Written and Visual Communication in STEM Education

Recently, I was asked to contribute a monthly column to the newsletter for the Boulder Area STEM Education Coalition. The name of the column currently is 360° of STEM. Each column describes a national issue, the local, Colorado perspective, and several resources. The column is limited to 150 words but appears in full below.

After my first semester of college, I was politely asked to learn to write or find another institution. – Doug Haller

On Writing in K-12 STEM Education

Learning to write requires learning to think clearly. Research demonstrates that the opportunity to write provides students the necessary space to summarize and reflect on their learning. In my inquiry-based science classroom, I found that a quiet writing session provided needed calm after a whirlwind of activity.

I finally learned to write when faced with expulsion from college. Thanks to a writing lab generously supported of by s taff and peer-tutors, I gradually improved my skills. Only later did I realize that learning to write was the equivalent of learning to think. Facing a blank page taught me to distill and refine my ideas before sharing them with others.

Near expulsion from college enco uraged me to incorporate writing into my middle school science classes. I felt that by requiring students to learn to write, I was helping them to learn to reflect on and organize their thoughts. I coordinated efforts with the team Language Art (LA) teacher to ensure that I reenforced her wri ting approach. The collaboration also provided the LA class with the oppopportunity to teach writing in the context of science.

I based my middle school assignments on one of my most memorable college writing assignments. The professor required us to summarize a multi-page article from Scientific American in no more than 250 words. Tasked to articulate the arguments for and against dinosaurs as warm-blooded, I worried away extra words, unearthing the skeletal outline of the debate. The assignment appealed to my minimalist approach. As a teacher, I replicated the 250-word maximum with my students, encouraging the idea of quality over quantity. For example, I required my students to research and write about plants and plant products, preparing an essay that answered five questions. In addition, they had to create a poster illustrating images of the plant and the products produced.

Information is Beautiful

Imaging all the questions you could ask students based upon this image of toy exports.

Given the opportunity, my middle school students always enjoyed visually representing scientific knowledge through works of art. I challenged them to distinguish art from scientific illustration just a

s one separates fiction and non-fiction. I drew upon my experience as a scientist to demonstrate the value of images to simply convey complex information and concepts. I encouraged them to make accurate and precise drawings of their observations of scientific objects or events.

We built or used models to represent objects or events inaccessible or inappropriate for use in a classroom environment. Most of my students enjoyed the creative process and the opportunity to work individually while sitting with friends. Their efforts provided decoration for my room throughout the year and testified to their level of investment and ability to express themselves visually. Each year, while studying botany, I provided students with a variety of materials to design an anatomically correct flower. One year, I had an exceptionally motivated and academic group. Expanding upon the “designer flower” activity, I challenged students to make a pollinator to match flowers made by their peers. The students buzzed, hummed, and flapped their way around the room, pollinating the flowers and thoroughly enjoying themselves. The activity provided a way to segue into the discussion of the role of animals in plant reproduction.

Advances in computer processing and software provide the tools for manipulating and visually representing data in more imaginative ways. For example, using GIS, students can combine seemingly disparate layers of data leading to engaging and thought provoking questions and answers. By exploring creative data representations, students learn to develop unique presentations of their own data. Often student products reveal their thoughts and ideas in ways that written and verbal communication does not, providing the teacher with added insight from which to assess understanding.

Video: The beauty of data visualization, David McCandless

Additional Resources
Writing

• Philip M. Sadler, Doug Haller, and Eliza Garfield, Observational Journals: An Aid to Sky Watching, Journal of College Science Teaching; February 2000.
• Process Writing, North Central Regional Education Laboratory
• Project CRISS, Creating Independence through Student-owned Strategies

Visualizing Data

• Worldmapper, a Geographic Information System resource for creating world maps
• Information is Beautiful more work by David McCandless
• The Work of Edward Tufte another excellent resource on visualizing data