The Impact of Discovery Learning in Writing Instruction on Fifth-Grade Student Achievement

Because 5th-grade students are not achieving sufficient writing scores on Georgia state-mandated writing assessments, an intervention was delivered regarding the teacher-directed instructional approach utilized at one school. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to determine whether discovery learning, a method based on the constructivist learning theory, increased student writing achievement. The research questions examined the impact of and factors related to the implementation of discovery learning on student writing achievement. Forty-six fifth grade students participated in this 8-week concurrent triangulation mixed methods study; all participated in writing instruction through the traditional writer’s workshop, and half received the discovery learning component embedded within writer’s workshop. Pre and posttests were given to measure the effect of the treatment and the data were analyzed using an independent measures t test. The key results indicated an insignificant mean difference between the 2 groups: t (44) = 1.031, p = <.05, d = 2.021. Focus group interviews were conducted with student participants and a journal kept by teacher participants to verify the impac