Students' Writings (student + writing)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Putting Rubrics to the Test: The Effect of a Model, Criteria Generation, and Rubric-Referenced Self-Assessment on Elementary School Students' Writing

EDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT: ISSUES AND PRACTICE, Issue 2 2008
Heidi L. Andrade
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of reading a model written assignment, generating a list of criteria for the assignment, and self-assessing according to a rubric, as well as gender, time spent writing, prior rubric use, and previous achievement on elementary school students' scores for a written assignment (N = 116). Participants were in grades 3 and 4. The treatment involved using a model paper to scaffold the process of generating a list of criteria for an effective story or essay, receiving a written rubric, and using the rubric to self-assess first drafts. The comparison condition involved generating a list of criteria for an effective story or essay, and reviewing first drafts. Findings include a main effect of treatment and of previous achievement on total writing scores, as well as main effects on scores for the individual criteria on the rubric. The results suggest that using a model to generate criteria for an assignment and using a rubric for self-assessment can help elementary school students produce more effective writing. [source]


Writing Across the Curriculum: A Hermeneutic Study of Students' Experiences in Writing in Food Science Education

JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE EDUCATION, Issue 2 2005
David J. Dzurec
ABSTRACT: Writing can enhance learning by helping students put words to their thinking about course material. The purposes of this study were to assess the influence of a structured academic journal writing exercise on student learning in a food science class and to examine student responses to the experience. Hermeneutics, a philosophy of science and qualitative research method, was used to analyze journal data from 48 participating students during a 2-y period and involved 3 steps: (1) describing themes taken from a global reading of student commentaries, (2) reducing or relating themes to specific, verbatim statements found in student writings, and (3) interpreting or imposing meaning on the themes and the statements (Lanigan 1988). Hermeneutic analysis showed that journal writing was difficult at first but became easier and enjoyable over time, allowed students to relate course content to other knowledge, exposed students to course material multiple times allowing for better information retention, enhanced student understanding, helped students think critically, required students to prepare for class, gave students the opportunity to express opinions, and allowed students to experience writing as enjoyable and positive. Several minor themes suggested that most students found the experience useful to their learning. Findings from this study are consistent with neuroscience and cognitive psychology theories regarding learning and the development of reasoning skills. [source]


The Effects of Differences in Point of View on the Story Production of Japanese EFL Students

FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS, Issue 2 2001
Taeko Kamimura
Japanese college EFL students wrote two narrative stories based on the same series of pictures, one in the first-person perspective and the other in the third-person perspective. The sample writings were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively in relation to the students' levels of English proficiency. The results showed that when the perspective was shifted from the first to the third person, the low-proficiency students' writings became poorer in quantity and quality, whereas the high-proficiency students' narratives exhibited no decrease in quantity and a slight decline in quality. On the other hand, when the perspective was switched from the third to the first person, the students' writings showed both quantitative and qualitative development, and this development was more clearly observed in the stories of those with high English proficiency. [source]