The non-traditional female student: A candidate for the CAI composition course

Non-traditional students are coming to or returning to institutions of higher learning in increasingly larger numbers, and, therefore, their presence in freshman composition classes will increase, and their needs must be addressed by their instructors. These students benefit from a collaborative pedagogy and a student-centered approach to the classroom. The Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) classroom fosters a collaborative environment and allows students to take more control of their learning than in a traditional lecture classroom. The CAI classroom can focus on the process of writing and facilitates the student's need to learn to communicate in and navigate through an electronic environment. These students and all students will benefit from learning to analyze and judge what is good communication in electronic environments. The CAI composition classroom is where they are best able to hone these abilities.