Semester
Spring
Date of Graduation
2000
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Type
EdD
College
College of Education and Human Services
Department
Learning Sciences and Human Development
Committee Chair
Jeanne Marcum Gerlach.
Abstract
Most of us in the teaching profession are aware by now that writing is inextricably interlocked with learning, thinking, and knowing. The more students write, the more knowledge they acquire. As Janet Emig informs us: "Writing serves learning uniquely because writing as process-and-product possesses a cluster of attributes that correspond uniquely to certain powerful learning strategies" (1983, 34). In other words, Emig (1971) believes that when using writing to learn, students can become involved in learning activities. Writing as learning permits students to integrate, connect, reconsider, evaluate, and personally shape their thoughts and ideas. By writing and rewriting, students can discover what they know or what they do not know about a topic (14).;Despite this common knowledge among educators, and given a modest increase in journal writing across secondary education, most solid data on using writing to learn in the classroom suggests a dearth of substantive use of sustained imaginative writing to reinforce learning in the regular classroom. In exploration of reasons for this phenomenon, this research attempts to determine the representative attitudes of in-service and pre-service teachers toward using creative, imaginative writing as a learning mechanism so that their students can fully utilize the unique cognitive connections afforded by writing to learn.;The dissertation looks at the interaction of several factors, including: writing background and attitude toward writing; perception of learning and value of writing as a learning mechanism; perceived writing ability and attitude toward writing as a learning mechanism; taking a theoretical and practical course on creative methodologies and pre-service teachers' attitudes towards teaching creative writing; and writing apprehension and attitude toward teaching creative writing. By exploring these several interactions, both independently and as a whole, it was found that a preliminary causal network could be identified that became both the focus of the current research as well as the jumping off point for future explorations.
Recommended Citation
Greenlee, Edwin Davis, "Inservice and preservice teacher attitudes toward creative writing as a learning mechanism" (2000). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 3192.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/3192