Intense writing in the content area
This article describes a course design in which high school senior-level biology students are taught to use their prior understanding of biology and chemistry to communicate real-world repro... See More
This article describes a course design in which high school senior-level biology students are taught to use their prior understanding of biology and chemistry to communicate real-world reproductive issues. Students are shown how to connect their existing knowledge with new knowledge through a series of individual and collaborative learning steps. Collaborative peer groups serve as learning tools, responsible for key tasks throughout the course. The authors, using current research, have developed “an array of collaborative in-class and independent out-of- class assignments to support student learning through writing.” Using several figures and charts, the authors model some of their student-writing strategies detailing collaboration, emphasizing critical thinking and writing skills, in-class writing/lecture summaries, out-of-class writing/original research article critique, and research papers/preliminary and final versions. They have included rubrics, and peer evaluation-scoring guides. In the final part of the article, the authors discuss methods of assessment and implications of a writing-intensive course. This article is very thorough, using the latest research, in its attempt to encourage other instructors to incorporate writing as an instructional tool for their students.
Intense writing in the content area
This article describes a course design in which high school senior-level biology students are taught to use their prior understanding of biology and chemistry to communicate real-world repro... See More
This article describes a course design in which high school senior-level biology students are taught to use their prior understanding of biology and chemistry to communicate real-world reproductive issues. Students are shown how to connect their existing knowledge with new knowledge through a series of individual and collaborative learning steps. Collaborative peer groups serve as learning tools, responsible for key tasks throughout the course. The authors, using current research, have developed “an array of collaborative in-class and independent out-of- class assignments to support student learning through writing.” Using several figures and charts, the authors model some of their student-writing strategies detailing collaboration, emphasizing critical thinking and writing skills, in-class writing/lecture summaries, out-of-class writing/original research article critique, and research papers/preliminary and final versions. They have included rubrics, and peer evaluation-scoring guides. In the final part of the article, the authors discuss methods of assessment and implications of a writing-intensive course. This article is very thorough, using the latest research, in its attempt to encourage other instructors to incorporate writing as an instructional tool for their students.