The Effect of Explicit Writing Instruction in Different Content Areas on Students’ Writing Ability and Content Knowledge in Middle School Social Studies Classrooms.

Authors

Presenter(s)

Casey Bogues

Comments

1:15-2:30, Kennedy Union Ballroom

Files

Description

Implementation of writing in the content areas has been encouraged since the 1960s and 1970s. Yet, still there is minimal research on how to effectively deliver this instruction in the classroom (Galbraith & Baaijen 2018). Teachers utilize activities such as free writing, journaling, and argumentative writing to promote learning, but there is little evidence that teachers of differnt content areas provide the explicit writing instruction students need to successfully write in the specific content area (Graham, Kiuhara & McKay, 2020). The main question being explored in this study is does explicit writing instruction in the content area of social studies in a middle school classroom influence students' writing ability and content knowledge retention? The hypothesis is that while most students will make some progress in understanding the content materials, students who receive the intervention will make greater progress in developing content knowledge through writing with instruction. There are two main objectives while conducting this research: 1) Explore how explicit writing interventions in a different content classroom at the middle school level influences learning in the classroom; 2) Develop a deeper understanding of the different instruction that teachers provide in the content area, social studies, to support students’ development and content knowledge. To determine the effect of explicit writing instruction in a different content area on students’ writing abilities and content knowledge in middle school classrooms, the intervention of a single paragraph outlining template will be implemented in the content area classroom of social studies. A triangulation of data will be implemented throughout this research. Interviews will be conducted with the teachers for both pre-intervention implementation and post-intervention implementation. Documents of students' work samples will be collected and analyzed. Finally, observations of the writing instruction in each classroom will be conducted.

Publication Date

4-23-2025

Project Designation

Graduate Research

Primary Advisor

Mary-Kate Sableski

Primary Advisor's Department

Teacher Education

Keywords

Stander Symposium, School of Education and Health Sciences

Institutional Learning Goals

Scholarship; Vocation; Community

Recommended Citation

"The Effect of Explicit Writing Instruction in Different Content Areas on Students’ Writing Ability and Content Knowledge in Middle School Social Studies Classrooms." (2025). Stander Symposium Projects. 3925.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/stander_posters/3925