"Romantic" beats "classic": new insights on the effects of self-regulation on learning by writing

For several decades writing has been advocated as an academic activity that can facilitate knowledge acquisition. Theories of writing and models of writing development that researchers draw on to explain the positive effects of writing to learn emphasize the importance of self-regulation, particularly, planning, monitoring and revision. Yet, there is some empirical evidence indicating that the self-regulation of writing may be detrimental to learning. To analyze systematically the effects of self-regulation on learning by writing we conducted an empirical study. Participants (n=87) read an instruction that induced (1) self-regulated writing, (2) spontaneous writing or (3) self-regulated and spontaneous writing. Under the control condition, participants did not receive instruction in writing to learn. All participants then wrote an entry to a learning journal. Results showed that self-regulated writing exerted a negative influence on knowledge construction during writing and on post-test performance. In light of these findings, the emphasis on self-regulation strategies in writing-to-learn instruction should be reconsidered.