were in the experimental group. The study coordinator administered a pre-test writing activity to all of the students (experimental and control) to obtain a writing sample. The twenty-eight students in the experimental group were required to have Internet access. The two groups were similar in that they were second grade students with Internet access.
Students in the experimental group followed a step-by-step guide (twice a week for 25 minutes or more) with a parent. The study coordinator provided the parents with the W/IT Guide. No training for parents or students was provided. This guide was used at home with a parent. This guide included Internet based writing activities, The students in the control group did not participate in the use of this guide. The control group did not receive a treatment.
The experimental group used the W/IT program from October 19 through December 13. At the conclusion of eight weeks, the study coordinator administered a post-test writing activity yielding a writing sample from all 56 students. The pre-writing and post-writing samples were analyzed using holistic scoring. This procedure yielded scores which were compared. T-tests comparing the means were conducted and it was decided if there was a significant difference. This study attempted to determine whether or not guided Internet writing activities improved students' writing ability.
Writing in physical education classes was investigated as a means of providing fifth graders with additional practice in writing. According to research, additional time spent writing in all content areas aids in the improvement of the quality of writing. This study involved 89 fifth grade subjects in four classes of a suburban school. Two classes wrote weekly at the conclusion of their physical education classes on predetermined topics that were relevant to the lesson. All classes wrote weekly in language arts classes on previously selected topics using various genre.
Data collected included inventories of interest in writing and physical education, quality of writing assessments using a six point rubric for both physical education and language arts topics, and the number of words written for each subject's writing. The ability of each subject was made available from IQ scores received on the CAT and from the written expression subtest scores. Scores of ability were correlated with the quality of writing assessments.
The results of this study indicate a high interest in physical education and a low interest in writing. The quality of writing in physical education classes was lower than the quality of writing in language arts class for all ability groups. Ability did not appear to be a factor when compared to quality of writing. Those who wrote in the physical education classes showed very little improvement in the quality of writing in language arts class. This study suggests that there is a need to investigate methods to improve the quality of student writing.
The purpose of this study was to examine the collaborative implementation of an early literacy curriculum in a full-inclusion primary grade classroom comprised of students with mild disabilities and their general education peers. The curriculum, known as the Early Literacy Project (ELP) curriculum (Englert, Garmon, Mariage, Rozendal, Tarrant, & Urba, 1995), encompassed an integrated, curricular Approach to literacy instruction guided by the enactment of literacy principles informed by sociocultural Theory (Vygotsky, 1978, Wertch, 1991).
The inclusion classroom under study was co-taught by a general education and special education teacher. The study sought to examine four questions about the process of inclusion, co-teaching, and the implementation of the ELP curriculum that addressed, (a) how the co-teachers negotiated their instructional roles in the context of full-inclusion, (b) how the co-teachers enacted the literacy principles and activities of the ELP curriculum, (c) how special education students negotiated their roles as learners in inclusion process, and (d) special education students' performance and participation in the literacy community Across the school year.
The collaborative implementation of the ELP curriculum was examined from a descriptive analytical Approach. Data sources included: (a) fieldnotes from direct observations of the classroom, (b) transcribed audio- and video-tapes of literacy activity in the classroom, (c) informal interviews and conversations with the teachers and students, (d) students' pre and post assessments in reading, (e) classroom artifacts, and (f) personal reflections recorded after classroom observations.
This study extends the research on inclusion by examining questions about the process of general and special educators' negotiation of literacy principles that informed and shaped their co-enactment of an integrated literacy curriculum designed to enhance the reading and writing performance of students with mild disabilities. Further, the study provides important implications regarding the potential for a co-teaching model to bring about important changes in the general education literacy curriculum and to help special and general education teachers begin to define what it means to teach in more inclusive ways.
Classroom response groups have been widely advocated as a method for providing students with abundant, immediate feedback to their writing in progress. Teachers have experienced continuing difficulties implementing writing response groups, however—particularly at the high school level. High school teachers who use writing response groups typically manage the groups through scripts of questions for each writer to ask the group. Sociological Theory suggests scripting writing response groupwork is a mismatch with the nature of response to writing as an “ill-structured problem”: a task for which there is no single right answer nor any single means of reaching a right answer.
This study compared scripted peer response with a role-based method. The scripted treatment entailed partial delegation of authority by the teacher and structures for producing sequential interdependence. The role-based method entailed full delegation of authority by the teacher and structures for producing reciprocal interdependence. Both treatments included features that allowed the researcher to control on elements of the treatments other than the variable of type of supervision that could be expected to produce talk within groups and subsequent achievement. Four high school teachers implemented both treatments in different classes. Throughout the study the two treatments were presented as being equally promising. The population of students experiencing the treatments was ethnically and socioeconomically diverse.
Research assistants reached 90 percent or greater reliability with the researcher before observations of ten target students in each of the eight classes that produced the dataset. These students were observed five times each, in three-minute increments, for various kinds of talk and behavior. Achievement in writing was measured through a portfolio of writing by each student, including an epistolary essay characterizing the writings. Criteria for achievement were growth, the taking of risks as a writer, range, quality of the writings, and reflection on one's own and others' writing. Portfolio scorers achieved reliability with the researcher of 94 to 96 percent. With controls for students' previous achievement and teachers' rigor of implementation of the treatments, role-based versus scripted treatment was a significant predictor of the rate of specific, actionable talk about writing and of writing achievement.
A number of recent books, articles, and nationwide assessments tell us that students are not learning history. In response, individuals and groups, from a wide variety of cultural and political perspectives have engaged in intense debates over what history should be taught. They suggest remedies that, no matter what the political or cultural perspective, tend to view the students as lacking any historical knowledge and understanding. But what seems to have gotten lost in these debates, which have centered on such issues as multiculturalism, the content of textbooks, and national standards, is the question of pedagogy--how a subject is taught and knowledge is transmitted. Thus, these debates over content have tended to ignore the recent research into reading and composition. This research finds that these are processes to which individuals bring their prior life experiences, knowledge, and beliefs. This dissertation focuses on how a pedagogy, which utilized students' prior knowledge and experiences as one starting point for instruction, impacted student learning. Were the students able to refine, revise, and add to their own views as they learned and developed historical narratives about key events, individuals, and eras in United States History? What did they learn in terms of historical thinking and understanding? To answer these questions I studied the work of a racially and ethnically diverse eleventh-grade U.S. History class and four case study students. I learned the importance of developing reading and writing strategies that provide students, as points of departure, opportunities to articulate their views and questions about U.S. History. I discuss the hard work necessary to help students, once engaged in this process, refine and revise their views as they encounter and study the varied individuals and events that make up U.S. History. In a diverse classroom, this process created moments of tension as students, in trying to explain their ideas, stated and argued different perspectives on individuals and events, both historical and contemporary. I conclude that these classroom challenges and dynamics highlight the teacher's critical role in helping students move towards the development of historical thinking skills and historical understanding.
This dissertation documents new curriculum and instructional strategies for teaching writing in a first and second grade classroom during the eight years of the Writing Box project. It is a first-person account of ongoing change as I, the teacher-researcher experienced and understood it. My descriptions of change and children's writing samples show how teaching practices and learning activities developed and evolved through incorporating writing at the core of student learning. My experiences demonstrate how substantive change can occur in elementary schools through the efforts of a teacher and students working together to create successful academic achievement. One hundred seventy-five first and second graders were given Writing Boxes to use at home and they were in a classroom that featured writing Across the curriculum. Six conclusions are drawn from their experiences. First, choice of writing materials makes a difference in how willing children are to write. Interesting, open-ended materials are prerequisites for children to write all year. Second, teachers must create many writing times throughout the day. My students wrote during regularly scheduled writing times as well as before school began, during snack and 'you-choose' time, and at recess and lunch. Third, how teachers talk with children about writing is crucial to children becoming active writers. I changed my vocabulary and Approach to emphasize that children are writers right now with ideas and pictures in their heads to communicate to others through text. Fourth, process models for teaching writing based on the experiences of adult writers must be modified to create 'a writing process fit for a child.' This child-centered Approach includes diverse ways of opening up writing, generating first drafts, revising and editing, and publishing. Fifth, writing can be integrated into the study of mathematics, science and social studies using 'I Wonder' journals, fiction-nonfiction stories, and math comics. Finally, computers and other technologies promote writing. Having more than one computer in the classroom allowed me to do more small group instruction with writing. The machines provide different ways to write and to publish while supporting children's creativity and self-expression.
Statement of the problem. Gifted programs have been a subject of controversy in this country for many years. Gifted education is not regulated by any federal mandate and is not a required service under Public Law 94-142. Consequently, the delivery model offered and the curriculum delivered to gifted students depends totally upon the philosophy of the school system in which these students are enrolled. A common misconception about gifted students is that they are automatically destined for high achievement because of their abilities and do not need special attention. These learners may need less direct instruction than other learners but the assumption can not be made that they need no explicit instruction. Educational strategies and materials of an effective intervention were investigated for use in a gifted classroom. Methods. A quasi-experimental, nonequivalent pretest- posttest control group design was used in this investigation. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of an instructional program designed to improve writing and thinking skills when used with gifted students. The independent variable in this investigation was the type of instruction given: regular, non-explicit gifted instruction for each of the three control groups and Direct Instruction for the experimental group. The dependent variables were the Test of Written Language-3 (Hammill & Larsen, 1996) and the New Jersey Test of Reasoning Skills (Shipman, 1983). Results. Statistical analysis of the data collected during this study revealed a significant improvement in the writing skills of gifted fifth graders who were instructed using a Direct Instruction program. No significant difference was found in the reasoning skills of these gifted fifth graders. However, all groups showed improvement in reasoning from pretest to posttest. Conclusions. The findings from this study suggest that there is a relationship between instruction in Reasoning and Writing, Level F (Engelmann & Grossen, 1995), and improvement in the overall writing of gifted fifth graders. Weakness in writing abilities Across exceptionalities (LD and gifted) and regular education has been well documented (Shaughnessy & Gerkey, 1986), and this study offers one solution to help alleviate this weakness.
This study explored the writing strategies and behaviors demonstrated by four third-grade learners as they composed Across Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science. Writing episodes were examined in light of the influence of models upon the student writing product. It is the case that there are distinctive patterns Across learners, yet individual differences not representative of the group exist. Instructional models found in text provided by the classroom teacher, literature sources, the environment, and other students influenced student writing. These models were imitated by students both in format and actual imitation of text. The students were more likely to imitate format of literature sources and teacher models when composing in the area of Language Arts. In the subject areas of Social Studies and Science, the students more frequently imitated the text as it appeared in source documents. Students' writing processes consisted of three universal components: planning, drafting (or transcribing), and revision. These components appeared in a recursive nature. The students often planned what would be written as they wrote. This planning took form most frequently in planning self-talk, the verbal announcement or think- aloud process of deciding what to put on paper. The greatest percentage of student writing time was spent drafting, or putting words on paper without pausing to plan or revise. This drafting behavior consisted of students imitating format or actual text. The students used the existing text to derive a new text, but this text was generally not original, nor did it synthesize the information given from sources into new configurations. Within the drafting, students attended to spelling and mechanics a small portion of the time. Attention to revision occurred less frequently. The types of revision behaviors exhibited by students varied.
The purpose of this energy unit was to teach the basic concept of energy to ninth and tenth grade general biology students. The unit addressed the general concept of energy, and compared physical and biological energy; laws of thermodynamics, energy stored in chemical bonds, and energy transfer in an ecosystem from the sun to living organisms. The unit was built around a thematic Approach to teaching science, and included several laboratory experiments and 'hands-on' activities to promote conceptual understanding of energy. The instruction sought to incorporate writing Across the curriculum and elements of the constructivist philosophy. An additional goal of the unit was to help students feel comfortable with science and scientific thinking. Student interviews, comparison of pre-test and post-test scores, evaluation of journal entries, student writing samples, exit student evaluations, and cooperative learning group reports/projects were evidence that student learning was enhanced by the pedagogic methods utilized. The students were enthusiastic learners who constructed their own knowledge of energy.
The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine and describe complex academic tasks undertaken by adolescents and the classroom conditions supporting them. The setting for this study was one southwestern university's Summer Institute for Writing and Thinking Across the Curriculum. With students and teachers working in collaboration, the Institute intended to provide high school students with opportunities to utilize the writing process as a tool for thinking and as a means to increase their writing proficiency. Teaching writing in classroom settings has been found to be particularly challenging, and further, sometimes the complexity of writing tasks have been sacrificed for the sake of maintaining classroom order. The Institute seemed a likely environment for engaging in complex cognitive processing and thus for examining complex tasks and noting the conditions that supported them. Participant observation and interviews were the data collection methods employed. Results of the study indicated that students engaged in complex cognitive processing, gained more control over their writing and thinking processes, and produced a variety of complex individual and group products. The Institute assessment, consisting of writing samples obtained on the first and last days of the three-week Institute, demonstrated growth in writing proficiency for 74% of the students. The features that supported the successful accomplishment of complex academic work included (a) well-designed, open-ended assignments that were scaffolded within and Across tasks, (b) collaboration of students and teachers in small writing groups, (c) establishment and nurturance of writing communities, (d) the sharing of leadership, (e) availability of multiple resources, (f) instructional strategies that protected a non-threatening, non-judgmental environment, and (g) instructional strategies that fostered complex thinking and problem solving. The writing community played a key role in fostering complex cognitive processing, maintaining order, and connecting students to their academic work.
A difference between Stanford Achievement Test scores achieved by eighth-grade students in science and social studies in Alabama gave rise to the question of whether science teachers were using different and more effective instructional practices than were social studies teachers, or whether they were using the same practices more effectively. Current research in language arts recommends the incorporation of writing in content areas Across the curriculum as a means for the students to learn content and for the teachers to evaluate students' mastery of content. This study focused on eighth-grade teachers to investigate their practices and beliefs regarding the use of writing in the content-areas of science and social studies, and then to compare the findings. The study surveyed all eighth-grade science and social studies in 147 public schools randomly selected Across the State of Alabama. of the 390 teachers in the selected schools, 190 returned the surveys. The instrument used Likert-type scales based either on frequency of use of given practices or degree of agreement with various belief statements. Responses were counted, percentages calculated, and contradictions or consistencies with the research review and between the two groups were noted. The data showed that a larger percentage of science teachers were implementing the recommended writing practices, assigning weekly opportunities to write for different purposes, including graded and non-graded work (logs, journals, essays, and reports). A larger percentage of science teachers also focused primarily on content in giving feedback, which also is recommended. Both groups strongly believed in the value of writing as a learning tool to help clarify content and sharpen critical thinking skills. Science teachers reported that assigning additional writing activities would not require changing their teaching practices, in contrast to social studies teachers, who reported that increased writing assignments would require them changing their teaching practices. Deterrents to using writing included: students' attitudes, lack of writing skills, insufficient time, curriculum demands, and the number of students. Motivational support for increased use of writing assignments was perceived by both groups from principals, fellow teachers, and school goals. Technical support from inservice was offered infrequently, and was seen as ineffective when offered. Both groups identified benefits from inservice that provided specific, content- related activities and opportunities for teachers to discuss successes and problem-solving strategies with associates.
The dilemma posed by technology in the classroom is that while it has created a shift in the role of the professional educator, technology itself cannot bring about this new role. Instead the teacher must be recognized as the change agent in the classroom. In an attempt to profile the prototypical teacher who becomes an early adopter of classroom innovations, this study sampled many variables that affect teachers' use of writing Across the curriculum with computers (WACC), including attitudes, concerns, personality styles, and locus of control. The subjects were 43 teachers representing a variety of content areas from two Texas districts (LaVega ISD and Houston ISD) that are partner sites with Baylor University's School of Education. Teachers completed the Computer Attitude Scale, the Daly & Miller Writing Apprehension Scale, the Stages of Concern about the Innovation Questionnaire, the Millon Index of Personality Styles, and the Teacher Locus of Control Scale. They also participated in inservices and maintained journals documenting their classroom use of WACC. At the conclusion of the 8-month study, a discriminant function analysis resulted in 100% correct classification of teachers, revealing 38 variables present in those teachers who became early adopters of WACC. Data from the study also correlate the Millon Inventory of Personality Styles with the other measures, and corroborate research regarding attitudinal change. The study also provides a model of inservice with a highly effective framework in terms of the percentage of teachers (40%) following through with implementation of the innovation in the classroom.
This study examined the implementation of an innovation called the Cumulative Writing Folder (CWF) Program. Data were gathered to identify the quality of classroom implementation by elementary, middle, and high school teachers. While resources were allocated equitably Across schools, comparative data from the three school levels indicated that the CWF Program was implemented best in the elementary schools, then the middle schools, and least well in the high schools. In addition to examining the quality of implementation by school, this study focused on the impact of specific context factors affecting the implementation success. To examine contextual differences, both individual factors and organizational factors were studied. Individual factors included the teacher's existing belief system, the perceived benefits of the innovation, and the teacher's prior experience with innovations. Organizational variables included the quality of the training, whether or not the training was voluntary or mandatory, and whether sufficient follow up occurred. Also assessed was the impact of school culture as well as the strength of administrative support, both from the building level and from the central office. In other words, the study looked at variables that had the potential to impact the implementation success either positively or negatively. Data reveal that of the two factors, individual variables are associated most frequently with having the greatest influence on implementation efforts. This finding is intriguing because it suggests that regardless of the context in which the change is attempted, individual teacher values and beliefs play a powerful role in determining whether or not the practice is institutionalized. This finding also indicates the need for staff development activities to address both content considerations, such as those related to CWF strategies, as well as those related to the human dimension, in terms of creating and nurturing the beliefs necessary to implement and sustain the new practices. As a result of the findings regarding factors influencing implementation, a model was created to assist with planning and evaluating staff development efforts. During the planning, implementation, and maintenance phases of a change process, this model will enable district staff to focus upon individual and organizational variables, which appear to be critical to innovation success.
Social reform in the 1960's initiated growth in two seemingly separate educational movements in response to dissatisfaction with the traditional positivistic education system. These two movements, writing-Across-the-curriculum (WAC) and homeschooling, share pedagogy and methodology based upon social epistemology, and they share two teaching techniques stemming from this methodology: collaboration and writing. While homeschooling was the successful method of education for centuries, the last two centuries have seen an evolution through the one-room schoolhouse to present day positivistic educational institutions. Language-centered teaching techniques have existed as long, beginning with such educators as Isocrates and continuing with such educators as Aristotle, Quintilian, Augustine, Erasmus, George Campbell, and Fred Newton Scott, and during the past two decades, WAC proponents have incorporated the use of collaboration and writing as instruments of learning in every discipline. Unfortunately, it is difficult to measure the effectiveness of these teaching techniques in existing WAC programs because of the number of variables involved. These techniques were measured in a homeschool situation, however, where the variables could be controlled. This ethnographic study, which took place during the Spring 1994 semester with three ninth-grade female students placed in a homeschool situation, used both quantitative and qualitative methods to measure the effectiveness of collaboration and writing in all disciplines. Pre-tests revealed that, at the beginning of this study, these three students performed at very different levels of ability; regardless of ability, however, each experienced dramatic increases in learning. The quantitative measures, Wechsler Individual Achievement Test and Ennis-Weir Critical Thinking Essay Test, revealed unprecedented gains in math reasoning, reading comprehension, listening comprehension, oral expression, written expression, language composite, and critical thinking skills. These pre/post-tests, triangulated with assessment of reading journals, daily journals, individual essays, collaborative essays, and video-taped sessions, produced a narrative which describes each student's characteristics, learning style and response to these learning/teaching methods. The results imply that homeschool education has been successful due to collaboration and writing. Furthermore, this study strongly suggests that collaboration and writing effect learning in all disciplines and recommends restructuring of traditional education to implement these teaching/learning techniques.
This investigation analyzes qualitatively what happened as several teachers constructed a process for implementing portfolio use and assessment in their respective disciplines. This study relies on the use of discourse analysis and other qualitative methods, as it probes the nature and process of meaning-making. The analysis focuses on conversations with teachers both on one-on-one interviews and in full group discussions. An analysis of these discussions provides a means to a deeper understanding of the process used by the teachers to discern for themselves the meaning of portfolios, especially with respect to the participants' own social, cultural and educational context. This study investigates how selected teachers from two private high schools in six different subject matter disciplines used portfolios and initiated portfolio assessment in what each considered to be a writing Across the curriculum Approach in their classes. The study also deals with the quality of 'writing to learn' and 'learning to write' that the writing Across the curriculum movement advocates. The meaning-making process of the teachers and the concerns each had about portfolio use and assessment in combination with workshop procedures, particularly small group work, are the focal points of the research. Although the author was tempted to make sweeping conclusions about how teachers use portfolios in various disciplines, it simply could not be done. Therein lies a weakness of qualitative research, and therein lies an inherent strength. Portfolio use and assessment serve rather as a means to an end. The study provides one more facet of the ongoing conversation and debate concerning teachers and their meaning-making processes in a social, cultural, and educational context.
Many educators agree that writing, used as an instructional strategy, can serve as a powerful learning process. It helps students integrate new ideas and experiences with older ones in any subject. Recently there has been increased interest in the use of writing for teaching and learning content in school subjects Across the curriculum. This study investigated the connections between writing and learning in middle school science. In particular the study focused on an investigation of the effectiveness of the use of expressive writing in the science content area both as an aid to student achievement and to the retention of learned information. The underlying premise of the study was that students would better understand content material and remember it longer if they wrote about what they were learning. Two groups of average ability eighth grade students constituted the subjects of the study. Both groups covered the same assignments and experienced the same instructional techniques during the study with one exception. The experimental group utilized expressive writing activities during the course of the instructional unit, while the control group experienced the more traditional instructional techniques devoid of expressive writing activities. Pretest and posttest scores were compared to determine the effectiveness of the expressive writing activities as a learning aid. A post-posttest was administered to determine the longer term effect of the independent variable on the retention of learned information by the students in the experimental group. During the study it became apparent that some of the students in the experimental group were beginning to use their writings to help them learn. Also, the differences between the posttest and the post-posttest means seemed to suggest that these students showed a somewhat greater retention of learned information. However, no statistically significant difference was found to exist between the two groups of students. The findings of this study show there is much to be learned about the significance of using writing as a learning enhancement. Implications for teaching and teacher training as well as recommendations for further research focusing on the collection of empirical data are included in the study.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of 46 independent variables associated with English/Language Arts curricular design upon writing achievement. This longitudinal study analyzed 775 high school students' writing samples, schoolwide essays and portfolios, collected over a three-year period. The data were submitted to stepwise multiple regression analyses. Results indicate that neither age, gender, nor ethnicity significantly affects writing achievement at high school level; socio-economic status affects the writing achievement of younger high school students more significantly than of older ones. Students' academic achievement, is a strong predictor of writing achievement. of the 46 independent variables, reading ability proved the strongest predictor of writing achievement. Though student mobility exerts moderate influence upon writing achievement, student attendance in English/Language Arts class does not. The effect of class size upon writing performance is negligible. Student attitudes toward writing are a fairly strong predictor of writing achievement; however, attitudes toward high school do not appear to influence writing performance. Teacher effect influences writing achievement more significantly when performance is measured by portfolio assessment. English/Language Arts curricular program design influences writing achievement more strongly when measured by schoolwide essays than by portfolio assessments. Implications for the teaching of writing include teaching reading in the high school English classroom, creating more opportunities for writing Across the curriculum, implementing consistent and educationally sound procedures for the review and revision of curricular program design, and improving student attitudes toward writing. Implications for future research include studying English/Language Arts programs, empirically focusing upon the interconnection of reading and writing processes, and investigating in greater depth the effects of teacher attitudes toward teaching.
Current research in English/language arts advocates the incorporation of writing in content areas Across the curriculum as a means of learning content as well as a means of evaluating content mastery. Focusing on the content area of social studies and acknowledging the importance of the text as a teaching tool, this study examined to what degree and in what manner selected social studies textbooks incorporated writing. Texts selected for the study were nationally published history textbooks which had been adopted for use in the state of Virginia at grades seven and eleven, where the teaching of United States history is mandated in Virginia. Accompanying the basal textbooks as a primary tool of instruction is the complementary teacher manual or guide. Using Britton's categories for functions of writing (i.e., Expressive, Transactional and Poetic) and Donlan's four categories of writing particular to the social studies (i.e., Reporting, Exposition, Narration and Argumentation), an analysis was made of writing assignments offered via selected social studies textbooks and their accompanying teacher manuals. Text packages selected for the study reflected those U.S. history texts adopted for use in Virginia at grades seven and eleven. The treatment of writing in the selected textbook packages was examined to determine the reflection of current research and Theory in the area of composition. Findings paralleled the national Applebee study of 1981 finding that most writing required in secondary schools was of a Transactional nature, most often requiring students to report or explain information, seldom requiring creative writing as with Narration. Moreover, examination of state and national social studies professional journals revealed relatively little support in instructing social studies educators on how to include writing in this content area.
Teachers-in-training for elementary and middle school education often exhibit high levels of anxiety and low self-confidence in teaching mathematics. The objective of this study was to design a training program that made mathematics exciting, enjoyable, and clearly understandable so that preservice teachers could communicate positive feelings about mathematics to their students. Building on extensive research regarding the different ways in which people process spatial and numeric information and the relationship between visual-spatial thinking and mathematics, a multi-modal Approach in teaching and writing Across the curriculum was created that uses pictures, numbers, and words to facilitate comprehension and retention of basic mathematical concepts. The dissertation consists of two main parts. The first part is a teacher's guide called 'Pic-Jour Math' which incorporates pictorial journal writing into its multi-modal presentation of the essential numerical equations taught at the elementary and middle school levels. The second part consists of a study of preservice teachers to test the impact of using pictures in the journal writing processes. The study compared the attitudes of teachers-in-training who used journal forms that included pictures, words and numbers versus those that used journal forms with words and numbers alone. The effect of using pictorial diagrams on math anxiety, perceived ability to teach mathematics, level of self-confidence in mathematics, ability to have a clear sense of task, to write a focused introduction, create a smooth transition of thought between steps, offer evidence to support every major point, generate a clear logical order, use a proper choice of words, express oneself succinctly, avoid repetition, convey ideas comfortably, coordinate the modes, and clarify ideas through the writing process was assessed. Results of the study indicated a marked change in attitudes when pictorial note-taking was incorporated in the journal writing process. With all forms of journal writing, math anxiety decreased and self-confidence and perceived ability to teach in math increased. With the added dimension of pictures, teachers-in-training believed that they were able to express themselves more easily, were better able to execute their task, and were more metacognitively aware.
Although only 85% of all seventh graders in Texas passed a statewide direct writing assessment (a written sample responding to a uniform prompt) in 1990 (up from 66% in 1986), no particular writing program or systematic remedy has been adopted to diminish the problem and increase the scores. In some schools, writing Across the curriculum (WAC) is one program being used which has the potential to diminish the problem. This study investigated two questions: (a) is there a relationship between WAC programs and overall improvement in student composition? and (b) what are the qualities that make a WAC program successful and long-lived? Five school districts in various areas of Texas were chosen for this study. Within each of the five districts, two middle schools of similar size and socioeconomic status were selected, one with a WAC program and the other without one. for the quantitative research 16,000 composition scores were analyzed; for the qualitative research, principals and teachers from the five WAC campuses expressed through on-site interviews their perceptions regarding the improvement of student writing. Analyses of the data yielded these results: during the 1986-1990 period, the five WAC schools increased the percentage of their passing composition scores by thirteen percent while the five nonWAC campuses increased their percentage only eight percent. Teachers in all five schools said that students improved in fluency and organization and wrote for more purposes and audiences. The consensus of those interviewed is that WAC changes teacher, student, and administrator attitudes toward writing in many positive ways. The following qualities are needed to make a WAC program successful and long-lived: committed teachers in every department; English teachers who can help with evaluation, materials, and instructional techniques; and administrators who will support WAC in planning, scheduling, and providing staff development. In summary, the date collected for the present study speaks strongly in favor of having a WAC program at the secondary level.
In the 1980's, the concept of 'Writing Across the Curriculum' began to grow in academia. As with any new educational idea or method of instruction, I feel we must test its worth before charging ahead. Logically, it makes sense that if writing, in all subject areas, develops reasoning skills, and improves thinking and problem solving, then teachers would want to use that method. If that method can not be supported, in tangible ways, as a superior method, then what reason is there to replace existing methods? The goal of this project was to develop tangible support for the concept of 'Writing Across the Curriculum.' The following paper is a discussion of an empirical study that tested whether the use of writing methods, developed in the English classroom, could be used to teach mathematics in such a way that higher scores on tests would be evident. This study involved sixth graders in a middle school setting, studying double-digit division and story problems. In addition to the author's study, other empirical studies that tested writing's use in teaching mathematics are discussed.
This research is a study of science teachers' perspectives or world views about writing in science. One aspect of the writing-Across-the-curriculum movement, writing in science, is based on the premise that writing improves learning and that writing in science provides an understanding of science as a discipline. Chapter Two reviews the writing-to-learn literature focusing specifically on studies concerning writing in science. A two-phase, qualitative research design was used to describe science teachers' perspectives about writing in science. Phase I consisted of a questionnaire distributed to middle and high school science teachers. Three types of survey questions were used to capture aspects of science teachers' perspectives--open ended, semantic differential, and Likert. Phase II involved a series of interviews with five science teachers. The interview data were analyzed and interpreted using Strauss' notion of constant comparison. Chapter Three describes the methodology used in developing the questionnaire and selecting interview participants. Chapters Four and Five contain discussions of the analysis, interpretation, and findings of the questionnaire and interview data, respectively. After the questionnaire and interview data were analyzed and interpreted independently, the findings of both data sets were synthesized. This synthesis of the data, overall conclusions of the study and implications for researchers of writing, science education researchers and practioners are included in Chapter Six. In summary, the findings of this study suggest that: (1) the way science teachers perceive their own writing is significantly different than the way they perceive their students' writing; (2) science teachers have traditional models of what teaching and evaluating writing entails; (3) a dual science curricula exists which results in dual assignments and ways of evaluating success; (4) the science teachers' view of writing Across the curriculum may be the result of beliefs about the differences in writing in science and English classrooms, what teaching and evaluating writing entails, and what they believe is important to know about science; and (5) science teachers do not perceive writing in science as a concern.
The purpose of this project is to explore the apparent absence of an application of classical rhetorical Theory in the teaching of writing to public high school students in the United States. The need for the project, the nature of the project, and the methodology employed are described. The history of classical rhetoric from its Aristotelian inception to the present day is briefly reviewed. Included in the study is a review of widely-used writing textbooks of the modern day. Two current approaches to the teaching of writing are explored. One Approach argues for process while the other argues for content. Current methods and movements are explored, including freewriting, writing Across the curriculum, computer-aided instruction, journal writing, the five-paragraph essay, and draft writing and peer review. Following the review of literature the project discusses the present need for a Theory of rhetoric that is more useful to high school students and teachers, and one that accounts in an organized way for more elements of the students' writing process. The second portion of this project is a handbook designed for high school students and teachers as a useful manual for writing in the classical tradition. The handbook includes the traditional five parts of classical rhetoric: invention, arrangement, memory, style, and written presentation. Additional chapters include a discussion of thesis, definition, credibility, and appeal. The purpose of this project is to provide students with a better means to help them learn to write for college and their careers. Writing is a complex enterprise, but it need not be so for beginning writers. Rhetoric, as taught in the classical tradition, is presented as a more complete Approach to writing than any one of the other singular approaches mentioned in this study.
The purpose of this investigation was to assess the effectiveness of staff development in the form of workshops, which presented writing Across the curriculum Theory and practice, upon the writing apprehension level and attitudes toward writing of secondary school teachers. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest, non-equivalent control group design was the procedure utilized in this study. The Daly-Miller Writing Apprehension Test and the National Council of English Opinionnaire were administered as a pretest to two groups of 15 teachers at a rural high school in North Carolina in order to test two null hypotheses dealing with teacher writing apprehension and attitudes toward writing. After one group was exposed to writing Across the curriculum Theory and practice through a series of 10 workshops, both groups were again administered the Daly-Miller Writing Apprehension Test and the NCTE Opinionnaire. An analysis of covariance was used to analyze the pretest aand posttest scores, using the pretest as a covariate. The analysis of data allowed for the rejection of the hypothesis dealing with writing apprehension. The experimental group scored significantly higher than did the control group. The other hypothesis dealing with teacher attitudes toward writing was rejected as a result of a significant statistical difference in three out of four parts of the NCTE Opinionnaire. Thus, writing Across the curriculum Theory and practice, presented in the form of workshops, appears to be an effective staff development measure in reducing teaching writing apprehension and in influencing three areas of teacher attitudes. The lessened writing apprehension and altered attitudes perhaps will allow these teachers to be more receptive to their own writing and to that of their students.
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to establish the current state of the behaviors and attitudes of the teachers of English, foreign languages, mathematics, science, and social studies toward the teaching of composition at Dunwoody High School, in anticipation of establishing a writing Across the curriculum program. Methods and procedures. The methods and procedure used consisted of giving comparable surveys to the teachers in these departments and to the students in classes selected by the teachers. The surveys asked about the purposes for writing, the nature of prewriting activities, the kind and number of writing tasks undertaken, the techniques of instruction, the system of evaluation used, and related matters. A conception of the writing instruction that went on in the classes could be inferred from the information obtained. Results. The teacher and student surveys were compared. The results showed that students generally saw less of the practices usually associated with composition instruction going on in their classes than the teachers did and that the teachers themselves saw little enough. of the seven factors studied, teachers in the all-faculty group and their students agreed that low use was made of items listed under Goals for Composing Instruction, Content, and Evaluation. Students and teachers agreed that extremely low use was made of items under Writing Tasks, Audience, and Publication and Display. Teachers saw low use, while students saw extremely low use of Writing Tasks. Conclusions. The conclusions arrived at are that both the philosophical and pedagogical areas of Dunwoody's composition programs are in need of improvement at present. Philosophically, Dunwoody teachers apparently see themselves almost exclusively as evaluators of student writing and spend very little time helping students learn to write. Pedagogically, many roads to improvement could be taken. The three most practical, manageable, and promising of success would be working harder on prewriting activities, stressing strategies of editing and revising, and providing for the publication or display of student work. These are promising, inexpensive places to begin improving. Dunwoody should adopt writing Across the curriculum as a tool to help students write better and to learn more of the subject matter about which they write.
This was an investigation to determine if significant differences exist in the instruction of editing skills for fifth grade students in schools in Pennsylvania whose school scores in editing skills as measured by the Educational Quality Assessment (EQA) are above or below their predicted band. The problem focused specifically on the question: Is there a relationship between good writing process instruction and good editing skills knowledge? EQA data was used to identify schools that had scored consistently above their predicted band in writing skills or below their predicted band in writing skills. Schools were then assigned as matched pairs according to their skill performance and demographics. To assure that demographically similar schools were matched, the scores for four variables were obtained from EQA data. The four variables were community type, parent occupation, parent education, and grade enrollment. A total of eighty schools, or forty matched pairs were used for the study. A survey that had been developed by the researcher and that was based on factors which critics in the area of writing considered to be important in the development of good writing skills was mailed to the schools identified for the study. Teachers in grades one through five in those schools were asked to complete the survey. After the surveys had been returned to the researcher, a school score for each question on the survey was computed providing a mean for each question for each school. These school scores were used to compare the schools in the above-band group with the schools in the below-band group. Since the matched pairs were of schools that were alike demographically but had scored differently on the EQA, t tests were used to compare the means computed from the survey questions. Variables used for analysis were in-service training in the writing process, conferencing, revision, audience awareness, writing Across the curriculum, teacher writing, student choice of topic, integration of reading with writing, and team writing. Analysis of the data showed that there was no significant relationship between writing process techniques and good editing skills scores.
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