This study examines the educational and interpersonal benefits of dialogue journal writing within the Cambodian context. The research plan involved, first, a thorough survey of the literature on journal writing, which then provided the theoretical framework for the construction of hypotheses. These hypotheses asserted that dialogue journal writing brings about educational as well as interpersonal benefits. In educational terms, this task enables learners to attain proficiency in speaking, reading and writing, gain functional competence, and develop critical thinking skills. In interpersonal terms, dialogue journal writing helps in the development of the relationship between the teacher and the learner and offers a source of cultural information. The next stage involved assigning and collecting the journals and then analysing them to check for the presence of particular features which were asserted to bring about the benefits as stated in the hypotheses. The writer conducted her research with a class of Cambodian students at Phnom Penh University. Within the journals of the eighteen learners, most of these features were discovered, thus supporting the hypotheses that journal writing offers particular educational and interpersonal benefits. Where the features were absent or variant, explanations for this based on the culture of the learners, the conditions of the country during the period of the study, and the culture of the teacher were offered. Finally, the writing in the dialogue journals of the subjects provided strong evidence that dialogue journal writing offers learners a scope for genuine studentteacher communication and for personal communication and mutual understanding between each individual student and teacher.

This study investigated the effects of journal writing with or without giving feedback and grade, compared to the traditional teaching on integral achievement of students with different learning styles. In addition, students&rsquo / ideas about the journal writing activities in the mathematics classes were investigated. The study was carried out with 87 first year engineering students at Atilim University from three classes. Two groups were assigned as experimental groups (EG1 and EG2) and one group was assigned as the control group (CG). Students in all groups received the same instruction on integral. Experimental groups (EG1 and EG2) also engaged in journal writing activities besides lectures. Journal writings of the EG1 students were graded and feedback was given. Journal writings of the EG2 students, however, were not graded and feedback was not given. Two open-ended achievement tests on integral were developed. One of them was used as pre-test / the other was used as post-test. In addition, Kolb&rsquo / s Learning Style Inventory was administered as pre-test to determine the learning styles of the students. Follow-up interviews were conducted with ten students from EG1 and EG2. Additionally, v classrooms were observed during the treatment. The results of the ANCOVA suggest that neither the groups&rsquo / achievement nor the achievement of the students having different learning styles in each group differ significantly on integral. The results of the interviews, however, showed that students found journal writing activities as an effective teaching method and wanted to be engaged in the activity for the future.

A convenience sample of 123 Hispanic/Latino students from a predominantly Hispanic/Latino South Texas community college was used to determine if gender and/or journal-writing had any effects on mathematics anxiety or achievement. Eight sections of college-algebra courses were administered the Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (MARS) to determine levels of mathematics anxiety and the Texas Higher Education Assessment (THEA) to determine levels of mathematical achievement. Results of the study suggest that journal-writing decreases levels of mathematics anxiety among students. In addition, the study suggests that males and females do not differ in terms of mathematical achievement. These finding are consistent with previous studies. However, the study also suggested that males and females report the same levels of mathematics anxiety and that journal-writing does not increase mathematical achievement. This is in contrast to previous published studies.

A convenience sample of 123 Hispanic/Latino students from a predominantly Hispanic/Latino South Texas community college was used to determine if gender and/or journal-writing had any effects on mathematics anxiety or achievement. Eight sections of college-algebra courses were administered the Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (MARS) to determine levels of mathematics anxiety and the Texas Higher Education Assessment (THEA) to determine levels of mathematical achievement. Results of the study suggest that journal-writing decreases levels of mathematics anxiety among students. In addition, the study suggests that males and females do not differ in terms of mathematical achievement. These finding are consistent with previous studies. However, the study also suggested that males and females report the same levels of mathematics anxiety and that journal-writing does not increase mathematical achievement. This is in contrast to previous published studies.

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This study used explanatory mixed methods to examine the effects of two computer-based reflection writing scaffolds, question prompts and writing process display, on preservice teachers’ levels of reflection in their online reflective journal writing. The scaffolds were embedded in a system simulating the Professional Accountability Support System Using a Portal Approach (PASS-PORT). The outcome measure was the level of reflection achieved in participants’ writing. The researcher collected data at the College of Education of a major southern university in the United States. Participants were undergraduate students enrolled in a technology integration course in fall 2007. Sixty-five preservice teachers participated in quantitative phase of the study; sixteen out of the 65 preservice teachers were purposefully selected to participate in qualitative phase of the study. The majority of the preservice teachers were white females between the ages of 20-29 in their junior year. During the quantitative phase of the study, participants in control group and two treatment groups were randomly and evenly assigned to one of three different Web pages associated with their treatment conditions. The participants reflected on a critical incident that happened during their practical teaching. Two raters, blind to the participants’ treatment conditions, coded the highest level of reflection achieved in their writing samples using the reflection rubric developed by Ward and McCotter (2004). The researcher employed ANOVA to assess the group differences in the highest level of reflection reached and in the length of the reflective writing in the number of words. The alpha level was set at .05 for all analyses. During the qualitative phase, the researcher conducted open-ended interviews with the participants as a follow-up to their reflection writing. The participants’ reflection writings and interviews served as data sources. Miles and Huberman's (1994) data analysis procedures guided the qualitative data analysis. The quantitative results indicated that computer-based scaffolds significantly enhanced preservice teachers’ levels of reflection in their online journal writing. Preservice teachers who used the scaffolds wrote longer reflection than those in the control group. Correlation analysis revealed that there was a positive relationship between the level of reflection and the length of journal writing. Three overarching factors emerged from the qualitative data analysis that explained how and why the computer-based scaffolds enhanced their reflective journal writing. The factors included (a) the specific requirements conveyed in the scaffolds; (b) the structure of the scaffolds; and (c) the use of the critical incidents to anchor reflective journal writing. How to improve preservice teachers’ critical reflection capability and skills remains an actively debated topic. Recent years have witnessed an emergence of research and development in Web-based educational systems to help prepare highly qualified teacher candidates. However, the articulative/reflective attribute of meaningful learning does not seem to be evident in most of these systems. Although there is considerable research on the potential for embedding scaffolds in technology-enhanced learning environments, mechanisms intended to facilitate reflective practice in such environments also seems to be lacking. In order to help fill this gap, it is hoped that the analyses and results of the current study can be used as a building block for research on how to leverage the affordances of computer-based scaffolds to enhance preservice teachers’ reflective practice in technology-enhanced educational systems.

Background: Journal writing is often used to gauge student skills and knowledge. There is disagreement as to whether journals should be graded because students may embellish experiences or write what the instructor wants to read. If students are not engaged in honest reflection, the benefit of reflective practice is reduced. Purpose: The purpose of this correlational non-experimental study was to examine if a relationship exists between the grading of reflective journals and student honesty in reflective journal writing. Theoretical Framework: The theoretical framework for this study was based on Schӧn’s reflective practice theory. This theoretical framework is suitable as students participate in reflective journal writing learning from experience and response to the situation, scaffolding on previous knowledge with the application of new knowledge. Methods: The correlational, non-experimental study was conducted at five Midwestern U.S. pre-licensure nursing programs. Data were collected using an anonymous survey. The non-probability sampling technique was used to examine the existence of a relationship between the grading of reflective journals and student honesty in reflective journal writing. Results: Findings indicated that a significant relationship exists between the grading of reflective journals and student honesty. The relationship between reflective journal writing and embellishment was negative and non-significant. Conclusions: This study revealed that a relationship exists between graded reflective journals and study honesty in reflective journal writing. Nurse educators and policy makers need to assess the process of reflection which involves critical thinking and problem-solving instead of grading the written component; possibly, changing to a complete/incomplete grade.

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This action research study investigated the effects of using science journals to promote science writing and to investigate changes in student attitudes in a second grade inquiry-based science class. This was an action research study in which qualitative and quantitative data was collected. The data was collected using science journals, pre and post inventories, field notes, teacher observations, videotaped science inquiry lessons, and surveys. The students demonstrated a true fondness for journal writing and expressed interest in continued use. After concluding this action research study, I better understand the benefits of utilizing journal writing to enhance my teaching of the science curriculum as well as the other disciplines I facilitate.

There are two purposes to this study. The first was for me, as a teacher, to try something new in my instruction and grow from it. The second purpose of this study focused on the students. I wanted to see what level of performance in problem solving my students are at currently, and how the use of journaling and discourse affected the students' problem solving abilities. A problem-solving unit was taught heuristically in order to introduce students to the various strategies that could be used in problem solving. Math journals were also used for problem solving and reflection. Classroom discourse in discussion of problem solving situations was used as a means of identifying strategies used to solve the problem. Explanations and justifications were then used in writing and discourse to support students' solution and methods. An analytic problem-solving rubric was used to score the problems solved by the students. These scores, along with explanations and justifications, and discourse were used as data and analyzed for common themes. The results of this study demonstrate overall improvement in student performance in problem solving. Heuristic instruction the students received on strategies in problem solving helped to improve their ability to not only select an appropriate strategy, but also implement it. This unit, along with the problem solving prompts solved in the journals, helped to improve the students' performance in explanations. It was discourse combined with all the previous instruction that finally improved student performance in justification.