Basic Goals and Assumptions of the Course

Writing for Biology is designed to prepare students for the writing activities they will encounter in their chosen profession and is in many ways a parallel course to 302, Scientific and Technical Writing, and 303, Writing for Business and Professions. Students who have already taken either of these two classes should not register for 312. Our pedagogy follows the paradigm of composition practiced in the Rutgers University Writing Program, commonly referred to as the dialogic or "conversation model," in which students are encouraged to situate themselves within a discourse and to recognize the social settings that structure all acts of writing. This is not a course that gives students practice writing empty forms; it's a course about learning to convert information into knowledge and action in a specific context. We do not train future secretaries or writers of computer software instruction manuals; we train future researchers, managers and "knowledge workers." Students need to recognize that we can never teach them the specific "forms" of writing they will need at their workplace, since every organization (or culture of writing) will use unique formats and styles. But we can teach them how to lead through knowledge and how to use models as guides to a writing culture's expectations. We hope to teach writing as a basic skill in any career, not as a set of templates to use in a specific job.

The main work your students will undertake this semester is either a project proposal or a journal article. Students who have not had or are currently not involved in undergraduate research experience are encouraged to submit at research proposal seeking funding for a project in their speciality. The project proposal is an original proposal justified by research. The project is designed to give students practice as "knowledge workers" -- that is, as managers who are capable of using information and rational argument to make decisions and lead others. The best way for students to approach the project is to identify and define a problem and then research ways of approaching that problem that could justify a plan of action. Students should ideally try to situate their work within a paradigm and discuss the works of key proponents of their approach. They should not focus exclusively on their plan or on answering questions about "how" they will proceed; they need to answer "why" (or, "why this way") as well. If they do that, they will come to recognize that their assumptions and ideas are already embedded in a conversation where there are at least some points of consensus. In other words, they will have entered the discourse of their chosen field. If students are currently engaged in (or have had) research experience, they should be strongly encouraged to write about that experience in a journal article, with the expectation that they will submit it to a forum for publication of undergraduate research.

In order for students to join the conversation in their field, they will often have to read difficult texts at a relatively high level of abstraction. Therefore, as in all composition courses, our emphasis in teaching needs to be as much on strong reading as it is on strong writing. The coursepack has several rather difficult readings which are intended to give students a chance to practice reading and making sense of difficult texts -- something many of them are surprisingly ill prepared to do. These texts also introduce students to key concepts, such "paradigm" which will help them think and speak abstractly about their projects.

Since the project for the course requires individual effort and active student participation, teachers usually encourage students to work in groups, not only for peer review of drafts, but for peer discussion of readings. Students sometimes resist the group approach, feeling more comfortable with teacher comments. One way to de-emphasize your own role in their learning process is to create the illusion that the classroom is mimicking a workplace or research setting. Gone are the days of the individual researcher or businessperson who works alone with no collaboration or feedback. Encourage them to use each other as resources for practice in the group dynamics currently informing most of professional life. Though occasional lectures can be helpful, you should mostly see yourself as the "guide by the side" rather than "the sage on the stage." Your job is to facilitate your students' independent work. Whenever possible, you should try to de-emphasize your role as "expert" and encourage the students to see themselves as developing the problem solving skills that are the hallmark of expertise. Encourage your students to work independently and actively in shaping their projects and seeking advice from subject area experts (such as advisers, professors, or professionals in their field of interest). Also, you should not focus undue attention on issues of grammar and syntax in comments on early versions of the project; instead, focus on helping students develop their ideas and fill in gaps in research. While it is important to work in class on specific issues of "prose polishing," that work is most helpful in the late stages of drafting and should not shift the focus away from students' struggles to revise a strong and thoughtful project full of content as well as style.