Cultivating metacognitions within a learning environment: The case of the computerized Writing Partner

Abstract

Word processors are being increasingly used as writing tools during writing instruction for novice writers in all levels of school. However, the research on the use of word processors by novice writers indicated that while using the word processor for writing has a positive impact on writing attitudes of novice writers, their writing quality was not necessarily improved. Research on the writing process indicated that what was missing from the word processor-writer partnership was support, both memory and procedural, during the writing process. The focus of the study, the Writing Partner computer tool, was designed to supply such support by providing expert-like metacognitive guidance in the form of procedural facilitation during the writing process. In addition, research indicated that those students who mindfully engaged in using such a computer tool were more likely to internalize the guidance provided by such a tool, exhibiting improved performance in partnership with the tool as well as without it. The purpose of this study was to investigate empirically the effects of the Writing Partner on writing quality, writing attitudes, writing perceived self-efficacy and perceptions of the classroom environment. Data were collected in the form of writing samples, questionnaires and interviews and observations. Two conditions were examined: (1) Students who wrote with the Writing Partner, and (2) students who wrote with the Writing Partner and were induced to mindfulness by being told they would later tutor others in the use of the tool. It was hypothesized that students who wrote with the Writing Partner computer tool (WP2) would have more positive effects than students who wrote with the Works word processing program (Works) and students who wrote with the Writing Partner and had the induced mindfulness condition (WP2 IM) would have more positive effects than the Works group and the WP2 group. Writing effects with the computer tool and effects of the computer tool were examined in light of the two conditions. The results of this study indicated that the induced mindfulness condition was essential for the effective use of the Writing Partner computer tool. Students in the induced mindfulness condition wrote better in the absence of the tool, had a qualitatively different learning environment and used the features of the Writing Partner program more consistently.