The effects of critical questions on undergraduate students' argumentative writing

Ferretti, Ralph P.Despite the established importance of writing, many students have difficulty writing proficiently (Ann Rogers & Graham, 2008; Graham & Perin, 2007). This study was designed to assess whether the provision of argumentative writing goals focusing on revision affected the quality of college students’ first drafts and revised essays. In addition, I investigated whether participants’ keyboarding fluency was related to essay quality. Participants first completed a typing-speed test and wrote argumentative essays. Then, they were asked to revise and write another essay on a different topic after receiving either a general goal, a genre-specific elaborated goal, a goal that included critical questions about two argumentation strategies, or a goal that incorporated the elaborated goal and critical questions. College students’ keyboarding fluency was found to be positively correlated with the quality of their argumentative essays. Compared to students who were given a general goal, those who received the elaborated goal, critical questions, or the incorporation of the elaborated goal and critical questions wrote revised essays of higher quality. Additionally, students who received the elaborated goal and the incorporation of the elaborated goal and critical conditions wrote essays that included more rebuttals, alternative standpoints, and reasons for alternative standpoints. Argumentation structural elements and keyboarding fluency together accounted for 60% of the variance in essay quality. Finally, all students frequently used the argument from consequences and argument from example schemes. The provision of critical questions on argument from consequences resulted in the increased use of this particular argument scheme. The results of the current study suggested that providing students with either an elaborated goal or the incorporation of the elaborated goal and critical questions is an effective and resource-efficient way of improving college students’ written arguments. ☐ Keywords: argumentation structure, critical questions, goal-setting, keyboarding fluency, revisionUniversity of Delaware, School of EducationPh.D