Description of the Materials

       Students used a textbook entitled A Reader For College Writers, Seventh Edition by

 Santi Buscemi. (2008). This text was selected because it worked as a complement to the

Self-Regulated Strategy Development model. Information is organized in manageable

chunks and by individualized topics. Students can focus on one writing genre at a time.

Each chapter includes model essays. Some of these are polished, and some are presented

in their draft forms as well as in their final form. Marginal notations guide student thinking

in the editing process with these rough, model essays.

     Students used graphic organizers, also known as concept maps, which are visual

representations of hierarchically organized ideas (Appendix C). “A concept map comprises

the ‘bare bones of language. Concept maps consist of concept labels that identify specific

ideas (concepts) and the links between them, which explain how concepts are related to

make meaning” (Hay, Kinchin, & Lygo-Baker, 2008, p. 302). In this study, I utilized an

organizer created by Todd Sundeen (2007, Appendix C) at the University of Central Florida.

This graphic organizer allows students space to brainstorm three ideas in three separate

columns set under one topic line. It then scaffolds hierarchical organization of ideas with a

web format that places the topic in the center of the paper; main idea bubbles to the left,

right, and underneath the topic; and then underneath each main idea bubble students can

list supporting details.