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Dissertation Information for Curtis J Bonk

NAME:
- Curtis J Bonk

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Educational Psychology

SCHOOL:
- University of Wisconsin, Madison (USA) (1989)

ADVISORS:
- Gary Alan Davis

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- None

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Not_Inspected

Title: The effects of generative and evaluative computerized prompting strategies on the development of children's writing awareness and performance

Abstract: A total of 164 children in the sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grades were blocked according to low and high writing ability, and then randomly assigned to one of two groups: (1) a control group or (2) an experimental group which received computer prompts, think sheet scaffolds, and expert modeling of prompts. Results from dimensional and wholistic assessments of written products indicated that students did not improve their writing performance as a result of exposure to prompts over a six week period. Internalization of writing control strategies as measured by the Index of Writing Awareness (IWA), open-ended guidance questions in writing, and a prompt sort task all failed to favor the treatment group. However, students' wholistic scores in writing were significantly correlated with their awareness of writing skills and strategies. In addition, keystroke analyses revealed that students in the treatment group lowered the number of surface level changes they were making per 100 words of text when the prompts were available, but increased their textual scanning/repositioning while the prompts were available. Surface changes were negatively correlated with students' wholistic scores, while repositioning within text was positively correlated with wholistic scores. A computer attitudes questionnaire indicated that the treatment group considered the computer more helpful than did the control group in creating a sense of audience and in providing opportunities to evaluate their own compositions.

Grade and ability differences were also compared. High-ability students performed significantly better than low-ability students on all the performance measures, metacognitive indices, and revisionary analyses. Grade differences between sixth- and seventh-graders in wholistic performance, the IWA, metacognitive guidance in writing, surface revisions, and repositioning within papers were not replicated in seventh- to eighth-grade comparisons. Thus, it appeared that a developmental increase in metacognitive writing skills and strategies had occurred between the sixth- and seventh-grades resulting in improved writing performance and revisionary practices. Grade differences on various measures provided evidence that procedural assistance may have been most appropriate at the sixth-grade level.

MPACT Scores for Curtis J Bonk

A = 2
C = 3
A+C = 5
T = 2
G = 1
W = 2
TD = 2
TA = 0
calculated 2011-02-21 16:32:35

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