Writings as modelling examples: Scaffolds for academic writing in a post-graduate curriculum

The presented study investigated the effectiveness of learning from models in the context of post-graduate academic writing. Two questions were pursued: whether studying model writings supports mature students in writing in a new genre and whether integrating additional scaffolds in such models has added value. A quasi-experimental control group design study was realised in an on-going distance learning curriculum. Performance on a sequel of writing tasks in a new genre was compared both within and between conditions (learning by models versus learning by writing). Writing performance improved significantly in all conditions, yet no differences between them were found. Learning by models, with or without additional scaffolds, and reflecting on the experience seem to be effective as an initial step in mastering a new writing genre. However, this claim needs more empirical evidenc