An Exploratory Study Of Factors Contributing To Task Complexity In Writing Workshop

In the context of new curriculum reform, Hunan University carries out amount ofprojects to support curriculum reform. The writing workshop project is one of therepresentative projects. As the morning star of new curriculum reform, the project ofwriting workshop is on behalf of a shift that classroom teaching is fromteacher-oriented to student-oriented. Thus, teachers become a facilitator to facilitatethe process of learning. To realize the change, it adopts a new teaching model thataims to enhance capacity of autonomous learning, ability of team-work andproficiency of commercial writing. In this new teaching model, students are the mainperformers who participate in after-class autonomous learning while teachers arefacilitators who provide puzzle solution and consulting service. Writing workshop isbased on task. As the core of teaching, task complexity influences students‘performance. So, to explore the factors contributing to task complexity in writingworkshop and evaluate their weight has positive effect on task designing and theprocess of student‘s learning. Thus, students can experience enjoyable learning.In this research, two questions are expected to answer:1) what factors contributeto task complexity;2) what is the weight of each factor.According to Liu&Li‘s task complexity model, a questionnaire about taskcomplexity is designed, adopting five-point Likert attitude scale. It is modifiedslightly according to combination of interview and pre-test with5students and theexperience of the researcher. Then,380students from the course are tested byquestionnaire for the study. Data are analyzed and summarized at the end.The results are as follows: seven factors contribute to task complexity. They areClarity and mismatch of input factor, conflict of goal, clarity of process factor,quantity of products factor, mismatch illustration of teacher factor, coordination ofteam-work factor and familiarity with topic factor.2) Factor of input‘s clarity andmismatch ranks the first place, explaining32.578%of the variance observed. Factor of goal‘s conflict explains9.9294%of the variance observed. Factor of task‘s clarityexplains7.759%of the variance observed. Then, the quantity of product explains5.608%of the variance observed. Factor of teachers‘mismatch illustration explains5.452%of the variance. Coordination of team-work explains4.345%. Familiarity withcontent explains3.369%.Based on the result of the research, suggestions are put forward to the writingworkshop carried out this year.