A Tool for Data Acquisition of Thinking Processes through Writing

Abstract

Unclear thinking is a great obstruction in outward communication, especially writing. In this work, we present a tool to support in becoming aware of one’s own thinking via writing. The tool is designed to slow down a writing task and spend more time in realising thinking by clarifying contents. Users are asked to express concepts of each clause and connection of clause to another. By letting learners to slow down and think more clearly about what to write, we expect that their thought will become clearer and thus will produce a better output. On usage, the tool records actions made in the tool and changes in revision. These details can assist a supervisor to realise the root of confusing thought and comment accordingly and pertinently. From an experiment, a written output made via the tool gained a higher quality comparing to an output written in traditional environment for each individual sample. We also found that the top rated written outputs via the tool were made after being clear on content declared with the tool requirement. This can be implied that awareness about thinking can help in improving their writing result. Last, samples revealed that using the tool can help them practising in becoming aware of thinking.