a b s t r a c tThis study addresses to what extent and how electronic outlining enhances students' writing performance. To this end, the focus of this study is not only on students' final writing products but also on the organisation of the writing process (i.e., planning, translating, and reviewing) and perceived mental effort during writing. In addition, effects of repeated electronic outlining were examined. A combined within and between subjects design was implemented in which 93 10th-grade students wrote two argumentative texts with or without using electronic outlining. Analyses showed that using electronic outlining for planning and writing significantly improved the presentation of the argumentative structure. However, effects were less clear for correctly and completely establishing a text structure and no effects were found on the elaboration of students' argumentation. Process data showed that electronic outlining increased total process time, but no effect was found on students' overall planning and revision activities. Finally, self-reports showed no effect of electronic outlining on students' perceived mental effort. Nevertheless, repeated use of the same writing strategy enhanced writing fluency.

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This study examined the effect of electronic outlining on the quality of students' writing products and how outlining affects perceived mental effort during the writing task.Additionally, it was studied how students appropriate and appreciate an outline tool and whether they need explicit instruction in order to engage in planning. To answer these questions, the writing products and self-report data from 34 tenth-grade students of a Dutch pre-university school were analyzed. Students wrote two similar argumentative texts with or without an outline tool. Results show that electronic outlining improves the quality of students' argumentative texts and decreases mental effort. Answers to a retrospective questionnaire showed that a short instruction on the outline tool was sufficient for students to understand its working and that most students experienced the tool as beneficial. Finally, results indicate that without specific instruction on text planning, students hardly devote any time to this important aspect of writing.Keywords: Electronic outlining, outline tool, argumentative text, writing, text structure, mental effort, writing process, writing performance Outlining and Argumentative Writing 3 Effects of Electronic Outlining on Students' Argumentative Writing PerformanceDuring the last twenty years, personal computers have taken on an ever increasing role in education. Students regularly use general and specific computer tools to search, represent and process information. Those tools are often readily available in standard software that is installed on their computer (e.g., word processor, spreadsheet, internet browser). In fact, most computers include so many tools that many of them remain unused or unknown, even when they are potentially helpful (Collins & Halverson, 2010).One might think that tools which could significantly impact academic performance and learning would be used in educational settings either by students or their teachers.Moreover, one might think that educators would include instruction on how to use these tools in the regular school curriculum. Unfortunately, this is not the case.Although today's students are often considered to be 'digital natives ' (Prensky, 2001), "it appears they do not recognize the enhanced functionality of the applications they own and use" (Bullen, Morgan, Belfer, & Qayyum, 2008; p. 7.7). Margaryan, Littlejohn, and Vojt (2010) reported that when used for learning, technology is mostly for passive information consumption (e.g., Wikipedia ® ) or for downloading lecture notes. Furthermore, teachers are often not very digitally literate and/or do not know how to use available tools in an educational setting. Säljö (2010) noted that "digital curriculum materials and multimedia resources have not been able to assert themselves as part of regular educational practices to the extent that some predicted they would" (p. 54). Teachers rarely integrate computer tools into their education and thus students are not introduced to the wide range of their computer's possibi...

This study aims to explore the process of reading during writing. More specifically, it investigates whether a combination of keystroke logging data and eye tracking data yields a better understanding of cognitive processes underlying fluent and nonfluent text production. First, a technical procedure describes how writing process data from the keystroke logging program Inputlog are merged with reading process data from the Tobii TX300 eye tracker. Next, a theoretical schema on reading during writing is presented, which served as a basis for the observation context we created for our experiment. This schema was tested by observing 24 university students in professional communication (skilled writers) who typed short sentences that were manipulated to elicit fluent or nonfluent writing. The experimental sentences were organized into four different conditions, aiming at (a) fluent writing, (b) reflection about correct spelling of homophone verbs, (c) local revision, and (d) global revision. Results showed that it is possible to manipulate degrees of nonfluent writing in terms of time on task and percentage of nonfluent key transitions. However, reading behavior was affected only for the conditions that explicitly required revision. This

BackgroundWriting is an important and complex skill, which could be enhanced by teaching students effective writing strategies such as outlining. Electronic outlining ‐ integrated feature in Microsoft® Word – has been shown to enhance students' writing performance. However, little is known about the optimal didactic approach for electronic outlining.ObjectiveThis study examined the effects of learning to use electronic outlining either via observational learning or via learning‐by‐doing on students' argumentative writing performance.MethodsStudents (N = 129, 10th‐grade) were assigned with their complete class to one of three conditions: a control (traditional pen and paper outlines via learning‐by‐doing), outline (electronic outlines via learning‐by‐doing) or observation (electronic outlines via observational learning) condition. Students followed an argumentative writing lesson‐series that differed across conditions in terms of planning strategies and didactic approaches used. To examine the influence of the different conditions on students' writing, argumentative texts were used as pre‐ and post‐tests, and the quality was evaluated with an analytic assessment protocol. In addition, data regarding students' perceived mental effort and the organisation of the writing process were collected. Finally, students' attitudes towards electronic outlining were assessed.Results and ConclusionAlthough the overall text structure had improved after the lesson series, no significant differences were found between conditions. Electronic outlining increased the total amount of time dedicated to the texts as well as the revision ratio. Students in the observation condition showed a higher pause ratio and a lower fluency on the post‐test as compared to students who learned by doing (both control and outline conditions). With regard to perceived mental effort, students in the outline and control conditions perceived significant decreases over tasks, as opposed to those in the observation condition. In conclusion, the self‐reports indicate that students in the outline condition appropriated electronic outlining significantly better than those in the observation condition, suggesting that practice enhanced students' appropriation of electronic outlining.