CAWriter

Abstract

This chapter discusses a range of topics, including pedagogical concerns, writing practices, existing tools, and human computer interaction approaches, all related to the design of a tool to support PhD candidates with their academic writing. These topics are then used to inform the design of a computer supported collaborative writing tool, CAWriter, which is being developed as part of an ongoing participatory design research project concerned with the creation of a toolkit to support doctoral candidates. This chapter reviews existing tools to support the writing process and explores both the relevant pedagogical and human-computer interaction foundations necessary for the design of such tools. The chapter concludes with a look at a number of initial iterations of the CAWriter tool and the design rationale and approaches used.