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1 – 10 of over 142000The purpose of this study is to investigate the ability of EFL learners’ cohesion after the implementation of small group flipped instruction model through WhatsApp with small…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the ability of EFL learners’ cohesion after the implementation of small group flipped instruction model through WhatsApp with small group writing activities compared with individual flipped instruction model through WhatsApp with individual writing activities.
Design/methodology/approach
A quasi-experimental study with a nonequivalent control group and a pre-test/post-test design was implemented to find any significant difference between the two combinations. The small group was treated using small group flipped instruction model through WhatsApp with small group writing activities, and an individual class was exposed to individual group flipped instruction model through WhatsApp with individual writing activities as well. The instrument of this study was a writing test.
Findings
The findings revealed that the mean score from the small group flipped instruction model through WhatsApp with small group writing activities at 66.17 was higher than the mean score individual flipped model via WhatsApp with individual writing activities at50.19 with a level of significance < 0.05. He meant that the small group flipped classroom instruction model through WhatsApp with small group writing activities performed better than teaching cohesion with individual flipped instruction through WhatsApp with individual writing activities. The results suggested small group flipped teaching–learning cohesion with WhatsApp in writing served as one of the alternatives flipped group discussion to improve learners’ cohesion in writing.
Originality/value
Flipped classroom innovation has attracted English language teaching researchers’ attention to scrutinize its effectiveness. This inquiry, therefore, elaborated the effect off-lipping individual and small group classroom instruction with WhatsApp on EFL learners’ cohesion as part of EFL writing skills.
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Doreen Sullivan, Julia Leong, Annie Yee, Daniel Giddens and Robyn Phillips
– The purpose of this paper is to offer an effective model for increasing professionals' competence, enthusiasm and success in writing and publishing.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to offer an effective model for increasing professionals' competence, enthusiasm and success in writing and publishing.
Design/methodology/approach
Recent articles on writing groups in the field of library and information science are reviewed and a case study of a group at RMIT University Library is presented. The authors were the facilitator and group members who were librarians, most with relative inexperience in research, writing, presenting, and getting published. A self-rating confidence survey was created to establish developmental priorities which were then addressed through input from experts, practical application and reflection, and constructive advice and support from group members. Group effectiveness and outcomes were evaluated at mid- and end-point review meetings, through a post-intervention confidence survey and by tracking publication output.
Findings
The group became a cohesive, task-focused and productive team. A post-intervention confidence survey evidenced improvements on all survey items at a team level. Each member affirmed that they had gained substantial knowledge of writing, presentation and research techniques and understanding of the publication process. Publication output increased over the benchmark year of 2010, and in 2011 and 2012 exceeded initial targets.
Practical implications
The model presented offers a practical and effective approach to increasing competence and output in writing, presenting, research, and getting published and can be easily adopted by others.
Originality/value
Most literature reviews on library professional writing groups relate to professionals required to publish. The Get Published Group comprised Australian librarians writing voluntarily.
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Marcus Sundgren and Jimmy Jaldemark
Working together in groups is a common and emphasized feature in today's society, and higher educational settings often utilize group assignments to enable students to develop…
Abstract
Purpose
Working together in groups is a common and emphasized feature in today's society, and higher educational settings often utilize group assignments to enable students to develop collaborative skills. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to describe and analyze applied strategies and the patterns that emerge during students online collaborative writing in higher education group assignments. The research questions that this article aims to answer are (1) which patterns of students online collaborative writing emerge in higher education group assignments and (2) what strategies of online collaborative writing do higher education students apply in group assignments?
Design/methodology/approach
This study's design builds on Conversation Analysis to explore visualizations of Google Docs revision history of online collaborative writing documents. Documents from 25 student groups were the basis of the analysis. The visualizations used in this project are produced with the DocuViz Chrome extension.
Findings
The findings suggest that visualizations can provide a quick and fairly accurate estimate of collaborative strategies used when students write together online. Three patterns of document growth were identified, two of which could be directly linked to strategies for collaboration. Cramming patterns are indicative of low collaboration and concentrating patterns with high levels of collaboration.
Practical implications
The findings provide useful insight for teachers regarding the nature of collaboration taking place during online collaborative writing tasks. By visualizing the revision history, much can be learnt about the nature of the collaboration and of the individual group member's contributions in a student group that otherwise remains largely invisible to the teacher.
Originality/value
Prior studies have combined visualizations with extensive analysis of document content. This investigation shows that an examination of the visualization of the document's revision history can be used to draw conclusions about the nature of collaboration during the online writing process.
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Kathryn Roulston, Deborah Teitelbaum, Bo Chang and Ronald Butchart
The purpose of this paper is to present considerations for developing a writing community for doctoral students.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present considerations for developing a writing community for doctoral students.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reflects on data from a self-study of a writing seminar in which the authors were involved. The authors examined students’ writing samples and peer-review comments, email correspondence, online discussion board postings, meeting minutes and participants’ reflections on their participation in the seminar.
Findings
While doctoral students described benefits from their participation in the writing seminar, the paper provides a cautionary tale concerning the challenges that can arise in the development and delivery of interventions that focus on developing writing communities involving doctoral students.
Research limitations/implications
This article draws on findings from an examination of a writing intervention to consider potential challenges that faculty and students face in developing writing communities. Findings may not apply to other kinds of settings, and they are limited by the small number of participants involved.
Practical implications
The paper discusses strategies that might be used to inform faculty in the development of writing communities for doctoral students.
Social implications
The authors’ experiences in developing and delivering a writing seminar highlight the importance of the process of trust-building for students to perceive the value of feedback from others so that they can respond to the technical demands of doctoral writing.
Originality/value
There is a growing body of work on the value of writing interventions for doctoral students such as retreats and writing groups. These are frequently facilitated by faculty whose area of expertise is in teaching writing. This paper contributes understanding to what is needed for faculty who are not writing instructors to facilitate groups of this sort. Participants must demonstrate a sufficient level of competence as writers to review others’ work; develop trusting, collegial relationships with one another; and be willing to contribute to others’ development and make a commitment to accomplishing the required tasks.
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Helen S. Du, Sam K.W. Chu, Randolph C.H. Chan and Wei He
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the process and interaction among group members using wikis to produce collaborative writing (CW) projects, and to compare their…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the process and interaction among group members using wikis to produce collaborative writing (CW) projects, and to compare their collaborative behavior among students at different levels of education.
Design/methodology/approach
The study investigated the participation and collaboration of Hong Kong primary school, secondary school, and university students in the process of developing their wiki-based CW projects. Both qualitative and quantitative data were obtained from analyzing the revision histories and the content of wiki pages.
Findings
Results indicated that the level of education significantly affected student CW actions, and their interaction and coordination behavior to co-construct the work. Also, the frequency of collaborative activities varied noticeably among the primary, secondary, and university students.
Practical implications
The study enriches our understanding of the complex and dynamic process of CW using wikis. It has practical implications on why and how the pedagogy and technology should be implemented differentially for the students at three different levels of education to facilitate collaborative knowledge construction.
Originality/value
Research to date is still lacking an in-depth knowledge about the processes and activities involved when students write collaboratively on wikis. Also, no study has yet compared the collaborative behavior among students at different levels of education. The results of this study contribute to the development of new and appropriate modes of group-based collaborative learning at all levels of the education system for the twenty-first century.
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Kathy Campbell, Mark Ellis and Leslie Adebonojo
Research productivity is often counted as a major factor in evaluations and promotion. Librarians have had to find a way to pursue research along with performing job duties and…
Abstract
Purpose
Research productivity is often counted as a major factor in evaluations and promotion. Librarians have had to find a way to pursue research along with performing job duties and professional service. Collaborative research can provide an effective solution for busy librarians who need to show a record of research. Additionally, it can be a cost‐effective means for library administrators to promote library faculty output in the face of reduced travel and research budgets. This paper seeks to address these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
In developing their research group, the authors began with a small, informal collaboration on an article describing new staffing models for library outreach. As the writing of the article proceeded, the group developed a more formal structure. As that article reached completion, the purpose of the group expanded to that of fostering creativity and following creative leads to a publishable (or presentable) conclusion.
Findings
In the two years during which the writing group has been working together, it has produced four articles and nine presentations, with several in‐progress efforts. In addition, the writing group has encouraged members to develop individual projects for presentation and publication outside of the group's scope.
Practical implications
The authors offer recommendations to other professionals interested in forming collaborative writing groups and to library administrators interested in encouraging their staffs to develop productive working relationships.
Originality/value
Few articles have been written about collaboration among librarians to promote their own research and publication. The authors describe in this paper an informal, yet highly effective means to foster faculty research productivity.
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The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of instruction in information problem solving within the world wide web (the web) environment. The participants were 20…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of instruction in information problem solving within the world wide web (the web) environment. The participants were 20 seventh and eighth grade students with a learning disability (LD) in reading. An experimental pretest‐posttest control group method was used to investigate the effects of intervention in which the treatment group was instructed in information problem solving with the Big6 Skills model. Both groups utilized an essay map organizer. The students researched science and social studies topics on the internet and the web and wrote reports over a three‐month period.
Design/methodology/approach
Experimental pretest‐posttest control group study, with a repeated measures design, and a repeated measures ANOVA analysis.
Findings
Both groups significantly improved in the quality of writing, text length, and navigation. The treatment group significantly outperformed the control group on the measure of text length and text organization. There were no significant differences between the two groups in prior knowledge, motivation, or gender.
Research limitations/implications
The study was conducted predominantly with the researcher as the instructor in a number of individualized sessions, which limits the generalizability of the study.
Practical implications
This study reveals that students with a reading disability in reading could be taught information problem‐solving skills within the web environment. As technology reshapes our notion of what constitutes “basic skills”, learning with the web calls for instruction in which reading, writing, and information skills should be viewed as interconnected. This interconnection might be especially important for students with LD who are often engaged in practicing various skills in isolation.
Originality/value
This study experimentally examined information problem solving on the web with students with an LD in reading. Much research has been focused on basic reading skills for this group of students, but few studies have examined their learning within electronic environments.
This study aims to examine the writing outcomes of 6th-grade students learning English as a second language.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the writing outcomes of 6th-grade students learning English as a second language.
Design/methodology/approach
In all 45 students in a text structure instruction (TSI) group were compared with 45 students in a self-regulated strategy instruction (SRSI) group and 43 students receiving traditional writing instruction. SRSI was adapted from the self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) model (MacArthur et al., 2015). The SRSD model includes self-regulation writing strategies, text and genre knowledge and think-aloud modeling. Findings allowed for a comparison of TSI and SRSI, in which organization knowledge does not need to be taught using SRSD methods. Measures of writing outcomes, including writing quality and summarization of main ideas, were administered after a one-month intervention.
Findings
Results revealed that, compared with traditional instruction, the TSI and SRSI groups each exhibited better writing outcomes. Compared with the traditional instruction group, each technique had a unique impact: SRSI on writing quality, and TSI on main ideas included in written summaries. Linguistic and textual analyses of students’ writing revealed that the TSI and SRSI group learners both demonstrated high syntactic complexity, content organization and lexical variation in their compositions.
Research limitations/implications
The present study provides empirical evidence that explicit teaching of SRSI writing strategies or TSI can be implemented effectively and elicit gains in elementary school L2 learners’ written output. A clear division does not exist between self-regulated writing strategies and text structure knowledge; the two techniques should be complementary, as suggested in the earlier SRSD model.
Originality/value
Classroom-based research has addressed the need to enhance self-regulated capacity in writing. However, writing has become more challenging for primary school learners. In addition, writing is a cognitively demanding process. The plethora of processes involved in writing may be one of the factors that caused difficulties in writing. Thus, writing proficiency relies on the development of text structure knowledge and the fostering of self-regulation capabilities.
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Collaborative writing is an interactive process. It saves time and energy, and it integrates the knowledge of multiple writers. Wiki is a platform for collaborative writing in the…
Abstract
Purpose
Collaborative writing is an interactive process. It saves time and energy, and it integrates the knowledge of multiple writers. Wiki is a platform for collaborative writing in the Web 2.0 era. This paper's aim is to focus on the many benefits of wikis.
Design/methodology/approach
To understand the effect of using wikis on collaborative writing, the authors conducted a laboratory experiment. They measured writing output under three user modalities (face to face, synchronous distribution, and asynchronous distribution) and with two writing tools (a wiki web site and MS Word).
Findings
Compared to the use of MS Word, face‐to‐face collaborative writing with wikis led to significantly higher levels of participation, and externally evaluated quality of the writing product, and satisfaction with the product and process. However there was no significant effect on document length. Satisfaction is significantly higher with wikis than with MS Word in both distributed collaborative writing conditions, but this was not the case for document length and externally evaluated quality.
Originality/value
The paper shows that the findings have important implications for business. First wikis do not require professional instructors to facilitate their use in meetings. Second the confirmation of wikis' effectiveness motivates the use of wikis toward a more open business environment.
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Laila Suleiman Al-Rawahi and Abdu Mohammad Al-Mekhlafi
The present study investigated the effect of online collaborative project-based learning on the language performance and attitudes of intermediate level students at the College of…
Abstract
The present study investigated the effect of online collaborative project-based learning on the language performance and attitudes of intermediate level students at the College of Applied Sciences in Oman. The study is a quasi-experimental study and the sample consisted of four classes (93 students in total) in Nizwa College of Applied Sciences. These participants were in their foundation year and were taking the Academic English Course during the time of the research experiment. Two classes were assigned to the experimental group (46 students) and they were directed to collaborate online in doing their research projects. The other two classes were assigned to the control group (47 students) and did their projects individually. A language test containing reading and writing questions, an attitude questionnaire, students' project scores and transcripts of focused group discussions were used to collect the data needed to answer the research questions. The study revealed that the main positive effect of online collaborative project-based learning was clear on students' writing skill in the post test (i.e. students in the experimental group outperformed students in the control group).