write to learn science - nsta

Writeto LearnScience

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S E C O N D E D I T I O N

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NATIONAL SCIENCE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION

Gerald F. Wheeler, Executive DirectorDavid Beacom, Publisher

Copyright © 2004 by the National Science Teachers Association.All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.06 05 04 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataTierney, Bob. How to write to learn science / by Bob Tierney with John Dorroh.— 2nd ed. p. cm. ISBN 0-87355-246-61. Science—Study and teaching (Secondary) 2. English language—Composition and exercises—Study andteaching (Secondary) I. Dorroh, John. II. Title. Q181.T534 2004 507'.1273—dc22 2004012355

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Teaching and Writing: Similar Endeavors ................................................................. 3

The First Week ................................................................................................................ 4

Varying the Audience ..................................................................................................... 8

Elements of a Learning Unit ......................................................................................... 9

Quick Reviews ................................................................................................................ 13

The Reading-Writing Connection ............................................................................. 14

Lab Report Writing ....................................................................................................... 15

Open-Ended, Critical-Thinking Exercises ............................................................... 19

Student Research Papers ............................................................................................... 19

Managing the Paperwork Load .................................................................................. 23

Alleviating Parental Concerns ..................................................................................... 27

Wrapping Up a Unit ..................................................................................................... 27

Concluding Remarks ..................................................................................................... 29

Selected Bibliography .................................................................................................... 30

How Science Portfolio Assessment Can Improve Student Writing ..................... 31By John Dorroh

Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................... 35

About the Authors ......................................................................................................... 35

Contents


NATIONAL SCIENCE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION2

hen asked why hebecame a scientist,the famous nuclearphysicist RobertOppenheimer re-plied, “Because my

focus on the details. I taught science as a bodyof knowledge, and tested my students on theirknowledge of details. Those who were good atmemorizing scored high, but only a few ex-pressed any real understanding of the principles.I needed to find a way to focus on concept un-derstanding and give my students the exhilara-tion of their own discovery.

The solution lay with expressive writing—the writing one uses to think through a problem.Anyone who has ever written a letter, a page in adiary, or an entry in a journal understands thatthe physical act of putting pen to paper uncoversideas the writer was not aware of previously.Writing exercises both sides of the brain. Moreimportantly, if the writer has ownership of thesubject, the writer understands more deeply andretains what he or she has discovered for a longer

You write it all, discovering it at the end of the line of

words. The line of words is a fiber optic, flexible as wire; it

illuminates the path just before its fragile tip. You probe

with it, delicate as a worm.

—Annie Dillardfrom The Writing Life

Wteachers allowed me the exhilaration of myown discovery.” That statement haunted me.When I read it, I had been a science teacherfor nearly two decades. My teaching style al-lowed little personal discovery on the part ofthe student; I was the sole owner of all theright answers. The exhilaration of discoveryin my class had been washed away in a floodtide of commercially prepared worksheetsand cookbook laboratory exercises.

Learning units typically began with an over-view of fundamental principles followed by a


HOW TO… WRITE TO LEARN SCIENCE 3

period of time. By replacing passive learning withactive learning, through writing and cooperativelearning techniques, I became a facilitator oflearning instead of a spouter of information. Myclasses became student centered. The student-centered approach could be successfully used withstudents at all levels of ability. My enthusiasm forteaching was renewed. I no longer looked for-ward to retirement.

This book describes classroom-tested activi-ties that effectively use expressive writing to fur-ther concept comprehension. Writing helps stu-dents think through problems. As they writethey have a sense of what they already knowand, more importantly, what they don’t under-stand. This book also offers options for effec-tively managing writing evaluations without be-coming swamped with paperwork.

Teaching andWriting:Similar EndeavorsThe writing process is much like the scientificprocess. The scientist first hypothesizes, then ex-periments, and finally revises his or her think-ing. Most writers, as they work through a piece,initially put pen to paper without much con-cern for anything more than getting ideas down.Writers complete several drafts of a documentas they attempt to get the material into a formappropriate for the intended audience. AsDonald Murray, author of numerous booksabout writing, says, “The process is first a pre-vision, then a vision, and finally a revision.”



Successful writers know their audience.They accept the audiences for what they are,not for what they should be. The primary rea-son many writers receive rejection slips istheir failure to address the particular audi-ence required by the periodical. By the sametoken, each class of students has its own per-sonality. Skilled teachers take the time toknow their students and present lessons de-signed for those audiences.

As a teacher, I was the toughest audience inthe world for my students’ papers. Many stu-dents saw me as the judge, jury, and executioner.Early on during my teaching career, the studentsand I would be obsessed with form rather thansubstance, product rather than process. Studentswould ask: “How long does this have to be?”“Does spelling count?” “What do you want meto say?” “How many points is it worth?” Manyof them turned in third-rate reports thatsounded as if they had been taken from the en-cyclopedia, textbook, or Internet. Student writ-ing showed little evidence of creative thinkingin the process, and their own voices neveremerged from the text.

Successful writers “hook” their audiencewith an opening that makes the reader curiousand anxious to see what follows. I needed to startevery learning unit by getting students to askquestions and encouraging them to take the riskof getting involved. If I’m successful the studentswill assume some of the ownership of the sub-ject matter. If they assume some of the owner-ship they must also assume some of the respon-sibility for learning. In my beginning years ofteaching almost all of the responsibility wasmine, not the students.

A successful writer shows, not tells. The ef-fective writer does not write, “The landscape isbeautiful.” Instead, he or she describes the land-scape, allowing the reader to decide if it is beau-tiful or not. By the same token, a good science

teacher engages students by using hands-on,open-ended experiments that require the stu-dents to make decisions.

The successful writer does not show off tothe reader. He or she never uses vocabulary orinformation merely to indicate a command ofsuch things. Instead, vocabulary serves to makea point clearly and to present information in away that doesn’t talk down to the reader. Thesuccessful teacher must apply the same prin-ciples to get information across to the students.

The successful writer is a master of the craft,a professional. The teacher must be nothing less.

The First WeekBuilding TrustIn my first years of teaching I was too anxiousto hand out the textbooks and get going. I taughtbiology, the study of life, and I had only oneschool year to do it. I didn’t know my studentsuntil after the first test when many of them re-ceived grades that discouraged future effort. Irealized I needed to know my audience as indi-vidual students instead of as period one, two,three, four.

It took me several years to develop a newapproach. By getting my students to writeopenly about their work in science, I was ableto help many of them experience the joy of theirown discovery. Even though I am now retired,I still regard this process as something verymuch a part of me, in the present tense. Here’show it works.

During the first week of class, I strive to cre-ate an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect.The students need to get to know me, and Ithem. It’s helpful if they begin to see me as acolleague, even a mentor, instead of just anotherteacher telling them what to do.

A key challenge is to make students feelcomfortable with science, which many view as



difficult to understand and unimportant totheir daily lives. I use a variety of writing as-signments to help them build confidence intheir abilities and to convince them of the rel-evance of science.

Classroom RulesStudents are more apt to follow rules if they havesome say in determining what the rules will be.At the start of each year, I divide the studentsinto lab teams of three and have them make alist of characteristics of a good student. Theydon’t get very excited about that, but when Iask them to also make a list of the characteris-tics of a good teacher they are eager to get in-volved (Figure 1).

I summarize the lists, and in order to buildtrust, leave in such ideas as “lets us eat in class,”“gives easy tests,” “doesn’t give homework.” Thefollowing day, the students select 10 character-istics from each list. Some teachers who havetried this idea suggest that using only five char-acteristics is better. My faith is rewarded whenthe students develop the final list, which doesnot include the items mentioned above. Thecharacteristics of a good student and a goodteacher are written on signs designed by stu-dents. The signs are hung on opposite walls ofthe classroom to serve as guides.

We agree to strive for the high standards wehave set. I grade them; they grade me. Once eachmonth, they anonymously give me a letter grade

FIGURE 1. Lists of What Makes a Good Student and a Good Teacher



on a note card based on the criteria establishedon the teacher characteristic sign. They write aparagraph supporting their reasons for thegrade. It’s one of the best evaluations I get.

Getting to Know My StudentsDay 1: What’s in a Name?After making a seating chart I ask my studentsto think about their names for two minutes.During this time they can doodle, cluster mapthe assignment, or close their eyes and thinkabout it. This step is what the English teacherscall a pre-write. It is an essential step if studentsare to write anything meaningful. I never giveany writing assignments without a pre-write.

The students write anything they wish abouttheir names for about six minutes. As they writeI also write about my name. They then sharewhat they have written by reading it aloud tothe others at their lab tables. The exercise is rela-tively easy because students are writing aboutsomething they know and understand. It isamazing how much I learn about my studentsfrom this exercise. I am able to identify studentswho are apprehensive, have a low opinion oftheir abilities, and dislike school. These studentswould be likely to receive low scores on the firsttest, prompting them to give up on the class.That lack of initial success can cause them tobecome discipline problems as the semestermoves on. By identifying these students early,however, I am able to ensure that most of themhave a positive experience with the first test.

I read my essay to the class, allowing the stu-dents to learn something about me. This helpsthem see me as a person instead of a teacher oran authority figure.

Some alternatives to the “What’s in aName?” assignment are the following: “Givethe world a grade today and explain why itshould get that grade.” “If you could be anyanimal in the world which animal would it be,

and why?” “It is the year 2030. What are youdoing?” The teacher also does the assignmentand shares with the students.

One science teacher I know has the studentswrite what they wish the teacher to know aboutthem and what they wish to know about theteacher. The science teacher also writes, andshares, the assignment with the students.

Day 2: Learning to Be ObserversThe students make a rough sketch map of theroom and write a detailed description of some-thing they observe in the room. They also ex-press their feelings about what they see. Theexercise provides insights into students’ appre-hensions and expectations as well as what theythink of the classroom. For example, I foundthat a significant number of students, upon ob-serving the preserved specimens in the glasscabinets, wrote passages such as, “Did you killthat little mouse and stuff him in that jar?” Thespecimens were a distraction. I placed them allin the back room and brought them out as theylearned biology. It made more sense.

Day 3: Student AutobiographiesStudents write short autobiographies of them-selves as scientists. The teacher writes his or herown autobiography and reads it to the class. Theteacher’s piece serves as a rubric for the students’efforts. Sharing the autobiographies provides theteacher with an awareness of what type of sci-ence instruction the students have had previously,and more importantly, how the students feltabout their experiences. The students discoverthat the teacher is qualified, but had a similarexperience when first trying to learn science.

The following is a typical example of a stu-dent autobiography:

Science is boring. I am taking biology becauseit is part of the college prep program, but I hope tobe a model or an actress some day so I don’t see



what this class will do for me. I never got real goodgrades in science because I don’t like it. My sisteralways got good grades in science, though. In thefifth grade we learned about the solar system andthat was sorta interesting.

Day 4: Why Are We Here?On the first day of school, at least one studentwill saunter into class and ask, “Why do we haveto take this stuff? I hate science.” It’s a validquestion, which needs to be addressed. Thequestion becomes a focused writing assignmentthat not only answers the question, but pays divi-dends later when students attempt to write con-clusions to laboratory exercises. The exercise alsoprovides an excellent pre-write for argumenta-tive essays about topics such as genetic engineer-ing or nuclear waste disposal.

Students pair up sharing one piece of paper.One student takes the position that science isthe most important subject in the school. Theother takes the opposite view. For the next 10minutes they argue on paper. They do not talk.Using a kitchen timer to announce when to ex-change the paper is a good way of making sureeach students gets a fair chance. Figure 2 showsan example of what students might say.

When the students finish, they underline theopposing student’s best line, or “Golden Line.”They read the Golden Line back to the authorand say why they chose that line. I ask for volun-teers to share their lines. The Golden Lines areplaced on the board and provide a basis for stu-dent-owned discussion. The discussion is trig-gered by a search for the truth. The search-for-the-truth activity teaches students to defend their

Student A Student BYou have to know some science in Pro football players have a neat joborder to get a good job. and they don’t know any science.

Not everyone can play pro football so you Football isn’t my thing, but playing drumsbetter learn some science. is. Rock stars don’t need to learn science either.

They need to know the science of soundand stuff about electronics, don’t they?

OK, knowing electronics might help, butthis is biology. Why do I need to knowabout bugs and stuff?

Maybe if you learned about bugs youcould become an exterminator.

Who wants to be an exterminator?

Well, you need to know something about My mom cooks my dinner and she’sscience for everyday life, like cooking no scientist!your dinner.

FIGURE 2. The Search-for-the-Truth Activity



statements and to learn to write in a more spe-cific way. When, in my early years of teaching, Iwrote, “Be more specific” on their papers, I even-tually realized I was not being very specific. Asan example, a student might write, “Everyoneshould know science in order to get a good job.”This line, after class discussion, might be revisedto read: “Many of the better-paying jobs requiresome knowledge of science; it’s probably a goodthing to know.” After several such exercises thestudents learn to write specifically.

The search for the truth is followed by ahomework assignment. The students select apoint of view: science is good, or science is awaste of time. They write a defense of their po-sition. Their grade is not based upon which sidethey take, but on how well they defend theirposition. The question, “Why do we have to takescience?” seldom, if ever, comes up again.

By the end of the first week, I have learneda lot about my audience, but now I am morethan a week behind the district curriculumguide. No matter, I have established a founda-tion of trust that allows me to accelerate stu-dent learning as the semester progresses.

If the students are to have the exhilaration ofdiscovery they must become explorers. The firstrequirement of an explorer is curiosity followedby the courage, or lack of common sense, to takea risk. William Zinsser (1988), in the preface ofhis book Writing to Learn, says, “I saw that writ-ing across the curriculum wasn’t just a methodof getting students to write who are afraid ofwriting. It was also a method of getting studentsto learn who are afraid of learning” (p. ix).

Varying theAudienceEach learning unit should start by piquing stu-dent curiosity. For example: I may place a petri

dish containing a small polychaete worm,scraped from a pier piling, in some saltwater oneach lab table. The students ask, “What is this?”“What does it eat?” “Will it bite?” I do not an-swer their questions. Instead I remind them wehave microscopes and urge them to make a per-sonal list of what they observe. Their observa-tions generate more questions, such as, “Howdoes it eat?” “Why does it eat what it does?”“Does anything eat these worms?” During myfirst years of teaching, the students simplywanted me, or the textbook, to supply them withan answer they could memorize. This exercisegets them involved in the essence of science, thatis, inquiry. They are hooked, ready, even eager,to learn more. The students get all of the creditif they make the list, and none of the credit ifthey don’t.

A chemistry unit might begin by asking thestudents to observe the wall chart of the peri-odic table and make a list of what they observe.The students ask, “Do we have to learn all that?”“Who thought up this idea?” “What do thenumbers at the bottom of each square mean?”They share what they observe, and are allowedto take items from other students’ lists if theywish. The students then write a paragraph aboutwhat the periodic table says to them at the timeand place it in their portfolio or notebook. Mak-ing the list prepares the student to write. Thenthey write, free of concern about grade becausewhat they write are their own perceptions. Thewriting generates questions. Students are readyto learn more.

Note that the two exercises described aboverequire the students to write to themselves, theeasiest audience to address. After a few assign-ments addressed to themselves, the students gainthe courage to try their ideas on a different au-dience. Too often, in many classes, the only au-dience the student writes for is the teacher, themost difficult audience to address.


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