Enhancing science literacy through implementation of writing-to-learn strategies: exploratory studies in high school biology

Abstract

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Using the Science Writing Heuristic To Improve Students' Understanding of General Equilibrium

“…The SWH approach also engages students in collaborative inquiry activities, negotiation of conceptual understanding, and individual reflective writing (7,12,(17)(18)(19)(20). The SWH template encourages students to deliberate and negotiate with peers and synthesize internally their understandings of chemistry concepts using a claims-and-evidence feature, which has similarities to Toumlin's (21) argument structure of claims, data, and warrants.…”

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Reviews of research on science laboratory instruction

(1-3) have indicated that the benefits of doing traditional or verification laboratory instruction are few. The SWH approach also engages students in collaborative inquiry activities, negotiation of conceptual understanding, and individual reflective writing (7,12,(17)(18)(19)(20). The National Research Council (6) has endorsed scientific inquiry laboratory instruction as an effective approach.

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Using the science writing heuristic approach as a tool for assessing and promoting students' conceptual understanding and perceptions in the general chemistry laboratory

“…Indeed, the efficiency of the laboratory depends on the approach in which the lab is taught (McKeachie, 1986). The use of the SWH approach as an inquiry-based tool in general chemistry labs helped students, who attended labs with a high level of SWH implementation (inquiry approach), to improve their understanding of chemistry concepts and their perception of implementing SWH and helped to close the gender achievement gap (Hohenshell, 2004;Poock, 2005), especially for low-achievement females by utilizing the SWH approach to change the teaching environment.…”

“…The purpose beyond writing is to communicate information with others (Galbraith & Rijlaarsdam, 1999;Hand & Prain, 2006 ).Whereas there has been strong advocacy of the value of writing for learning in science, the role of student planning in this approach and the relationships between planning, writing, and learning have been under researched (Hand, Hohenshell, & Prain, 2004). Prain and Hand (1999) suggested that the implementation of writing-for-learning strategies have various beneficial effects on changing students' perceptions about learning science, enhancing females students' understanding and perceptions toward science, and affecting the achievement gap between males and females (Hohenshell, 2004;Poock, Burke, Greenbowe, & Hand, 2004). Strenski (1984) demonstrated writing as a proficiency activity, where the writing is a path to learning.…”

“…Using the SWH, the difference in gender was significant in the beginning of the semester, but the difference in gender was not significant at the end of the semester (Poock, Burke, Greenbowe, & Hand, 2004). Additionally, Hohenshell (2004) indicated that "SWH females performed better after laboratory writing compared to SWH males and Control females; and as a group SWH students performed better than Control group students on the test administered after summary report writing." Similarly, Rivard and Straw (2000) found that discussion and writing together were more important than either individually completed tasks for performance and was particularly important for boys and that girls benefited more from peer discussion compared to writing alone.…”