Composing Science workshop
- 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”
- 30. SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT • a letter