Document Type

Graduate Project

Date of Degree Completion

Summer 2000

Degree Name

Master of Education (MEd)

Department

Education

Committee Chair

Steven A. Schmitz

Second Committee Member

James L. DePaepe

Third Committee Member

Osman Alawiye

Abstract

Eleven students in seventh grade were pretested regarding their attitudes towards writing, using the Knudson Writing Attitude Survey for Children. A writing workshop based on the Nancie Atwell model was implemented for one month with the group. The students took the Knudson Survey again as a post test after the workshop. Results varied, with some of the students' attitudes remaining the same, some improving, and some declining. Suggestions for further research include studying the impact of specific teaching methodologies on writing self-efficacy beliefs, designing surveys to assess only self-efficacy beliefs, and studying the reasons for the drop in self-efficacy beliefs among middle-school students.

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