Improving Writing Ability In Children With Susceptible Writing Difficulties A Child Centred Approach

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to design and evaluate Intervention Learning Materials (ILM) to support Children with Susceptible Writing Difficulties (CSWD) improve their writing abilities. The ILM was designed and developed within the framework of Social Constructivist and Motor Learning theories. The Social Constructivist theory was used because knowledge construction is perceived to be more effective when the learners interact among themselves, with the learning materials and their teachers. Motor Learning theory was used because learning to write is perceived to be effective when children get a chance to practice what they have learned. This study was conducted in Dodoma Region, Dodoma Municipality. This was a developmental research study that used a quasi-experimental design. The quantitative evaluation used paired sample t-test and independent sample t-test to compare scores within the group and between the experimental and control groups. The qualitative evaluation used ethnographic and phenomenological approaches. The ILM with 28 lessons was designed, piloted, and formatively evaluated. The study pilot used a single group of CSWD during formative evaluation, while during summative evaluation, two groups namely, experimental and control groups were used. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews, observations and tests. The main findings indicate that the ILM was well designed as revealed from interviews with teachers and children who used the developed materials. Further, it was revealed that the post-test mean scores of the children in the experimental group improved significantly in comparison with the control group. From this study, it can be concluded that the ILM based on child centered approach and designed through vii experts and in a natural classroom setting, positively contributed to the improvement of the writing ability of the CSWD.