ERIC Number: EJ946300
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Aug
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1305-8223
EISSN: N/A
Writing Activities Embedded in Bioscience Laboratory Courses to Change Students' Attitudes and Enhance Their Scientific Writing
Lee, Susan E.; Woods, Kyra J.; Tonissen, Kathryn F.
EURASIA Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education, v7 n3 p193-202 Aug 2011
We introduced writing activities into a project style third year undergraduate biomolecular science laboratory to assist the students to produce a final report in the form of a journal article. To encourage writing while the experimental work was proceeding, the embedded writing activities required ongoing analysis of experimental data. After formative feedback from peers and teaching staff, the revised work was incorporated directly into the prepared journal framework. Surveys of student attitudes showed significant improvements in confidence in their ability to write an introduction, produce figure legends, distinguish results from discussion and generate a logical flow of information. Attitudes towards report writing became significantly more positive and the training was highly rated. Key factors that contributed to the perceived benefits were use of the student's own data, the chance to incorporate revised work directly into their reports and the realisation that they were performing tasks of direct relevance to their future careers. (Contains 5 tables and 1 figure.)
Descriptors: Technical Writing, Student Attitudes, Science Laboratories, Writing Exercises, Writing Instruction, Attitude Change, Science Activities, Data Analysis, Science Process Skills, Writing Processes, Writing for Publication, Student Surveys, Writing Skills, Pretests Posttests, Formative Evaluation, Foreign Countries, Undergraduate Students
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A