Componential analysis of self-regulated strategy instruction in writingonline instruction and assessment

Resumen

The present thesis comprises three main objectives, aiming to improve the written competence of 4th grade students. The first objective analyzes the effect of the different instructional components of the Cognitive Self-Regulation Instruction (CSRI) program focused on planning process for the improvement of the written competence of 4th grade students. To this aim, an empirical study was carried out. This has been published in the journal Metacognition and Learning. In this research, six 4th grade classes of Primary Education (N = 126) were randomly allocated to the experimental conditions which differed in the order in which the instructional components were implemented: Direct Teaching, Peer-Practice, and Modelling (Experimental Condition 1, n = 47); or Modelling, Peer-Practice, and Direct Teaching (Experimental Condition 2, n = 36). A control condition (n = 43) was also included. Writing performance was measured through comparecontrast writing tasks (genre that was focus of the instruction) and by writing opinion texts (transfer task). The efficacy of the strategy-focused instruction was assessed at 5 time points: pretest/posttest, after each component (test 1 and test 2) and follow-up. Writing performance was assessed through the anchor text procedure. Findings supported the efficacy of strategy-focused instruction after four sessions of the CSRI program. Experimental conditions 1 and 2 showed a significant gain relative to the control condition and were equally effective. The Peer-Practice component was associated with the largest learning gains. Finally, in relation to the transfer results, again, both experimental conditions demonstrated a significant gain in relation to the control condition, without differences between them. As for the second objective, that is, to analyze the effect of the Cognitive Self-Regulation Instruction (CSRI) program focused on the textual product compared to another that additionally includes explicit instruction in the planning process for the improvement of the written competence of 4th grade students. This objective was addressed through an empirical research which has been published by the journal Reading and Writing. In this study, nine 4th grade classes of Primary Education (N = 215) were randomly allocated to two forms of strategy-focused program CSRI. The full-CSRI (experimental condition 1, n = 72) taught students a strategic approach to set appropriate product goals along with planning strategies. However, in the brief-CSRI (experimental condition 2, n = 69), the direct teaching of planning procedures was removed. These two experimental conditions were compared with a control condition (n= 74). We used a pre-test/posttest design with follow-up. Writing performance was holistically evaluated through reader-based measures. The results demonstrated that only the full-CSRI condition wrote better compare–contrast texts than the control group in both the short and long-term timepoints. Finally, the last objective is to analyze the published research on new technologies and writing instruction. This objective was addressed in two reviews of the literature: the first review was published in the editorial Nova Science Publisher and analyzed the effects of different technological tools for teaching each of the processes involved in writing (planning, transcription and revising). The second review has been published in the journal Papeles del Psicólogo and investigated the effects of Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS). While it is true that the potential of ITS is clearly supported by the results of the review, the type of feedback provided by the system, together with certain contextual variables, play a crucial role as well as mediator of the results.