Learning How to Write through Encouraging Metacognitive Monitoring:

This study investigated how facilitating metacognitive monitoring could improve the writing performance of students. To this end, an intervention called Evaluating Activity (EA) was developed, and its effect was investigated. In Study 1, EA was implemented for 30 eighth-grade students. In EA, students are told to read and rate sample essays. After evaluating an essay, they are required to comment on the strengths and weaknesses of the text. The analysis of the participants’ comments suggested that a variety of viewpoints was crucial for improving their writing performance. In Study 2, 91 eighthgraders participated. To encourage the participants to consider a variety of viewpoints, collaborative work was introduced. The purpose of Study 2 was to investigate differences between three conditions of EA: individual (I), collaborative (C), and collaboration following individual work (I-C). The results indicated that the writing performance of the participants improved significantly under Condition I-C. In addition, the advantage of a variety of viewpoints increased only in Condition I-C.