Torturing Our Students: Can We Teach Lab Reports Better?

 

Randi Mewhort, Christina Elliott, & Kathy Davies

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2016, Volume 37

Abstract

We have attempted to improve student skills and comfort with scientific communication by practicing writing in one first and one second year course. We have developed scaffolding strategies within and between these courses to help our students learn the format and content of a scientific paper. Our assignments in first year give students the opportunity to practice individual sections of a paper with a focus on citing and academic integrity. In our second year lab, we use group work to accomplish a bigger project focusing on hypothesis formation and data analysis. Qualitatively, student feedback has improved since implementing these strategies.

Keywords:  writing, writing assignments, science writing

Boston University (2015)