Critical Thinking and Writing

Question: What is a tool to use to improve critical thinking and writing?

Answer: Rubrics. “Analyzes first-year college students’ attitudes towards the use of critical and analytic thinking criteria used in course rubrics. Students perceived more explicit, detailed criteria employed in one course to be more useful than did students in another course with fewer criteria

Comment: Rubrics, in which the teacher identifies the characteristics expected of the critical thinking/writing. RayS.

Source: Morozov, A. (2011). Student attitudes toward the assessment criteria in writing-intensive college

courses. Assessing Writing, 16(1), 6–31,

Title:  “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” Richard Beach, et al. Research in the Teaching of English (November 2011), Internet. http://www.ncte.org/journals/rte/issues/v46-2.

On-line vs. Face-to-Face Preparation for Argumentative Writing

Question: Which prepared students for argumentative writing better: on-line or face to face?

Answer: “Analyzes 48 low-income middle-school students’ development in argumentative writing over a three-year period in which students in experimental groups engaged in online dialogue debates on social issues to foster their argumentative reasoning versus a control group of students who participated in face-to-face discussion. Students in the experimental group generated higher quality post-essay argumentative writing, were more aware of evidence relevance, and posed more substantive questions than did students in the control group.”

Comment: FYI. RayS.

Source: Kuhn, D., & Crowell, A. (2011). Dialogic argumentation as a vehicle for developing young

adolescents’ thinking. Psychological Science, 22(4), 545–552.

Title:  “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” Richard Beach, et al. Research in the Teaching of English (November 2011), Internet. http://www.ncte.org/journals/rte/issues/v46-2.

Teachers' Comments on Writing

Question: What types of teachers’ comments on writing lead to improved writing?

 Answer: “Also finds that the type of comments matters; comments coded as “problem detection” and “solution suggestion” were positively correlated with posttest writing quality, as opposed to the number of praise comments and the average length of comments.”

Comment: I find this research on teachers comments on writing interesting, especially concerning praise. You have to praise, of course. But the comments that count are those that detect problems and offer solutions to the problems in writing. RayS.

 Source: Cho, K., & MacArthur, C. A. (2011). Learning by reviewing. Journal of Educational Psychology,

103(1), 73–84.

 Title:  “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” Richard Beach, et al. Research in the Teaching of English (November 2011), Internet. http://www.ncte.org/journals/rte/issues/v46-2.

College Writing Teachers on High School Writing

Question: What do college writing teachers criticize in high school writing?

Answer: “Finds that college instructors are critical of the focus on formalist writing instruction or limited composing process models at the high school level. Finds that high school instructors are often focused on preparing students for standardized composition tests.”

Comment: I am most concerned about the limited purpose for high school writing—standardized composition tests. RayS.

Source: Brockman, E., Taylor, M., Kreth, M., & Crawford, M. K. (2011). What do professors really say

about college writing? English Journal, 100(3), 75–81.

Title:  “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” Richard Beach, et al. Research in the Teaching of English (November 2011), Internet. http://www.ncte.org/journals/rte/issues/v46-2.

Pre-writing and Writing Quality

Question: What is the relationship between pre-writing and writing quality?

Answer: “Text quality was found to be related to an increase of the prewriting phase and of planning processes.”

Comment: I have noted that studies frequently relate pre-writing activities with successful writing. RayS.

Source: Beauvais, C., Olive, T., & Passerault, J. M. (2011).Why are some texts good and others not? Relationship

between text quality and management of the writing processes. Journal of Educational
Psychology, 103(2), 1–14.

Title:  “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” Richard Beach, et al. Research in the Teaching of English (November 2011), Internet. http://www.ncte.org/journals/rte/issues/v46-2.

Characteristics of Good College Writing

Question: How did college teachers of writing describe characteristics of good writing?

Answer: “When asked to identify the five most important characteristics of good writing, college instructors selected organization (66%), analysis/ideas (59%), supporting evidence (57%), synthesis (51%), and grammar/style (50%), with purpose (19%) and audience (20%) perceived as less important.

Comment: Purpose and audience might be conditions of good writing. RayS.

Source: Addisson, J., & McGee, S.J. (2010). Writing in high school/writing in college: Research trends

and future directions. College Composition and Communication, 62(1), 147–179.

Title:  “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” Richard Beach, et al. Research in the Teaching of English (November 2011), Internet. http://www.ncte.org/journals/rte/issues/v46-2.

Reading Interest at the Secondary Level

Question: How can a teacher improve secondary school reading performance?

Answer: Suggests the importance of fostering students’ interest in reading.

Comment: Sounds like a no-brainer. How does one foster secondary students’ interest in reading? Reading aloud. Skillful use of the Directed Reading Assignment, especially the introduction to reading a textbook chapter, in which the teacher builds background knowledge of the topic. Book talks on books in the teacher’s discipline. Internet sites that deal with the topic, many of which are interesting. RayS.

Source: Retelsdorf, J., Köller, O., & Möller, J. (2011). On the effects of motivation on reading performance

growth in secondary school. Learning and Instruction, 21(4), 550–559.

Title:  “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” Richard Beach, et al. Research in the Teaching of English (November 2011), Internet. http://www.ncte.org/journals/rte/issues/v46-2.