EVALUATING THE D-E-E-P COGNITIVE ESSAY WRITING FRAMEWORK AMONG CORPORATE ADMINISTRATION STUDENTS

Abstract

Essay writing remains one of the most widely used assessment methods in higher education, yet many students encounter difficulties in organizing ideas, developing arguments, and demonstrating critical thinking in examination settings. To address these challenges, this study introduced the D-E-E-P Cognitive Essay Writing Framework, a teaching innovation designed to guide students in constructing essay responses through four stages: Definition, Explanation, Example, and Point of Significance. The framework aims to provide a structured approach to essay writing while reducing cognitive burden during examinations. This study employed an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design involving 47 undergraduate students. Quantitative data were collected through pre- and post-intervention assessments conducted over one academic semester, while qualitative data were obtained through semi-structured interviews with seven students. The quantitative findings revealed an improvement in students’ essay-writing performance, with the overall mean score increasing from 2.96 to 3.20. The qualitative findings further indicated that the framework enhanced answer organization and structure, improved critical thinking and content elaboration, and increased confidence in examination writing. The integration of both quantitative and qualitative findings suggests that the D-E-E-P framework serves as an effective cognitive scaffold that supports students in producing more structured, analytical, and comprehensive examination essays. The study contributes to pedagogical innovation by offering a practical and transferable framework that can be applied across disciplines requiring essay-based assessments.