Word processing and writing: effects of the Macintosh on the drafting and revising of technical writing assignments

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Friedlander ◽  
M.H. Markel
Keyword(s):  
Word Processing ◽  
Technical Writing ◽  
Writing Assignments

Models and the Teaching of Technical Writing

1989 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Warren W. Werner
Keyword(s):  
Technical Writing ◽  
Writing Assignments ◽  
Linguistic Experience ◽  
Writing Students

Technical writing students often misuse models given them for their writing assignments because they fail to distinguish between model and example and between different kinds of models. The results of this misuse are texts that contain inappropriate material and are unfit for their intended audiences. The approach to writing taken by these students is too narrow and rigid. This article details the problem and defines the models used in writing as partially abstract, analogous representations of social codifications of linguistic experience. Since models are social artifacts shared by both writers and readers, a clearer understanding of them should help writers produce texts appropriate for their audiences while giving the writers greater rhetorical flexibility.

The Word Processor as an Instructional Tool: A Meta-Analysis of Word Processing in Writing Instruction

1993 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert L. Bangert-Drowns
Keyword(s):  
Writing Instruction ◽  
Word Processing ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Word Processor ◽  
Instructional Tool ◽  
Writing Assignments ◽  
Educational Benefits ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Metacognitive Prompts ◽  
Attitudes Toward Writing

Word processing in writing instruction may provide lasting educational benefits to users because it encourages a fluid conceptualization of text and frees the writer from mechanical concerns. This meta-analysis reviews 32 studies that compared two groups of students receiving identical writing instruction but allowed only one group to use word processing for writing assignments. Word processing groups, especially weaker writers, improved the quality of their writing. Word processing students wrote longer documents but did not have more positive attitudes toward writing. More effective uses of word processing as an instructional tool might include adapting instruction to software strengths and adding metacognitive prompts to the writing program.

Assignments with the Computer

1986 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-247
Author(s):  
William Dennis Horn
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Text Analysis ◽  
Word Processing ◽  
Technical Writing ◽  
Writing Classroom ◽  
Job Market ◽  
Computerized Instruction ◽  
Technical Writers ◽  
The Way

The current job market favors young technical writers who are skilled in the way of the computer both as a subject of writing and as a production tool. In the technical writing classroom students can be exposed to this important technology through assignments that include computerized instruction, word processing, text analysis, artificial intelligence, and communications.

scholarly journals (139) Enhancing Professional Development of Graduate Students through a Scientific Writing Course

HortScience ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 1043B-1043
Author(s):  
Kent D. Kobayashi
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Graduate Students ◽  
Graduate Program ◽  
Technical Writing ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Scientific Paper ◽  
Scientific Writing ◽  
Student Survey ◽  
Master's Students ◽  
Writing Assignments

How do we enhance the learning experience of graduate students in scientific writing, an essential skill in their professional development? A graduate course TPSS 711 “Scientific Writing for Graduate Students” was developed to address this need. Its objectives were to help students write, analyze, and revise parts of a scientific paper; critically evaluate their own writing and the writings of others; and become familiar with types of publications. The diverse topics included purpose of scientific writing; organizing your writing; parts of a scientific paper; data analysis and growth analysis; writing the content of a poster or oral presentation; newspaper articles and popular works; extension publications; technical writing for the general public; thesis/dissertation writing; a journal editor's perspective; and reviewing a manuscript. TPSS 711 had an enrollment of 11 TPSS master's students. Students were in their second through fifth semesters of their graduate program. A student survey showed no student had submitted a manuscript to a peer-reviewed journal, had a peer-reviewed article published, or had a newspaper, trade magazine, or popular work published. Only 9% of the students had a paper published in a conference proceedings or presented a scientific paper outside Hawaii, with only 18% having presented a paper in Hawaii. Writing assignments, in-class activities, and evaluations of the writings of others helped students gain intensive hands-on experience in scientific writing. As a course requirement, students submitted an abstract and presented a paper at our college's annual scientific symposium. Course evaluations indicated this course was important and valuable in helping enhance the students' learning experience.

scholarly journals Format of Instructor Feedback on Student Writing Assignments Affects Feedback Quality and Student Performance

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
William F. Johnson ◽  
Mark A. Stellmack ◽  
Abigail L. Barthel
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Student Attitudes ◽  
Word Processing ◽  
Methods Course ◽  
Student Writing ◽  
Writing Assignments ◽  
Microsoft Word ◽  
Electronic Feedback ◽  
Writing Students

Electronic feedback given via word-processing software (e.g., track changes in Microsoft Word) allows for a simple way to provide feedback to students during the drafting process. Research has mostly focused on student attitudes toward electronic feedback, with little investigation of how feedback format might affect the quality of instructor comments. In this study, we experimentally manipulated the feedback format, either electronic or handwritten, used by instructors grading papers in an introductory research methods course. Among the effects observed, instructors using electronic feedback provided longer comments, were less likely to rewrite student passages and were more likely to offer general observations about the writing. Students whose papers were graded using electronic feedback also showed greater improvement on subsequent drafts.

Laboratory Notebooks: Current Teaching Applications

1982 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-217
Author(s):  
Anne Eisenberg
Keyword(s):  
Technical Writing ◽  
Federal Regulations ◽  
Laboratory Notebook ◽  
Writing Assignments ◽  
Record Keeping ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Patent Applications

The laboratory notebook, traditionally a primary document in patent applications, has recently developed additional importance in the wake of federal regulations designed to insure more stringent record-keeping in the testing of drugs. Compression of procedural detail in published reports to save journal space has also changed the function of the laboratory notebook, which now serves as a receptacle for detailed information omitted from published accounts. These recent developments in laboratory notebooks are discussed with application to possible technical writing assignments.

scholarly journals Abstract Analysis and Revision Assignment Using MS Word Readability Statistics

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Dyke Ford
Keyword(s):  
Technical Writing ◽  
Graduate Level ◽  
Research Skills ◽  
Writing Assignments ◽  
Sentence Level ◽  
Students First ◽  
Writing Assignment ◽  
Stem Students ◽  
Level I ◽  
Audience Awareness

In teaching technical writing for nearly 20 years, I have recognized the importance of including writing assignments focused on improving students' clarity and effectiveness at the sentence level. I present a writing assignment for STEM students ranging from freshman to graduate-level. Students first find a published abstract in their discipline and then use readability tools to analyze the abstract's style. They revise the abstract for better readability while maintaining professional tone. This assignment reinforces research skills, audience awareness, and reflection on sentence-level stylistic choices.

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