Fostering Self-Regulated Learning of Academic Writing with a Web App for Postgraduates

Writing is a complex skill that requires a combination of knowledge, deliberate practice, and self-regulation. Knowledge development is considered multidimensional as it cannot be neatly packaged into units of skills or knowledge and it often requires multiple criteria and the qualitative judgement of an expert to assess one’s knowledge (Sadler, 1989). Writing skills are important in communication, professional advancements, and creative expression (Boice, 1982). Evidence has shown that focused, systematic practice, known as deliberate practice, is key to skill development (Ericsson and Harwell, 2019). Unfortunately, the context of online learning poses several challenges for writers, such as the lack of motivation, distractions, time management, and personalised and insightful feedback (Piotrkowicz et al., 2017; Vieira et al., 2018; Ceron et al., 2021; Wollny et al., 2021). Self-regulated learning (SRL) could be used to help writers overcome these challenges and help drive deliberate practice as several studies have demonstrated the positive impact of SRL on improving skills (Piotrkowicz et al., 2017; Vieira et al., 2018; Ceron et al., 2021). While there are many resources available to help students improve their writing, such as Purdue Owl (Purdue University, n.d.), they tend to be fragmented across several websites, incomplete or do not allow students to track their progress. As a result, this research developed an accessible, open-access web application that provides postgraduate research students with targeted writing exercises, immediate feedback, and Open Learner Models (OLMs) to track their progress. This study investigates the central question: What is the impact of an open-access web application with targeted exercises, immediate feedback, and Open Learner Models on the improvement of academic writing skills among postgraduate research students? This study will use a pre-post-test design which involves administering a writing assessment to participants before and after using the web application to measure their progress and skill development. The study will also investigate any correlations between student-system interactions, performance, dropout, and engagement within the system.