Required Writing in Freshman Chemistry Courses .
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Stanley G. Sunderwirth IUPUl4olurnbus, Columbus, IN 47203 A recent review of the literature by Shires ( I ) on writing in chemistrv courses combined with a recent Pmvocatiue Opinion by ~ r w i (2) n inspired me to share my experiences in writing assignments in chemistry courses. It appears that most of the sources cited by Shires deal with writing in upper-level classes or with special assirmments SeDarate fromihe main body of the co&se. I haveincorporaied extensive writing as part of the syllabi in three different lev1 ~ that my els of freshman chemistry. I k ~ ~ e c i a 1believe writing assignments in the laboratory may prove useful to those (which is all of us) wishing to make the laboratory experience more meaningful. Background "Writing Across the Curriculum" has been around for 15-20 years. However, for the most part i t has eluded many science courses, in many cases due to the size of the class. Those of us who are fortunate enough to have classes with enrollments of 35 or less have the opportunity and, I believe, the responsibility to challenge our students beyond the standard multiple-choice exams and fill-in laboratory reports. I firmly believe that students can best understand a topic or subject through writing. Zinsser (3)has stated the case very well. Finallv. in the national furor over "Whv Johnnv can't write." let's not ?&get to ask why Johnny also can't learn. The two are connected. Writing organizes and clarifks our thoughts. Writingis how we think our way into a subject and make it our own. Writing enables us to find out what we know-and what we don't know-about whatever we're trying to learn. For several years I have required extensive writing assienments in I n t r o d u c t o ~ and General Chemistrv courses a&ell a s a one-semester~eneralEducation course for elementary education and liberal arts majors. General Education Chemistry Course I n the liberal arts course students are required to write five short papers on topics they choose from an assigned broad category such as nuclear chemistry Also required is a term naner on anv annroved tonic of their choosing related to'tf;e course. "Thes'e writing'assignments c o n s t h e 40% of the fmal grade in the course. In this course as in all of my chemistry courses, I have a writing instructor give a 3 0 4 0 min presentation a t the second or third class period of the semester in order to discuss topics such a s style, organization. places. and references to obtain help as well as the impo&nce of correct grammar. In addition, selected excerpts from Zinsser's book (DD 11.16.56) are distributed and &scussed. These excerpts inelide topics stressing the importance of good writing skills in today's s&iety and specific advice for getting started. Students who feel that their writing skills are lacldng are encouraged to take a draft of their first effortto the Writing Center before submitting it. Students also are encouraged to let me look over a draft of their term paper before they proceed with a final document. In this course, students are expeeted to select appropriate topics and develop a theme, including personal opinions. The papers are evaluated for clarity of presentation, organization, sentence structure, development of the 474
Journal of Chemical Education
theme, and even grammar. I do not attempt to mark the DaDers for these individual items. but refer the students to ;hi Writing Center if their grade; in my somewhat subjective opinion, is below a C-. The students referred to the Writing Center are given a referral sheet with a checklist that includes the following topics: prewriting, composing, revising, and editing skills. Each of these categories have specific subcategories. For example, composing includes: thesis organization development supporting detail other (specify) Students referred to the Writing Center must return the referral slip with their rewritten paper. Introductory and General Chemistry Introduetorv Chemistrv is a first-vear chemistw course for nonscience majors, many of whom are prenursing students. The General Chemistrv class consists orimarilv of science majors and pre-allied-"health (except nursing) students. The writing exercises in these courses take two distinct forms. The first is the use of written responses on quizzes, exams, and finals. No multiple-choice questions are used in any exams in these two courses. All questions require a written response. The narrative responses consist of several types. For example, most exams begin with the following instructions: Defme and give examples of the following.Use complete sentences and your best writing style.
The other types of questions involve a much more sophisticated level of writing. A typical example is: Discuss the valence bond description of the bonding in ethylene. Organize your response before writing; use your best writing style. Include in your response the following: electronic structure of carbon in the ground and excited states the concept of hybridization t h e type of orbital overlap sigma and pi bonds bond angles the shape of the resultant hybrid orbitals The students are given a n entire page to respond to this question. In addition to the short-answer definitions and the extensive writing required for the above, many questions are intermediate between these two extremes. An example is given below Asolution of morphine acetate in water is acidic. Give a thorough explanation of this observation using correct English and your knowledge of conjugate acids and bases. Plan your answer carefully and express yourself dearly. Your grade will depend on your clarity of presentation. Show all your calculations and rationale for using them. Kb for morphine = 1.6 x lo4 K. for HOAC = 1.7 x
Writing in the Freshman Chemistry Laboratory In the laboratory, we use B o s c h m a ~and Wells (4) for Introductom Chemistm and Wentworth (5) for General Chemistry. ~ o t books h L v e prelaboratory &d postlaboratorv auestions that oiten reauire written resDonses. However, & spite of these writ& responses I fie1 that there are manv times when the students do not have a thoroueh grasp ofthe experiment and may not completely understand their own results. To address this concern, I have the students prepare an extensive narrative description ol'the experiment in their own words. This narrative descriprion consists of the following:
Statement of purpose Theoretical coneept of the experiment Brief description of the procedure 'Results obtained and conclusions drawn from these results Analysis of emrs This write-up is submitted a t the laboratory period following the performance of the experiment. By this time I would have discussed the experiment in lecture class. In General Chemistry, I deliberately do not cover material in lecture pertaining to the experiment before the experiment is performed. If we truly believe that chemistry is a n experimental science, we should not have students conduct experiments to prove what they already know. Therefore, I use the experiment as a basis for the lecture covering the textbook tonic. The students brine their exneriments to lecture where the results are poiled and discussed. In most, but not all, cases the lectures on the textbwk topics begin with a n analysis of the laboratory experiment. This seems to be a meaninA1 wav to unifv the lecture and lab as proposed by ~nuin?2). To h e l students ~ eet started. I hand out examoles of mod write-ups from pr&ious semesters. Still, many a r e n o t able initiallv to write accentable rewrts. Rather than discourage them with low and papers covered with red marks, I refer them to the Writing Center for help in rewriting. I supply them with the referral sheet mentioned earlier in order that the writing tutor will be aware of the deficiencies I want to have addressed. These students also know that no grade will be recorded until the rewritten report and the referral sheet signed by the tutor are returned. Sometimes I have them rewrite only a portion of the experiment, such as the concept or the conclusion. I examine each paper carefully for cognitive understanding, claritv of mesentation. sentence structure. and erammar. I do not &tempt to correct their grammar or even other parts of the write-up if significant problems exist. I indicate what components need attention and refer them to the Writing Center. If there seem to be certain Darts of the write-ups i n which a majority of the students do poorly, I will go over these with the entire class. In most experiments which have a 20-point maximum, the write-up counts for 5 points. The laboratory itself constitutes 25% of the fmal gride. Results Manv students are shocked when thev hear of the extensive -ting assignments required and-are often resistant to the idea of writing - in a chemistm class. Acomment commonly heard is
I didn't know this was an English class, to which I reply Every class is an English class. As the students realize that thev must do ewd writine. most of them settle down and surp>singly gold r e ~ o r t sThe . reDorts submitted a t the close of the semester a; greatly improved over the earlier ones. I am oiten sur-
Students' Views of the Course
Average Response 1. I like the way the instructor conducts the wurse.
4.7
2. My instructor motivated me to do my best wok
4.7
3. The wurse has been intellectually fulfilling for me.
4.6
4. The course has effectivelv challenaed me to think.
4.8
prised how professional they have become, especially in Introductory Chemistry. I find it somewhat ironic that the students in Introductory Chemistry, who are not science majors, do a better job of writing than those in General Chemistry where career goals are science, engineering, or health careers. Students comments on the writing assignments are generally positive: however. many often feel that there is t w much work required for five-hour course. Some examples taken from several semesters of student evaluations are shown in the table of students'views of the course. The writing required has helped me to understand the experiments. It created a lot of work, but it was worth it. I appreciate the fact that you are concerned with the writing skills of students. But, on the other hand, the experiment write-ups seem to be toa time consuming. The lab write-um have been beneficial.It heloed me to think about what it & that I did and what happened. .The work load was heavier than what I thought should he
a
The work load seemed heavy for a 101 course. The wark load has been hard to keep up with, but I do feel it is necessar, for the dimstionofthe matenal to beennsumed. especially the writing. Sometimes the work Load was heaw. Even though we are in class over five hours a week, it was tough tn keep up with lab reports, readings, and understanding. In spite of the comments regarding the amount of work, these same students felt that they had leamed a great deal from the course. On a scale of one to five (five being strongly agree and one being stronelv disaeree) the averaees for several semesters i n severs-I are given the table. 1 have chosen those responses that I feel best reflect the effects of the required writing in the course. Obviously, the extensive writing I require cannot be replicated in large classes. Even with my small classes the writing assignments consume 6-8 hlwk as I read them over, refer students to the Writing Center, read them over again, and finally record a grade. To embark on this endeavor the teacher must be thoroughly committed to the project. About two-thirds through the semester, I often wonder wbv I don't iust finish un the semester with the standard reports f$m the laborkory manuals and give multiple-choice exams. I have not given in to this impulse yet, but the temptation grows larger each passing semester. But, then I remember what I tell mv students a t the beginning of each semester.
in
The most important skill you can learn in college is to eommunicate clearly and to think critically.
I believe that writing is the best way to accomplish these skills. References 1. Shires, N. P. II C h m .Edue. 1991,6S,49M95. 2. E r 4 n . D . K J. Chom.Edue. 1991,68,862. 3. Zulsser. W Writing t o k r n : Harpr and Roar: New Yorh,1988. p 16. 4. Boaehman, E.;Wells,N. ChemisfryinAetim,4thed.; MeCrasr-HiU: New Ymh,1990. 6. Wentworth. R. A. D. E x m r i m t - in &?zed Chomisfri.2nd 4.:H o d + x m Mi&:
Boston, 1990.
Volume 70 Number 6 June 1993
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