Writing strategies and SRSD in a Danish context – A pilot study

Writing skills are important for academic achievement. In the present pilot study, we aimed to investigate whether a four-week intervention period, three lessons a week, could improve students' writing skills, self-efficacy for writing, attitudes to writing, and implicit theories of writing, and to examine whether there was an association between these constructs and writing skills. Twenty-one 7th grade Danish students participated in the study. We applied and adapted the evidence-based writing intervention, Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) for persuasive writing into a Danish school setting. Results showed that the SRSD writing intervention seems to be a promising method for improving students’ persuasive writing skills in Danish schools. However, future studies should include a control group and more participants to achieve clearer results and more statistical power. There were significant associations between the included measures. • SRSD is a promising method for writing instruction in Denmark. • It is important for teachers to be aware of students' self-efficacy for writing, attitudes to writing and implicit theories of writing. • It is essential to prioritize writing instruction in Danish schools.