Engaging Young Students in Effective Writing Development: An Augmented Reality-Based Peer Assessment Approach Within a Self-Regulated Learning Context

Abstract

Peer assessment (PA) is widely acknowledged as an effective method for facilitating students’ writing development by fostering self-regulated learning. However, it often fails to address the issue of anxiety that many students experience while learning to write. To address this challenge, the present study proposed an innovative approach integrating augmented reality (AR) with peer assessment (ARPA) based on a self-regulated learning (SRL) model to facilitate young students’ writing development. A quasi-experimental study involving 77 elementary school students from China was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the ARPA approach compared to PA learning. The results revealed that the ARPA approach significantly yielded improvement in students’ writing performance and metacognition, and reduced their writing anxiety. Moreover, the analysis of the peer feedback profiles indicated differences between the ARPA and PA groups, with the former demonstrating a higher frequency of didactic feedback, while the latter exhibited more corrective and reinforcing feedback. Furthermore, the ARPA approach stimulated students’ motivation and helped them overcome common writing challenges such as writer’s block and uncertainty. This study contributed to the literature by identifying the educational potential of integrating AR technology into the PA process in writing education.