presentation from AAPT workshop on writing in science.

1. to access the internet, please do the following:
you will need to use google drive and google docs
during our presentation.
to find our folder of materials, please see
http://tinyurl.com/writingWM2015
you will have access to these files after the
presentation.

2. COMPOSING SCIENCE
leslie atkins
kim jaxon
california state university, chico

3. STRUCTURE OFTHE DAY
• background: ideas from composition studies
• examples from our course
• reading text
• lab notebooks
• whiteboards
• peer feedback (“silent science”)
• presentations (“gallery walk”)
• formal papers
• final discussion

4. HOW DOYOU LEARN?
• How do you learn to write
well?
• How do you learn to do
anything well?
• How do you learn to write
something new?

5. THINGS WE KNOW.
• as you read, use the “comments" button to add
notes, questions or ideas, for example:
• what do you agree with? disagree with?
• is there something you find confusing?
• does this spark an idea for you?

6. TEACHING WRITING
• what does this mean for teaching writing in
science?

7. READINGTOGETHER &
WRITINGTOGETHER
• annotated google docs as a way to help students
understand texts

8. FIRST DAY - NOTEBOOKS

9. HOW ARE LAB NOTEBOOKS
“WRITING?”
• revisit the “Things we know…” - how is this
consistent with what composition studies teaches
us about learning to write?

12. WHITEBOARDS
• In groups of 3 - 4, play with the maglite and notice
the spot of light that it creates and how that
changes when you twist the base.
• Take 10 (or so) minutes to determine what you
think is causing that pattern and to put your ideas
on the whiteboard.

13. WHITEBOARDS AS “SCIENCE
WRITING”
• Latour (1990) found that when scientists were
unable to access their graphs, they “hesitated,
stuttered, and talked nonsense” (p. 22) and were
only able to resume the conversation when a
graph was scribbled onto whatever scrap of paper
was at hand.

14. WHITEBOARDS AS “PROCESS”
• “Process comes before product. Writing practices
are more important than individual papers.”
• whiteboards (and other ways of sharing ideas as
inscriptions in public ways) is “process” for
scientists.

17. SILENT SCIENCE
• Take 10 minutes and half a sheet of paper to
answer the following prompt:
explain (using words and/or diagrams) what is
happening when the lightbulb is at the
“central” spot for the maglite

18. SILENT SCIENCE: FEEDBACK
(1) do you understand what the author is saying/showing? if so,
you might paraphrase it (“you’re saying… “); if not, point out
what is unclear or paraphrase what you think they might be
saying.
(2) do you agree with what the author is saying? If so, comment
on that. If not, why not? Explain why you disagree with their idea.
(3) Note what the author is doing well or what more they might
do to help convey their ideas.

20. SILENT SCIENCE & WRITING
• revisit the “Things We Know” - how does “silent
science” facilitate learning to write? develop writing
processes?

21. GALLERY WALKS
• students prepare a whiteboard to share a
conclusion (an explanation for a phenomenon, a
definition, etc.)
• one student stays at the board to explain to others
• the rest of the group circulates, spending a set
amount of time at each board (5 - 7 minutes)

23. GALLERY WALKS & WRITING
• revisit the “Things We Know” - how do “gallery
walks” facilitate learning to write? develop writing
processes?

25. FORMAL PAPERS
• anticipate the final assignment; provide multiple formal
and informal writing assignments and activities that build
towards the assignment over multiple weeks:
• notebooks
• whiteboards
• silent science
• gallery walks
• readings (annotated)
• homework

26. EXAMPLE:THE EYE PAPER
• “how does the eye work?”
• anticipate that students can
explain (at a minimum) the
role of the iris, lens and
retina in vision

27. HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS
• what if we only had a retina on our skin?
• what if the retina was inside a socket?
• what if that socket had an iris?
• what if it gets a lens?

28. FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
• these earlier assignments are in service of
developing understanding, crafting well-written
explanations, and constructing diagrams
• revisit the “Things We Know”

29. INSTRUCTOR FEEDBACK
• example

30. SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
• a letter

31. TAKE HOME MESSAGES