The Use of Diagrams in Planning for Report Writing

Abstract

AbstractIn this study, we investigated 32 undergraduate university students’ use of diagrams in planning to write two coursework reports. For both reports, the students were asked to submit a diagrammatic plan for what they were going to write. Prior to their first plan, no instruction was provided about how to use diagrams for planning. However, prior to the second plan, the students were provided instruction on the use of sketchnoting, which is one method for creating visual notes and organizing ideas. For the first plan, only 31% actually submitted a diagram plan, with the majority submitting a text-based plan. However, for the second plan, the proportion who submitted a diagram plan increased to 66%, but they also reported experiencing more difficulty in creating their plans compared to those who submitted text-based plans. The students’ plans and reports were scored for various quality features, analysis of which revealed that, for the second report, diagram plans had a better logical structure than text plans. More importantly, second reports created with diagram plans were also found to have a better logical structure than those created with text plans. The findings indicate that many students require instruction to be able to create diagrammatic plans, but that creating such plans can be helpful in structuring their written work.