Location
CSU 253
Start Date
21-4-2014 10:00 AM
End Date
21-4-2014 11:00 AM
Student's Major
Psychology
Student's College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Mentor's Name
Carlos Panahon
Mentor's Email Address
carlos.panahon@mnsu.edu
Mentor's Department
Psychology
Mentor's College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Second Mentor's Name
Samantha Steinman
Second Mentor's Department
Psychology
Second Mentor's College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Description
Writing has been specifically identified as a neglected skill within the core academic areas for elementary aged students (National Commission on Writing, 2013). Therefore, there is a need for researchers to focus on interventions that will improve students’ writing skills. Unfortunately, limited research exists with regards to interventions that have proven to increase academic productivity in the area of writing. Panahon, Hilt-Panahon, and Arbolino (2012) found that when students were given a choice of story starters, students wrote more words as opposed to when they were provided only one story starter. The current study looked to further examine the use of a choice intervention on writing by comparing the performance of male and female students. Participants were randomly assigned to either the choice or no choice groups and administered curriculum-based writing probes on a weekly basis. Participants assigned to the choice group were presented two writing prompts at the beginning of each session and chose which they preferred to write about for the day. Participants assigned to the no choice group were provided one writing prompt. The total words written by both males and females were compared in both conditions to investigate any potential gender differences. Implications of the findings will be discussed.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Using Choice as a Writing Intervention to Investigate Gender Differences
CSU 253
Writing has been specifically identified as a neglected skill within the core academic areas for elementary aged students (National Commission on Writing, 2013). Therefore, there is a need for researchers to focus on interventions that will improve students’ writing skills. Unfortunately, limited research exists with regards to interventions that have proven to increase academic productivity in the area of writing. Panahon, Hilt-Panahon, and Arbolino (2012) found that when students were given a choice of story starters, students wrote more words as opposed to when they were provided only one story starter. The current study looked to further examine the use of a choice intervention on writing by comparing the performance of male and female students. Participants were randomly assigned to either the choice or no choice groups and administered curriculum-based writing probes on a weekly basis. Participants assigned to the choice group were presented two writing prompts at the beginning of each session and chose which they preferred to write about for the day. Participants assigned to the no choice group were provided one writing prompt. The total words written by both males and females were compared in both conditions to investigate any potential gender differences. Implications of the findings will be discussed.
Recommended Citation
Nohelty, Nicole. "Using Choice as a Writing Intervention to Investigate Gender Differences." Undergraduate Research Symposium, Mankato, MN, April 21, 2014.
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/urs/2014/oral_session_03/3
