A Freshman Writing Course in Parallel with a Science Course

Abstract

Because they are unfamiliar with the vocabulary and concepts in science and with the kind of writing that science and engineering students will do as professionals, many writing instructors are not comfortable teaching courses designed for such students. They tend to teach courses in which the students write about science to nonscientists rather than as scientists to colleagues. Such courses are usually built around readings excerpted from articles or books about science by scientists or nonscientists. These readings are used to develop subject matter for writing and to provide models. However, the discussion of readings takes time away from writing and writing-related activities, and the models are not applicable to the writing that students will do as professionals. With the collaboration and support of instructors in a science course, however, one can offer a course in which students write for their colleagues and draw on subject matter in the science course. The course described here was an experimental freshman writing course conducted in parallel with the university's main elementary biology course, with students enrolled concurrently in both.