USING A HYPERTEXT ENVIRONMENT FOR TEACHING PROCESS WRITING - AN EVALUATION STUDY OF 3 STUDENT GROUPS

The present research consisted of a comprehensive evaluation of a hype rtext model for teaching process writing at the junior high and high s chool level. Interests were to determine how two teachers and three di fferent age groups of students used and reacted to the model, specific ally, its embedded design features of model stories, note cards, idea buttons, mini-lessons, branching buttons, and cut-and-paste-tools. Res ults showed applications of the embedded features to vary based on tea cher attitudes, feature attributes (e.g., ease of use and appeal), and student characteristics. Older students made more usage of many of th e features, but were less positive about the hypertext model given the ir greater involvement with completing writing assignments rather than with exploring new forms of writing. The implications of the results are discussed regarding the instructional design and classroom impleme ntation of new technologies for teaching process writing strategies.