Examining the effect of multiple writing tasks on Year 10 biology students’ understandings of cell and molecular biology concepts

This paper reports on a study that examined the cumulative effects on students’ learning of science, and perceptions of the role of writing in learning, when the students engaged in multiple writing tasks with planning strategy support. The study was conducted with Year 10 biology students who completed two consecutive units on Cells and Molecular Biology. A mixed method study was implemented using a pre-/post-test design with a focus on student performance on higher order conceptual questions, and semi-structured interviews with treatment students after the completion of each unit of study. Results from the quantitative component indicated that multiple, non-conventional writing had a significant benefit in helping students learn Molecular Biology. The results for the Cell unit were not so conclusive suggesting the strategies are most useful for novel content. The interviews with students demonstrated that they understood and engaged successfully with both the conceptual and linguistic demands of the tasks. These findings, taken as a whole, confirm that multiple writing tasks can support effective student learning, provided various pedagogical conditions are met.     

Effects of writing beliefs and planning on writing performance

White and Bruning (2005) distinguished two sets of writing beliefs: transactional and transmissional beliefs. In this paper we analyse their beliefs scale and suggest two hypotheses about how such beliefs relate to writing performance. The single-process hypothesis treats the beliefs as different amounts of engagement, whereas the dual-process hypothesis claims that the beliefs represent different types of engagement. We then describe the results of an experiment with 84 university students as participants that assessed the relationship between writing beliefs, different forms of pre-planning and different aspects of writing performance. Our results support the dual-process hypothesis, and suggest that transactional beliefs are about the preference for a top-down strategy or a bottom-up strategy, while transmissional beliefs are about the content that is written about. These beliefs interact in their effects on text quality, the amount and type of revision carried out, and the extent to which writers develop their understanding. They also moderate the effectiveness of outlining as a strategy.     

The structural relationship between writing attitude and writing achievement in first and third grade students

This study tested three models of the structural relationship between the writing achievement of primary grade students and their attitude towards writing (defined here as an affective disposition involving how the act of writing makes the author feel, ranging from happy to unhappy). The three models tested were: (a) writing attitude influences writing achievement in a unidirectional manner, (b) writing achievement influences writing attitude in a unidirectional manner, and (c) the effects of writing attitude and achievement are bidirectional and reciprocal. The model that best fit the data was based on the assumption that writing attitude influences writing achievement. In addition, the direct path between attitude and achievement in this model was statistically significant. Although third grade students were better writers than first grade students, there was no statistical difference in younger and older students’ attitude towards writing. In addition, girls were more positive about writing than boys, but there was no statistical difference in their writing achievement related to gender. This research extends models based on the cognitive and language processes of writing to include the role of attitude, which is an affective component of motivation.     

Backwards writing: An unexpected ability in writing

Summary The case of a left-handed female patient is described who presented serious problems in learning how to write during childhood, particularly in relation to directionality and letter sequence. The patient then learned to write correctly with her left hand, but practiced and maintained her ability to write backwards (from the last letter to the first). Implications of the case are discussed.Send Correspondence to Dr. Alfredo Ardila, Miami Institute of Psychology of the Caribbean Center for Advanced Studies, 8180 NW 36 Street, Second floor, Miami, Florida 33166-6612.     

关于图书馆学论文写作的一点研究

一位合格的图书馆工作人员,不仅应该熟练掌握图书馆业务技能,同时还应具备一定的研究能力与专业论文写作能力。本文结合自己的写作心得,对图书馆学论文写作谈一点认识。     

Effects of active‐learning experiences on achievement,attitudes, and behaviors in high school biology

Active‐learning labs for two topics in high school biology were developed through the collaboration of high school teachers and university faculty and staff and were administered to 408 high school students in six classrooms. The content of instruction and testing was guided by State of Texas science objectives. Detailed teacher records describing daily classroom activities were used to operationalize two types of instruction: active learning, which used the labs; and traditional, which used the teaching resources ordinarily available to the teacher. Teacher records indicated that they used less independent work and fewer worksheets, and more collaborative and lab‐based activities, with active‐learning labs compared to traditional instruction. In‐class test data show that students gained significantly more content knowledge and knowledge of process skills using the labs compared to traditional instruction. Questionnaire data revealed that students perceived greater learning gains after completing the labs compared to covering the same content through traditional methods. An independent questionnaire administered to a larger sample of teachers who used the lab‐based curriculum indicated that they perceived changing their behaviors as intended by the student‐centered principles of the labs. The major implication of this study is that active‐learning–based laboratory units designed and developed collaboratively by high school teachers and university faculty, and then used by high school teachers in their classrooms, can lead to increased use of student‐centered instructional practices as well as enhanced content knowledge and process learning for students. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 960–979, 2007     

Teaching about the aesthetics of biology: A case study on rhythm

This article is an investigation of the role the aesthetic plays in biological inquiry and in the appreciation of the concepts of biology. A case-study approach is used focussing on the role of rhythm in biological process and in aesthetic experience. The purpose of this examination is to provide teachers with background in the aesthetics of biology so that they are better able to include the aesthetic aspects of this science in their teaching.     

生物学教学中常见板书的类型及应用

阐述了生物学教学中常见板书的类型和应用。     

English-bilingual biology for standard classes development,implementation and evaluation of an English-bilingual teaching unit in standard German high school classes

English connects all areas of science around the world. Productive and receptive English-language skills are thus a crucial tool that schools must provide their students with in order to prepare them for higher education and professional life. The introduction of bilingual instruction of subject matter, often referred to as Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), allows for incorporating English as a medium of communication directly into the science classroom. However, such bilingual lessons are often only accessible in the context of bilingual programmes for which students have to qualify based on their previous performance. The present study assessed the applicability of bilingual modules in non-selected groups of students. For this, a bilingual teaching unit on immunology was developed and implemented in standard German ninth grade classes. After the unit, bilingually taught students showed the same content knowledge gains as their peers who had been taught solely in their native language. Average achievement motivation ratings before and after the unit were medium to high in all classes, and the majority of students was open to more bilingual lessons. An evaluation of student comments provides further indications for the development of future bilingual units.     

论高中生物学案的编制策略

学案式教学模式,通过改变学生以前学习的方式,追求教学过程中教和学的交流和互动,培养学生的爱提问题的习惯,让学生积极参与,寻找获得智慧的方法,发挥他们创新的能力,这是一种非常有效的教学模式。本文在参考以往学案教学经验的基础上,探讨了高中生物学学案的编写策略。     

“This test makes no freaking sense”: Criticism, confusion, and frustration in timed writing

Large-scale writing programs can add value to the traditional timed writing assessment by using aspects of the essays to assess the effectiveness of institutional goals, programs, and curriculums. The “six learning goals” prompt in this study represents an attempt to provide an accurate writing assessment that moves beyond scores. This paper focuses on student challenges to the prompt and testing situation to reveal that many students successfully challenge the task as a deliberate strategy, while less savvy test-takers clearly resist in response to anger, confusion or frustration. While only a small minority of test-takers openly protest the prompt or testing situation, the paper suggests that all students could be better prepared to reflect upon their university experience in timed essays through more coaching and experience with reflective impromptu questions. This finding offers both encouragement and caution for writing programs seeking a single test that can generate both placement scores and valuable feedback.     

对提高学生生物科学素养的思考

文中对科学素养的涵义、意义以及在中学生物学教学中如何培养提高学生的科学素养等问题作了比较全面的阐述．     

Contextualising practice: Hallmarks of effective teachers of writing

This study identifies practices of effective teachers of writing. Three schools with significantly higher achievement in an area that underperforms nationally were identified and within them teachers whose students exhibited superior progress were selected. Multiple data collection methods included lesson observation, analysis of the classroom environment, teacher and student interviews and teacher documentation. Common was a commitment to formative assessment practices and classroom environments supportive of student literacy learning. Hallmarks of teachers whose students showed a greater awareness of their learning were a sense of purpose and meaningfulness; of coherence or connectedness and of being consistent and systematic. This paper argues that student achievement in writing is likely to be higher when teachers exhibit strength s in these hallmarks.     

Writing plan quality: Relevance to writing scores

If writing matters, how can we improve it? This study investigated the nature of writing plan quality and its relationship to the ensuing writing scores. Data were drawn from the 1998 Provincial Learning Assessment Programme (PLAP) in Writing, which was administered to pupils in Grades 4, 7, and 10 across British Columbia, Canada. Common features of writing quality were qualitatively identified in a sample of writing plans across the three grade levels. An analytic scoring scheme based on (i) identified features of writing quality in writing plans, (ii) evaluative terms commonly used as criteria to measure writing performance in both large-scale and classroom assessments, and (iii) theory and research in writing, was developed and used to assess a sample of 1,797 writing plans. Correlation and regression analyses were used to determine relationships between quality of writing plans and writing scores. Evidence of features of writing quality in writing plans was associated with higher writing scores. Identification of features of writing plan quality provides valuable instructional information to promote student writing.     

对云南生物学教学进行重新定位与思考

本文通过介绍目前生物学教学发展最新的趋势 ,初步分析了目前云南生物学教学的实际情况和存在的问题 ,并结合实际情况 ,从环境教育、健康教育、乡土教育等多个角度进行分层的重新定位与思考 ,对我省生物学教学改革的开展方式及应用提出一些具体的方案和建议 ,教育改革需要国家和全社会的关注、理解、参与和支持 ,希望能为云南生物学教学改革繁荣发展出一份力。     

Beyond records and representations: inbetween writing in educational ethnography

Ethnographers are particularly interested in writing. They have paid particular attention to the practices of making field notes and to the ways in which their public texts represent those that they have encountered and studied. To date there has been less attention paid to the kinds of writing that used to make sense of experiences in the field. We call this inbetween writing. By examining our own processes of inbetween writing, and drawing on the work of James Clifford, we have produced a nine-part heuristic of inbetween writing. We argue that the heuristic could be used in research methods education to highlight the importance of writing to ethnographic sense-making and knowledge production.     

Self-assessment of writing in independent language learning programs: The value of annotated samples

The availability of multi-media technologies in education has made the option of independent learning increasingly attractive. Whilst independent learning presents learners with a more flexible learning context, it also presents new challenges in assessment in that the onus is placed upon the learners themselves to monitor and evaluate their own learning.This paper reports on the development of an approach to learner self-assessment which aims to facilitate the self-assessment of performance on extended-response writing tasks. Whilst such tasks are typical within current approaches to communicative language learning, a review of the self-assessment literature reveals no precedent for how actual task performance might be effectively and reliably self-assessed. A methodology was therefore developed which used annotated samples of learner-produced texts, where the annotations would elucidate both the criteria by which performance should be judged and the standards expected, thus enabling learners to assess their own performances by comparing their work with these samples. The methodology was trialled on a small sample of students. It was found to be both reliable and useful, allowing students not only to accurately evaluate their own performance but also to learn new language skills from the samples.     

Thematic continuities: Talking and thinking about adaptation in a socially complex classroom

In this study I rely on sociocultural views of learning and teaching to describe how fifth–sixth‐grade students in a Fostering a Community of Learners (FCL) classroom gradually adopted scientific ideas and language in a socially complex classroom. Students practiced talking science together, using everyday, scientific, and hybrid discourses as they studied endangered species. Students' overarching content themes, or “thematic continuities,” acted as generative scaffolds for developing complex lines of inquiry, leading ultimately to the appropriation of aspects of the biological principle of adaptation. Thematic continuities provided an organizing framework for thinking and talking about previously disconnected science facts, and set the stage for the adaptationist stance. Mixed method data analyses relied on written assessments, in‐depth guided clinical interviews, video and audiotaping of small and large group participant structures, in‐class student work, and ethnographic notes. Data analysis included two discrete levels, the macro (whole and half class) and the intermediate (case study of one small group) to capture both holistic and detailed aspects of dialogue. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 1–30, 2008     

Feedback providing improvement strategies and reflection on feedback use: Effects on students’ writing motivation, process, and performance

This study investigated the effects of feedback providing improvement strategies and a reflection assignment on students’ writing motivation, process, and performance. Students in the experimental feedback condition (n = 41) received feedback including improvement strategies, whereas students in the control feedback condition (n = 41) received feedback without improvement strategies. Within each feedback condition, half of the students received a reflection assignment on feedback use and the revision (experimental reflection condition), while the other half received a reflection assignment on feedback perception (control reflection condition). Results indicated that in the experimental feedback condition writing performance gained from the control reflection assignment, while in the control feedback condition it gained from the experimental reflection assignment. Improvement strategies negatively predicted self-efficacy beliefs, especially when initial self-efficacy beliefs were low, and positively predicted planning/revising. Reflections on feedback use and the revision positively predicted mastery goal when mastery goal initially was low or moderate.