Regulation Processes when Writing Academic Texts

Duration: September 2014 to July 2015

Writing academic texts is a pivotal part of studying at university: it fosters the acquisition of knowledge, supports critical thinking and creativity, and makes participation in academic discourses possible. In order to successfully write academic texts, one does not only need to master the stylistic aspects, but also have the ability to self-regulate one’s learning. Along with competences in cognitive and motivational-emotional regulation, metacognitive knowledge is essential for successful writing.

So far hardly any studies have been conducted to analyse the correlation between students’ self-regulated learning and their writing of academic texts. Consequently, it is the aim of this study to find out, by means of a questionnaire and a metacognitive knowledge test which has been developed for this study, …

• what students know about the writing of academic texts.
• what motivational-emotional, metacognitive and cognitive strategies of regulation students are aware of to successfully write academic texts. 
• what extent of metacognitive knowledge students have.

The sample consists of BA- and MA-students who study Erziehungswissenschaft (Educational Science) as their major. The acquired data allow for a quantitative analysis as well was a content analysis.

This study generates new insights into students’ strengths and weaknesses in writing academic texts, which contribute to targeted and optimal support for students with regard to writing academic papers.