Chapter 41 Annotated Bibliography

41.1 General References

Council of Science Editors (Ed.). (2014). Scientific style and format: The CSE manual for authors, editors, and publishers (Eighth edition). Council of Science Editors; The University of Chicago Press.

THE definitive guide to scientific writing formats. Most journals follow the CSE standards, but the full style guide is not a particularly useful resource for students.

Day, R. A., & Day, N. (2011). Scientific English: A guide for scientists and other professionals (3rd ed). Greenwood.

Gottschalk, K. K., & Hjortshoj, K. (2004). The elements of teaching writing: A resource for instructors in all disciplines. Bedford/St. Martin’s.

A more approachable guide for students.

Matthews, J. R., & Matthews, R. W. (2014). Successful scientific writing: A step-by-step guide for the biological and medical sciences (Fourth edition). Cambridge University Press.

Turbek, S. P, Chock, T. M, Donahue, K., et al. (2016). Scientific Writing Made Easy: A Step- by- Step Guide to Undergraduate Writing in the Biological Sciences. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, 97(4), 417-426. Link to source.

This is a shorter, more approachable guide for students, though it does not provide many specific details.

41.2 Supporting Tools

Center for History and New Media. (n.d.). Zotero Quick Start Guide. Link to source.

We recommend students learn to use Zotero because it is free, is compatible with most research databases, and accounts transfer seemlessly between institutions. If your institution has a preferred platform, provide students with locally appropriate handouts and guides.

Keys, C. W., Hand, B., Prain, V., & Collins, S. (1999). Using the Science Writing Heuristic as a Tool for Learning from Laboratory Investigations in Secondary Science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 36(10), 1065–1084. Link to source.

Nilson, L. B. (2014). Specifications Grading: Restoring Rigor, Motivating Students, and Saving Faculty Time. Stylus Publishing.

The bins-based grading protocol that we use for evaluating student reports is based on Nilson’s methods. It is worth spending the time to read her original arguments for this approach instead of a points-based rubric.

41.3 Scientific Communication As a Transferrable Skill

Anderman, E. M. (2011). The Teaching and Learning of Twenty-First Century Skills. 31. Link to source.

Fry, C. L. (Ed.). (2014). Achieving Systemic Change: A Sourcebook for Advancing and Funding Undergraduate STEM Education (p. 36). Association of American Colleges and Universities.

Holyoak, A. R. (1998). A Plan for Writing Throughout (Not Just Across) the Biology Curriculum. American Biology Teacher, 60(3), 186–190.

Olson, S., Riordan, D. G., & Executive Office of the President. (2012). Engage to Excel: Producing One Million Additional College Graduates with Degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Report to the President. Link to source.

Quitadamo, I. J., & Kurtz, M. J. (2007). Learning to improve: Using writing to increase critical thinking performance in general education biology. CBE Life Sciences Education, 6(2), 140–154. Link to source.

White, B., Frederiksen, J., & Collins, A. (2009). The interplay of scientific inquiry and metacognition. In D. J. Hacker, J. Dunlosky, & A. C. Graesser (Eds.), Handbook of metacognition in education (pp. 175–205). Routledge.

41.4 Best Practices For Teaching Writing

How most students learn to write in the sciences is very different from what is recommended best practices. The references in this section provide a starting point for engaging in more meaningful dialogue about writing instruction.

Adler-Kassner, L., Barnhouse, S., Eodice, M., Estrem, M., Irvin, L., Kelly-Riley, D., Mitchler, S., & Palmquist, M. (2015). CCCC Principles and Standards for the Teaching of Writing. Link to source.

Bahls, P. (2012). Student writing in the quantitative disciplines: A guide for college faculty (1st ed). Jossey-Bass.

Bane, S. (2017). Best Practices for Teaching Writing in STEM: A Literature Survey and Case Study of San José State University’s 100W Courses in STEM Disciplines [Faculty-in-Residence Report]. San José State University Writing Center. Link to source.

Breidenbach, C. (2006). Practical Guidelines for Writers and Teachers. In Revision: History, Theory, and Practice (pp. 197–219). Link to source.

Council of Writing Program Administrators, National Council of Teachers of English, & National Writing Project. (2011). Framework for success in postsecondary writing. Link to source.

Underwood, J. S., & Tregidgo, A. P. (2006). Improving student writing through effective feedback: Best practices and recommendations. Journal of Teaching Writing, 22, 73–97.

41.5 Instructor Professional Development

Few STEM faculty are professionally trained to teach writing. We have a great deal we can learn from the WAC/WID community ourselves, and there are important lessons to be passed along to GTAs.

Hall, E., & Hughes, B. (2011). Preparing Faculty, Professionalizing Fellows: Keys to Success with Undergraduate Writing Fellows in WAC. The WAC Journal, 22(1), 21–40. Link to source.

Jackson, N. C., & Olinger, A. R. (2021). Chapter 13. Preparing Graduate Students and Contingent Faculty for Online Writing Instruction: A Responsive and Strategic Approach to Designing Professional Development Opportunities. In J. Borgman & C. McArdle (Eds.), PARS in Practice: More Resources and Strategies for Online Writing Instructors (pp. 225–242). The WAC Clearinghouse; University Press of Colorado. Link to source.

Reynolds, J. A., Thaiss, C., Katkin, W., & Thompson, R. J. J. (2012). Writing-to-learn in undergraduate science education: A community-based, conceptually driven approach. CBE Life Sciences Education, 11(1), 17–25. Link to source.

Reynolds, T. (2001). Training Basic Writing Teachers: Institutional Considerations. Journal of Basic Writing, 20(2), 38–52. Link to source.

Schussler, E. E., Read, Q., Marbach-Ad, G., Miller, K., & Ferzli, M. (2015). Preparing Biology Graduate Teaching Assistants for Their Roles as Instructors: An Assessment of Institutional Approaches. CBE Life Sciences Education, 14(3). Link to source.

Szymanski, E. A. (2014). Instructor feedback in upper-division biology courses: Moving from spelling and syntax to scientific discourse. Link to source.

Tanner, K., & Allen, D. (2006). Approaches to biology teaching and learning: On integrating pedagogical training into the graduate experiences of future science faculty. CBE Life Sciences Education, 5(1), 1–6. Link to source.

Tucker, K. (2018). The Cuttlefish Problem: Readability and “Science-ese” in Scientific Writing. Science Editor, 41(1), 12–13.

41.6 Writing As a Research Question

Since the mid-1990s, there has been tremendous growth in discipline-based education research and scholarship of teaching and learning. How students develop disciplinary writing skills is one of many potentially fertile areas for investigation.

Anson, C. M. (2000). Talking about writing: A classroom-based study of students’ reflections on their drafts. In J. B. Smith & K. B. Yancey (Eds.), Self-assessment and development in writing: A collaborative inquiry (pp. 59–74). Hampton Press.

Bazerman, C., & Herrington, A. (2006). Circles of Interest: The Growth of Research Communities in WAC and WID/WIP. In S. H. McLeod & M. Soven (Eds.), Composing a community: A history of writing across the curriculum (pp. 49–66). Parlor Press.

Carpenter, J. H. C. H. (2001). It’s about the Science: Students Writing and Thinking about Data in a Scientific Writing Course. Language & Learning Across the Disciplines, 5, 2.

Coil, D., Wenderoth, M. P., Cunningham, M., & Dirks, C. (2010). Teaching the process of science: Faculty perceptions and an effective methodology. CBE Life Sciences Education, 9(4), 524–535. Link to source.

Hubbard, K. E., & Dunbar, S. D. (2017). Perceptions of scientific research literature and strategies for reading papers depend on academic career stage. PLOS ONE, 12(12), e0189753. Link to source.

Lang, S. (2018). Evolution of Instructor Response? Analysis of Five Years of Feedback to Students. The Journal of Writing Analytics, 2(1), 1–33. Link to source.

Libarkin, J., & Ording, G. (2012). The utility of writing assignments in undergraduate bioscience. CBE Life Sciences Education, 11(1), 39–46. Link to source.

McCannon, B. C. (2018). Readability and Research Impact. SSRN Electronic Journal. Link to source.

Plavén-Sigray, P., Matheson, G. J., Schiffler, B. C., & Thompson, W. H. (2017). The readability of scientific texts is decreasing over time. ELife, 6, e27725. PubMed. Link to source.

Ruegg, R. (2015). Differences in the Uptake of Peer and Teacher Feedback. RELC Journal: A Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 46(2), 131–145.