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Effects of a Cognitive Strategies Intervention to Improve Teacher Instruction and Students’ Argument Writing in History

Tamara Tate

University of California, Irvine

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Meet the Team

Authors:

Steiss, Olson, Baker, Graham, Kim, Tate, Krishnan, Chung, Collins, Gilbertson, Moon, and Wang

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The Need

  1. Students are not writing well
  2. Problem can’t be solved in a single subject area (ELA)
  3. Disciplinary literacy is important (Common Core, History Social Studies Framework)
  4. Need writing instruction that scaffolds the complexity of communicating in argumentative genres and disciplinary thinking
  5. History teachers less prepared than ELA for this role

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Study Purpose

To enhance the multiple source-based argument writing of 6th-12th grade students in history/social studies classrooms

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Background

  • Cognitive & sociocognitive theories of writing development
  • Writer[s]-within-Communities model of writing
    • Self-efficacy predicts writing quality
  • Disciplinary literacy

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Background

Cognitive strategies

  • Explicit instruction in cognitive strategies improves student critical thinking, reading, and writing
    • General writing strategies
    • Disciplinary specific strategies
  • Evidence that strategy instruction is especially effective for students developing English proficiency

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3,400 research articles vetted

55 chosen for WWC review

15 met WWC standards

6 of the 15 were from Pathway, C3WP, & SRSD

“Teaching students to use cognitive strategies is one way to develop strategic thinking skills, ultimately helping them write more effectively” — IES Practice Guide; Recommendation # 1

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Introducing Students to the Cognitive Strategies in Their Reader’s and Writer’s Tool Kits for Use in Your History Class

UCLAIMS, 9/20/2022

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Planning and Goal Setting

  • My purpose [for reading this source] is...
  • My top priority is...
  • I will accomplish my goal by...

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We will need to consult additional sources to corroborate or update our initial interpretations

Corroboration

  • I need to check another source because
  • Another source that confirms/challenges what I am reading here is...
  • Although this says ___, other pieces of evidence show...

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Historical Contextualization / Perspective Taking

Historical Contextualization / Perspective Taking

  • At the time this was written/created, people were concerned with...
  • From ______’s perspective, I can understand...
  • Given the historical context, I think ____really matters because ...

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Sourcing

  • Because the author of this document was ____, I think their purpose was...
  • Because the author’s perspective is ____, we might be missing
  • This source is reliable/unreliable because...

Break down and model the strategy

Apply to different texts

Students apply with support

Adapt for different purposes

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Research Questions

  1. What are the effects of the intervention on students’ writing achievement, and how do the effects differ for students in the classes of teachers participating in their first year of the intervention compared to those in their second year of the program?
  2. Do the effects of the intervention differ among students of varying language proficiencies?
  3. How does teacher fidelity to the intervention moderate the impact on student writing?
  4. What are the effects of the intervention on students’ self-efficacy for writing and self-reported cognitive strategy use?

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Methods

Quasi-Experimental Design

  • A year-long professional development (PD) intervention to improve writing skills in history
  • Three conditions for teachers
    • Randomly selected teachers placed into treatment (n=12)
    • Randomly selected teachers placed into control (n=15)
    • Teachers from field trial year (volunteers) continued for a second year (n=15)

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Methods

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Methods

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Methods

Writing Task

  • Pre- and post-tests used source-based argumentative writing tasks to measure proficiency
  • Two 50-minute class periods to read sources and write essays

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Methods

Writing Task

  • Pre- and post-tests used source-based argumentative writing tasks to measure proficiency
  • Two 50-minute class periods to read sources and write essays

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Self-Efficacy and Cognitive Strategies

  • Student self report on use of cognitive strategies for writing and reading
  • Student self-efficacy for writing

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Methods

Analytic Method

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Results: Writing Achievement

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Results: Writing Achievement

English Learners

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Results

  • Controlling for student demographics, prior achievement, and English language status, we find no significant difference between student writing quality for control and treatment teachers.
  • However, the moderate effects of the intervention were significant (Cohen’s d = .29) for students whose teacher previously participated in a pilot year of the intervention and opted to participate for a second year.
  • Across treatment and returning teachers, fidelity to the intervention significantly predicted student writing improvement.

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Cognitive Strategies & Self-Efficacy

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Conclusion

  • No significant effect
    • Underpowered
    • Covid
    • Second year results suggest more time might be required
  • History teachers need more professional development to teach writing well
  • Time and resources to enact intervention increase effectiveness

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Thank you to our teachers & students!

tatet@uci.edu

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© 2024 The Regents of the University of California

The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305C190007 to University of California, Irvine. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.