The Impact of Blog-Style Writing on Student Learning Outcomes: A Pilot Study

ABSTRACT

Two major goals of teaching include educating students to communicate effectively and encouraging students to critically engage with information. To what extent can student blog writing help us achieve these goals? In this pilot study, I analyze how short “blog-style” writing assignments compare to more traditional short research essays in promoting student learning and engagement with research. I compare the two writing styles using a basic content analysis; I then analyze student self-reports on their engagement with class learning goals and whether each assignment encouraged further interest in the topic. I also examine the amount of time students devote to each assignment, how many drafts they prepare on each assignment, and how many and what sort of sources they use. Despite the data-gathering limits of the pilot study, I find preliminary support that blogs and essays best serve as complementary writing assignments, as each style encourages students to develop different research and writing skills.

KEYWORDS:

• Blogging
• learner outcomes
• technology
• Web 2.0

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Lauren Nicandri, Educational Technologist at the University of Puget Sound, for her help in outlining the student privacy issues that may arise in student blogging assignments, as well as the Institutional Review Board at the University of Puget Sound, particularly then IRB head Garrett Milam, for their suggestions on survey format and implementation.

Notes

Web 2.0 refers to Web sites that have moved beyond the static nature of early Internet sites. Blogs, as they are constantly being updated and may allow readers to post comments, fit this description because their information is more “cumulative” and changing. Other material associated with “Web 2.0” are Wikis, metadata like RSS (rich site summary, also known as “really simple syndication”) feeds, and mashups (Web pages that combine information from multiple sites on one page).

This, however, is voluntary, as blog software easily allows the author to disable or screen comments from posts.

Adults may be more likely to use social media for organizing events, building their networks, and promoting their professional work. In contrast, teens and young adults seem more interested in maintaining (not strengthening or building) existing connections (Fleet 2009).

For a sample of work that emphasizes the self-reflection benefits, see Curtis et al. (2009), Curtis and Blair (2010), and Mathews and LaTronica-Herb (2013).

Since blogging or even following blogs was unfamiliar to most students, the class was given a handout on this writing style that encouraged them to use hyperlinks, to write short paragraphs, and to use bullet points when appropriate. One key difference between these assignments and blog posts was that students were required to have a proper list of references at the end of the end of the post.

A paired-sample t test examines the differences between each unit (or subject) in the sample. For this study, paired sampling allows a better control for a student’s individual style of writing.

To measure lexical density, I used an online text analysis tool, available at http://www.online-utility.org/text/analyzer.jsp.

One obvious criticism, for instance, is that the length of words or sentences does not adequately measure the understandability of writing.

To calculate the Gunning-Fog Index, I use the online analysis available at http://gunning-fog-index.com/.

To maintain student privacy, I screened each blog and removed any identifying information, including names.

Beyond the time and resource concerns, I also consulted with our department’s Educational Technologist regarding privacy issues and administrative problems that arise from managing public or even class-only private blogs.

Not a single student reported that they were a frequent blogger with considerable experience.

Students in this class also completed an audio-visual project, which already required two days of technology training.

When it comes to online content creation, the general rule of thumb has been the “1% rule” or that only 1% of users ever generate new content.

The survey was administered by the department secretary and the results were not released to the researcher until well after the semester concluded and final grades were submitted. This helped maintain the anonymity of the students and eliminate the possibility that student participation could affect grade performance.

None of the assignments required rough drafts or set guidelines on how many hours each project should take.

A careful reader might note that, while 11 students consented to participate in the study, the number of respondents on the two surveys were 9 and 10. This is due to attendance in class the day of the survey; nine students were present.

Only 9 students completed the first survey, and 10 completed the second.

Of the remaining two students who answered the question, one said they preferred the essay option and the other stated that they had no preference.

After all final grades were submitted.

One student cited an earlier assignments in a later post.

This includes observations on the research process based on office-hour meetings with students.

While this is listed as the first assignment, this was actually a “rolling assignment” that students signed up to complete at different points during the semester. In fact, few students (less than a quarter) actually completed this post first.

Given that the essay assignment was twice as long as the blog (four maximum pages rather than two maximum pages), I divided the number of hours students reported spending on the essays by half to ensure comparability across assignments.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Holley E. Hansen

Holley E. Hansen is a visiting professor in the Department of Political Science at Oklahoma State University. She teaches a number of courses in comparative politics and international relations, including classes on ethnic conflict, democratization, international organizations, and global economics. She frequently integrates technology into class projects, and has a keen interest in assessing how this technology impacts student learning. Her other research examines the topics of ethnic and communal identities, democratization, and conflict management, and her past work has been published in Europe-Asia Studies and the Journal of Conflict Resolution.