Strategy instruction with self-regulation in college developmental writing courses: Results from a randomized experiment.

Abstract

The article presents the results of a randomized experimental study of a writing curriculum for college developmental writing courses based on strategy instruction with self-regulation integrated with practices common in college composition. Students in a full semester course learned strategies for planning and revising based on rhetorical analysis and genres. In addition, they learned metacognitive, self-regulation strategies for goal setting, task management, self-evaluation, and reflection. A prior quasi-experiment found positive effects of the curriculum on writing quality, self-efficacy, and mastery motivation. The current study included 19 instructors and 207 students across two colleges. Using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) with students nested within instructors and with condition and college as factors and pretest scores as covariates, analyses found positive effects of the treatment for quality of argumentative writing (ES = 1.18), quality of writing on an independent writing assessment (ES = .67), and several motivation outcomes, including self-efficacy (for tasks and processes, ES = .50; for grammar, ES = .36; and for self-regulation, ES = .40), affect (ES = .32), and beliefs about the importance of content (ES = .29). No significant effects were found for grammar/conventions or reading comprehension. Teachers in the treatment condition commented positively on the approach and noted improvements in student writing and motivation. Students also shared positive experiences and noted improvement in their writing.

The challenges of writing from sources in college developmental courses: Self-regulated strategy instruction.

“…On the secondary research questions, the study found no detectable effect on standardized measures of writing and reading: the NAEP writing assessment and Accuplacer Reading. Our prior research (MacArthur et al, 2022) had found a positive effect on the NAEP. One possible explanation for the difference is that the prior research focused on writing without sources for the entire semester, ending with argumentative writing just before the final exam.…”

“…Despite substantial interest in reform of developmental education in recent years (Hodges et al, 2020;MacArthur, in press), little research has investigated instructional approaches for developmental writing. The current study and two prior studies (MacArthur et al, 2015(MacArthur et al, , 2022 have studied the efficacy of a program of strategy instruction with self-regulation, SSW, in developmental courses. The current study extended prior research to focus on learning to write essays with sources, an important outcome for success in later college courses.…”

“…Following 2 years of design research (MacArthur & Philippakos, 2013), we conducted a quasi-experimental study (MacArthur et al, 2015) that found strong positive effects on the quality of argumentative writing as well as positive effects on motivation. A subsequent randomized control trial (RCT; MacArthur et al, 2022) found similar positive effects on writing quality and motivation.…”

“…A quasi-experimental study (MacArthur et al, 2015) in two colleges with 13 instructors and 276 students found a large positive effect for overall quality of argumentative writing (ES = +1.22) and positive effects for self-efficacy (ES = +.27) and mastery motivation (ES = +.29). A subsequent RCT (MacArthur et al, 2022) with two colleges, 19 instructors, and 207 students found similar results: a large positive effect on the quality of argumentative writing (ES = +1.18) and moderate effects on an independent writing assessment (ES = +.67) and several motivational outcomes including three dimensions of self-efficacy (tasks and processes [ES = +.50], grammar [ES = +.36], and self-regulation [ES = +.40]) and affect (ES = +.32).…”

“…Compared to control students, do treatment students perform better on quality of writing without sources and reading comprehension as measured by standardized measures? Based on prior research on SSW (MacArthur et al, 2015, 2022), we anticipated a positive effect on writing. Although prior research on writing without sources did not find transfer to reading, we anticipated a positive effect on reading in this study which included integrated reading and writing instruction.…”