An Exploration of Writing Self-Efficacy and Writing Self-Regulatory Behaviours in Undergraduate Writing

Abstract

Students will take independent action to improve their writing when they believe those actions will have a positive effect. The data presented focuses on the self-regulatory writing behaviours of nursing students in their third year. The purpose was to explore patterns of writing self-efficacy, anxiety levels, and student grade point average (GPA) in relation to student choices with help seeking, advanced planning of writing, revision habits, and response to feedback. Low writing self-efficacy, high anxiety students sought help from more sources, reported their feedback made them feel negative about their capabilities as writers, and were less likely to report reading and applying feedback to future writing efforts. No patterns of writing self-efficacy or anxiety levels emerged with respect to student revision habits or their choice to begin their assignments in advance of the due date. GPA was also not associated with the writing self-regulatory choices assessed. As the primary writing support for students in the later years of a nursing program, educators should consider interventions that encourage help seeking, facilitate students’ understanding and integration of the feedback they receive into their assignment revisions, and normalize the negative emotions that interfere with the self-efficacy levels required to write well.

Influences of Critical Thinking Disposition on Situated Academic Writing Self-efficacy of EFL Students

“…self-efficacy among undergraduate students (Mitchell, McMillan, & Rabbani, 2019;Sun & Wang, 2020). Among the dimensions of SAWSE, students' rational reflective writing was slightly better than their writing essentials and creative identity.…”

Writing Anxiety and Academic Procrastination on Undergraduate Thesis Writing: The Role of Self-Regulation

“…Besides goal setting that helps students make progress in their thesis writing process, the students also show high engagement in help seeking. Although several studies contradict one another on the roles of help-seeking in the thesis writing process, it is claimed that the students who seek help when needed tend to be inspired to conduct revisions to their writing (Mitchell et al, 2019). Many students struggle to recognize their need for help, and as a result, they do not seek help.…”

“…Pointing out the importance of self-regulation in students' writing process, Abadikhah et al (2018) explain that writing is mainly a process instead of a product and it cannot be tangled up in single writing practice. Thus, in the process of writing, to create a wellwritten product, they have to be familiar with self-regulation techniques (Mitchell et al, 2019). Some techniques can be done by tracking the progress periodically through self-monitoring.…”

“…Meanwhile, there are a lot of things to do in writing. The planning stage of writing entails generating ideas, researching, reading, establishing an outline, creating personal writing goals, and consuming time to think and reflect (Mitchell et al, 2019).…”

“…Wahyuni & Umam, 2017). Successful decision-making, problemsolving, and significant reflection on one's writing abilities are needed to write a successful product (Mitchell, McMillan, & Rabbani, 2019). Despite the challenges in thesis writing, English Language Education students at one of the private universities in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, are required to write the thesis in English.…”