what we can learn from deaf & hard- of-hearing (d/hh) college students writing to learn science,...
TRANSCRIPT
WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM DEAF & HARD-OF-HEARING (D/HH) COLLEGE
STUDENTS
Writing to Learn Science, Technology, & Engineering
Presenters
Patricia (Trish) Phelps Austin Community College Biology, Professor [email protected]
Erika Shadburne Austin Community College Assistant Dean – Arts & Humanities English for Speakers of Other Languages, Associate
Professor [email protected]
Agenda
The value of active learning in STEM coursesThe value of student writing in STEM
coursesThe challenges of student learning by writing Resources and strategies of writing
assessmentsLow-stakes writing approachesScaffolding long-term class projectsThe role of revision in grading lab reports
and papers
Goals
To convince you that you can adopt writing strategies in your courses without significantly increasing your work load
To convince you that writing is an effective approach for deep learning and student success in your classroom
To provide you with tools and examples of how writing can be an important tool for active learning pedagogy
The value of active learning
NOT a new idea for science teaching
LABOR……………. ORATORY
LABORATORY = Active Learning
The value of active learning
NOT a new idea for teaching, either
“Education is not filling a bucket, but igniting a fire”
- William B. Yeats
www.wikimediacommons.org
The value of active learning
Benefits to students Better
engagement Remember
content better Better teamwork Improved study
habits Enhanced critical
thinking and problem-solving skills
Does Active Learning Work? A Review of the Research, M Prince. J Eng Ed (2004)
“Flipping” a classroom
A new and extreme form of active learning lectures and readings done individually by students at
home homework done collaboratively in the classroom teacher as mentor & coach for learning “student-centered” learning
“Flipping” is a term used since the 1990s
Risks for the instructor
New and extensive classroom activities: will they cover all the material?
If the students do homework in class, how do you assess learning?
If students learn collaboratively, how do you assess teamwork?
Writing is Active Learning
Handout: Learning Activities to incorporate into a lecture taken from “From sage on the stage to guide on the side”. By: King, Alison, College Teaching, 1993, Vol. 41, Issue 1
Notice how often active learning strategies have a writing component the writing as the product of their learning the writing as the process of their learning
Writing as the process of learning
What has been learned from D/HH college students?
Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) National Deaf Institute of Technology (NTID) NSF-sponsored project: DeafTEC
Donna [email protected] Center Director, DeafTECAssociate ProfessorInformation & Computing Studies
Gary Long [email protected] Co-PI, DeafTECAssociate ProfessorLiberal StudiesSenior Advisor to the President for Research
Myra [email protected] DeafTECAssociate ProfessorInformation & Computing Studies
Why D/HH students struggle with writing
Limited auditory access to EnglishText is memorized rather than a
reference for an inner voiceWorld knowledge gapsLack of Academic Language
training in their first language (L1 ASL)
ASL is a visual, spatial language with simultaneous grammar features while English is an auditory, linear language
why ESL students struggle with writing
Lack of time to achieve academic fluencyLack of exposure to new languageCultural differencesCurriculum and pedagogical differences
Why every student struggles with writing
Many students don't have the necessary skills for college level writing
Robert Kellogg - cognitive psychologist“10-year rule”:
-Takes 10 years of sustained practice to develop skills in any given area
Malcolm Gladwell – Outliers: A Story of Success
-Takes 10,000 hours of practice to excel
But we expect students to learn writing in one semester of English composition!
Writing in the discipline
Benefits
John C. Bean, Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the ClassroomI, 2nd Ed. (2011)
“When we make students struggle with their writing, we are making them struggle with thought itself….Often the struggle of writing, linked as it is to the struggle of thinking and to the growth of a person’s intellectual powers, awakens students to the real nature of learning.”
Writing in the discipline
Misconceptions:1. Emphasizing writing and critical thinking in
my courses will take time away from content.2. Writing assignments are unsuitable in my
course.3. Adding more writing in my course will bury
me in paper grading.4. I am not knowledgeable enough about writing
and grammar to help students with their own writing.
Writing in the discipline
Misconceptions:1. Emphasizing writing and critical thinking in my
courses will take time away from content.
Much of educational research (see AAAS: Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education, 2009) shows that “less is more”. Students benefit from substituting breadth for depth.
The STEM knowledge base is growing exponentially. We are in the information age where databases store and provide easy access to facts. Our students need to know the concepts and how to think about STEM topics.
Writing in the discipline
Misconceptions:2. Writing assignments are unsuitable in my course.
Really??? Why do we assign lab reports???
DeafTEC video: Scientists need to be good communicators!!https://www.deaftec.org/stanford-universitys-writing-matters
Even in the most technical and mathematical of courses, the basics must be committed to memory before any problem-solving or critical thinking can be attempted: key works, basic concepts, and basic facts.
These basics are not truly mastered until they can be used by the students and placed in a conceptual framework.
NOTE: Students find writing assignments more engaging!
Writing in the discipline
Misconceptions:3. Adding more writing in my course will bury me in paper grading.
Rethinking the writing assignment: non-graded when appropriateshort essays where flow and structure is not an issue
2-minute essay example: begin class with “What are 3 key concepts of this chapter?”
2-minute essay example: end class with “What key concept are you still unsure of?”
The objective can be to engage students in their own learning, and to give you a “reality check” of their progress. (Completion grading?)
Writing in the discipline
Misconceptions:3. Adding more writing in my course will bury me in paper grading.
National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) research (Anderson, Anson, Gonyea, & Paine, 2009): It isn’t the amount of writing but the quality of the writing assignment that adds deep learning.
Effective assignments have these features:a. Interactive components
-brainstorming, drafting, feedback, inquiry & discoveryb. A meaning-constructing task
- a task that matters to the student and the intended audiencec. Clear explanations of writing expectations
- Specific objectives & grading rubrics
Writing in the discipline
Misconceptions:3. Adding more writing in my course will bury me in paper grading.
Methods can reduce the amount of time grading writing assignments:
- grading rubrics for grading criteria- revisions, each graded with different rubrics- enlisting other students (or professionals) as first readers
of drafts- collaborative small group tasks- peer reviews of drafts- class presentations- distributing examples of quality work to model their work
Students perform better when interacting with their peers!
Writing in the discipline
Misconceptions:4. I am not knowledgeable enough about writing and grammar to help students with their own writing.
ACC Learning Labs are available to you for grammar and spelling checks.
Your best feedback is to comment on students’ ideas:
“I don’t understand what you mean by …..”“You seem to be overlooking this:…..”“I agree with your point, you have you also considered…..”
Should grammar be a STEM concern?
Should the quality of writing be ignored?
How will students improve their writing if they aren’t challenged to practice good writing in all of their college courses?
“Expecting non-native writers to produce fluent, unaccented English is an unrealistic goal.”
- Gary Behm, Professor of Engineering, NTID
Should grammar be a STEM concern?
How can STEM faculty feel comfortable with grading grammar?
Importance of grading rubrics: decide how many points you want to award for good grammar and how to determine the boundaries between full-credit and lost points and let your students know your policy or rubric ahead of time.
ACC resources: You can require your students to go through a grammar- and spell-check prior to submission of an assignment.
Common concerns about grammar
All grammar errors do not have to be marked. Try to keep your grammatical corrections to two in the early assignments
More useful than red-inking: comment on patterns of grammatical errors
Prioritize: Errors that affect comprehensibility are more serious than surface errors.
Expect errors to increase with more difficult tasks; grading system should reflect this.
Attend to grammatical errors in a separate draft.
Discussion: How do you react to the point of view that correcting grammatical errors must be limited?
Tips for coaching grammar
Eliminate “it”, “that”, “they”, and contractions from their lexicon!
Learning grammar rules is ineffective – better learned by doing, practicing.
Give them a reason to care: a competition? peer-reviewing (“copy editors”)? Prepare for “publication”? (Discussion Board entries?)
Ask the student how much revision help they want from you – don’t overdo it.
No more than 3 revisions.Comments should be about what is “better”, less about
what is “correct”.Better at oral communication? Work with that!Have the student circle all verbs, pick a tense, and revise.
Should English composition be a STEM concern?
Low-level writing: knowledge-telling (encyclopedic)
High-level writing: knowledge-transforming
“Critical thinking tasks – which require students to use their expanding knowledge of subject matter to address disciplinary problems – motivate better study habits by helping students see their learning as purposeful and interesting”
- John C. Bean, Engaging Ideas (2011)
Learning science through writing
We want our students to learn more than discrete bits of facts and knowledge. We want our students to connect knowledge in deeper learning, to understand how to think within a discipline that is new to them.
The beginner college student often just wants the “right answer” from us. We actually want them to be able to sort out the answer for themselves by using their own reasoning.
A writing assignment asks students to do this sort of struggle, to reason out and to defend their own answers.
Learning science through writing
Low-stakes writing examples Writing at the beginning of class to
stimulate interest in what’s coming
Writing at the beginning of class to create cognitive dissonance (“burning questions”)
Something the text suggests is true or controversial and/or posing a problem that has multiple solutions or interpretations.
Example: “Is a carrot dead or alive?”
Learning science through writing
Low-stakes writing examplesWriting at the beginning of class to
probe a subject: “What questions do you want to ask about
last night’s reading?” “What does it mean when the article
says…?” “Write down everything you remember
from….”
Learning science through writing
Low-stakes writing examplesWriting during class
to focus a lagging discussion (“Write about the point….”)
To cool off a heated discussion (“Now write from the opposing viewpoint….”)
To ask questions (“Ask me a question you need answered about….”)
To express confusion (“Tell me what is confusing you most about ….”)
Learning science through writing
Low-stakes writing examplesWriting at the end of class
to sum up a lecture or discussion, ask students to write a question and submit it on a piece of paper to be used for review in the next class.
“What’s the most important thing you learned today?”
“What continues to baffle you about this topic?”
“What do you expect/need to learn about this topic the next time you come to class?”
Learning science through writing
Low-stakes writing examples
Discussion:-What are you using in your courses? (or would like to try?)
-How do you prepare your students for these assignments?
-How do you grade these assignments?
-How well do these assignments meet your objectives?
Learning science through writing
Low-stakes writing applications
Discussion: “At this point, how do you see yourself using
one or more of these strategies?”
“How would this benefit D/HH and ESOL students?”
Supporting English Acquisition web sitehttps://www.deaftec.org/resources/english
Learning science through writing
Out-of-class writing activities: Journal WritingOpen-endedDirected responsesContemporary issues, science in the
newsExam preparation journalStudy journal, reflecting on how to
learn
Learning science through writing
Out-of-class writing activities: Reading JournalsUse margins to summarize a section,
argue, or ask as question as you readReading logs: write about what you are
reading A summary Analysis Evaluation Connection to personal experience
Learning science through writing
Out-of-class writing activities: Creativity Exercises Writing dialogues: imagine meeting the author
of this theory or the developer of this software or the winner of the Nobel prize; have a conversation with her/him about his/her work.
Writing bio-poems Playing metaphor games ( this is to that as ….) Discussion Board game: “….and then….” (each student submits one sentence in series to map out the steps of a process)
Learning science through writing
Writing Activity
Discussion: Choose one of the informal writing ideas that you
have never used in the classroom before, and write a prompt or activity for students that will engage them in an informal writing task.
Share with others
Learning science through writing
Scaffolding long-term writing activities Break up the big project into small pieces that will fit
together in the end of the project Scaffolding provides the structure for the student Scaffolding provides the scheduling to meet a long-
term deadline Learning by conversation, a process of learning:
your feedback and responses help the student to sort out their thoughts; writing encourages deep learning
(It is a process that includes practice…practice…practice….)
Learning science through writing
scaffolding long-term writing activities Start with low-level writing tasks:
Engagement of the student by asking how the project fits into the context of their lives
“data-dumping” or “all about” exercises: the bits of facts and knowledge needed for background information ( “World Book” essays) can be used to organize a higher-level writing activity.
Once well prepared, continue by addressing the thesis, the discovery, or the problem to be solved, the more challenging part of the project.
Learning science through writing
Example: a cancer project for BIOL1408 Introductory Biology (handout) Aligned with common course objectives, with an
emphasis on scenario-based learning, short essays, written reports, and class presentation
Students work on an authentic issue, activities including both teamwork and individual work
Scaffolded activities features in-class activities and homework assignments
Includes writing activities with revisions, peer evaluations and reviews, in addition to instructor grading
Combination of low-stakes and high-stakes writing
NTID Examples of learning science through writing
Gary Behm, Engineering Writing assignments of progressive length, quality
Week 1: “Write three sentences that explain Ohm’s Law.” Week 2: “Describe the process in four sentences and a
final sentence describing what you enjoyed most about this activity.”
Week 3: “List three different parameters required for speed calculations. Explain in three sentences why these parameters are important in calculation speed.”
Week 4: “In a paragraph, describe the tool you like the best and explain why you consider it superior.”
NTID Examples of learning science through writing
Gary Behm, Engineering Student outcomes of writing-intensive activities:
At the beginning of the course, many underprepared students were hesitant or not comfortable with writing.
Students improved in spelling, new vocabulary acquisition, and grammar
Biggest area of improvement: better written lab reports generated
Students’ writing quality was improved Writing assignments helped instructor better
understand students’ writing and communication difficulties.
NTID Examples of learning science through writing
Tom Simpson, Information and Computing Studies Wanted to improve writing levels in students, but did not
know how to approach the problem Solution:
Students write review after each lecture; start with bullets & progress to full sentences, paragraphs
Important: always provide feedback for revisions (communicate with them)
Students’ writing becomes their everyday activity.
Improve engagement – make it fun! Role-playing scenario: students manning a “Help Desk”
NTID Examples of learning science through writing
Tom Simpson, Information and Computing Studies Student outcomes:
Helped students to understand the revision process and documentation
Grading rubric helped students understand weaknesses and gave them the opportunity to improve – and reduced grading time and effort
Improvements in student success & learning Students did not mind the extra writing (!) Was able to progress students to higher level questions
(know, apply, analyze, synthesize, evaluate) Student test & quiz responses less “canned” and more
student-generated
NTID Examples of learning science through writing
David Templeton, Chemistry Goal: improvement in formal laboratory reports. Wanted students to respond to a learning experience,
rather than just answering questions Modified Bloom’s Taxonomy:
Evaluative writing
Analytic writing
Descriptive writing
NTID Examples of learning science through writing
David Templeton, Chemistry Start small: descriptive writing, learning lab skills
I demonstrate a lab technique; they take notes and develop an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure)
Revisions to SOPs, peer evaluations, final drafts go into their lab portfolios.
As lab techniques increase in complexity, the demands on their descriptive writing skills increase.
Analytic writing Flow charts of experimental strategy in a lab exercise;
concept mapping Used later to scaffold formal lab report writing
NTID Examples of learning science through writing
David Templeton, Chemistry Analytic writing
Flow charts of experimental strategy in a lab exercise; concept mapping
Used later to scaffold formal lab report writing Call the point in a protocol when the culminating event
or result occurs a “Magic Moment”: tell them to record, and document results
Make use of “descriptive facilitators”: before and after photos of Magic Moments
NTID Examples of learning science through writing
David Templeton, Chemistry Evaluative writing: formal lab report
Prelab mapping (PREPS): Procedure, reagents, equipment, “Points to Consider” (describing the experimental Magic Moment), safety
Structured report, by convention:TitleIntroductionGoalEquipment/MaterialsMethod/ProcedureDataAnalysisConclusion
NTID Examples of learning science through writing
David Templeton, Chemistry Formal lab report revisions
Draft 1: a format pass; if there is incomplete or missing information, a revision is recommended
Draft 2: data & calculations are assessed; if there are problems, a revision is recommended
Draft 3: analysis and conclusions are assessed; if there are problems, a revision is recommended
Draft 4: problems with grammar? Suggest a one-on-one consultation or outside help (tutoring lab on campus)
NOTE: “If you give students too much feedback, they cannot deal with it.”
NTID Examples of learning science through writing
David Templeton, Chemistry Student Outcomes of formal lab report revisions
A “mastery” based learning and grading Students got to choose the number of revisions they want to
do Students like this – they notice other teachers who do not
use this approach and complain that they are not “given a chance” to improve
Steady improvements observed: with each report, the number of drafts required was reduced
Student mastery of expression and the use of appropriate scientific lingo was improved
Student understanding of experimental approaches and the importance of careful documentation was improved
Internship sites gave these students rave reviews and preference in hiring (!)
NTID Examples of learning science through writing
David Templeton, Chemistry Important to add variety in the curricular activities to
engage students better: Scenario-based activities An analytical lab Role-playing: students take on different roles (safety
officer, supervisor, technician, data analyst, etc) Product: project wrap-up meeting with presentations &
written report (professional memos) to clients with a focus on the analytic results and conclusions from the data
Students learn the culture of the science lab
Important to…. “be patient and encourage the student to ‘own’ their work and take pride in it.”
Learning science through writing
Lab reports scaffolded by revisions Asking the student to rethink and revise An “apprentice” style of learning: working with you
as a mentor or co-researcher. An effective strategy for improvement in writing.
Practice Perfect: 42 Rules for Getting Better at Getting Better, by Doug Lemov et al- Students attain mastery more quickly when practice is purposeful and skills are broken down in to baby steps, in dialog with a coach.
What would work well in your courses?
Discussion:
What project would work well for one of your courses? How do you see this improving student outcomes, compared to what you are currently doing?
What scaffolding strategies and grading rubrics would you need to develop in order to implement this project?
What kind of support would you like to have while developing or implementing this project?