University Student Conceptions of Learning Science Through Writing

Abstract

First-year undergraduate science students experienced a writing program as an important part of their assessment in a biology subject. The writing program was designed to help them develop both their scientific understanding as well as their written scientific expression. Open-ended questionnaires investigating the quality of the experience of learning through writing were distributed to 165 students. Interviews with six tutors on the writing program were also completed. Key results included that if students were not aware of the potential of learning science through writing, they tended to focus on superficial aspects of the writing experience, such as grammar, rather than the scientific knowledge that underpinned the experience. The results have important implications for the integration of writing experiences into university subjects and tutor approaches to writing tuition.

Utilizing Peer Review and Revision in STEM to Support the Development of Conceptual Knowledge Through Writing

“…Additionally, further study into student engagement with the WTL assignments is merited as demonstrated by existing WTL literature. Research by Ellis (2004) and Ellis et al (2006) examining student engagement with a series of assignments in a biology context demonstrates that the way students approach writing, revising, and using feedback depends on their conceptions of the ties between writing and learning. Research also indicates the mediating effect that rhetorical aspects of WTL assignments can have on the learning process (Gere et al, 2018; Lachner & Neuburg, 2018).…”

“…This tool has been used in a variety of teaching contexts for a range of instructional goals, with a primary focus on laboratory and disciplinary writing (Russell, 2013). In another set of studies, the revision process was supported by providing students with exemplar texts and feedback, primarily from an instructor (Ellis, 2004; Ellis et al, 2006). Conversely, untrained peer review and revision guided by content-directing rubrics have also been incorporated into a series of WTL assignments in introductory STEM classrooms to support conceptual learning and disciplinary thinking (Finkenstaedt-Quinn et al, 2017, 2020; Halim et al, 2018; Moon, Zotos, et al, 2018; Schmidt-McCormack et al, 2019; Watts et al, 2020).…”

Writing a masters thesis: Associations between the grade, self-efficacy, approaches to writing, and experiences of the thesis as a teaching and learning environment

“…Writers utilizing the deep approach aim to create a coherent whole of the topic by connecting it to their previous experiences, to their existing knowledge, and to their own viewpoint and the task in question (Biggs, 1988a;Prosser & Webb, 1994). The deep approach to writing has been linked to more skillful use of academic conventions, genre appropriateness, focus on the reader, and usage of rhetorical features (Biggs, 1988b(Biggs, , 1988aEllis et al, 2006;Green, 2007;Prosser & Webb, 1994). A positive association has been identified between the deep approach to writing, perceptions of the learning environment, and the writing grade (Ellis et al, 2007).…”

El aprendizaje y el conocimiento académico sobre la enseñanza como claves para mejorar la docencia universitaria.

“…Por el contrario, aquellos que abordan su aprendizaje de manera superficial tienden a presentar concepciones cuantitativas y percepciones negativas sobre el contexto. Además, estos estudiantes son los que suelen obtener resultados deficientes (por ejemplo, Ellis et al, 2004;Ellis, Goodyear et al, 2006;Ellis et al, 2005;Ellis, Taylor y Drury, 2006;Trigwell y Ashwin, 2006).…”