Promoting self-regulated learning in an intelligent tutoring system for writing

The Writing Pal (W-Pal) is an intelligent tutoring system that was developed to improve students’ writing proficiency; however, it remains relatively unclear whether and how this system promotes self-regulated learning. In previous studies, we have begun to investigate the characteristics of students’ self-assessments, as well as whether interactions with W-Pal can lead to more accurate self-assessments and better writing performance. Here, we propose a series of three experiments that will test whether and how W-Pal can be used to enhance students’ self-regulated learning strategies and, consequently, influence their writing habits and the overall quality of their essays. These studies will examine the role of self-assessment in the writing process, and investigate how explicit instruction on writing criteria and self-regulated learning strategies can improve students’ writing processes and, ultimately, their writing proficiency.