Observational learning and its effects on the orchestration of writing processes

In this study, we examined why observational learning positively affects learning outcomes of new writing tasks. In this study, we focused on the effects of observational learning on the temporal organization (i.e., orchestration) of writing processes and on the subsequent influence on text quality. An experiment was set up in which participants (N = 52; 8th-grade students) were assigned to I of 2 observational-learning conditions or a control (CO) condition. In the observational-learning conditions, participants learned by observing peer models' writing processes and in the CO condition by performing writing tasks. To measure the orchestration of writing processes, the participants performed posttest-writing tasks under thihk-aloud conditions. Results show that observational learning affected writing processes differently than the CO condition. Writers who learned by observation performed more high-level processes like planning. Furthermore, for some activities, these writers showed a changing pattern of execution over time, whereas writers in the CO condition performed these activities at a constant rate during the writing process (i.e., a monotonous process). Finally, we show that the orchestration performed by the students who learned by observation was positively related to the quality of the writing product.