Exploring Elementary Student Writing Self-Regulation Strategies: A Qualitative Inquiry

• In Event: 29.083 - Poster Session 4
  In Poster Session: 29.083-8 - Examining Synergistic Relationships Among Self-Regulated Learning and Motivational Variables

Abstract

To understand self-regulatory strategies of young students during writing we asked 782 elementary school students, “What do you do when you get stuck in your writing?” Using an inductive approach to content analysis, we analyzed their responses to capture patterns of self-regulatory behaviors and examined differences by gender, grade-level, and achievement. A deductive analysis identified how students’ reported strategies related to components of the socio cognitive model of writing self-regulation. Students reported a variety of affective, behavioral, and cognitive strategies that reflected persistence; overwhelmingly, students described task-related strategies like prewriting, brainstorming, and seeking help--strategies proven effective for increasing writing achievement (Graham & Perin, 2007; Newman, R.S., 2002). Findings are informative to the study and application of writing self-regulation.

Authors

• Divya Varier, George Mason University

• Sharon Zumbrunn, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Sarah Conklin, Virginia Commonwealth University

• JK Stringer, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Sarah Anne Marrs, Virginia Commonwealth University