In this research, pre-service science teachers' writings written in a biology laboratory course were examined and the development of writings skills was monitored from the critical thinking skills perspective. In this context, the preservice teachers were asked to design and build a fully enclosed ecosystem model (bottle ecosystem), collect data…

The Dialectical Map (DMap) is an open-source, web-based argument visualization tool developed and used at a Canadian University to scaffold argument construction. To illustrate the ways that argument mapping can be used in undergraduate courses, this article presents five cases selected from courses in biology, psychology, computing science, and…

Laboratory pedagogy is moving away from step-by-step instructions and toward inquiry-based learning, but only now developing methods for integrating inquiry-based writing (IBW) practices into the laboratory course. Based on an earlier proposal (Science 2011;332:919), we designed and implemented an IBW sequence in a university bioinformatics…

Competence in written scientific communication is an important learning outcome of undergraduate science degrees. Writing helps students learn, encourages them to think creatively and critically about their learning, and trains them in communicating their insights as disciplinary experts. However, challenges exist in incorporating writing…

Far too few high-school students choose subjects from the natural sciences (NaSc) for their majors in many countries. Even fewer study biology, chemistry or physics at university. Those, that do, often lack training to present and discuss scientific results and ideas in texts. To meet these challenges the center for didactics of biology of Graz…

The purpose of the current study is to determine biology student teachers' cognitive structures on the concept of microscope. Qualitative research methodology has been applied in the study. The data were collected from biology student teachers. Free word association test and drawing-writing test were used to collect data. The data collected were…

Introduction: We report on a pilot study of students' use of sources in authoring Wikipedia articles. The procedure is demonstrated by investigating how students processed texts from sources to compose their own texts. Method: Four groups of upper secondary school students (aged 17-18 years) participated in an eight-week geography course and seven…

The teaching of highly valued scientific writing skills in the first year of university is challenging. This report describes the design, implementation, and evaluation of a novel written assignment, "The Personal Response" and accompanying Peer Review, in the course, Human Biology (BIOL1015) at The University of Queensland. These assignments were…

In 2006-2007, we established a writing exercise in two large first-year biology courses. Overall, our exercise, which consisted of multiple drafts of a 500-word essay, offered students a good introduction to how editorial feedback can improve content and style in scientific writing. We discuss our goals, procedures, outcome, and students'…

The Science Foundation Programme (SFP) at the University of KwaZulu Natal, Pietermaritzburg attempts to address past educational inequalities by providing disadvantaged matriculants with the skills, resources and self-confidence needed to embark on their tertiary studies. Students entering the Programme typically adopt a surface approach to…

Describes a student-directed learning program called "AIDS in Science and Society" that was developed as a resource-based, collaborative project at the University of Glasgow (United Kingdom) for a first-year biology class. Discusses materials, written assignments, oral presentations, and feedback from students and faculty, and includes a…