Term of Award

Fall 2013

Degree Name

ED.S in Instructional Technology

Document Type and Release Option

Education Specialist Paper (restricted to Georgia Southern)

Department

Leadership, Technology, and Human Development

Education Specialist Chair

Randy Carlson

Education Specialist Chair Email

rcarlson@georgiasouthern.edu

Abstract

Writing is an essential component of effective communication, yet many students lack the ability to brainstorm and express their ideas in writing. In fact, most students dread the concept of writing. In today’s society, students are no longer bound by traditional methods of writing such as pen and paper. With the advent of new Web 2.0 tools, there are numerous electronic tools that can aid students in becoming effective writers. One tool in particular is a wiki, which is a series of interconnected webpages. Therefore, the purpose of the research study was to determine if the type of writing instruction students received had any effect on their confidence to write. The independent variable was defined as the type of writing instruction students received. Two forms of writing instruction were explored. The control group of students received writing instruction with traditional methods of writing such as pen and paper whereas the experimental group received writing instruction with the use of a wiki, a nontraditional method of writing. The dependent variable was defined as students’ confidence level, which refers to their assurance and willingness to write when given a writing task. Before and after the research study, all participants were administered the confidence section of the Writing Dispositions Scale (WDS). In examining the groups’ pre and post survey results, an analysis of covariance, ANCOVA, was conducted, and the type of writing instruction students received had a positive effect on their confidence for writing.

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