Use of Facebook,students’ intrinsic motivation to study writing,writing self-efficacy and writing performance

The study aimed to scrutinise how incorporating Facebook into a conventional writing class might impact on students’ intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy and writing performance, and to uncover how best to provide corrective feedback on students’ writing posted on Facebook. Sixty-four subjects from an intact group were recruited by means of purposive sampling. All participants sat the pre-test measuring intrinsic motivation to study writing, writing self-efficacy and writing performance. Following the pre-test, participants attended a regular conventional writing class incorporating Facebook for four months. At the conclusion of the study, participants sat the post-test and were interviewed regarding their learning experience. Participants were also requested to indicate which type of feedback provided on FB is preferred and to justify their responses. It was found that students’ intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy, as well as writing performance, improved markedly in the post-test and that direct corrective feedback is more favoured by students. Overall, the study suggests that not only does incorporating Facebook into a conventional writing class benefit students academically, but it also helps boost their intrinsic motivation to study writing and writing self-efficacy – two critical variables that dictate success in foreign language learning.     

Students’ motivation and teachers’ teaching practices towards the use of blogs for writing of online journals

This research paper explores students’ motivation and teachers’ teaching practices towards the writing of compositions in the conventional paper-based (paper and pencil) and the online blogs mode. Six classes of Grade 5 (224 students) and four English teachers in an elementary-level future school in Singapore were involved in this study. A total of four written assignments were given to the students – two conventional paper and pencil and two online blog-written assignments. No significant difference was found in students’ scores on these assignments. However, the submission rate for the conventional paper-based assignments was 93.8% as compared to 75% for the online blogs entries. Although both students and teachers in this study are savvy information communication technology users who have been exposed to one-to-one computing since Grade 1, the use of blogs for journal writing was not natural to both parties. Teachers found that it was more cumbersome to grade and give comments on students’ online blog posts via the online platform and likewise, students also faced issues with the submission of their online writing assignments. Some students quoted that they preferred writing via conventional paper and pencil mode, experienced network connection and technical issues, had poor time management, experienced forgetfulness and distraction from the computers and the Internet for not submitting their online writing assignments. This study also once again highlighted the importance of the teacher, as one out of the four teachers managed to get all her students to submit their writing assignments. The in-depth analysis of the interviews with the teachers and students, students’ perception survey, students’ performance in their writing tasks (both online and paper-based) and submission rates had revealed useful insights and considerations on the use of blogs to engage students in writing.     

High school boys’ and girls’ writing conceptions and writing self-efficacy beliefs: what is their role in writing performance?

This study investigated the conceptions about writing and writing self-efficacy beliefs held by high school students in relation to the students’ gender as well as their associations with writing achievement. The results show that female students have more sophisticated writing conceptions than their male counterparts but no gender differences were found in writing self-efficacy beliefs. In addition, results reveal that writing self-efficacy beliefs and gender play an important role in predicting writing performance and that writing performance is moderated by students’ writing conceptions. Educational implications and further research are discussed.     

Students’ writing and reading preferences in a paperless classroom

ABSTRACT

This study took place in a school which adopted a “paperless classroom” policy. The purpose of the study was to examine whether students who learn in a paperless classroom really prefer reading and writing on computers rather than on paper and whether their preferences differ according to contextual conditions and personal differences. The findings show that students’ reading and writing preferences depended on the context in which the reading or writing was performed. The boys preferred to read and write on the computer significantly more than girls. Conversely, the girls’ handwriting skills and preference for handwriting were higher than the boys’. Reading and writing on computer was found to be favored among strong students, while weak students tended to prefer using paper. This research also revealed a rapid decrease in favoring computer over paper in both reading and writing over time. Students who had experienced the paperless classroom policy in this school for three years were less supportive of the use of computers for reading and writing than younger students.     

Writing essays: does self-efficacy matter? The relationship between self-efficacy in reading and in writing and undergraduate students’ performance in essay writing

Self-efficacy beliefs have been identified as associated with students’ academic performance. The present research assessed the relationship between two new self-efficacy scales (self-efficacy in reading [SER] and self-efficacy in writing [SEW]) and students’ writing performance on a piece of assessed written coursework. Using data from first and second year undergraduate psychology students at a UK university (N?=?145), the results showed that both SER and SEW were related to actual writing performance. Overall the results support the importance of the concept of self-efficacy in relation to student performance. We discuss the relevance of self-efficacy on students’ perceptions and self-regulations.     

Knowledge of persuasion and writing goals predict the quality of children’s persuasive writing

Reading and Writing - We assessed the influence of genre-specific discourse knowledge and writing goals on the persuasive writing of 4th and 6th grade students with and without learning...     

Personality traits’ effects on self-efficacy and outcome expectations for high school major choice

The current study focuses on the contribution of the Big Five personality traits to the development of self-efficacy and outcome expectations regarding selection of a high school major among 368 Israeli adolescents (M _age = 16.07, SD = 0.41). Structural equation analyses showed that higher levels of conscientiousness and extraversion and lower neuroticism contributed to higher self-efficacy. In contrast, higher levels of conscientiousness and neuroticism and lower extraversion contributed to higher outcome expectations. These findings expand our understanding regarding personality characteristics serving as antecedents of self-efficacy and outcome expectations and sets important implications for career interventions with adolescents.     

Using virtual reality to facilitate learners’ creative self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation in an EFL classroom

Education and Information Technologies - Following a mixed-methods approach, this study investigated the effect of a virtual reality (VR) creative project on EFL learners’ creative...     

Do creativity self-beliefs predict literacy achievement and motivation?

Previous work has suggested that creativity self-beliefs show only small relations with academic achievement and may only be related to intrinsic, not extrinsic motivation. We set out to re-examine these relationships accounting for the multifaceted and process embedded nature of creativity self-beliefs and the full domain range of extrinsic motivation. One hundred and twenty-two secondary school pupils completed self-report measures of creativity self-beliefs and motivation and were administered as test of fluid intelligence. Creativity self-beliefs were positively related to teacher assessed literacy attainment, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and also inversely related to amotivation. Creativity self-beliefs accounted for a significant additional proportion of variance in both literacy achievement and in motivational measures, beyond that already accounted for by fluid intelligence. These findings suggest that it is important to attend to the multifaceted nature of creative self-beliefs and the full domain range of extrinsic motivation.     

Students’ navigation of the uncharted territories of academic writing

Abstract

Many students enter tertiary education unfamiliar with the ‘norms and conventions’ of their disciplines. Research into academic literacies has shown that in order to succeed in their studies, students are expected to conform to these norms and conventions, which are often unrecognized or seen as ‘common sense’ by lecturers. Students have to develop their own ‘map’ of their programme's expectations in order to make sense of the seemingly mysterious practices they are expected to take on. This study, undertaken at a University of Technology in South Africa, details students’ perceptions of their writing difficulties and their attempts to navigate their way through various writing tasks. The findings reveal that students experience a range of difficulties and that the students often feel unsupported in their travails with academic writing.     

Do students' beliefs about writing relate to their writing self-efficacy,apprehension, and performance?

This study tested a model in which beliefs about writing, writing self-efficacy, and writing apprehension predict writing performance. The Beliefs About Writing Survey, the Writing Self-Efficacy Index, and the modified Writing Apprehension Test were administered to 738 undergraduates to predict their grade on a class paper. In a hierarchical regression, beliefs about writing predicted variance in writing scores beyond that accounted for by writing self-efficacy and apprehension. Audience Orientation, a new belief associated with expert practice, was the strongest positive predictor of the students' grade. Transmission, a belief in relying on material published by authorities, was the leading negative predictor. Writing self-efficacy predicted performance, albeit modestly. The traditional measure of writing apprehension (anxiety about being critiqued) was not significant, but Apprehension About Grammar, a new construct, significantly and negatively predicted performance. These results support the possibility that beliefs about writing could be a leverage point for teaching students to write.     

The effect of flipped learning on EFL students’ writing performance,autonomy, and motivation

Education and Information Technologies - Though flipped learning has positively impacted teaching English writing, its usefulness in developing students’ English writing performance,...     

Students’ academic motivation: relations with parental warmth,autonomy granting,and supervision

In this investigation we assessed the relationships between perceptions of parenting and student’s academic motivation and success. College students completed a series of questionnaires assessing perceptions of parental warmth, autonomy granting, and supervision, and perceptions of academic control. Findings revealed different models for males and females. For females, perception of control was predicted by parental warmth and supervision. For males, only parental warmth was a significant predictor of perceptions of control. Perception of control predicted grade point average for both males and females. Parenting probably influences the development of motivational beliefs during childhood and adolescence and these beliefs continue to be important into the college years. Additionally, our findings of gender differences suggest that the effects of parenting may be moderated by the child’s gender.     

Students’ test motivation in PISA: the case of Norway

Do students make their best effort in large-scale assessment studies such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)? Despite six cycles of PISA surveys from 2000 to 2015, empirical studies regarding students’ test motivation and experience of the tests are sparse. The present study examines students’ test motivation in PISA, and how closely students’ achievement correlates with students’ reported test motivation. A total of 40 students from eight schools that participated in the PISA study in 2006, 2009 and 2012 were interviewed. In addition, questionnaire data from a total of 9400 students who participated in PISA 2009 and 2012 were collected. The findings of this study indicate that students overall were motivated to do their best in the PISA study, despite the fact that these low-stakes tests have no impact on students’ grades or future school entrance. In contrast to claims in the media, where it has been suggested that Norwegian students are more relaxed towards the PISA test than students in other countries, students report that they are motivated to do their best, but girls report significantly higher test motivation than boys. Despite the policy influence of PISA and the large number of countries participating, very few studies have reported findings from students’ perspectives regarding their test motivation and experience of the test. The present study aims to fill that gap.     

A Study of Interlanguage Fossilization in College Students’ English writing

English writing is the college students’synthetical application about the knowledge of English.English writing,however,is the weak segment of the college students'English learning all the time.Based on the researches home and abroad,the paper makes an implicational study on interlanguage fossilization in English writing of Chinese college students.Though probing the causes of fossilization in English writing,the paper proposes some measures to reduce the fossilization.In the chapter one,the paper introduces simply the interlanguage fossilization.In the chapter two,the paper analyzes college students English writing and get the causal factors of fossilization:unfavorite learning motivation of students,ineffective feedback to errors,interference of the mother tongue.Then,at the last chapter,the paper put up some measures to overcome and avoid the fossilization in college students'English writing:promoting students'motivation,providing right feedback,avoiding mother tongue interference.     

Students’ characteristics,self-regulated learning,technology self-efficacy,and course outcomes in online learning

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among students’ characteristics, self-regulated learning, technology self-efficacy, and course outcomes in online learning settings. Two hundred and fifty-six students participated in this study. All participants completed an online survey that included demographic information, the modified motivation strategies learning questionnaire, the online technology self-efficacy scale, the course satisfaction questionnaire, and the final grades. The researchers used structural equation modeling to examine relationships among student characteristics, self-regulated learning, technology self-efficacy, and course outcomes. Based on the results from the final model, students with previous online learning experiences tended to have more effective learning strategies when taking online courses, and hence, had higher levels of motivation in their online courses. In addition, when students had higher levels of motivation in their online courses, their levels of technology self-efficacy and course satisfaction increased. Finally, students with higher levels of technology self-efficacy and course satisfaction also earned better final grades. Based on the findings, we recommend that instructors design courses in a way that can promote students’ self-regulated learning behaviors in online learning settings and that students in online classes, as in traditional classes, set aside a regular time to concentrate on the course. Also, institutions should provide user-friendly online learning platforms and workshops for instructors and students to facilitate the teaching and learning experiences.     

The roles of writing knowledge,motivation, strategic behaviors,and skills in predicting elementary students’ persuasive writing from source material

Reading and Writing - A core tenet of the model of domain learning is that learning is shaped by cognitive and motivational forces. In writing, these catalysts include learners’ knowledge,...     

Students’ perceptions about peer assessment for writing: their origin and impact on revision work

We investigate students’ negative perceptions about an online peer assessment system for undergraduate writing across the disciplines. Specifically, we consider the nature of students’ resistance to peer assessment; what factors influence that resistance; and how students’ perceptions impact their revision work. We do this work by first examining findings from an end-of-course survey administered to 250 students in ten courses across six universities using an online peer assessment system called SWoRD for their writing assignments. Those findings indicate that students have the most positive perceptions of SWoRD in those courses where an instructor graded their work in addition to peers (as opposed to peer-only grading). We then move to an in-depth examination of perceptions and revision work among 84 students using SWoRD and no instructor grading for assessment of writing in one university class. Findings from that study indicate that students sometimes regard peer assessment as unfair and often believe that peers are unqualified to review and assess students’ work. Furthermore, students’ perceptions about the fairness of peer assessment drop significantly following students’ experience in doing peer assessment. Students’ fairness perceptions—and drops in those perceptions—are most significantly associated with their perceptions about the extent to which peers’ feedback is useful and positive. However, students’ perceptions appear to be unrelated to the extent of their revision work. This research fills a considerable gap in the literature regarding the origin of students’ negative perceptions about peer assessment, as well as how perceptions influence performance.