The design of a feedback report on students' writing processes

Feedback in schrijfvaardigheidsonderwijs gaat over de kwaliteit van teksten en moet leerlingen helpen hun schrijfvaardigheid verder te ontwikkelen. Jochem Aben, Brenda van den Broek, Nina Vandermeulen, Elke van Steendam en Gert Rijlaarsdam ontwikkelden voor leerlingen in 4 en 5 vwo een feedbackrapport over hun schrijfproces, dat het schrijfgedrag van leerlingen in kaart brengt als zij op de computer een tekst schrijven op basis van bronnen. Het feedbackrapport beoogt gestuurde zelfstudie: de leerlingen worden via uitleg en toepassingsopdrachten vertrouwd gemaakt met hun schrijfprocesgegevens en aangezet tot analyse en verandering. Een test van het rapport in een kleinschalige studie wees uit dat het leerlingen inderdaad in staat stelt zelfstandig concrete acties te formuleren om hun schrijfproces te verbeteren.Feedback in schrijfvaardigheidsonderwijs gaat overde kwaliteit van teksten en moet leerlingen helpen hunschrijfvaardigheid verder te ontwikkelen. Dat zal vooreen deel betekenen dat zij hun schrijfproces andersaan moeten pakken: de betere hardloopcoach zegt zijnpupillen immers niet dát, maar hóe zij harder moetenlopen. In het voortgezet onderwijs is schrijfprocesfeedbacknog niet bekend. In die lacune proberen wijte voorzien door voor leerlingen een feedbackrapportte ontwikkelen dat over hun schrijfproces gaat: hetbeschrijft het schrijfgedrag van leerlingen als zij opde computer een tekst schrijven op basis van bronnen.We genereerden zulke rapporten voor ruim 500 leerlingenuit 4- en 5-vwo op 35 scholen. Die leerlingenschreven ieder vier teksten, zodat ze ook inzicht kregenin de mate waarin hun processen variëren over taken.Het feedbackrapport beoogt gestuurde zelfstudie: deleerlingen worden via uitleg en toepassingsopdrachtenvertrouwd gemaakt met hun schrijfprocesgegevensen aangezet tot analyse en verandering. We testten hetrapport in een kleinschalige studie met drie leerlingen.Het bleek dat het leerlingen inderdaad in staatstelt zelfstandig concrete acties te formuleren om hunschrijfproces te verbeteren

Syntactic predictors for text quality in Dutch upper-secondary school students’ L1 argumentative writing

Among other things, learning to write entails learning how to use complex sentences effectively in discourse. Some research has therefore focused on relating measures of syntactic complexity to text quality. Apart from the fact that the existing research on this topic appears inconclusive, most of it has been conducted in English L1 contexts. This is potentially problematic, since relevant syntactic indices may not be the same across languages. The current study is the first to explore which syntactic features predict text quality in Dutch secondary school students’ argumentative writing. In order to do so, the quality of 125 argumentative essays written by students was rated and the syntactic features of the texts were analyzed. A multilevel regression analysis was then used to investigate which features contribute to text quality. The resulting model (explaining 14.5% of the variance in text quality) shows that the relative number of finite clauses and the ratio between the number of relative clauses and the number of finite clauses positively predict text quality. Discrepancies between our findings and those of previous studies indicate that the relations between syntactic features and text quality may vary based on factors such as language and genre. Additional (cross-linguistic) research is needed to gain a more complete understanding of the relationships between syntactic constructions and text quality and the potential moderating role of language and genre

In search of an effective source use pattern for writing argumentative and informative synthesis texts

In order to design effective instruction and feedback for synthesis writing on both writing processes and products, a clear insight into synthesis writing processes underlying a high-quality synthesis text is crucial. That is why this study, as one of the first, examines the use of sources during synthesis writing processes, and its effect on text quality. The writing processes of 294 Dutch secondary students (grade 10–12) were logged using keystroke logging software Inputlog. Two different synthesis text genres were investigated of which three source-related process measures were analysed: the relative time spent in the sources, the transitions per minute between the sources, and the transitions per minute between the synthesis text and the sources. First, the study explored the effect of temporal distribution and genre (argumentative or informative synthesis) on the writing process, providing insights into the distribution of source-related writing activities over the process intervals and the possible influence of genre on this distribution. Secondly, the individual source-related process measures were linked to text quality. Thirdly, via polynomial regression analyses, the various source-related activities and their temporal distribution were taken into account in an integrated way to identify patterns of effective source use. These patterns vary across genre and explain a considerable amount of variance in the data (24.6% for argumentative synthesis texts, 16.2% for informative synthesis texts). Our findings can be used to develop process-oriented feedback, giving students an insight into their synthesis writing process

In search of an effective source use pattern for writing argumentative and informative synthesis texts.

In order to design effective instruction and feedback for synthesis writing on both writing processes and products, a clear insight into synthesis writing processes underlying a high-quality synthesis text is crucial. That is why this study, as one of the first, examines the use of sources during synthesis writing processes, and its effect on text quality. The writing processes of 294 Dutch secondary students (grade 10–12) were logged using keystroke logging software Inputlog. Two different synthesis text genres were investigated of which three source-related process measures were analysed: the relative time spent in the sources, the transitions per minute between the sources, and the transitions per minute between the synthesis text and the sources. First, the study explored the effect of temporal distribution and genre (argumentative or informative synthesis) on the writing process, providing insights into the distribution of source-related writing activities over the process intervals and the possible influence of genre on this distribution. Secondly, the individual source-related process measures were linked to text quality. Thirdly, via polynomial regression analyses, the various source-related activities and their temporal distribution were taken into account in an integrated way to identify patterns of effective source use. These patterns vary across genre and explain a considerable amount of variance in the data (24.6% for argumentative synthesis texts, 16.2% for informative synthesis texts). Our findings can be used to develop process-oriented feedback, giving students an insight into their synthesis writing process.status: Published onlin

Syntactic predictors for text quality in Dutch upper-secondary school students\u2019 L1 argumentative writing

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