Students’ generated text quality in a narrative-centered learning environment: effects of pre-collaboration, individual, and chat-interface submissions

Abstract

Narrative-centered Learning Environments (NcLE) offer a powerful tool for enhancing students’ learning through interactive experiences. The integration of open-ended questions in NcLEs encourages students to express their thoughts, opinions, and ideas without any restrictions. While different submission formats are implemented in NcLE, little research has argued the importance of assessing their potential effects. This study, therefore, investigates how the text quality in writing varies based on different submission formats for open-ended submissions in a NcLE. We proceed to analyze three types of submission formats within a narrative scripts platform: a) formal individual, b) pre-collaboration, and c) a chatbot interface. For this study, data was collected in a randomized controlled trial that involved 311 secondary school students participating in a social media literacy workshop. The quality of the submissions was assessed using an automated text cohesion and coherence analysis tool (Coh-Metrix). Our results show that having formal submission pages for open-ended questions has an effect in students’ efforts to create submissions with higher writing quality, while submissions via chatbot interfaces tend to be brief and conversational in nature. The results presented in this study have practical implications for learning technology developers and educators, as they can guide decisions related to the creation, and integration of elements to promote writing quality in online learning environments.