Writing-to-Learn Assignments in Introductory Psychology: Is There a Learning Benefit?

摘要

Students completed brief, ungraded writing assignments in several introductory psychology classes across two semesters. The assignments varied across classes with respect to type of assignment (reflective vs. generic writing) and choice of topics (student selected from specified list vs. assigned topics from list). Students performed significantly better on exam questions relating to the content of the writing assignments than to unrelated content. Writing benefits extended across both type of writing assignment and choice of topics. The results suggest that writing-to-learn assignments can bolster learning effects without adding undue burdens on instructors seeking to integrate writing-across-the curriculum objectives, even in larger introductory psychology courses.