Review of The Search for a Common Language: Environmental Writing and Education Edited by Melody Graulich and Paul Crumbley

This edited collection grew out of a symposium held at Utah State University in Logan in 2002. According to the editors, the symposium's purpose was to "publicly explore the particular ways environmental writing educates the public through a fusion of science and literary expression." The Search for a Common Language achieves that purpose by including short prose pieces-ranging from memoirs, essays on specific locations, and scientific papers - as well as poetry on natural themes. The range of topics and genres and the inclusion of poetry provide a variety of ways to talk about the environment and reach out to different audiences to educate them about the natural world.

Improving Communication about Mathematics through Vocabulary and Writing

In this action research study, where the subjects were my 6th grade mathematics students, I investigated the impact of direct vocabulary instruction on their communication and achievement. I strategically implemented the addition of vocabulary study into each lesson over a four-month time period. The students practiced using vocabulary in verbal discussions, review activities, and in mathematical problem explanations. I discovered that a majority of students improved their overall understanding of mathematical concepts based on an analysis of the data I collected. I also found that in general, students felt that knowing the definition of mathematical words was important and that it increased their achievement when they understood the words. In addition, students were more exact in their communication after receiving vocabulary instruction. As a result of this research, I plan to continue to implement vocabulary into daily lessons and keep vocabulary and communication as a focus of my 6th grade mathematics class.

Writing in the Mathematics Classroom: Does It Have an Effect on Students’ Mathematical Reasoning?

In this action research study of my classroom of 5th grade mathematics, I investigate how to improve students’ written explanations to and reasoning of math problems. For this, I look at journal writing, dialogue, and collaborative grouping and its effects on students’ conceptual understanding of the mathematics. In particular, I look at its effects on students’ written explanations to various math problems throughout the semester. Throughout the study students worked on math problems in cooperative groups and then shared their solutions with classmates. Along with this I focus on the dialogue that occurred during these interactions and whether and how it moved students to a deeper level of conceptual understanding. Students also wrote responses about their learning in a weekly math journal. The purpose of this journal is two-fold. One is to have students write out their ideas. Second, is for me to provide the students with feedback on their responses. My research reveals that the integration of collaborative grouping, journaling, and active dialogue between students and teacher helps students develop a deeper understanding of mathematics concepts as well as an increase in their confidence as problem solvers. The use of journaling, dialogue, and collaborative grouping reveals themselves as promising learning tasks that can be integrated in a mathematics curriculum that seeks to cultivate students’ thinking and reasoning.

Journal Writing in Mathematics: Exploring the Connections between Math Journals and the Completion of Homework Assignments

In this action research study of sixth grade mathematics, I investigate how the use of written journals facilitates the learning of mathematics for my students. I explore furthermore whether or not these writing journals support students to complete their homework. My analysis reveals that while students do not access their journals daily, when students have the opportunity to write more about one specific problem--such as finding the relationship between the area of two different sized rectangles – they, are nevertheless, more likely to explain their thoughts in-depth and go beyond the traditional basic steps to arrive at a solution. This suggests the value of integrating journal writing in a math curriculum as it can facilitate classroom discussion from the students’ written work.

Writing Relevant Word Problems: Seeking to Increase Student Mathematical Achievement

In this action research study of eighth grade mathematics, I investigated my students’ use of writing and solving word problems. I collected data to determine if writing and solving word problems would have a positive effect on students’ abilities to understand and solve word problems. These word problems are grade-level appropriate and are very similar to the problems on the eighth grade online assessment of state standards. Pre- and post-test data, weekly word problems that focus on specific mathematics topics, beginning and end surveys about word problem perceptions, and a teacher journal reveal that student engagement in this weekly practice of writing and solving word problems did influence the students’ overall abilities for, achievement in and attitudes toward solving word problems. Except for some students’ perceptions, the influence was largely positive. This suggests that word problems can be a constructive feature in eighth mathematics instruction.

Why Are We Writing? This is Math Class!

In this action research study of my classroom of 8th grade mathematics, I investigated writing in the content area. I have realized how important it is for students to be able to communicate mathematical thoughts to help gain a deeper understanding of the content. As a result of this research, I plan to enforce the use of writing thoughts and ideas regarding math problems. Writers develop skills and generate new thoughts and ideas every time they sit down to write. Writing evolves and grows with ongoing practice, and that means thinking skills mature along with it. Writing is a classroom activity which offers the possibility for students to develop a deeper understanding of the mathematics they are learning. Writing encourages students to reflect on and explore their reasoning and to extend their thinking and understanding. Students are often content with manipulating symbols and doing routine math problems, without ever reaching a deep and personal understanding of the material. My goal through this project was to help students understand why they were doing certain operations to solve math problems. Writing is an essential tool for thinking and is fundamental in every class, in every subject, and on every level of thinking; skills in writing must be practiced and refined, and students must have frequent opportunities to write across the curriculum. Communication in mathematics is not a simple and unambiguous activity.

Writing for Understanding in Math Class

In this action research study of my classroom of 10th grade geometry students, I investigated how students learn to communicate mathematics in a written form. The purpose of the study is to encourage students to express their mathematical thinking clearly by developing their communication skills. I discovered that although students struggled with the writing assignments, they were more comfortable with making comments, writing questions and offering suggestions through their journal rather than vocally in class. I have utilized teaching strategies for English Language Learners, but I had never asked the students if these strategies actually improved their learning. I have high expectations, and have not changed that, but I soon learned that I did not want to start the development of students’ written communication skills by having the students write a math solution. I began having my students write after teaching them to take notes and modeling it for them. Through entries in the journals, I learned how taking notes best helped them in their pursuit of mathematical knowledge. As a result of this research, I plan to use journals more in each of my classes, not just a select class. I also better understand the importance of stressing that students take notes, showing them how to do that, and the reasons notes best help English Language Learners.

Writing in a Mathematics Classroom: A Form of Communication and Reflection

In this action research study, I investigated the use of journaling in my seventh grade mathematics classroom. I discovered that journaling can be a very rewarding and beneficial experience for me and for my students. Through journaling, my students became more adept at using correct mathematical terminology in writing and in speaking. The students also believed that they learned the content more deeply and retained it better. Additionally, implementing mathematical journals caused me to emphasize the use of correct terminology and thorough explanations of mathematical thinking in classroom discussions. As a result of this research, I plan to refine my journaling process and continue to use mathematical journals with my future classes.

Writing In Math Class? Written Communication in the Mathematics Classroom

In this action research study of my seventh grade mathematics classroom, I investigated what written communication within the mathematics classroom would look like. I increased vocabulary instruction of specific mathematical terms for my students to use in their writing. I also looked at what I would have to do differently in my teaching in order for my students to be successful in their writing. Although my students said that using writing to explain mathematics helped them to better understand the math, my research revealed that student writing did not necessarily translate to improved scores. After direct instruction and practice on math vocabulary, my students did use the vocabulary words more often in their writing; however, my students used the words more like they would in spelling sentences rather than to show what it meant and how it can be applied within their written explanation in math. In my teaching, I discovered I tried many different strategies to help my students be successful. I was very deliberate in my language and usage of vocabulary words and also in my explanations of various math concepts. As a result of this research, I plan to continue having my students use writing to communicate within the mathematics classroom. I will keep using some of the strategies I found successful. I also will be very deliberate in using vocabulary words and stress the use of vocabulary words with my students in the future.

Student Writing Performance: Identifying the Effects when Combining Planning and Revising Instructional Strategies

The purpose of the current study is to identify the impact of teaching students to revise their stories on writing production (Total Words Written; TWW), writing accuracy (Percent Correct Writing Sequences; %CWS), number of critical story elements included in stories, and quality of writing. Three third-grade and one fourth-grade student who were experiencing difficulties in the area of writing were involved in the study. The students were first taught to plan their stories using the evidence-based program, Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD), which has frequently been implemented to teach students to plan their stories. Students were then taught to revise their stories using SRSD procedures modified for instruction in revision strategies. Student progress was evaluated through a multiple-probe design across tasks and a multiple-probe design across participants, which allowed for experimental control over time and across story probes. In addition to the previously mentioned variables, student’s acceptability of the intervention and their attitudes toward writing were also assessed. Results indicated that instruction in revising increased student writing accuracy beyond the effects of instruction in planning. Additionally, although instruction in planning was shown to increase writing production, number of critical story elements, and quality of writing, instruction in revising produced additional improvement in these variables as well. Finally, results indicated that students liked the intervention and their attitudes toward writing generally increased. Implications for practice and future research directions will be discussed. Advisor: Merilee McCurdy

Impact of the Internet on Final Year Students' Research: A Case Study of Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria

The 21st century is characterized by advancements in information and communication technology (ICT), including the Internet. Final year students of Covenant University implore the use of the Internet in writing their projects. This paper examines the extent of accessibility and use of the Internet by these students and the impact the Internet has on their projects. A questionnaire was used for data collection. A total of 150 questionaires were distributed to students from each of the three colleges in the university. The results show that all respondents used the Internet for their project work. Nearly all indicated that the Internet has an impact on their projects, especially in the areas of quality of work, speed, time economy, and recency of materials. Recommendations for improvement include provision of wireless Internet access points and training and retraining of students to acquire computer and Internet search skills.

Literacy Research: Issues of Authority, Ownership, and Representation

With the “social turn” of language in the past decade within English studies, ethnographic and teacher research methods increasingly have acquired legitimacy as a means of studying student literacy. And with this legitimacy, graduate students specializing in literacy and composition studies increasingly are being encouraged to use ethnographic and teacher research methods to study student literacy within classrooms. Yet few of the narratives produced from these studies discuss the problems that frequently arise when participant observers enter the classroom. Recently, some researchers have begun to interrogate the extent to which ethnographic and teacher research methods are able to construct and disseminate knowledge in empowering ways (Anderson & Irvine, 1993; Bishop, 1993; Fine, 1994; Fleischer. 1994; McLaren, 1992). While ethnographic and teacher research methods have oftentimes been touted as being more democratic and nonhierarchical than quantitative methods—-which oftentimes erase individuals lived experiences with numbers and statistical formulas—-researchers are just beginning to probe the ways that ethnographic and teacher research models can also be silencing, unreflective, and oppressive. Those who have begun to question the ethics of conducting, writing about, and disseminating knowledge in education have coined the term “critical” research, a rather vague and loose term that proposes a position of reflexivity and self-critique for all research methods, not just ethnography or teacher research. Drawing upon theories of feminist consciousness-raising, liberatory praxis, and community-action research, theories of critical research aim to involve researchers and participants in a highly participatory framework for constructing knowledge, an inquiry that seeks to question, disrupt, or intervene in the conditions under study for some socially transformative end. While critical research methods are always contingent upon the context being studied, in general they are undergirded by principles of non-hierarchical relations, participatory collaboration, problem-posing, dialogic inquiry, and multiple and multi-voiced interpretations. In distinguishing between critical and traditional ethnographic processes, for instance, Peter McLaren says that critical ethnography asks questions such as “[u]nder what conditions and to what ends do we. as educational researchers, enter into relations of cooperation. mutuality, and reciprocity with those who we research?” (p. 78) and “what social effects do you want your evaluations and understandings to have?” (p. 83). In»the same vein, Michelle Fine suggests that critical researchers must move beyond notions of the etic/emic dichotomy of researcher positionality in order to “probe how we are in relation with the contexts we study and with our informants, understanding that we are all multiple in those relations” (p. 72). Researchers in composition and literacy stud¬ies who endorse critical research methods, then, aim to enact some sort of positive transformative change in keeping with the needs and interests of the participants with whom they work.