Improved content mastery and written communication through a lab-report assignment with peer review: an example from a quantum engineering course

Abstract

The promotion of high-quality written communication in the disciplines is an important learning outcome in higher education. Given the time invested by students and teachers alike, it is crucial that writing assignments also promote engagement and content learning. But is it worth the time for university teachers to invest in such 'writing-to-learn' activityes? We find that it can be, and present an improved design for an experimental lab-report writing assignment in an English medium instruction environment, where English is an additional language. Our context is assignment development for formative assessment in master's-level physics, but the method is broadly applicable within the science-technology-engineering-math disciplines. Our first experience with the assignment resulted in substandard lab reports, suggesting insufficient subject understanding and prompting this assignment design. We therefore focused on communicating the alignment of aims, learning objectives, instruction, assessment criteria, and feedback design, and developed simplified rubrics facilitating assessment fairness and efficiency. The revised assignment enhanced the learning of the subject matter and the writing quality over the four years of the study, indicated by clearly improved reports and relevant peer feedback comments. The learning activity also had an observable but less distinct effect on the students' exam performance.

Comparison of the Effectiveness of In-Person and Remote Labs for Undergraduate Physics Students at an HBC

“…This beneficial outcome also explains the instructor's strong influence on the student's success in the ECP lab experiment. [44]- [46] also reported a similar result. Nevertheless, several studies have suggested that online education benefits students' learning processes, particularly when practical tools are used in their lab lessons.…”

How to Write a Scientific Lab Report: A Short-Term Intervention for Improving Chemistry Writing Skills

“…One of the most common methods identified for developing scientific report writing skills is the “ feedback approach ”. ,− This is defined as a student first completing a lab practical experiment and then writing up a report based on their understanding of what is required. The report is then assessed and returned to the student with suggested areas for improvement, either by a lab Demonstrator (Graduate Teaching Assistant) or by their peers. ,− Although successful over time, this approach does not tackle the entire complexity of scientific report writing since the feedback provided usually only assesses the application of a student’s knowledge in a lab practical setting . Essentially, this approach is primarily focused on “ learning by mistake ”, with no clear guidance to follow.…”

Writing-to-learn in introductory materials science and engineering

“…[5][6][7] These goals are further represented in the writing assignments described in the engineering education literature. [8][9][10][11] However, only a few studies of WTL in materials science have been reported to date. [10,12] In one case, the effect of shorter in-class writing assignments on student learning within an introductory materials science course was explored.…”