Writing to Learn & Learning to Write

1. Writing to Learn & Learning to Write Odense, March 22, 2012

2. Gert Rijlaarsdam & Team G.C.W.Rijlaarsdam@uva.nl

3. Tableau de la troupe

4. Themes • Writing to learn versus Learning to Write • Whatworksforwhom and when? • What works? • Physics • Observationwritingstrategies • Classroom practice

5. Theme 1 Learning to Write Texts & Writing to Learn Does it make a difference?

6. Google counts.… 21 03 2012

8. Text production/Writing strategies Revising strategy preference • Thinking through the act of writing • Producing free (pieces of) texts, drafts, and then reprocess, revise, rewrite, select etc. Planning strategy preference • First planning, notes, schemes etc., then write • Little revision on line, when writing.

9. Sculptors Engineers

10. Hypothesis Learning through writing: Attention must be focused on learning, not on writing. Thus: • Adapt writing tasks to writimngstategies: • to plan/think-write-revise. • write/plan-think-revise

11. Intervention Learning to write argumentative texts about short short stories Aims twofold: 1. Learning to interpret van literary stories by writing about stories 2. Learning to write argumentative texts (stand point, argumentation)

12. Learning content

13. Two conditions • Revisers condition • Planners condition • Random assignment to condition

14. composing for sculptors Sculptors: • write a discovery draft of a literary review • reread draft and check on given criteria (argumentative and rhetorical) • write the final text

15. composing for engineers Engineers: • fill in a planning scheme • check planning scheme on given criteria (argumentative and rhetorical) • write the final text

16. Writing Style Inventory ‘When I finished my text, I start reading and revising thoroughly: a lot of things can change then.’ (Revising scale, α = .73) ‘I always create scheme before I start writing’. (Planning scale, α = .76)

17. Results

18. Writing to Learn For instance: Writing to understand a literary text, a text in history, social sciences.

21. SO…If you use writing for understanding/acquiring subject matter, Options

22. SO…If you use writing for understanding/acquiring subject matter, Options

23. SO…If you use writing for understanding/acquiring subject matter, Options

24. Learning to Write Texts Teaching aim:; improve text quality

25. WEAK REVISING STRONG

27. SO? If the Student has a outspoken writing approach? Best Text Quality via PLANNING If the student has no outspoken writing approach? Best Text Quality via EXPLORATIVE WRITING/REVISING

28. Theme 2-3: What works in teaching writing

29. What lesson is this …

30. Learning about texts from Readers’ behaviour Rijlaarsdam, G. Couzijn. M, Janssen, T., Braaksma, M. & Kieft, M. (2006). Writing Experiment Manuals in Science Education: The impact of writing, genre, and audience. International Journal of Science Education, 28, 2–3, pp. 203–233.

31. Physics Experiment (Steps 1-3): Proof that air takes space….

32. Effect Sizes Text Quality

33. Effect Text Knowledge Three weeks later: Writing a letter to a new student in class: how to write a manual…. Most genre awareness: those writers who saw a tekst being read

34. Transfer Potential: Effect Sizes

35. Conclusion Physics Experiment Inquiry of readers’ processes support the development of knowledge about what an effective text entails (‘genre awareness’). (Reader in reader’s role)

36. Three roles to connect in writing education

37. Complete Communication Participation Learning Model Reader Writer Researcher Observer • Communicative roles/pairs • Writing is reader oriented, has a goal to achieve and a reader to read • Writer has access to the reading process; what happens during reading, what happens with the text being read?. • Instructive roles/pairs: • Reader informs writer about the quality of the text, as experienced. • Observer/analyse role: • Learners study the writing, reading or writing-reading process..

38. Inquiring/Observing writing and reading strategies in peers processes. Effects on learning and transfer

39. Main focus • Effects of inquiry/observation versus learning by practicing, on • Learning: effects in same modus: • writing -> writing; reading -> reading) • Transfer: effects to other modus: • writing -> reading; reading -> writing) • Lesson series (four hours in total) about argumentative reading or writing; Grade: 9, age 15 • Theory: same • Application: practicing ersus inquiry tasks

40. Observation tasks (observing writing) • Presentation of the task • Observing two students at work, performing the writing task: observation of writing processes • Presentation of the texts the students wrote: observation of writing products • Answering two questions about the observations

41. Presentation of the task In a little while, you are going to watch on CD-ROM videotape recordings. You will see two peers writing a short argumentative text based on the following argumentation structure. The models had to make sure that the reader will understand the standpoint and arguments in their text. Next page you will find the argumentation structure the models received.

42. Argumentation structure

43. Questions guiding the observations 1. Which student did less well? 2. Explain briefly what this (less good) student did worse.   Make your notes here, when you observe the students: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......................................................................

44. Student to observe (one of a pair)

45. Presentation of the models’ texts and answering two questions You saw two students performing the writing task. They wrote the following texts: Student 1 Student 2 texttexttexttext texttexttexttext Answer two questions: 1. Which model did less well? 2. Explain briefly what this (less good) model did worse.

46. Learning effects? Yes, see effect sizes: Effect of Observation Effect of Observation Learning & Instruction, 1999

47. Transfer effects? Oh, yes! Obs Reading vs Pract Writing Observing the other modus Obs Writing vs Pract Writing Learning & Instruction, 1999

48. Theme 4: Practice (Finally!) The Yummy Yummy Story ... Or …the bright side of writing education

49. Introducing the Case Imagine…. On the wrappers of the Yummy Yummy candy bars, which you occasionally eat, you have seen that you can get two free cinema tickets. The wrapper reads:

50. Advertisement Yummy Yummy Candy bars SAVE FOR TWO FREE CINEMA TICKETS!!! This is what you must do: On each Yummy Yummy candy bar wrapper there is 1 point. Collect 10 points and send these in a sufficiently stamped envelope to: Yummy Yummy Candy Bars Points Offer, PO Box 3333, 1273 KB Etten-Leur, the Netherlands. Also include € 0.39 in stamps to cover postage. Clearly write your name, address and postal code, and the free (FREE!) cinema tickets will be sent to your home as soon as possible. This offer is open until April 15 2003.