Abstract:

Writing a thesis and defending an academic work (e.g., Master’s thesis) are two of the most complex and challenging tasks university students must complete during their studies. Students tend to face their Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis with a lack of skills for academic writing which, in turn, leads them to perceive that their efficacy towards the completion of the thesis is low and fosters negative feelings, such as anxiety. Students often find a variety of difficulties throughout the process of writing their academic texts, being one of the most frequently mentioned the correct use of writing guidelines (e.g., APA guidelines) and the inclusion of relevant scientific literature in their own texts without committing plagiarism. In this study, we examined the efficacy of a teaching innovation program conducted via Instagram. This social media tool was chosen as it is highly used by University students and previous studies have shown that it is useful for learning purposes.

The teaching intervention took place over 20 weeks. For this, we created an Instagram account (@apa_rte) in which the research team combined several learning tools. We published “APA Tips” on a weekly basis. In those tips, we included information about how to cite and use references in APA, and how to avoid plagiarism. With the aim of attracting students’ attention, this knowledge was delivered through attractive posts created using Canvas. We also used the Instagram tool “stories” to create APA Challenges twice a week. With these challenges, we used quizzes to examine students’ competence levels in the use of APA and to help them practice the use of APA. Once a month we opened a questions and answers box for students to post their questions and receive immediate feedback. Students could also interact with a member of the research team through direct messages.

We followed a quasi-experimental design and collected data at two time points (before and after the intervention). At pre-intervention, we collected data with 700 participants. However, there was a drop in the number of participants who also filled in the questionnaire after the intervention. Hence, the experimental group (i.e., those who followed the intervention) was formed by 120 and the control group (i.e., did not participate in the intervention) by 103.

According to our results, students in the experimental group increased their competence in the use of APA from pre- to post-intervention (t = -4.78; p < .0001) and their perception of efficacy in writing academic texts (t = -3,11; p =.002). However, their anxiety levels remain virtually the same. No changes were found in the control group. Participants found the account to be an attractive and useful tool, and it is followed by over a thousand students. Also, our posts are resent to non-followers, indicating the account’s reach is quite high. We found that students were satisfied with the use of Instagram for their learning process (M = 3.62 (scale 1 to 5); DT = 0.90), and would recommend using Instagram in other subjects (M = 3.70; DT = 0.88). Given the necessity to follow APA guidelines when writing academic texts, we believe the use of Instagram and, specifically, (@apa_rte in teaching and learning about APA should be promoted.

Keywords:

Instagram, social media, innovation, academic writing.