Writing in the Science Classroom: Strategies for Identifying Student Understanding
Needs Assessment
The idea for this action research project was first conceptualized during a training session on the use of formative assessment in the classroom. A concept that was discussed during the training was that it’s very difficult to gain a true understanding about what the student understands from short answer or fill in the blank assignments. Especially in the science classroom, students must gain experience explaining their ideas in written form. This gives the teacher a greater understanding of what the student understands and what they do not. The teacher can easily find the point of confusion from formal writing samples.
Upon surveying teachers in the campus science department it was clear that very few teachers used open ended questions and formal lab reports to understand what students comprehend. The only teachers that used any form of formal lab report, where the students are expected to write in a formal and scientific manner, were those that teach Advanced Placement classes. This is only three of the sixteen teachers on campus or 18.8%.
The use of writing in the science classroom also aids the alignment process vertically and horizontally throughout the campus. Historically, our students perform well on the ELA state assessment with a proficiency score ranging from 94% to 98% passing in 2011. There is a small discrepancy in scores between the African American population on campus when compared to other ethnic populations, but it becomes insignificant as the students progress from Freshmen to Juniors. However, the separation increases significantly when analyzing campus science scores. The African American and Hispanic populations tend to show a significant deficiency in science proficiency. A factor that contributes to this fact is that many of the students that fall into these student groups have difficulty understanding the vocabulary that is needed to comprehend questions on the state assessment.
Objectives and Vision of the Action Research Project
To address the needs of our students in the science classroom, the use of writing strategies show the potential for improving student achievement. The issue lies with identifying the most effective writing strategies to address the needs of our students. The vision of this action research is to do just that; to indicate possible writing strategies that are effective at aiding our students in the comprehension of science vocabulary. This vision will be achieved by identifying possible strategies, utilizing them in multiple classrooms, and then analyzing the resultant student comprehension. Assignments of multiple types will be rated based on the ability of the teacher to identify the level of comprehension of students. Each writing style will be rated on a ten point scale based on a standardized rating scale that indicates the level of teacher understanding of student comprehension.
Review of Literature and Action Research Strategy
This action research project is just one of many possible strategies for the successful integration of formative assessment for the science classroom. The reason that this strategy was selected is that a strong emphasis is being placed on the comprehension of vocabulary through the state integration of the new STAAR assessment system. According to Short, successful content comprehension has been tied to “two fundamental characteristics of the learning process; transfer and language dependence” (as cited in Hussein, 2009). This action research project focuses on an integration of those two characteristics. As the students learn to convey their ideas about scientific content, the teacher may gain a greater understanding of what the students comprehend. There has been some indication that the lack in writing skills extends to the post-secondary level as well. These important skills have shown to rely heavily on the role of the instructor (Ross, Burgin, Aichison, & Catteral, 2011, p. 11). An issue then arises in that science teachers whom lack training in the use of writing skills in their classrooms are unable to address this valuable strategy. The results of Yildiz and Buyukkasap’s experiment show a very telling benefit to the use of writing for the comprehension of science concepts. Their qualitative analysis showed that the experimental group that was asked to complete writing activities were significantly more likely to comprehend the content on a long-term basis (2011, p. 2271).
The idea for the action research project was discussed with the campus site-supervisor for consideration. The campus administrative team had previously offered professional development for writing across the curriculum, but there had not been an in-depth analysis such as this. We both decided that this would be an excellent topic to research and implement within the science department.
References
Hussein, H. (2009). Integrating Language and Science Instruction. Retrieved from http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Hassan_Hussein
Ross, P.M., Burgin, S., Aichison, C., & Catteral, J. (2011). Research Writing in Sciences: Liminal Territory and High Emotion. Journal of Learning Design. 4 (3), 14-27.
Yildiz, A., & Buyukkasap, E. (2011). The Level of Understanding of the Photoelectric Phenomenon in Prospective Teachers and the Effects of “Writing with Learning” on their Success Rates. Educational Sciences:Theory in Practice. 11 (4), Autumn, 2268-2274.
Articulate the Vision
The vision can easily be communicated to the various stakeholders within the community. A group of science teachers was selected for to be part of the science writing committee that is in charge of selecting writing strategies and implementing them in their classrooms. They were presented with the background information about why this research was selected. In part, they were responsible for collaborating on the needs assessment for this project. Part of this process was the identification and creation of the research vision.
The students were then exposed to the use of strategies that were identified by the committee as possibly effective techniques. Many students did not understand why the strategies where being implemented until the purpose of the task was explained. The responses to the tasks were mixed as some students were unable to understand the benefit.
The classroom teachers are the first population that would receive this information for consideration upon completion of the research. It’s important to clearly articulate the vision of this research to the teachers in order to increase possible buy-in. The reason for this is that without teacher buy-in, the effective strategies that are identified will be less likely to be used by these teachers. The teachers will be presented the findings during a professional development session during the school year.
Manage the Organization
The main organizational responsibilities have fallen on my shoulders for this project, as they should. Through the support from my site supervisor and administration, a science writing committee was formed from select teachers representing the different science content areas and the ELA department chair. The committee members have been given the responsibility of collaborating on effective strategies and then implementing appropriate strategies in their classrooms. They then collect data and report the results during the following committee meeting. The ELA department chair acts as the writing liaison throughout this process. Finally, the responsibility for presenting the findings to the department will fall on me as well.
Very few resources have been needed for this research project. Committee meeting times have occurred during planning time or during after school time between student dismissal and teacher dismissal times. Paper needed for writing assignments is either provided from the teacher yearly allotment or from student notebooks.
A priority for student safety and learning has been paramount through this entire process. The focus of the action research is centered on effective strategies for student learning and identifying which are most successful for our students. The safety of our students and the improvement of campus culture are ensured through the process of seeking out the best practices for addressing the needs of our students.
Manage Operations
A collaborative approach to research is being used for the successful operation of this action research project. The role as leader has been that of a facilitator of ideas and a guidance point for implementation. The science writing committee is the effective functional entity throughout this process. From the start, the committee has agreed upon a shared vision for the outcome of the research project. This has been the driving point for the entire process and is based solely on student achievement.
The committee, first, reviewed the needs assessment to gain a further understanding of the issue at hand. A consensus was quickly reached among the committee members about where the issue arose and the aspects that must be addressed from the needs assessment. The committee is still in the data collection phase as they collect writing samples and modify the strategies that they use. The group dynamic of the committee has been very enjoyable and valuably efficient. There are no egos present and a collaborative effort has been given by all members. The group process skills that have been utilized are rather open. Ideas flow among the members and strengths and weaknesses are discussed. There is an understanding within the group that no one has all of the answers and the strengths of each are fostered as part of the process. The experience of veteran teachers is valued along with the ingenuity of rookie teachers.
The members of the committee have played a crucial role in the success of the action research thus far. Each member has contributed to a great extent toward the effectiveness of the committee, because they are working toward the betterment of their student’s success. Consensus among the group is easily reached and communication is open and productive. Meetings are straightforward and efficient. Conflict resolution has consisted entirely of conflict avoidance, because there have been no conflicts that have presented yet. The group works well together in a respectful and productive manner.
Respond to Community Interest and Needs
A benefit of this action research project is that the results will potentially affect every student population in the classrooms of the teachers that buy in to the results. The use of writing in the science classroom has shown to improve student retention for all populations of students. A minor focus of the research is to address the deficiency of African American and Hispanic student groups. This identified community need can possibly benefit from the learned strategies. These students have difficulty learning and retaining the vocabulary necessary to proficiently succeed on state assessments. The utilization of appropriate writing strategies can possibly bridge this gap in performance and help these poorly performing student groups reach the standardized level of proficiency. An important characteristic of this research is that these strategies may seem, superficially, to strive toward student achievement on state assessment, but when scrutinized in detail one can see that the aspect of utmost importance is student comprehension of the science content. Only through this can all students be given the opportunity for success, because their individual needs are being addressed.
