Writing Journals in Courses

Writing Across the Curriculum-What's in a Name?

“…Students might be asked to prepare for each class session by writing down their thoughts or responses to the assigned reading, using these, then, as the basis for discussion the next class period (Platt 1975). Further, it is clear that learning logs or journals can be powerful diagnostic tools, for &dquo;the journal provides the instructor with a record of the student's developing understanding through a chronologically ordered record of observations about the course material&dquo; (Connelly and Irving 1976).…”