Supporting Conceptual Learning and Disciplinary Thinking in Chemistry through Peer Review and Revision

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national interest by amplifying the role of peer review and revision in supporting student learning of chemistry content via writing. Writing-to-Learn, including peer review and revision, provides learning opportunities that are distinct from traditional undergraduate science instruction. However, it is challenging for instructors to provide meaningful feedback on writing, particularly in large courses. Thus, incorporating peer review and teaching students to use peer feedback to revise makes writing more feasible while also providing additional learning opportunities for students. This project serves the national interest by improving chemistry education at the undergraduate level. The project also has potential to improve understanding of an evidence-based instructional practice and how it can be used to develop better chemists and a more scientifically literate public. This project will examine students’ peer reviews and revisions in response to writing assignments in three undergraduate chemistry courses. In addition, the project team will interview students to understand their perceptions of and approaches to peer review and revision. Informed by the analysis of student writing and interviews, interventions that enhance peer review and revision will be developed and evaluated. Outcomes from this project will include a better understanding of how students engage in peer review and revision in chemistry courses and materials designed to support their more effective use. This project will investigate the use of peer review and revision to amplify Writing-to-Learn assignments supporting conceptual learning and disciplinary thinking in chemistry. The project design is guided by theories of learning and writing, including Distributed Cognition and the Sociocultural Theory of Writing. Distributed Cognition describes how learners can construct knowledge supported by social interactions and external representations. The Sociocultural Theory of Writing considers how social and cultural contexts inform the process of writing and how the act of writing can lead to knowledge development. The specific objectives of this project are to (1) identify the characteristics of peer review comments and revisions that effectively support conceptual learning and the development of disciplinary thinking; (2) characterize students’ perceptions of and approaches to peer review and revision; and (3) assess how interventions that engage students in reflective processes support learning through peer review and revision. To accomplish the first objective, the project team will qualitatively analyze students’ peer review comments and revisions in response to Writing-to-Learn assignments implemented in organic chemistry, biochemistry, and physical chemistry courses. The project team will address the second objective via student interviews, and feedback surveys focused on how students approach providing feedback and using their peers’ feedback when revising their own writing. Findings from the first two objectives will inform the development of two interventions, back-reviews and revision reflections, that will be implemented in the three chemistry courses. The utility of the interventions will be examined by artifact analysis of the back-reviews, written reflections, and peer review comments and revisions. Project findings will be disseminated widely to chemistry educators and STEM education researchers by publishing findings and intervention materials in journals, presenting at conferences, and by conducting instructor workshops and webinars. While the research for the grant will be situated within a chemistry context, the findings will have implications more broadly for disseminating Writing to Learn as an evidence-based instructional practice in STEM. The NSF IUSE: EHR program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.