DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF AN INVENTORY TO ASSESS PROCESSES IN COLLEGE COMPOSITION

A series of studies was conducted to design and validate a self-report instrument to assess patterns of strategy use in college composition - composing styles. Factor analysis of items derived from models of student learning yielded five scales: Elaborationist, Low Self-efficacy, Reflective-Revisionist, Spontaneous-Impulsive and Procedural. The Elaborationist scale was marked by personalisation in writing and a dynamic conception of the composing process. Similarly, the Reflective-Revisionist orientation focused on meaning as an emergent process involving the active reworking of written discourse. The Low-self-efficacy style was characterised by little confidence in writing abilities and an overriding concern for surface aspects of composition, grammar and punctuation. The Spontaneous-Impulsive style represented an 'off the cuff, impromptu orientation, and the procedural profile described a methodological orientation aimed at satisfying a requirement. The scales were found to be independent of a measure of learning styles. Low self-efficacy and Reflective-Revisionist were predictive of grade in freshman composition. Implications for teaching are discussed.