Science Writing Heuristic Research Articles

Using a Science Writing Heuristic to enhance learning outcomes from laboratory activities in seventh‐grade science: quantitative and qualitative aspects

Science laboratory activities within secondary science have traditionally followed prescriptive outlines both in the structure and reporting of the activity. Building on current understandings of writing to learn science strategies, a Science Writing Heuristic has been developed that encourages students to examine laboratory activities much more carefully in terms of having to justify their research questions, claims and evidence. This study reports on the implementation of the heuristic within a Year 7 biology classroom. A mixed‐method approach was used to determine whether student performance on conceptual questions improved when using the heuristic and if using a more non‐traditional write‐up of laboratory activities was beneficial for students in terms of learning. Results indicate that students who used the Science Writing Heuristic performed better as a group than students who did not, and that students who completed a textbook explanation as a write‐up performed better as a group than those who completed a more traditional write‐up format. Student interview responses indicate a development of understanding of science inquiry and an awareness of cognitive and metacognitive processes needed to complete the activities.

An Illumination of the Roles of Hands‐On Activities, Discussion, Text Reading, and Writing in Constructing Biology Knowledge in Seventh Grade

A previous study (Wallace, Yang, Hand, & Hohenshell, 2001) indicated that seventh‐grade life science students using a learning tool known as the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) performed significantly better on conceptual test questions than did a control group. In the present study, the researcher studied more deeply how students utilized a variety of knowledge sources while engaged in the SWH, including textbook, teacher‐led discussions, laboratory activities, peer group discussion, and writing (including their cognitive mechanisms and the nature of their written explanations). Six case students were selected based on a range of high to low achievement according to grades. An interpretive analysis of interview and document data was conducted. Of the 6 students, 3 relied on firsthand observations from laboratory activities as their major source of understanding; these students used listening, explaining, and writing most frequently. One student relied solely on textbook and teacher statements and actively rejected laboratory observations, relying primarily on reading and synthesis. Two students integrated laboratory observations with canonical information found in the textbook and other reading sources. They were able to bridge between the different epistemological bases for firsthand observations and authoritative text and blended these into rich and detailed explanations for biology concepts.

Using the Science Writing Heuristic to Move toward an Inquiry-Based Laboratory Curriculum: An Example from Physical Equilibrium

Despite the importance placed on laboratory work in the undergraduate chemistry curriculum, there have been few research studies showing that laboratory experiments are an effective vehicle for promoting understanding of chemistry. Laboratory activities that are inquiry-based have been reported to have potential for improving the pedagogical value of laboratory work. This study compared the performance of general chemistry laboratory students who used the standard laboratory report format to the performance of students who used the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) format on a lecture examination problem and on a laboratory practical examination task involving physical equilibrium. The standard laboratory reports had title, purpose, procedure, data and observations, calculations and graphs, and discussion sections. The SWH reports had beginning questions and ideas, tests and procedures, observations, claims, evidence, and reflection sections. Students in the SWH sections exhibited a better understanding of equilibrium when written explanations and equations were analyzed, performed slightly better on the equilibrium practical exam task, and spent less time completing the SWH laboratory reports than students in the standard sections. SWH instructors spent less time scoring reports of their students. The SWH was shown to be a feasible mechanism for gradually modifying the laboratory curriculum to reflect inquiry-based learning.

Using the Science Writing Heuristic as a Tool for Learning from Laboratory Investigations in Secondary Science

This article presents and discusses preliminary research on a new heuristic tool for learning from laboratory activities in secondary science. The tool, called the science writing heuristic, can be used by teachers as a framework from which to design classroom activities. Theoretically, the science writing heuristic represents a bridge between traditional laboratory reports and types of writing that promote personal construction of meaning. Two eighth-grade classes participated in using the science writing heuristic during an 8-week stream study. The teacher and one of the researchers collaboratively developed activities based on the science writing heuristic that the teacher implemented. Nineteen target students were studied in depth. Characteristics of report writing and students' understanding of the nature of science were investigated, using interpretive techniques. There is evidence that use of the science writing heuristic facilitated students to generate meaning from data, make connections among procedures, data, evidence, and claims, and engage in metacognition. Students' vague understandings of the nature of science at the beginning of the study were modified to more complex, rich, and specific understandings. The implications of the study for writing in science classrooms is discussed. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 36: 1065–1084, 1999