An examination on the Impact of “Integrated Argument & Process-Oriented Wiki Collaborative Writing Methodology, STEPS” on Secondary School Students’ Chinese Writing Process, Attitudes and Competence

Abstract

“STEPS” stands for “an integrated Argument & Process-Oriented Wiki Collaborative Writing pedagogy”. The framework is adopted from process-oriented methods (Flowers & Hayes, 1981; Hayes & Flowers 1983). The components of STEPS are based on constructivism with collaborative teaching, Wiki collaborative writing, information literacy, and peer review by using a composition scale during the writing process of argumentative essays of students. This exploratory study investigates how adoption of “STEPS” with the teaching of information literacy affects students’ writing competence, writing strategy and writing attitudes as well as their information literacy skills, and how information technology and collaborative teaching bring people from a secondary school, the academic library and a large comprehensive university in Hong Kong together to improve teaching and learning. A junior secondary school in Hong Kong participated in this program for seven months from November 2015 to May 2016.

This aim of this study is to help students enhance their Chinese writing competence, writing process, writing attitudes as well as information literacy. This study employs the design-based research (DBR) methodology, with a cyclical process for modifications and refinement along the study. The study uses mixed method approach to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. There are multiple sources of quantitative and qualitative data both before and after the intervention, where quantitative data were collected from various questionnaire responses, test and assessment scores while qualitative data were collected from semi-structured group interviews and students’ writing. Paired samples t-test is used to compare the pre-intervention and post-intervention results in their information literacy, their writing competence reflected in their individual writing, their perceptions towards the writing process, and their writing attitudes.

Preliminary results show that “STEPS” could help students to enhance their information literacy skills, writing competence and revision strategies, as well as the ability to explore different points of view in their writing. Comparing pre-test & post-test results shows that the level of information literacy, revision strategy, and attitude towards writing (thinking that writing is important) of students significantly increased (p<0.05) in the post-test. Also, teachers gave positive feedback on the students’ writing yields that claims, evidence and content of students’ writing are enriched.

Flower, L. S., & Hayes, J. R. (1981). A cognitive process of writing. College Composition and Communication, 32, 365-387.

Hayes, J. R. and Flower, L. S. (1983). Uncovering cognitive processes in writing: An introduction to protocol analysis. In P. Mosenthal, L. Tamor, and S. Walmsley (Eds.), Research on writing: Principles and Methods (pp. 207-220). New York: Longman