Transforming Writing and Literacy Practices in the Inquiry Classroom

当人们在本科课堂上考虑科学写作时，通常首先想到的是正式的实验报告。然而，掌握这一体裁对非专业的学生几乎没有什么好处，他们不太可能在科学课程的范围之外遇到、阅读或撰写科学研究报告。此外，大多数本科生完全没有意识到，科学家的研究报告是一系列非正式写作过程中的产物(笔记本上的草草、论文页边的笔记、实验室会议和会议上的演示文稿、给同事的电子邮件等)。因此，这个项目的问题是：科学教师如何让本科生参与真实的写作和识字练习，以提供可以在科学课堂之外的环境中利用的技能？学生最终能否在不依赖实验室报告作为唯一模式的情况下，发展专业科学研究和科学写作社区交流中常见的学术语言、精确度、铭文和论证模式？科学教师很少接受任何写作教学培训，如何才能更好地为教学生写好科学文章做好准备？这个项目在CCLIType1拨款(美国国家科学基金会奖0837058号，“学生生成的科学探究”)之前所做工作的基础上，通过与科学和英语教师合作，为未来的K-8教师改善探究课程的教学，并开发供理科教师使用的教师指南，来解决上述问题和挑战。教师指南将提供具体的教学策略，在学生从事科学探究的任何本科课程的背景下，实施写作教学的最佳实践。此外，该项目还分析了学生话语模式的真实性与科学家专业社区中发现的模式的真实性。例如，学生是否像科学家那样使用笔记本和图表？他们在使用语言时有没有培养精确性？他们是否将写作作为一种学习工具，而不仅仅是用来展示所学到的东西？调查人员采用了一种混合方法的评估方法，数据来源包括课堂会议的录像带、学生书面作业的副本、教案、教学日志、学生的在线讨论、调查和学生访谈。

When one considers science writing in undergraduate classrooms, the formal lab report is generally the first thing that comes to mind. However, mastering this genre is of little benefit to non-majors, who are unlikely ever to encounter, read, or write a scientific research report beyond the confines of a science course. In addition, most undergraduates are completely unaware that a scientist's research report is the product of a range of informal writing that happened along the way (scribbles in a notebook, notes in the margins of papers, presentations at lab meetings and conferences, e-mails to colleagues, etc.). Therefore, this project asks: How can science instructors engage undergraduates in authentic writing and literacy practices that offer skills that can be leveraged in settings beyond the science classroom? Can students eventually develop the academic language, precision, inscriptions, and argumentation patterns common to communication in professional scientific research and science writing communities without relying on the lab report as the only model? How can science instructors, who rarely receive any training in writing instruction, be better prepared to teach students to write well in science?Building on prior work done under a CCLI Type 1 grant (NSF Award No. 0837058, "Student-Generated Scientific Inquiry"), this project is addressing the above-mentioned questions and challenges by partnering science and English faculty to improve instruction in an inquiry course for future K-8 teachers and to develop an instructor's guide, "Writing in the Inquiry Classroom: A Facilitator's Guide to Scientific Writing," for use by science faculty. The instructor's guide will provide concrete pedagogical strategies for implementing best practices in writing instruction within the context of any undergraduate course where students engage in scientific inquiry.In addition, the project is analyzing the authenticity of students' discourse patterns compared with those found in professional communities of scientists. For example, do students use notebooks and diagrams like scientists do? Do they develop precision in their use of language? Do they use writing as a tool for learning, not just as a demonstration of what was learned?The investigators are employing a mixed-methods evaluation, drawing from data sources including videotapes of class sessions, copies of students' written work, lesson plans, teaching logs, students' online discussions, surveys, and student interviews.