Write between the lines: Electronic outlining and the organization of text ideas

Writing is an important, complex skill which could be enhanced through the effective use of writing tools that are incorporated in word processors. The main objective of this study was to examine the effect of (repeated) electronic outlining on the quality of students’ writing products and perceived mental effort. The study also investigated how students appropriate and appreciate the outline tool. Data were collected from 58 ninth-grade students who wrote two argumentative texts about a topic they had previously discussed during several class sessions, meaning that ideas were generated and clustered beforehand. Students’ writing products were scored for Total Text Structure, Structure Presentation, and Hierarchical Elaboration of Arguments. Results reveal that first-time tool-use had no significant effect on students’ writing products and perceived mental effort. However, repeated use positively affected Structure Presentation and led to decreased perceived mental effort, but no significant effect was found on Total Text Structure and Hierarchical Elaboration of Arguments. Answers to a retrospective questionnaire showed that students quickly appropriated the tool with tool appreciation increasing with repeated use. This study suggests that in order to profit from electronic outlining, it is important to practice using the outline tool and to use it for complex tasks, requiring idea generation and organization

Betere teksten dankzij 'outline-tool'

De Smet, M. J. R., Broekkamp, H., Brand-Gruwel, S., & Kirschner, P. A. (2010). Betere teksten dankzij 'outline-tool'. Didaktief, 40(10), 40-41.Leerlingen die met een outline-tool werken, schrijven beter gestructureerde teksten en ervaren minder cognitieve belasting tijdens het uitvoeren van de schrijftaak. Hoe vaker ze dit hulpmiddel gebruiken, hoe meer vooruitgang ze boeken. Voorwaarde is wel dat ze de tool zelf zowel nuttig als prettig vinden.Kennisne

Write between the lines: Electronic outlining and the organization of text ideas

De Smet, M. J. R., Brand-Gruwel, S., Broekkamp, H., & Kirschner, P. A. (2012). Write between the lines: Electronic outlining and the organization of text ideas. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(6), 2107-2116. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2012.1006.1015Writing is an important, complex skill which could be enhanced through the effective use of writing tools that are incorporated in word processors. The main objective of this study was to examine the effect of (repeated) electronic outlining on the quality of students’ writing products and perceived mental effort. The study also investigated how students appropriate and appreciate the outline tool. Data were collected from 58 ninth-grade students who wrote two argumentative texts about a topic they had previously discussed during several class sessions, meaning that ideas were generated and clustered beforehand. Students’ writing products were scored for Total Text Structure, Structure Presentation, and Hierarchical Elaboration of Arguments. Results reveal that first-time tool-use had no significant effect on students’ writing products and perceived mental effort. However, repeated use positively affected Structure Presentation and led to decreased perceived mental effort, but no significant effect was found on Total Text Structure and Hierarchical Elaboration of Arguments. Answers to a retrospective questionnaire showed that students quickly appropriated the tool with tool appreciation increasing with repeated use. This study suggests that in order to profit from electronic outlining, it is important to practice using the outline tool and to use it for complex tasks, requiring idea generation and organization

Outline-tool helpt om beter te leren schrijven

Veel leerlingen in het voortgezet onderwijs hebben moeite met het aanbrengen van structuur in een tekst. Uit onderzoek blijkt dat de outline-tool scholieren kan helpen bij het schrijven van teksten. Het resultaat: beter gestructureerde teksten en minder cognitieve belasting tij-dens het uitvoeren van de schrijftaak

Effects of electronic outlining on students’ argumentative writing performance

De Smet, M. J. R., Broekkamp, H., Brand-Gruwel, S., & Kirschner, P. A. (2011, August). Effects of electronic outlining on students’ argumentative writing performance. Presentation at EARLI, Exeter, UK.Writing is an important competence in a knowledge-driven society. Education therefore devotes much attention to its development. Students’ writing skills may be further increased when they make use of widely available word processors and profit from the tools incorporated in them that support writing. Seemingly important but underused are, for instance, tools for electronic outlining. These tools help students to develop a structured list of ideas, which they can use as a writing plan. The central aim of this study is to determine the effect of electronic outlining on the quality of students’ writing products and on students’ experienced cognitive load during the writing task. In addition it examined how students appropriate and appreciate the outline-tool and whether they need an explicit instruction in order to engage in planning. The writing products and self-report data from 34 ninth-grade students of a Dutch secondary school were analyzed. Students wrote two similar argumentative texts with or without an electronic outline-tool. Results indicate that without instruction, students devote almost no time to planning their texts. This is regrettable since results show that electronic outlining improves the quality of students’ argumentative texts. Furthermore, the cognitive load that students reported was lower for tasks that required the use of outline tools. Answers to a retrospective questionnaire showed that the short instruction on the outline-tool was sufficient for students to understand the working of the outline-tool and that most students experienced the outline-tool as beneficial to their writing

Effects of electronic outlining on the organization of text ideas

De Smet, M. J. R., Brand-Gruwel, S., Broekkamp, H., & Kirschner, P. A. (2011, August). Effects of electronic outlining on the organization of text ideas. Presentation at the annual meeting of the Junior Researchers of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction, Exeter, UK.Writing is an important but complex skill in which student have to manage the cognitive processes of planning, translating and reviewing. To increase writing performance, students might therefore from the growing menu of tools that support writing. Outlining is one of the most frequently recommended strategies for novice writers to help composing a text. This study examined the effect of repeated electronic outlining on students’ text quality and perceived mental effort once text ideas are generated. Data were collected among 58 ninth-grade students who wrote two argumentative texts on an earlier discussed social issue. Students were randomly assigned to two experimental conditions in which they either wrote both texts using an outline tool or used the tool only during the second writing task. Findings revealed that first time outlining had no significant effects on text quality and perceived mental effort. However, repeated outlining increased students presentation of the argumentative text structure. Additionally, perceived mental effort decreased when students practiced using the outline tool. No significant results were found on students’ elaboration of the text structure which might be explained by task complexity. Outlining may only support more complex tasks whereas in this experiment, tasks requirements were decreased by previously discussing topics and arguments