Collaborative Research: Accelerating the pace of research and implementation of Writing-to-Learn pedagogies across STEM disciplines

国家报告指出，培养具有全球竞争力的科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）知识渊博的劳动力和识字的STEM人口非常重要。本研究在理解写作学习（WTL）教学法如何通过中介和调节因素（即作用机制）促进科学学习方面取得了重大进展。该研究侧重于入门和顶点课程，具有跨课程水平、STEM学科、部门和机构相关的潜力。此外，该研究将推进教师如何在STEM中思考和使用WTL的知识，如何与教师一起最有效地开发WTL教学法（避免完全预包装课程的失败），以及如何建立和刺激全国范围内的教师网络。使用共同的启发式框架、协议和指标以及共享的实现技术平台，为以前所未有的规模调查STEM中的WTL教学法和相关的学生成绩结果提供了机会。本研究和实施计划的第四阶段调查和推广WLT教学法。通过整合和扩大各机构正在进行的研究，总体目标是扩大STEM教育中WTL实践的系统调查范围，并加快WTL在STEM课程中广泛采用的步伐。在生物、化学、物理和统计学的入门和顶点课程中，一系列关于WTL的准实验研究将检查STEM课程背景下学生的成绩以及调节和中介变量。结合大样本量的学生认知和情感结果的横断面和纵向研究，将有助于在广泛的学生、机构和条件下建立与学生学习结果相关的中介/调节变量和过程的结构和预测有效性。

National reports point to the importance of fostering a globally competitive science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) knowledgeable workforce and a STEM literate population. This research represents a significant advance in understanding how Writing To Learn (WTL) pedagogies promote learning in science through mediating and moderating factors (i.e., mechanisms of effect). Focused on introductory and capstone courses, the research has the potential to be relevant across course levels, STEM disciplines, department, and institutions. Additionally, the research will advance knowledge of how faculty think about and use WTL in STEM, how WTL pedagogies can most effectively be developed with faculty (avoiding the failures of entirely pre-packaged curricula), and how to build and stimulate a nation-wide faculty network. The use of a common heuristic framework, protocols, and metrics and a shared implementation technology platform provides an opportunity to investigate WTL pedagogies in STEM and associated student achievement outcomes at an unprecedented scale.Phase 4 of this research and implementation program investigates and promotes WLT pedagogies. Through integrating and expanding ongoing research across institutions, the overarching goals are to broaden the scope of systematic investigation of WTL practices in STEM education and to accelerate the pace of widespread adoption of WTL in STEM courses. A set of quasi-experimental studies of WTL in introductory and capstone courses in biology, chemistry, physics and statistics will examine student outcomes and moderating and mediating variables in the context of STEM courses. The combination of cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of student cognitive and affective outcomes with large sample sizes will contribute to establishing both construct and predictive validity of mediating/moderating variables and processes associated with student learning outcomes across a broad range of students, institutions, and conditions.