Teaching Argument and Explanation to Prepare Junior Students for Writing to Learn.

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Title:	Teaching Argument and Explanation to Prepare Junior Students for Writing to Learn.
Authors:	Klein, Perry D.¹ pklein@uwo.ca, Rose, Mary A.²
Source:	Reading Research Quarterly (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.). Oct-Dec2010, Vol. 45 Issue 4, p433-461. 29p. 7 Charts.
Subject Terms:	Instructional systems design, Teaching methods, Composition (Language arts), Exposition (Rhetoric), Psychology of learning, Philosophy of education
Abstract:	The purpose of this project was to develop theoretical constructs and instructional design elements related to improving students' ability to learn through writing. The authors used a design experiment approach to develop an instructional model to improve students' ability to use writing as a learning tool. This model, developed by Bereiter and Scardamalia, posits that a dialectic between solving rhetorical problems and solving content problems can transform the writer's knowledge. The framework initially included frequent writing in the content areas, a conception of writing as learning, education in analytic genres (i.e., arguments, explanations), development of intrinsic motivation to write, strategies for the constructive use of sources, evaluation and revision for learning, assessment designed to support self-evaluation, and re- mediation of mechanics. The two phases of the study focused on argument writing and explanation writing in the content areas, respectively. Each phase included several cycles of (a) implementing the design elements, (b) monitoring students' texts for evidence of the knowledge transforming process, and (c) revising our theory-in-action and modifying the design elements of the framework. In a series of posttest activities, the experimental class showed a significantly greater ability to learn during writing than a comparison class, as well as significantly greater argument genre knowledge, explanation genre knowledge, and explanation text quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
	Copyright of Reading Research Quarterly (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) is the property of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database:	Education Research Complete

Description
Abstract:	The purpose of this project was to develop theoretical constructs and instructional design elements related to improving students' ability to learn through writing. The authors used a design experiment approach to develop an instructional model to improve students' ability to use writing as a learning tool. This model, developed by Bereiter and Scardamalia, posits that a dialectic between solving rhetorical problems and solving content problems can transform the writer's knowledge. The framework initially included frequent writing in the content areas, a conception of writing as learning, education in analytic genres (i.e., arguments, explanations), development of intrinsic motivation to write, strategies for the constructive use of sources, evaluation and revision for learning, assessment designed to support self-evaluation, and re- mediation of mechanics. The two phases of the study focused on argument writing and explanation writing in the content areas, respectively. Each phase included several cycles of (a) implementing the design elements, (b) monitoring students' texts for evidence of the knowledge transforming process, and (c) revising our theory-in-action and modifying the design elements of the framework. In a series of posttest activities, the experimental class showed a significantly greater ability to learn during writing than a comparison class, as well as significantly greater argument genre knowledge, explanation genre knowledge, and explanation text quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:	19362722
DOI:	10.1598/RRQ.45.4.4