Poster: report writing
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This document describes a curriculum designed to help international students in a Masters course develop strong academic literacy skills in English. It focuses on scientific report writing through integrating language learning with the course content. Students read scientific articles, present research, and write a literature review and consultancy report. Close attention is paid to language development at all levels. The curriculum is designed using Content and Language Integrated Learning principles to simultaneously develop conceptual understanding and English proficiency. This intensive preparation ensures students master professional scientific reporting skills within a semester.
Poster: report writing
- 1. Learning, Teaching & Curriculum FORUM 2015 FROM SEED TO FRUIT: CULTIVATING LITERACY PRACTICES THROUGH A CURRICULUM Emily Purser & Dr Katarina Mikac Learning Development & SMAH/International Unit [email protected] / [email protected] Sharing Good Practice: Design for learning
- 2. Learning, Teaching & Curriculum FORUM 2015 THE CHALLENGE - LITERACY ACROSS LANGUAGES Mastering the Art of Scientific Report Writing in English • A Masters course is typically very diverse - students come from very various linguistic & educational backgrounds. • International students’ reading & writing in English needs to quickly become much more sophisticated, at every level of language, from discourse organisation to vocabulary. • Teachers need to maintain and raise standards of academic literacy, ensuring all students can produce acceptable academic writing for scientific research. • Instruction has to be informed by proper needs analysis and designed around students’ language development needs. • Teaching of academic writing and spoken presentation needs to be positioned within and informed by the student’s regular curriculum, so that language learning problems can be addressed when and where they arise.
- 3. Learning, Teaching & Curriculum FORUM 2015 THE SOLUTION – DESIGN FOR C-L INTEGRATED LEARNING • Students read 15-20 published scientific articles, in order to write a review of the literature on a topic within their field. • Students select and re-present a scientific report as a talk and as a poster, to deepen understanding of logic and standardised forms of reporting. • Principles of reporting in the sciences are extensively discussed. • Student writing is experienced as an open, peer reviewed, developmental process, online. • Students apply evaluation criteria to their own & others’ work, to reinforce understanding of report writing principles. • Tasks help students develop proficiency in the linguistic range that their disciplinary studies require. • Close attention is paid to language at every level, from lexicon to grammar, to logic & organisation, fluency & academic style, accuracy & referencing. • SCIE912: Students develop knowledge and practice in laboratory and/or field techniques relevant to their discipline, using and building on understandings of scientific communication principles developed in 911. • SCIE913: Students apply everything they have learned about scientific reporting and data analysis to an authentic reporting project for a real client, role-playing as an ecological ‘consulting firm’. The client & community partner Dr David Blackall, (owner of a local Wildlife Refuge Nadjunuga) requires a biodiversity survey for ongoing management of the refuge. As a collective of professional scientists, MSc students and teaching academics conduct a biodiversity survey. Students create & analyse data, and present results to the client via a team-based consultancy report & oral presentation event. Cultivate the Seeds SownSow the Seeds in SCIE911
- 4. Learning, Teaching & Curriculum FORUM 2015 THE RATIONALE – CENTRAL ROLE OF LANGUAGE IN LEARNING • simultaneously develop their conceptual understanding of subjects and their linguistic repertoire in the second language. • recognise all their academic subjects as language learning opportunities. • focus on how English works in a particular field of knowledge, by observing, analysing & manipulating authentic linguistic patterns. • provide enough evidence of linguistic proficiency status for teachers to diagnose and respond to language development needs. • develop the English needed to do academic work in their chosen discipline. • develop friendships that sustain engagement in academic study for the duration of their studies. Designing a subject and course around CLIL principles enables students to: Content & Language Integrated Learning “CLIL methodology includes focus on language, learning and cognition; construction of safe and enriching learning environments; use of authentic materials and interactions; promotion of active learning; use of macro- and micro- scaffolding in students' learning so as to enhance their autonomy; and promotion of co-operation among students and teachers” Dora Chostelidoua and Eleni Grivab 2014 “CLIL has become a key strategy in the international HE playing field” Gail Taillefer 2013 International CLIL Research Journal
- 5. Learning, Teaching & Curriculum FORUM 2015 THE IMPACT – ACHIEVING PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FAST • ensured teaching and assessment of learning are designed around the needs of real students • provided an intensively prepared ground for the development of fundamental knowledge about language • deepened understanding of scientific genres and criteria for evaluating reporting practice • engaged all students in active learning and rapid development of communicational skill • built trust lasting friendships and academic integrity • prepared students for professional collaboration and academic activities in the Master of Science and their scientific careers. Within a semester, students master a professional level of scientific reporting The collaboratively developed curriculum has…