Abstract:
This Action Research study examined the implementation of integrated writing as originally described by MacArthur, Graham & Schwartz (1993) in order to investigate (a) seventh-grade English-Language Arts students' argumentative writing productions and demonstration of cognitive complexity on a blog site, and (b) the teacher’s ability to refine instructional planning strategies that impact student learning. This study aimed to impact teacher practice and student learning through writing interventions and reflective planning. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected to analyze the instructional strategies of integrated writing that influenced student argumentative writing, student feedback and teacher reflection. The researcher was referred to as the teacher-researcher throughout the dissertation because the researcher was the teacher in the seventh-grade classroom. This study was designed around argumentative writing theories that emphasized students' collaborative efforts in an online blogging forum. Two, four-week iterations of instruction guided by the intervention and data analysis produced data supportive of teachers utilizing integrated writing in their classrooms, primarily teachers using conferences to support students with individualized instruction during the drafting process of writing. The findings of this Action Research Study indicated that intervention instruction should focus on the ideational epistemology of writing and synthesis in cognitive complexity while giving students the opportunity to collaborate on argumentative blogs.
