Struggling Writers Interacting With the Features of a Technology-Based Graphic Organizer for Persuasive Writing

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Eighteen
  In Roundtable Session: Supporting Readers and Writers With Disabilities: Interventions, Supports, Accommodations, and Outcomes (Table 13)

Abstract

The purpose of this mixed methods study was (1) to investigate the effects of a technology-based graphic organizer (TBGO) with embedded self-regulated learning strategies and UDL features on quantity and quality of essay writing by 8th-grade struggling writers in the inclusive classrooms as well as (2) to explore the patterns of TBGO use by students with and without disabilities. Results revealed that all students improved the quantity and quality of their writing after receiving instruction with the TBGO. Further, students with disabilities and ELLs used more features of the TBGO in order to personalize their learning. The teachers found the TBGO to be highly useful for all struggling writers and believed that the TBGO increased students’ motivation to write.

Authors

• Anya S. Evmenova, George Mason University
  Presenting Author

• Kelley S. Regan, George Mason University
  Presenting Author

• Amy C. Hutchison, University of Alabama
  Presenting Author

• Reagan L. Mergen, George Mason University
  Presenting Author

• Sara A. Field, George Mason University
  Presenting Author

• Hsiao Ping Tai, George Mason University
  Presenting Author