| 1. |
- Van den Bergh, Don, et al.
(författare)
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How prior information from national assessments can be used when designing experimental studies without a control group
- 2023
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Ingår i: The Journal of Writing Research. - : ARLE. - 2030-1006 .- 2294-3307. ; 14:vol. 14 issue 3, s. 447-469
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- National assessments yield a description of the proficiency level in a domain while accounting for differences between tasks. For instance, in writing assessments the level of proficiency is typically evaluated with a variety of topics and multiple tasks. This enables generalizations from specific tasks to a domain. In (quasi-)experimental research, however, writing skills are often evaluated with a single task. Yet, conclusions about the effectiveness of the treatment are formulated on the level of the domain, which is, euphemistically put, quite a stretch. Although conclusions drawn about the effect of the treatment are specific to the task administered, they are often generalized to the domain without any form of reservation. This raises the question whether we can use the results of national assessments about differences between tasks in the analyses of experimental studies. In this paper, we demonstrate how the information of a baseline data set can be used as a kind of control condition in the analysis of an experimental study.
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| 2. |
- Rietdijk, Saskia, et al.
(författare)
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Improving writing in primary schools through a comprehensive writing program
- 2017
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Ingår i: The Journal of Writing Research. - : Universiteit Antwerpen. - 2030-1006 .- 2294-3307. ; 9:2, s. 173-225
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study examined the effects of an innovative comprehensive writing program in upper primary education on students' writing performance and on teachers' classroom practices, beliefs and skills. The program focused on the communicative nature of writing, on writing as a process, and on explicit teaching of five genre-specific writing strategies. It was implemented by 43 teachers in their regular classrooms (Grades 4 to 6, N = 1052), with three conditions: (1) a writing program condition, (2) the same program complemented by professional development sessions and coaching, and (3) a control condition in which teachers taught their usual writing lessons. Students' writing performance was measured three times with multiple writing tasks. Data on teachers' practices, beliefs and skills were collected through lesson observations, interviews, questionnaires, teacher logs, and a text assessment task. The comprehensive writing program had a beneficial effect on students' writing performance and the extent to which teachers taught writing strategies. The complementary professional development and coaching had a direct effect on the number of lessons implemented, and an indirect effect on students' performance. Overall, the innovation proved to be effective for improving students' writing performance in the upper grades of primary schools.
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| 3. |
- Rietdijk, Saskia, et al.
(författare)
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Teaching Writing in Primary Education : Classroom Practice, Time, Teachers' Beliefs and Skills
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Educational Psychology. - : American Psychological Association (APA). - 0022-0663 .- 1939-2176. ; 110:5, s. 640-663
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this study was to provide insight into the current practice of writing instruction in Dutch primary education, as a stepping stone for designing and implementing sustainable innovations that could satisfy both practitioners and policymakers. We investigated the extent to which three domain-specific approaches-communicative writing, process writing, and writing strategy instruction-and general features of high-quality instruction were implemented in writing lessons in the upper grades of primary schools. We also examined the learning time for writing, teachers' views on writing and writing instruction, how efficacious they feel about teaching writing, and how skilled they are in the writing instruction domain. Lastly, we explored relations between classroom practices, learning time, and teachers' beliefs and skills through correlation analysis, to identify potential aids and constraints to guide innovations in writing education. Participants were 61 teachers of 45 primary schools in the Netherlands. Data were collected through questionnaires, stimulated recall interviews and over 100 lesson observations. Results indicated that the three domain-specific approaches for writing instruction were insufficiently implemented in Dutch classrooms, as were differentiating and the teaching of learning strategies. The allocated learning time was also insufficient, but the realized learning time and the extent to which teachers promoted active learning were satisfactory, providing a strong basis for curricular improvement. Several relations were found between teachers' classroom practices, learning time, and teachers' beliefs and skills in the domain of writing instruction. Finally, we discuss options for sustainable innovations of writing instruction in this national context.
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| 4. |
- Van Steendam, Elke, et al.
(författare)
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How students perform synthesis tasks : an empirical study into dynamic process configurations
- 2022
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Ingår i: Journal of Educational Psychology. - : American Psychological Association (APA). - 0022-0663 .- 1939-2176. ; 114:8, s. 1773-1800
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this study we examine process configurations in synthesis tasks. We study whether these configurations are students traits or vary within students per task. In a national survey with a representative sample of 658 Dutch upper-secondary school students, we collected writing tasks, registered students’ writing behaviors (via keylogging) and their task perceptions and assessed the quality of their texts. Each participant completed two informative and two argumentative synthesis tasks. Writing process configurations were based on a preselected set of writing behaviors that proved to be related to text quality: time spent on sources and production activities, switching between sources and between sources and text production, and speed of production; with reference to the phase in the process (first, mid, final part). Latent profile analyses distilled four process configurations, some of which were more likely to occur with the informative genre. One process configuration, that is, “Fast text production,” was related to qualitatively higher text quality scores than the others. Additionally, at the age of 16–18 a writing process configuration is not a student trait: in most instances, we observed two or more task configurations within students. Writers' task experiences such as topic knowledge and topic interest predicted the occurrence of certain process configurations which could indicate adaptivity. The finding that writing configurations of writers vary even between similar tasks has important implications for the generalizability of (synthesis) writing research on the basis of a single writing task and process per student.
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| 5. |
- van Weijen, Daphne, et al.
(författare)
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Source use and argumentation behavior in L1 and L2 writing : a within-writer comparison
- 2019
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Ingår i: Reading and writing. - : Springer. - 0922-4777 .- 1573-0905. ; 32:6, s. 1635-1655
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this study was to test whether Cummins' Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis (LIH) might also apply to writing, by determining to what extent writers' text quality, source use and argumentation behavior are related in L1 and L2, how effective writers' behavior is and whether their L2 proficiency influenced the relations between them. To answer these questions, twenty students wrote four short argumentative source based essays each in L1 (Dutch) and four in L2 (English). A within-writer cross-linguistic comparison of their texts revealed that their L1 and L2 writing competencies appear to be related. Furthermore, writers' source use behavior differed to some extent between languages, but the strong positive correlations found between source use features suggest that in most cases this was more a person than a language effect. Similarly, for argumentation behavior, results showed some learner specific features (e.g. inclusion of titles and reference lists), but differences between languages for others (e.g. the inclusion of both arguments and counter-arguments). Effects of the different source use and argumentation features studied on text quality were limited and no clear effect of L2 proficiency on writers' behavior or their influence on text quality were found. Overall, in line with earlier research, these findings provide some additional support for Cummins' LIH and the idea that writers might have a common underlying source for writing related knowledge and practices which they can apply in multiple languages.
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| 6. |
- Vandermeulen, Nina, et al.
(författare)
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Mapping synthesis writing in various levels of Dutch upper-secondary education: a national baseline study on text quality, writing process and students' perspectives on writing : [Syntheseschrijven in het hoger secundair onderwijs in Nederland in kaart gebracht: een nationale peiling naar tekstkwaliteit, schrijfproces en schrijverskenmerken]
- 2020
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Ingår i: Pedagogische Studien. - : Dutch Educational Research Association (VOR), Flemish Educational Research Forum (VFO). - 0165-0645. ; 97:3, s. 187-236
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Writing a synthesis text - a text that integrates information from different sources - forms part of the educational curriculum of Dutch secondary education. Representative information on students' synthesis writing skills is currently missing. Therefore, we carried out a national survey on synthesis writing in the three highest grades of preuniversity education in the Netherlands. The aim was to map synthesis writing on three aspects: text quality, writing process and students' perspectives on writing. A large and representative sample of 658 students participated. Each participant wrote several synthesis texts. Text quality was rated with benchmark texts: writing processes were registered with keystroke logging software and a questionnaire measured students' perspectives on writing. Multilevel analyses were used to identify the effect of grade. gender and genre (argumentative/ informative synthesis) on text quality and writing process. and the effect of grade and gender on perspectives. This national survey is a descriptive study providing information on the current state of synthesis writing of Dutch students: how well do students perform on synthesis tasks?, how do they write synthesis tasks?, and what are their perspectives on synthesis writing? Moreover, this study serves as a baseline for future research.
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