Writing-to-Learn in introductory Materials Science and Engineering

Abstract

We present a study on the impact of Writing-to-Learn (WTL) assignments on student learning in introductory materials science/engineering. WTL promotes deeper thinking by asking students to address “real-world” situations via writing. The inclusion of peer review and revision processes in the WTL assignments allows students to give and receive feedback and critically assess their work. Through analysis of writing products and using pre/post assessments, we examine student gains in conceptual understanding and critical reasoning. Gain distributions across topics suggest that highly-effective assignments require students to map between qualitative and quantitative representations of phenomena and to connect their microscopic and macroscopic understandings.