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EDU 436: Teaching Writing Across the Curriculum: Writing the Review

Directions

Research and find 3 articles about writing as a tool for learning in your specific content area.  All articles must be from academic journals (print or through the library's databases)

Once you have located three high quality articles about using writing as a tool for learning in your specific content area:

  1. Record Bibliographic information in the designated format (APA).
  2. Read each article in its entirety and make notes on it, highlighting the ideas you find to be most useful. 
  3. Be sure to look for both the theoretical underpinnings for why we use writing in the content area, as well as recommended strategies that can be used.  

Sample article (PDF)

As you 1. read this sample article, or 2. this sample article think about the inferred theoretical framework. If you follow the "bread crumb trail" of the works cited, you can figure out that the researcher was basing his/her research on other research. When you read the articles you locate for this assignment, keep that in mind; it can help you figure out when the research and theory are not explicitly spelled out in the article.

Ask yourself:

  1. What is the main point of the article?
  2. Are there any words you don't know the meaning of? (Write them down, look them up).
  3. Are there any cause/effect or other relaltionships described? If yes, what are they?
  4. What are the key ideas conveyed by the author?
  5. Are there other readings recommended by the author that you could use to help you understand the topic better?
  6. Are there other similar articles available?

More Information

  1. Write a summary of the article. At the top of each summary, write a citation for the journal article using APA format. 

  2. The summary should be three to five paragraphs, depending on the length of the article. Explain the purpose for the article, any theoretical discussion regarding writing as a tool to help students learn, and any strategies that the author recommends to engage students in meaningful writing activities.

  3.     Lastly, in two or more paragraphs, discuss any implications this article may have on your own classroom practice.  How would you use what you have learned?  (Remember, only select articles that are useful to you, or this section will be most difficult.)

Each summary should be approximately 1-1½ pages in length.  Remember, the syllabus and the LibGuide for this course recommend lots of good resources. 

SEE RUBRIC FOR SPECIFICS