The effects of a collaborative computer writing program and constructivist teaching strategies on writing quality and attitudes toward writing of high school senior developmental writers

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a collaborative computer writing program and constructivist teaching strategies on the writing quality and attitudes toward writing of high school senior developmental writers.; Subjects were 10 high school seniors who were academically in good standing with their school district but who were at risk for being placed in developmental writing courses in college because of low SAT verbal scores. They took part in a collaborative pilot program between a school district and a mid-sized regional university designed to provide intensive writing instruction to prepare them for college English courses before they left high school. The subjects received 18 weeks of daily instruction in a computer writing lab at the university.; CommonSpace, a collaborative computer writing program was used for pre-writing activities. Students participated in formal peer review groups after first drafts of essays and in peer editing activities. They were encouraged to share their work throughout the writing process.; Qualitative data were collected from students' survey responses, journal entries, portfolios, interviews, and the researcher's observations. Analysis of data revealed that students' writing improvement and ability to understand their writing strategies were influenced by their propensity to collaborate with others during the writing process.; Quantitative data were collected to determine if writing improvement had occurred over the course of the study. A paired-samples t-test was conducted to compare the subjects' performance on the COMPASS English test, used for placement in college learning support classes, with the performance of a control group. Results of the test revealed a significantly higher performance by the subjects in the study. A paired-samples t-test was conducted to compare the subjects' writing performance at the beginning of the study to that at the end of the study. Results of the test revealed significant improvement in writing had occurred over the course of the study.