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A web‐based tool for dissertation writing Rosanne Strachan, Rowena Murray and Hilary Grierson
Author(s) -
Strachan Rosanne,
Murray Rowena,
Grierson Hilary
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
british journal of educational technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.79
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1467-8535
pISSN - 0007-1013
DOI - 10.1111/j.0007-1013.2004.00395.x
Subject(s) - computer science , tutor , space (punctuation) , world wide web , collaborative writing , instructional design , academic writing , mathematics education , multimedia , psychology , programming language , operating system
Online web tools are becoming an important and accessible means of supporting learning in higher education. Student writing is central to teaching and learning (Lillis, 2001). This paper describes an online tool designed to support dissertation writing. By combining three types of online space—instructional material, a writing space and planning templates—this tool aimed to provide a holistic approach to writing and writing development. This paper demonstrates how the tool was used in an academic course in order to address certain teaching and learning problems identified by the course tutor. Student feedback suggests that while further development is needed, the tool was still useful. This paper raises awareness of the complex array of issues involved in dissertation writing and provides insights into solutions to writing problems. While we designed what we considered to be a web‐based tool for dissertation writing, we argue that the writing space and planning templates go some way towards creating an environment for the development of learning (Häkkinen, 2002).