The Use of Writing in Investigative Biology Laboratories

 

Ralph Preszler

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2000, Volume 21

Abstract

Many schools across the country have recently changed from primarily observational laboratory exercises to more investigative, hypothesis-testing experiments. This shift in the nature of laboratory activities has dramatically altered the purpose of laboratory reports. What once were fairly descriptive reports which could be successfully written outside of class have become writing exercises that help the students synthesize and interpret their experiments. It is no longer realistic to expect that students can successfully complete this challenging component of the experimental process without considerable guidance. We have been developing activities in the laboratory that help students learn the synthetic and creative reasoning skills that they will need to complete their scientific investigation successfully as they write their reports.

Keywords:  writing

University of Nebraska, Lincoln (1999)