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Incorporating Writing Into Teaching

Incorporating Writing Into Teaching . Nestor Matthews Psychology / Neuroscience Denison University. The Context. Research in Sensation & Perception PSYC 341 Liberal Arts Goal Students will write effectively Course Goal Students will write effective scientific reports in APA-style

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Incorporating Writing Into Teaching

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  1. Incorporating Writing Into Teaching Nestor Matthews Psychology / Neuroscience Denison University

  2. The Context • Research in Sensation & Perception PSYC 341 • Liberal Arts Goal • Students will write effectively • Course Goal • Students will write effective scientific reports in APA-style • The reports describe student-designed experiments • 2 experiments, conducted in small groups, written individually

  3. Teaching By Example • “The Science of Scientific Writing” • Gopen & Swan, 1990, American Scientist, 78, 550-558. • http://0-www.jstor.org.dewey2.library.denison.edu/stable/29774235?seq=1 “Information is interpreted more easily…if it is placed where most readers expect to find it.” pp.551 • Students critique my writing early in the semester

  4. In-Class “Writing Workshops” • Six full-session writing workshops • 3 workshops for each of the two experiments • (a) Intro & Methods • (b) Results & Discussion • (c) Final Draft • Within each session • Final 20 minutes for general discussion and reflection • Multiple round-robinsof peer-editing • Students flag each “error”, in color, with a number (1-22) from the “Writing-Feedback” document…

  5. Feedback on Writing Style (Sample Items) 1. Spelling error 2. Plural / singular error… 15. Ineffective transition (between sentences or paragraphs)… 22. Lapse in logic or coherence

  6. Evaluation • Students are graded on their writing, • not explicitly on their peer-editing. • but gross negligence in peer-editing can reduce a student’s class participation grade

  7. Benefits & Challenges • Student writing improves • I can spend more time addressing “higher level” conceptual issues in the final drafts • Large variability in students’ editing skills • I “veto” many of the student edits

  8. Thank You! Public Domain Image from Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PSM_V73_D283_Manner_of_fine_japanese_writing.png

  9. Additional Material 1 • Books that exemplify effective science writing for the public • The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing • Richard Dawkins http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oxford_Book_of_Modern_Science_Writing • Life Ascending • Nick Lane http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/0393338665

  10. Additional Material 2 • Rubric • “Your grade will be based on your writing style (i.e., grammar, clarity, succinctness, organization, and transitions), and on the novelty and persuasiveness of your prose.”

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