OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING IN ARGUMENTATIVE WRITING

INTRODUCTION 7
4 RESEARCH ISSUES
At the start of this chapter, I wrote that observational learning has proved to be effective
in different school subjects, including writing where I referred, among other
studies, to the studies of Couzijn (1995, 1999). The current thesis is a continuation
of Couzijn’s studies and the research issues in this thesis result mainly from
Couzijn’s outcomes.
Couzijn (1995, 1999; see also Couzijn & Rijlaarsdam, 1996) conducted several
experimental studies to assess the effects of observational learning. He compared
observational conditions in which students observed writing processes and products
with conditions in which students performed writing tasks themselves (learning-bydoing).
He showed that observational learning was more effective for writing than
learning-by-doing. However, Couzijn’s studies about observational learning can be
characterized as ‘input-output’ research. He studied the effects of observational
learning on writing products and did not focus on underlying processes. In the current
thesis, my main goal is to get more insight in these underlying processes. I will
focus on three issues (these issues largely coincide with the boxes and arrows as
presented in Figure 1.1):
• The observational process. There is a need to know how observation contributes
to learning gains. How do students process observation tasks? Which elements
in observation tasks contribute to learning gains?
• Influence of learners’ characteristics on the effectiveness of the instructions for
observational learning. The effectiveness of observational learning depends on
a number of instructional and personal factors (Schunk, 1987, 1991, 1998).
Couzijn focused on a relatively homogeneous group of students (relatively high
ability) and examined one type of instruction for observational learning. Students
observed pairs of models and had to reflect on the weaker model of each
pair. One could ask whether all students learn from reflecting on the weaker
model, especially if they are good students. Thus, the issue examined is which
type of instruction is effective for which type of student.
• Effect of observational learning on the mediating variable ‘writing processes’.
Couzijn found effects of observational learning on writing products. He assumed
– as in the theoretical framework in Figure 1.1 – that these effects were
caused by changes in writing processes. In his studies, this assumption was not
studied. My contribution to the theoretical framework is to study the effect of
observational learning on writing processes.
5 STUDIES IN THIS THESIS
This thesis consists of six chapters, and describes four different studies about observational
learning in argumentative writing. Chapters 2 to 5 address the studies that
examine the issues mentioned in the previous section. Each chapter has been submit-