This was part of Teaching and Evaluating Data Communication At Scale

They need to learn how to Write: Teaching Written Communications to STEM Undergraduate Students

Ramona Naddaff, University of California, Berkeley

Thursday, January 11, 2024



Abstract:

It has become increasingly  clear why the Humanities  faculty need to collaborate with STEM faculty.  But is the opposite the case?  What do Humanities faculty have to offer STEM instructors?  The answers are multiple but I propose to discuss one topic: writing.  In a world where communication skills are more and more valued, STEM students need to learn how to write, to communicate clearly and articulately about their projects and problems .  They must have the written skill set to explain their data, to tell a story about their data, to persuade others that their discoveries are consequential (not to mention excelling at grant writing).  It is not sufficient, for example, to solve a mathematical problem.  You need to explain the process  by which you came to the solution. Numbers speak but they do not speak for themselves. In this lecture, I propose to explore three interelated themes:  1) A Brief History  of Writing Pedagogy in the Sciences; 2) Creating a Syllabus for Teaching STEM Writing;  3)  Best Practices In Writing Pedagogy and Practical Advice on Assignments, Assessments, and Research.