Students in an upper-division Environmental Chemistry course used peer review and response to reviewer comments to improve their writing skills. The process employed an anonymous and timed in-class Peer Review Format. In addition to editing peer papers, students were tasked to create a Response to Reviewer Comments document, which the authors used…

For over 4 decades, educational researchers have been studying best practices for introducing writing into the curriculum. One successful strategy, a low-stakes writing exercise called "writing to learn" (WTL), has been implemented across several disciplines within higher education. In light of a growing interest in the use of technology…

Two separate writing-to-learn activities in which students wrote to authentic audiences outside of the instructor were used in a college integrated science course, Science of Water. For the first task, students were asked to write to fourth-grade students, and for the second, students were asked to write to their academic advisor. An overview of…

A writing-across-the-curriculum and ethics component is presented for a second-semester, physical chemistry course. The activity involves introducing ethical issues pertinent to scientists. Students are asked to read additional material, participate in discussions, and write essays and a paper on an ethical issue. The writing and discussion…

The authors investigated whether a series of mini prewriting assignments linked to a formal paper describing an original research project would improve preservice elementary teachers' writing abilities in a science context. They compared 38 final reports from students who completed the prewriting assignments with 38 reports randomly selected from…

Using "Science News" as a teaching tool promotes writing about science, talking about science, and broadening students' views about what science is. This article describes an ongoing assignment in which students choose one article from "Science News" each week and write a brief summary and explanation of why they picked that article. (Contains 1…

Discusses the problems associated with poor writing skills among students, means of addressing these problems, and tips for teachers who are considering using writing in their courses. (ZWH)

Helps students connect science concepts with real world issues at New York's Baruch College. Fuses journalistic writing and research techniques into introductory science courses by requiring students to write journal articles based on knowledge generated during course work. Discusses successes and failures of this project. (ASK)

Outlines a course designed to help students write about scientific topics for particular audiences and to develop the writing skills they need as students and as professionals. Defines the role of the instructor in such a course. (DDR)

Describes a team-taught science writing course that includes a series of assignments aimed at specific real-life audiences and designed for different venues. Includes details of the assignments. (DDR)

Describes an approach to the instruction of science writing which includes both a collaboration between the librarian and the scientific writing teacher and the incorporation of ongoing and incremental library instruction that is integrated with the writing assignments. (DDR)

Describes a writing-across-the-curriculum course and its application to science courses. Shows how different kinds of writing instruction affect students' learning as well as students' attitudes, understandings, and approach to "writing to learn." (PR)

Describes a study in which students were required to write for five minutes after class on topics that interested them during the lecture. Reports a significant effect on achievement in a vertebrate biology class. Notes that no difference in attitude was found. (MVL)