To investigate whether a creative writing unit in upper secondary education would improve students' creative as well as argumentative text quality and to examine whether it would change students' writing behavior, we tested a creative writing unit based on encouraging writing in flow by using divergent thinking tasks. Four classes (Grade 10)…

This intervention study aimed to test the effect of writing process feedback. Sixty-five Grade 10 students received a personal report based on keystroke logging data, including information on several writing process aspects. Participants compared their writing process to exemplar processes of equally scoring (position-setting condition) or…

This study compares a problem-solving account of discovery through writing, which attributes discovery to strategic rhetorical planning and assumes discovery is associated with better quality text, to a dual-process account, which attributes discovery to the combined effect of 2 conflicting processes with opposing relationships to text quality.…

This study addresses the current debate about the beneficial effects of text processing software on students with different working memory (WM) during the process of academic writing, especially with regard to the ability to display higher-level conceptual thinking. A total of 54 graduate students (15 male, 39 female) wrote one essay by hand and…

Discusses effects of new technology on writing by assessing whether an experienced writer's style of writing changes with new technology. Compares typed word-processed letters with dictated word-processed letters after a change to a voice recognition system and indicates more of an influence on the writing process than on the written products.…

Investigates the theoretical basis of the writing process and describes the possibilities of word processing as a tool to support it. Writing process models are compared; the advantages of word processing are discussed, highlighting the revision process; and a model for use by elementary and secondary teachers is suggested. (21 references) (LRW)

Reviews videotapes of three professional writers composing several essays from start to finish, both by hand and by computer. Discusses similarities and differences among the completed essays. Finds that writing appears to be governed by deep cognitive models that are little influenced by the mode of text production or by the writer's preference…

A study examined whether word processing amplifies writing performance and whether it restructures the process of writing. Sixteen college students wrote a short essay in a single session on either a word processor or in longhand. The quality of the essays was assessed by trained judges who rated their content and style. Text analysis methods were…

This paper reports the results and educational implications of an experimental, comparative study evaluating the gains in overall writing quality in two groups of college freshmen composition students. The experimental group of 45 students learned to compose their first four of eight essays on the computer, while their professor intervened with…

Suggests that when first-year students composed on screen, they developed a tendency to expand their writing processes; and that when upper-level students did, they tended to collapse their processes. Suggests that first-year and upper-level students interacting with a computer can learn and adopt different types of writing strategies. (SR)

Compares essays composed by secondary school students with pen and paper to those composed on a word processor. Finds that word-processed essays were neater, longer, more formal, and had a weaker voice than pen-and-paper essays. Finds word-processed essay quality was unaffected for students with high to medium computer experience but was adversely…

A study determined the effectiveness of using a computer word processor as compared to the traditional paper-and-pencil method for process story writing. Students in a first-grade classroom in the Mark Gardiner Hoyle Elementary School located in Swansea, Massachusetts, were randomly divided into a control group of 12 students and an experimental…

Discussion of the use of computers as research tools to analyze the writing process focuses on a microcomputer-based software program, Recording WordStar. Studies using the software are described, including comparisons of traditional writing methods with word processing methods and utilization of the software's ability to play back a composition…

Describes a study designed to determine whether the use of computer word processing would improve both the amount and quality of revision done by high school student writers. The effects of word processing on composition length and revision, and students' attitudes toward writing and word processing are discussed. (47 references) (CLB)

In a study to determine the effects of writing on the computer versus traditional writing by hand, 22 fourth grade students were randomly assigned to samples using either a computer or paper and pencil. The study hypothesized that (1) children are not more willing to revise and improve their writing using a word processor when compared to the…