Workshop: Learning to write and the role of learner characteristics

1. Workshop: Learning to write and the role of learner characteristics Martine Braaksma* University of Amsterdam *In cooperation with Gert Rijlaarsdam & Huubvan den Bergh

2. Program • Introduction • Main points lecture • Examples of measuring learning characteristics • Analyzing interaction effects • Designing own experiments • Discussion

3. Main points lecture • Most experimental studies focus on main effects • They assume that effective interventions are valid for whole groups of participants, irrespective of differences in learners’ initial skills, knowledge, aptitudes, attitudes and beliefs • Interactions between learner characteristics and interventions remain hidden

4. Different kind of interactions • Learning condition • Learner characteristics • Learning phase • Grouping of learners • Learning aim

5. Example: Learning conditions, learner characteristics, and learning aim • Experimental design: 01 X O2 • Learning conditions (X): • Planning condition • Revising condition • Learner characteristics (O1): • Writing strategy • Learning aim (O2): • Learning to write: writing skill • Writing to learn: literary interpretation skill Kieft et al, 2007, 2008

6. Learning conditions: Planning or revising • Course on learning to write complete and convincing argumentative texts about short literary stories in two conditions • Planning or revising condition

7. Intervention in two conditions

8. Learner characteristics • Writing strategy (planning or revising): writing process questionnaire • Mixed strategies possible, it’s about preference • Revising strategy preference • Thinking through the act of writing • Producing free (pieces of) texts, drafts, and then reprocess, revise, rewrite, select etc. • Planning strategy preference • First planning, notes, schemes etc., then write • Little revision on line, when writing

9. Sculptors (revising) Engineers (planning)

10. Learning aims • Learning to interpret literary stories by writing about such stories • Learning to write argumentative texts (stand point, argumentation) • Students wrote as post-test an essay: • ‘‘You are about to read a short story. Write a text about the story of at least 250 words, in which you tell a classmate what the story is about, and what your opinion about the story is.’’ • Essays are rated on two different aspects • Learning to write: writing skill (rhetorical attractiveness, quality of argumentation) • Writing to learn: literary interpretation skill (quality of literary interpretation; understanding of the story)

11. ResultsAim: Learning to write Writing to learn to improve text quality

12. Revising style: planning condition

13. NON-Planning style: revising condition Planning style: planning condition

14. ResultsAim: Writing to Learn Writing to understand a literary text

15. Revisingstyle: Revisingcondition

16. Planning style: planning condition

17. SO? When improving writing skills • If writing approach is outspoken? • Best learning via PLANNING condition n • If writing approach is definitely not outspoken? • Best learning via EXPLORING / REVISING condition

18. SO? Whenimproving content learning

19. In sum • Be aware of the effects of learner characteristics when: • Designing writing interventions (effects of conditions and instructional aims) • Designing and analyzing (quasi) experiments in writing

20. Measuring learner characteristics • Same as dependent variable (so target skill or learning aim, e.g., writing skill, domain knowledge, motivation) • Different as dependent variable (e.g., aptitude, motivation) • Used in previous studies: self-efficacy for writing, writing strategies, writing skill, aptitude, self-monitoring

21. Examples and hands on • Self-efficacy for writing • Writing strategy • Self-monitoring • Complete the writing strategy questionnaire and perform the self test. Surprised? • Time left? Complete the self-monitoring questionnaire. Surprised?

22. Analyzing interaction effects in SPSS • Preparing the data set • Performing mixed models analysis • Performing regression analysis • Performing correlational analysis • Interpretating the output

23. Designing own experiments • In pairs: think and talk about opportunities in your own research project to study interaction effects: • Possible? • Which learner characteristics? • Which measurement instruments? • Expectations?

24. Discussion of findings and workshop

25. More information: Slides and workshop materials at: http://www.rtle.nl/Conferences.html Publications at: http://www.ilo.uva.nl/homepages/martine Email: braaksma@uva.nl Thank you for your attention!