Abstract
In this study, university students are faced with the task of collaboratively writing an argumentative synthesis from multiple sources. Specifically, in writing, they must integrate conflicting information on a particular issue obtained from reading two texts that present different perspectives. As research in this field has shown, university students’ transactional beliefs about writing have a bearing on the quality of the texts that they write. In addition, studies on collaborative learning have demonstrated the role of constructive strategies in addressing controversy. Constructive strategies require an epistemic approach, which implies understanding and integrating opposing positions and rationales. Therefore, the specific aims of the study are to analyze the relationships between the following: (a) writing beliefs and the joint written synthesis, b) writing beliefs and the strategies used to address the controversies that emerge during collaborative writing, and (c) how students resolve controversies and the quality of their joint syntheses. The participants were 52 fourth-year psychology students at a state-run university in Madrid. The results show that transactional writing beliefs are associated with both the controversy strategies employed by members of student dyads and the quality of the joint syntheses. Furthermore, the strategies for addressing controversy are associated with the quality of the joint syntheses.
- Journal
- Journal of Writing Research
- Published
- 2016-10-01
- DOI
- 10.17239/jowr-2016.08.02.02
- CompPile
- Open Access
- OA PDF Diamond
- Topics
-
- Export
- BibTeX RIS
Citation context
Cited by in this index (0)
No articles in this index cite this work.
References (0)
No references on file for this article.
Related articles
-
Assessing Writing Jul 2026Measuring engagement in technology-supported collaborative argumentative writing: Development and validation of the T-CLEA scale ↗Li-Jen Wang; Ying-Tien Wu; Teng-Yao Cheng
-
Prompt: A Journal of Academic Writing Assignments Jan 2026Joanne Addison
-
Technical Communication Quarterly Jan 2026Configurations and Modalities: Student Preferences about Individual/Collaborative Work and In-Person/Online Work in Linked Courses ↗Olga Menagarishvili; Rebecca E. Burnett; Andy Frazee
-
Philosophy & Rhetoric Oct 2025The Intellectual and Cultural Origins of Chaïm Perelman and Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca’s New Rhetoric Project: Commentaries on and Translations of Seven Foundational Articles, 1933–1958 ↗Christopher W. Tindale
-
Teaching English in the Two-Year College May 2025Instructional Note: Surviving the Semester: Using a Syllabus Roleplaying Game as a Collaborative Activity to Roll into a New Semester ↗Aimee Langager