Writing Processes in Short Written Responses to Questions Probing Prior Knowledge

Abstract

The purpose of the report is to explore some of the mechanisms involved in the writing process. In particular, we examine students' process data (keystroke log analysis) to uncover how students approach a knowledge‐telling task using 2 different task types. In the first task, students were asked to list as many words as possible related to a particular topic (word listing). In a second task, students were asked to write to a specific prompt that was designed to elicit their background knowledge of a topic using connected text (knowledge elicitation). Using a matrix incomplete block design, 1,592 high school students completed the 2 writing tasks in addition to a multiple‐choice test of their background knowledge in 2 of 5 possible topics in the domain of U.S. history. An array of process data including students' typing and associated timing features was used to predict the writing scores on the 2 different types of tasks. The analyses revealed several distinct patterns that were associated with processing at the task knowledge productivity level, the editing effort level, and the keyboarding effort level. The robustness of the features was reflected in a set of hierarchal regressions that demonstrated that the process features were predictive of the writing score even when students' knowledge scores on the associated multiple‐choice test were considered. In sum, the results indicate that process data in the form of log file analysis are useful for both understanding the writing process and exploring potential differences between students with high and low knowledge.

Towards an Understanding of Program Writing as a Cognitive Process: Analysis of Keystroke Logs

“…For example, time spent pausing between bursts, and where pausing occurs, can predict text quality [8]. Other measures of fluency, like typing speed and total time on task, are strongly related to final scores [3]. Sentence-level planning can be indicated by the length of pauses between sentences, while broader planning can be measured by the length of the initial pause before writing [4].…”

Benchmark Keystroke Biometrics Accuracy From High‐Stakes Writing Tasks

“…ETS has been conducting research on the student writing process using keystroke logging software that captures the sequence and duration of typing actions when a student completes an essay as part of a test (Almond et al, 2012;Deane, 2014;Deane, O'Reilly, et al, 2018;Deane, Roth, et al, 2018;Guo et al, 2019;Sinharay et al, 2019;Zhang et al, 2016;Zhang et al, 2017;Zhang et al, 2019;. The longer texts captured in essay responses should allow more precise measurement of typing dynamics than those resulting from typing passwords.…”

Peer talk in collaborative writing of primary school students: A conversation analytic study of student interaction in the context of inquiry learning

“…Over the past three decades, a significant amount of studies has demonstrated how writing in small groups or dyads can be beneficial for both developing writing proficiency and for content learning (Rojas-Drummond, et al, 2008;Donahue & Lillis, 2014;Klein & Boscolo 2016;Van Steendam, 2016). And whereas studies on cognitive processes of writers use stimulated recall interviews, thinking aloud procedures and, more recently, keystroke logging (Deane et al, 2018;von Koss Torkildsen et al, 2016) and eye-tracking software (Hacker et al, 2017), studies on collaborative writing focus primarily on the interaction between the participants. Co-writing a text evokes the participants to articulate their thinking processes aloud when they are in consultation with each other about the decisions they have to make as writers.…”

“…Sociocultural environments thus influence the choice of writing strategies, since writing expertise grows through the internalization of generally accepted strategies and procedures for addressing writing problems, which are shared within a community of practice (Deane et al, 2018). Rojas-Drummond, et al (2017) employ the term dialogic literacy, which refers to the interplay between talk, reading and writing.…”

“…To acquire a full understanding of reflective practices of students in the context of writing 6 with use of a PC or laptop, a multimethod approach is highly recommended. The data collection may then be a combination of video recordings (see Kimura et al, 2018, for a conversation analytic perspective on utilizing video data) , key stoke logging (see for instance Deane et al, 2018;Leijten & Van Waes, 2013;von Koss Torkildsen et al, 2016) and eye-tracking software (see for instance Hacker et al, 2017).…”