Explicit instruction, assumed skills, or something in the middle: Expository writing development in different learning environments with high school freshmen.

This research builds upon Vygotsky's concept of sociocultural theory by investigating how explicit writing instruction, within different learning environments, impacts the development of expository writing skills of students. Addressing Vygotsky's challenge that researchers need to examine a sociocultural approach to writing, the research question guiding this investigation is: How does explicit writing instruction within two technology-based Web site---impact students' construction of expository texts in a social studies classroom? Through participant observation as a ninth-grade social studies teacher, the researcher collected the following data: audiotapes of students' interactions, transcriptions, interviews, and student writing samples. These particular types of data provided insights into more effective instructional practices to develop expository writing skills across content areas. The analysis included evaluation measures documenting the stages in writing development of students' expository texts in varying learning and teacher assessments of student-produced work. The results of this study were: (1) explicit writing instruction is needed at the secondary level; (2) instructional practices must incorporate socially interactive learning environments to improve writing skills; and (3) students need material to be interesting, engaging, and connected to the content information. The significance of this research was that explicit writing and different socially interactive learning environments may contribute to the development of expository writing skills.PhDCurriculum developmentEducationEducational technologySecondary educationUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/131666/2/3057931.pd