Abstract
A review of the literature revealed ten factors that influence student written achievement through the use of a word processor. This research study sought to generalize the influence of those factors from simple written achievement to the complex mechanics of revision. Through the descriptive process, this study investigated the factors that motivate fifth-grade students to revise essays composed with a word processor according to teacher perception. Further, this study sought whether a significant difference existed among teachers in their identification of a particular factor with regard to years of experience teaching writing through the use of a word processor. A combined descriptive/ex post facto research design was used in this study. A questionnaire was mailed to 251 fifth-grade teachers in thirty-four of the thirty-five public school districts located in Fresno County California. Specific criteria were used by site principals to identify teachers for participation. Data were analyzed using a t-test of significance and an analysis of variance to determine whether significant differences existed in the factors identified by teachers in relation to their years of teaching experience. A Tukey-Kramer Multiple Comparison Test, and in some cases a Scheffe Multiple Comparisons Test, was conducted to determine between which groups the differences lie. The ten factors were ranked according to teacher perception as reported on the questionnaire. The top three motivators included: (1) knowledge of keyboarding skills, (2) knowledge of revision skills, and (3) no need to recopy final printed products by hand. The top three distracters included: (1) lack of knowledge of revision skills, (2) access to play attractions available on computer, and (3) lack of knowledge of keyboarding skills. It was noted that teachers with greater numbers of years of teaching experience rated the factors with higher responses, or greater conviction. It was concluded: (1) Students are motivated by a variety of factors that encompass three categories: academic influences, social influences, and influences endemic to computer features/capabilities; (2) Students are most motivated by academic influences, such as their knowledge of revision and keyboarding skills, to revise essays composed on a word processor; (3) Students are not motivated to revise when given an environment that promotes risk taking; (4) Students are discouraged from revising essays composed on the word processor when they do not possess a knowledge of basic academic revision skills; (5) Student access to play attractions on the computer is a distraction to the task of revising essays; and (6) Experienced teachers weighted academic influences as more significant to student motivation than did their novice counterparts.