Date of Award
Spring 2011
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Teaching & Learning
Program/Concentration
Curriculum and Instruction
Committee Director
KaaVonia Hinton-Johnson
Committee Member
Shana Pribesh
Committee Member
Abha Gupta
Abstract
This experimental study used a quantitative data collection strategy to examine whether a mindfulness intervention, a three-minute breathing exercise marked by focused attention on the sensations of breath, would affect writing anxiety and writing performance measures. The researcher compared Daly-Miller Writing Apprehension surveys and narrative writing samples from 277 students enrolled in a freshman composition course at a southeastern community college, half of whom practiced the mindful-breathing technique at class onset.
Quantitative results revealed students in the mindful-breathing group experienced a statistically significant decrease in writing apprehension and mechanical error scores from pre- to post-measures when compared to controls. No statistically significant between group increase in word count per writing performance was found.
Findings suggest the mindful-breathing technique used in this study may reduce writing apprehension and improve narrative writing performance in community college students. These findings encourage further study of mindfulness interventions in educational settings and wider use of mindful breathing as a technique for managing writing apprehension and improving writing performance in community college students.
Rights
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DOI
10.25777/3tyz-wa27
ISBN
9781124780337
Recommended Citation
Britt, Megan E..
"Effect of a Mindfulness Intervention on Community College Students' Writing Apprehension and Writing Performance"
(2011). Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Dissertation, Teaching & Learning, Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25777/3tyz-wa27
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/teachinglearning_etds/19
Included in
Educational Psychology Commons, Higher Education Commons, Rhetoric and Composition Commons