scholarly journals Mini-essays: Using Writing for Fun and Creativity

HortScience ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 432F-433
Author(s):  
N.K. Lownds
Keyword(s):  
Communication Skills ◽  
Real World ◽  
Fourth Graders ◽  
Ornamental Plant ◽  
Written Communication ◽  
Plant Identification ◽  
Writing Assignments ◽  
Student Responses ◽  
Writing Students ◽  
Good Writing

Good written communication skills are essential for the success of our graduates. To promote good writing, students in Ornamental Plant Identification classes have been required to write mini-essays, one-page responses to real-world scenarios. Student's responses have been good and their writing has been very acceptable. The mini-essays were, however, just assignments to complete. In an attempt to get students truly involved and passionate about their writing, assignments were designed to illicit creative, fun responses. Students were asked to explain concepts to fourth graders. This brought responses that ranged from exercises where kids were to stick out their tongues to imitate humming birds, to a short play demonstrating the importance of plant nomenclature. Another assignment asked students to complete a story about the famous detective, Hortus paradoxa. Student responses were incredibly creative, and some of the best writing I have ever seen. In addition, students had fun. It seems clear that, if students know that it is OK to be creative, they will greatly exceed your expectations. Just be prepared to have lots of fun while learning. Samples of the assignments, responses, and what is next will be presented.

scholarly journals SOME FEATURES OF THE SOCRATIC METHOD APPLICATION TO TEACHING LEGAL ENGLISH REASONING WRITING TO LAW STUDENTS

2017 ◽  
pp. 44-48
Author(s):  
Inna Zaiarna
Keyword(s):  
Communication Skills ◽  
Legal Reasoning ◽  
Law Students ◽  
Teaching Tool ◽  
Socratic Method ◽  
Thought Processes ◽  
Law Schools ◽  
Writing Assignments ◽  
Models Of Teaching ◽  
Good Writing

Background: Although the Socratic method, in some form or another, has been the dominant teaching tool for teaching legal reasoning and analysis in most U.S. law schools, it is not generally thought of as a tool for the teaching legal English reasoning writing to Ukrainian law students, and relatively little has been written about its use in that context. Purpose: The purpose of the analysis is to determine some features of the Socratic Method application to teaching Legal English reasoning writing to law students. Results: Good writing results from good thinking. It makes sense, then, that tools used to teach good thinking should be combined with tools used to teach good writing when law students are learning how to conduct written legal analysis.Socratic Method is the style of teaching through cases and questions. The professor never explains anything, but instead challenges the student’s explanation by questioning the student. If the professor is doing his job well, the questions will further and further refine the student’s thinking, exploring nuances that the student didn’t initially realize existed. Integrating Socratic Method with the writing process can make the process of teaching legal English reasoning writing the most effective while combines training of both analytical and written communication skills. The teacher can first follow writ­ing process principles and require the students to complete their writing assignments in a series of focused drafts. Next, the teacher can intervene in the students’ thought processes by responding to early drafts with Socratic questions that prompt the students to formulate their thoughts precisely. Discussion: This study reveals some features of the Socratic Method application to teaching Legal English reasoning writing to law students and creates the necessary background for further research, particularly in terms of developing new models of teaching legal English reasoning writing to law students.

scholarly journals The Use Of Article Summaries In Accounting Courses: Improving Students Reading Comprehension, Learning, Thinking, And Communication Skills

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 595-608
Author(s):  
Edwin R. Etter ◽  
Barbara W. Ross
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Active Learning ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Written Communication ◽  
Writing Assignments ◽  
Accounting Courses

This paper describes the use of article summaries in accounting courses. Article summaries promote active learning. They assist students in improving their reading comprehension, learning, thinking, and written communication skills. We provide a template for the writing assignments, a grading rubric, and a list of accounting related periodicals for various accounting courses. We also suggest strategies for administering and grading the assignments to minimize the workload for instructors.

Addressing the Content Vocabulary With Core: Theory and Practice for Nonliterate or Emerging Literate Students

2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 74-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debbie Witkowski ◽  
Bruce Baker
Keyword(s):  
Communication Skills ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Written Communication ◽  
Academic Tasks ◽  
Meaningful Participation ◽  
Core Theory ◽  
Communication Needs ◽  
Core Vocabulary ◽  
Personal Success

Abstract In the early elementary grades, the primary emphasis is on developing skills crucial to future academic and personal success—specifically oral and written communication skills. These skills are vital to student success as well as to meaningful participation in the classroom and interaction with peers. Children with complex communication needs (CCN) may require the use of high-performance speech generating devices (SGDs). The challenges for these students are further complicated by the task of learning language at a time when they are expected to apply their linguistic skills to academic tasks. However, by focusing on core vocabulary as a primary vehicle for instruction, educators can equip students who use SGDs to develop language skills and be competitive in the classroom. In this article, we will define core vocabulary and provide theoretical and practical insights into integrating it into the classroom routine for developing oral and written communication skills.

scholarly journals Leveraging Final Degree Projects for Open Source Software Contributions

Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1181
Author(s):  
Juanan Pereira
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Software Engineering ◽  
Computer Science ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Real World ◽  
Practical Experience ◽  
Multiple Challenges ◽  
Final Degree

(1) Background: final year students of computer science engineering degrees must carry out a final degree project (FDP) in order to graduate. Students’ contributions to improve open source software (OSS) through FDPs can offer multiple benefits and challenges, both for the students, the instructors and for the project itself. This work reports on a practical experience developed by four students contributing to mature OSS projects during their FDPs, detailing how they addressed the multiple challenges involved, both from the students and teachers perspective. (2) Methods: we followed the work of four students contributing to two established OSS projects for two academic years and analyzed their work on GitHub and their responses to a survey. (3) Results: we obtained a set of specific recommendations for future practitioners and detailed a list of benefits achieved by steering FDP towards OSS contributions, for students, teachers and the OSS projects. (4) Conclusion: we find out that FDPs oriented towards enhancing OSS projects can introduce students into real-world, practical examples of software engineering principles, give them a boost in their confidence about their technical and communication skills and help them build a portfolio of contributions to daily used worldwide open source applications.

Tools for Analysis: Journals and Writing Skills

1986 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. 10-11
Author(s):  
David M. Brodsky ◽  
Eileen M. Meagher
Keyword(s):  
High Schools ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Student Writing ◽  
English Department ◽  
Written Communication ◽  
Student Journals

Instructors directly responsible for improving student writing skills rely on many techniques, among them student journals, to help their charges master the rudiments of written communication. Instructors in such disciplines as political science, however, may exclude the development of written communication skills from the objectives they hope students achieve. Instead they regularly bemoan their students inability to put together two or three readily understandable sentences on any topic of concern, simultaneously condemning the high schools or English department for failing to teach students how to write.

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