Writing as a tool for constructive learning: Students' learning experiences during an experiment

Abstract

Education students' learning experiences were investigated in an experiment where writing was used as a central tool for learning. Experimental group students (n = 15) studied three textbooks, carried out writing assignments requiring knowledge transforming, discussed their assignments in groups and wrote a long essay. Control group students (n = 13) read the same books on their own without engaging in activating learning tasks, attended lectures and took an exam. After the course the students were interviewed and asked what they felt they had learned during the course. They were also asked to fill in a learning assessment form. The interviews and the questionnaire assessments produced similar results. The experimental group students described their learning in a greater variety of ways than did the students in the control group. They emphasised the development of their thinking, changes in their conceptions of the topics studied and their acquisition of communication and study skills more than the control group students. The findings of the present study support earlier studies of writing-to-learn, suggesting that activating textbook reading by means of writing tasks and group discussions may enhance learning of the kind that higher education is aiming at: understanding, conceptional change and the development of critical thinking.