Beyond the Lab Report

First off, Happy New Year! May 2011 be a year filled with happiness, good health, and prosperity for you and your family!

I'd like to highlight some of the fine work that is presently being done by members of the MHS Science and English Departments. Their interdisciplinary collaboration is so timely and relevant that they had the opportunity to present it at the annual National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) National Convention in Baltimore a few weeks ago.

Here's the rub: Most science educators will tell you that the biology MCAS test is largely a reading and writing test. To be sure, students must have content knowledge. However, equally important is the ability to critically read a passage, analyze the facts, and then structure a reasonable written argument based upon analysis for an open response test item. Thus, the challenge is to ensure that all students have sufficient opportunities in their coursework to engage with this type of writing.

With this mindset, science department chair Janet Hogan started to brainstorm with her colleague, English teacher Bill Sheehan. Bill, who teaches AP Language and Composition, is particularly passionate about the teaching of writing. He teaches his students the classic rhetorical triangle (pictured above) as the framework for structuring a written argument. Simply put, a rhetorical analysis is a written explanation about how a writer attempts to change the mind of his or her audience. An effective rhetorical analysis demonstrates a full understanding of the interplay of the rhetorical triangle. The writer must be cognizant of the purpose, audience, and most effective strategy to be employed to convince the audience of his/her argument. As Janet Hogan points out, "This is the perfect model for the type of writing we need to be asking kids to do- where they have to defend the way you think, as you must present your data to back up your thoughts."

Thus the science department has set out to create more assessments where the writing goes beyond the typical lab report and the rhetorical analysis is employed. With these new assignments, the teachers are aiming to cultivate students' higher order thinking skills where they explore, analyze, and evaluate concepts. Furthermore, the required writing demands that they apply the new skills and concepts in other contexts.

For example, in Debbie Fournier's biology classes, students perform a classic lab on dialysis where a plastic bag containing glucose and starch is placed in a beaker of distilled water and Lugol's solution. Students get their data, then apply their understanding in a writing assignment where they must write a letter to a local grocery store and make an argument about things such as produce bags and fold-top sandwich bags: do they have integrity and can they keep our food safe?

As another example, in Anne Carroll's classes the students read the work The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Sloot. The recent work tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, an an African-American woman who 60 years ago was the unwitting donor of cells from her cancerous tumor, which were cultured to create an immortal cell line for medical research, research that has saved thousands of lives. This topic creates a rich forum for students to argue the bioethics of this situation. Again, the rhetorical analysis method is used, where students in groups start by brainstorming interests, experiences, previous knowledge and questions. They rank the list according to interest, expand the list to two or three topics, expand each topic by listing knowledge, terms to be defined, questions about topic, contrary opinions, journalist’s questions, causes and effects, etc. and then research by reading, generating questions, finding answers, generating new questions, synthesizing and developing a position.

The science department will be working to implement this type of writing not only in biology classes but in all classes. It is certainly timely work as the newly adopted Common Core Standards in English language arts detail specific literacy skills that all students in grades 6-12 should possess as a result of their study in other core subjects such as science and social studies. In other words, the teaching of reading and writing should not solely be the responsibility of English teachers: it should be taught and reinforced across the curriculum.

This work is challenging, but the science department is off to a great start!