Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education

 

Authors

Michael Davis

Date of this Version

1984

Document Type

Article

Citation

To Improve the Academy, published by The Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network in Higher Education, volume 3, 1984.

Comments

License: CC BY-NC-ND

Abstract

A major tradition of higher education is excellence in written expression. In part, the tradition continues because many scholars are excellent writers and because writing shapes and clarifies our understanding of our own thoughts and actions. Students are urged to emulate quality writing with the expectation that quality thinking will be fostered. We do understand that the use of language is an instrument of thinking (Bruner, 1966) and that there is an interplay between writing and thinking (Vygotsky, 1962). The developmental theories of Jean Piaget (1968), Lawrence Kohlberg (1981), and William Perry (1981), suggest that the quality of writing may also be constrained by the student's level of intellectual growth, by her/his thinking ability. Scholars and teachers are searching for a clearer understanding of the interplay between intellectual growth and student writing. The four papers in this section reflect that search.

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