The Effects of School-Based Writing-to-Learn Interventions on Academic Achievement: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Since the early 1970s, many educators have touted writing as a means of enhancing learning. Several reasons have been suggested for this purported enhancement: that writing is a form of learning, that writing approximates human speech, that writing supports learning strategies. Alternatively, some researchers have cautioned that the educative effects of writing may be contingent on the contexts in which it occurs. The research on writing’s effects on learning is ambiguous. This meta-analysis of 48 school-based writing-to-learn programs shows that writing can have a small, positive impact on conventional measures of academic achievement. Two factors predicted enhanced effects: the use of metacognitive prompts and increased treatment length. Two factors predicted reduced effects: implementation in Grades 6–8 and longer writing assignments

Using Writing Tasks to Elicit Adolescents’ Historical Reasoning

“…In their study, students whose learning of photosynthesis included regular writing opportunities demonstrated a better understanding of the topic than their peers who had no writing opportunities. In addition, a review of writing-to-learn interventions by Bangert-Drowns et al (2004) indicated that writing interventions had positive effects on school achievement and content learning, although the effects were relatively small. One factor limiting our results may have been the use of conventional academic measures for content learning as opposed to more nuanced instruments that measure reasoning or concept development.…”

A participatory learning approach to biochemistry using student authored and evaluated multiple‐choice questions

“…In particular, PeerWise combines a ''writing to learn'' activity [22], student-contributed questions [23], and a web-based peer review system [24][25][26] that allows students to be actively engaged in their learning. Nicol [27] also showed that student-contributed questions, in an approach used by Fellenz [23], fulfilled all seven principles of good feedback.…”

Teaching Writing Strategies to Young Students Struggling with Writing and at Risk for Behavioral Disorders: Self-Regulated Strategy Development

“…It is used to gather, remember, and share content information. Furthermore, it is an effective tool for exploring and thinking about ideas (Bangert-Drowns, Hurley, & Wilkinson, 2004).…”