When hearing that we had to interview a teacher, I knew just who to speak with. I spoke with Mr. Green, my biology of Southwest Florida class. He was very helpful and provided me with a ton of information on how he has his students write.
When I asked him what type of writing he had his marine class do he said.
"For an undergraduate Marine Science course, I find it very important for a student to be able to understand the scientific method. One way I can assess this is by requiring students to write a formal lab report that includes the following sections: Introduction, Objectives and Hypotheses, Procedure, Materials and Methods, Data and Observations, and Conclusion. As for style, a student must demonstrate an ability to write directly and not in a passive voice. Next, I encourage students to keep Nature Journals to record all of their observations from class activities. This is an ideal way to have a true one-on-one conversation with the student and allow for creativity to shine through. For the classes I teach, I am not big on Term Papers, but I generally require a Final Project that summarizes the entire course. There is a fair amount of research and writing involved, but I feel it is accomplished in a fun way that relates to each student's Major. "
I still have the journal he made us write after every field trip we went on.
Then I asked him what sort of style he used. He said;
"I am most defintiely NOT the world's greatest writer - especially when it comes to writing and preparing manuscripts for publication. However, as a scienctist, I must follow the template put forth by certain journals. This template would be similar to the lab report wrtie-up I explained in the previous question, but does vary somewhat from one journal to the next. Having said that, it is important to articulate my objectives, data collection techniques, statistical analyses, results and conclusions in a highly professional manner, should I want to have my work published in a reputable journal. "
I also asked him what is different with this style then a composition style.
"Much of the creativity is lost when writing for the sciences. It is more of a direct style, and you cannot use the "fluffy" adjectives that make other writing styles more fun to read and comprehend. Unless one is highly interested in the research you are presenting, they probably won't be too interested in a science article. Certainly, it would take the right person to read, understand, and enjoy an article about energy flow in an Everglades foodweb by investigating the Carbon and Nitrogen stable isotopes of an ampipod! However, all of us can read and enjoy a novel, say a mark Twain novel, for instance, because the writing style is "friendlier" to the masses. "
