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PubMed2003

Sickness certificates. To write or not to write.

Sickness certificates are legal documents. General practitioners may face disciplinary proceedings, or even civil or criminal action if they issue a false, misleading or incorrect sickness certificate. Never backdate a sickness certificate. Always record the actual date that the certificate was written and the date of the consultation--even if the certificate refers to a different period of absence from work.

Australia↗
PubMed2002

The writing approaches of secondary students.

BACKGROUND: Research with college students has supported a model of writing approaches that defines the relationship between a writer and writing task along a deep and surface process continuum (Biggs, 1988). Based on that model, Lavelle (1993) developed the Inventory of Processes in College Composition which reflects students' motives and strategies as related to writing outcomes. It is also important to define the approaches of secondary students to better understand writing processes at that level, and development in written composition. AIMS: This study was designed to define the writing approaches of secondary students by factor analysing students' responses to items regarding writing beliefs and writing strategies, and to compare the secondary approaches to those of college students. A related goal was to explore the relationships of the secondary writing approaches to perceived self-regulatory efficacy for writing (Zimmerman & Bandura, 1994), writing preferences, and writing outcomes. SAMPLES: The initial, factor analytic phase involved 398 junior level high school students (11th grade) enrolled in a mandatory language arts class at each of three large Midwestern high schools (USA). Then, 49 junior level students enrolled in two language arts classes participated as subjects in the second phase. METHOD: Classroom teachers administered the Inventory of Processes in College Composition (Lavelle, 1993), which contained 72 true-or-false items regarding writing beliefs and strategies, during regular class periods. Data were factor analysed and the structure compared to that of college students. In the second phase, the new inventory, Inventory of Processes in Secondary Composition, was administered in conjunction with the Perceived Self-Regulatory Efficacy for Writing Inventory (Zimmerman & Bandura, 1994), and a writing preferences survey. A writing sample and grade in Language Arts classes were obtained and served as outcome variables. RESULTS: The factor structure of secondary writing reflected three process dimensions. The first factor, Elaborative-Expressive, describes a writing strategy based on personal investment and audience concern. The second factor, Planful-Procedural, denotes sticking to a plan, following the rules, and 'preparing' for writing. Achieving-Competitive, the third factor, reflects a 'teacher pleasing' strategy or doing only what needs to be done to get a good grade. Two factors from the college model, Elaborative and Procedural, were replicated, and two were not, Reflective-Revision and Low Self-Efficacy. Regression analyses supported that the processes in writing under a timed condition are different from those used when writing over time, and that students' perceptions of writing self-regulatory efficacy were predictive of writing success under both conditions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Writing ourselves: creating knowledge in a postmodern world.

In an attempt to encourage nurses and academics to write, there have been some recent journal papers that outline rules and guidelines for successful publication. This paper attempts to tackle the 'why' of writing rather than the 'how', and argues that writing is more than merely the representation of speech. Rather, writing is a creative act in which knowledge is produced as part of the process of writing itself, and at this level we might talk not merely of writing, but of writing. It is further argued that whereas the verb 'to write' always has an object (we write a book or an essay), the verb 'to write' is intransitive; it has no object. We do not write a paper, we merely write. We might, of course, choose to publish our writing, but it is done as an afterthought; we write for discovery, not for presentation. The act of writing is then compared to the act of teaching, and it is concluded that in order to teach, we must also write. Finally, this paper is offered as an example of writing (not an exemplar--there are as many ways to write as there are writers), and attempts to pull together material from a variety of sources including sociology, psychology, philosophy and literature as an act of discovery, of creating what I know about writing as I write.

Education, Nursing, Continuing↗
PubMed1996

How to incorporate and evaluate writing skills in animal science and dairy science courses.

For more than a century, teachers in all content areas have expressed concern about the writing skills of their students. Historically, the burden for teaching writing has fallen to English teachers, many of whom feel inadequately trained in rhetoric. Recently, faculty in many content areas, encouraged by the theories of composition specialists such as Stephen Tchudi, James Britton, Donald Murray, Ken McCrorie, and others, have begun to incorporate more writing into their disciplines, and today on many college campuses administrators strongly encourage and support training in writing across the curriculum. However, faculty in content areas other than English often feel they do not have the time or the knowledge to stress writing in their classroom. Current research in teaching writing effectively addresses both these issues. First, faculty in the college of agriculture can eliminate their students' resistance to writing by modeling and by consistently integrating writing into the course. Research suggests that content-area teachers may be more qualified than anyone to evaluate the effectiveness of their students' writing. The content-area teacher understands the material and can best determine how clearly the student has communicated an idea. Evaluating students' writing need not be overwhelming. Content-area teachers who are committed to incorporating more writing into their classes can use a variety of approaches in assessing their students' writing, many of which require limited grading. Furthermore, content-area teachers should remember that writing is as much a process as it is a product and daily writing exercises, which are generally short and often ungraded, can be integrated routinely into the curriculum without placing an unreasonable strain on the professor's time. A benefit to using daily writing is that it can help students master content as well as communicate effectively. After the content-area professor has developed a practice of using daily writing, he/she can then generate assignments that focus on the discipline. Assignments should be content-specific and authentic. This means the writing topics come from the discipline and the documents written mirror those students will read and write in their professions. Ultimately, the task of teaching students to communicate effectively must be shared by teachers across the curriculum.

Animal Husbandry↗
PubMed2004

Predictors of writing competence in 4- to 7-year-old children.

BACKGROUND: This longitudinal study sought to improve understanding of the factors at home and school that influence children's attainment and progress in writing between the ages of 4 and 7 years. AIMS: (i) To investigate the relationship between home variables and writing development in preschool children; (ii) to determine associations between child characteristics and writing development (iii) to conduct an analysis of the areas of continuity and discontinuity between variables at home and at school, and influences on subsequent writing development. SAMPLE: Sixty children attending four urban primary schools participated in this study. METHOD: Semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, observation schedules and standardized assessments were used. Writing samples were collected each term. Associations between measures and continuity over time were assessed using multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: Preschool variables that were found to be significantly associated with writing proficiency at school entry included mother's educational level, family size, parental assessment of writing and a measure of home writing. Child characteristics, skills and competencies were measured at school entry and those found to be significantly associated with writing at 7 years included season of birth, vocabulary score, pre-reading skills, handwriting and proficiency in writing name. The only preschool variable that maintained its significant relationship to writing at 7 years was home writing. Teacher assessments of pupil attitudes to writing were consistently found to be significantly associated with writing competence. CONCLUSIONS: This comprehensive study explored the complex interaction of cognitive, affective and contextual processes involved in learning to write, and identified specific features of successful writers. Results are discussed in relation to educational policy and practice issues.

Child↗
PubMed2001

Chinese writing function in patients with left versus right putaminal hemorrhage.

This study was designed to explore the Chinese writing function of patients with subcortical stroke. Two cohorts of patient subjects with either the left or the right subcortical strokes, mainly putaminal hemorrhagic strokes, and one group of normal controls participated in the study. All participants received a writing test battery including the three aspects of writing function, that is, Spontaneous Writing, Writing to Dictation, and Writing from Copy, as well as a battery of non-writing linguistic tests. Comparing with normal controls revealed that writing function change occurred in both patient groups. The deficits in the patients with the left subcortical stroke essentially included Spontaneous Writing, and Writing to Dictation. These impairments were most likely secondary to aphasic disorders. The writing problem, mainly Writing from Copy, was noted in the patients with the right subcortical stroke. This deficit, however, was independent of the core linguistic impairment. On the basis of the results, we suggest that the lesion involving white matter in the left hemisphere probably interrupts left perisylvian cortical language organization in a manner that produces problems with spontaneous writing and writing to dictation, which are language-related, associated with lesion in the dominant hemisphere. This further suggests that left or right subcortical lesions in the putamen and surrounding white matter are associated with differential effects (language vs. non-language based effects) which are similar to such differences observed with left vs. right cortical lesions.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

An academic writing needs assessment of English-as-a-second-language clinical investigators.

INTRODUCTION: Academic writing for publication is competitive and demanding for researchers. For the novice English-as-a-second-language (ESL) researcher, the pressure to publish compounds the difficulties of mastering the English language. Very few studies have used ESL graduate and post-graduate students as academic writing research subjects. The purpose of this project was to assess the learning needs of ESL clinical investigators regarding academic writing for English scholarly publication. METHOD: A qualitative evaluation approach was used to examine the gap between the current and desired proficiency level for the academic writing of ESL clinical investigators. We considered the perspectives of seven ESL clinical investigators plus three mentors and three writing instructors. Semi-structured questions were asked. Field notes were organized using a field-work recording system. They were analyzed using the constant comparative method. RESULTS: ESL clinical investigators do not accurately perceive their writing deficiencies. They have little knowledge of criteria for academic writing and they are influenced by their prior English learning experiences in their home culture, which engender passive attitudes toward seeking appropriate writing resources. Adequate time is especially needed to develop successful writing skills. DISCUSSION: Four basic steps are recommended to guide program planners in developing ESL writing activities for professional learning: (1) recognize discrepancies, (2) establish clear standards and performance criteria for scholarly writing, (3) develop individual plans, and (4) organize long-term writing assistance.

Education, Medical, Continuing↗
PubMed1999

Grade Level and Gender Differences in the Writing Self-Beliefs of Middle School Students.

The objectives of this study were to determine whether middle school students' writing self-efficacy beliefs make an independent contribution to the prediction of their writing competence and to explore grade level and gender differences in writing self-beliefs (N = 742). Writing self-efficacy was the only motivation construct to predict writing competence in a model that included writing self-concept, writing apprehension, perceived value of writing, self-efficacy for self-regulation, previous writing achievement, gender, and grade level. Girls were more competent writers than were boys, but there were no gender differences in writing self-efficacy beliefs. However, when students were asked whether they were better writers than their peers, girls expressed that they were better writers than were other boys or girls in their class or in their school to a greater degree than did the boys. These findings suggest that girls and boys may use a different metric when responding to traditional self-efficacy scales. Students in Grade 6 reported higher self-efficacy and found writing more valuable than did their older peers, and students in Grade 7 reported lower writing self-beliefs than did students in Grades 6 or 8. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

How is emergent writing based on drawing? Analyses of children's products and their sorting by children and mothers.

Writing and drawing produced by children 28-53 months old were compared. Israeli and Dutch preschoolers were asked to draw and write, to classify their products as drawing and writing, and to decide what they had drawn or written. Israeli and Dutch mothers classified the products. Scores on a scale for writing composed of graphic, "writing-like," and symbolic schemes showed improvement with age. Recognition of drawings as drawings preceded recognition of writings as writings. Scores on writing and drawing were substantially correlated, even with age partialed out, suggesting (a) that when children start drawing objects referentially, they write by drawing "print" and (b) that progress in object drawing involves progress in drawing print, so that their writing becomes more writing-like. Children unable to communicate meaning by writing spontaneously resort to drawing-like devices, indicating the primacy of drawing as a representational-communicative system.

Art↗