One of the objectives of the ORWELL project is to create a community of good practices related to writing in the university context. In this section you will find didactic activities that employ/promote this competency among students. These activities have been discovered through different interviews with the teachers who put them into practice.
The content of the activities is presented in flip card format. On the front of the card you will find the name of the activity, in which course it takes place and the personal information of the responsible teacher (institution where he/she works and methods of contact). When you click on the flip card, the detailed information of the activity (didactic objectives, methodology and evaluation method) will be displayed.
How are the flip cards organized?
These flip cards are displayed in a graphic composed of four quadrants. Each quadrant corresponds to the four disciplinary areas. The more lateralized a card is, i.e., the more located at the extremes, the more adaptation the activity will require if it is implemented by a teacher from a different subject area. The flip cards closer to the center of the graph represent more transdisciplinary activities.
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Paola Mazzanti
“Writing like a scientist in the xylology lab”
University of Florence
Wood Science
“Writing like a scientist in the xylology lab”
The dissemination and validation of scientific evidence heavily relies on the publication of research articles. While this type of information exchange is crucial for various communities such as bioscience, the skills required to read and write such articles do not necessarily come naturally from other forms of writing that undergraduate students may have experience with. In order for students to stay updated with advancements in a particular field of knowledge, they must familiarize themselves with research papers and start writing their own based on field observations and measurements. Paola Mazzanti wants to give her students the opportunity to write as scientists from the very beginning of their formative process.Objectives:
Produce a scientific paper from experimentation with wood in the laboratory.
Methodology:
Throughout the course, students develop a continuous activity in the laboratory to deepen their understanding of the physical and mechanical behavior of wood. They perform various physical tests to measure, for example, the breaking strength of wood. The students carry out these experiments in the laboratory and transfer the quantitative data to an Excel file. At the end of the course they are asked to prepare a scientific paper describing the tests they have carried out, from a methodological point of view. In addition, they have to report the results obtained (using also different graphs and tables) and discuss them, as well as explain the main conclusions.
Evaluation:
Evaluation with grade, where aspects related to the technical language, content and mathematical operations carried out are taken into account.
Elena Tricarico
“Learning diary in science”
University of Florence
Zoology
“Learning diary in science”
In science education, conceptual learning requires students to apply their knowledge to new situations, reason about core ideas and demonstrate critical thinking and problem-solving skills to explain phenomena, rather than simply memorizing and calculating. Writing-to-learn pedagogies contributes to conceptual learning in the field of science. One of the writing tasks that can contribute to this conceptual learning in science is to keep a learning diary in which data are collected and procedures developed in field situations are reflected upon through different written reports. Elena Tricarico is aware of the potential of this type of activity and proposes it in her science classes.Objectives:
Use of writing to promote the acquisition of concepts, formalization of critical thinking and reporting in the area of science.
Methodology:
The writing activity is always linked to a field trip where different aspects related to the fauna, flora and geology of a territory are analyzed. In this first moment, students take notes and use writing to synthesize the most important parameters and data they have measured and collected in the real context. Subsequently, the writing has a reflective purpose and seeks to promote conceptual and meaningful learning. Thus, students prepare a detailed report on all the synthetic aspects they have extracted from the field trip. In this sense, they have to follow the scientific writing method (theoretical framework, description of materials, procedure, results, etc.) to develop the content, which not only allows them to develop communicative skills in the field of science, but also to acquire thinking schemes to reflect on the world and to acquire the first competencies for their possible future work.
Evaluation:
Formative feedback (taking into account the linguistic aspects of Italian, accuracy and formal aspects of scientific communication).
Giulia Tellini
“Text analysis laboratory”
University of Florence
Italian literature
“Text analysis laboratory”
When it comes to written texts, it is suggested that the properties or capabilities inherent in writing itself can aid in the learning process. The idea is that writing allows learners to plan, organize, and develop a deeper understanding of their own thoughts and feelings, which can then be used to create both planned and unexpected meanings. Through writing, learners can also sequence, clarify, extend, judge, enact, inspect, revise, and reflect upon their own ideas as well as those of others. This epistemological approach highlights the ways in which writing can facilitate learning gains. Writing can therefore help improve learning in all disciplines, but it becomes a fundamental element in those subject areas that seek to promote literacy and language acquisition in all its forms. Giullia Tellini tries to harness the full epistemic potential of writing in her literature workshops. How does she do this?Objectives:
The laboratory aims to promote the textual analysis of different literary productions through a continuous and reflective exercise of writing.
Methodology:
In each laboratory session students receive a classic Italian literary text (prose, poetry or theater). After reading this text, students are asked to elaborate a detailed written report where they reflect on the content, as well as on formal and linguistic aspects. In this writing exercise they have to relate their previous knowledge with the new concepts provided by each literary text. Thus, writing serves to favor the relation between concepts and to favor a more significant learning. This writing exercise is sometimes developed individually and sometimes collaboratively to promote cognitive conflicts that can lead to deeper learning and higher quality written texts.
Evaluation:
Activity without grade
Teresa Baldi
“Professional motivation and writing workshop”
University of Florence
Political and Social Science
“Professional motivation and writing workshop”
Becoming more self-aware, including the thoughts and emotions we experience in each moment, can be achieved through self-reflection using writing. By consciously reflecting on one’s values, ideas and practices, we can make our coping mechanisms more explicit. This process can promote the development of critical and practical autonomy, which is essential for social workers to effectively navigate the many contextual pressures they face in their field. Teresa Baldi and Giuditta Pedana are aware of the potential of writing in this sense and place it at the service of reflection on the professional identity of the social worker. But how do they do it?Objectives:
To contribute to the development of the professional identity of the social worker, through the use of writing as a tool for personal reflection.
Methodology:
Throughout the workshop, students are introduced to different contents related to the practices of a social worker. This content can be in visual format (documentaries, films…) or written (books, articles, etc.). Students are then asked to write a personal essay where they reflect on the representation of the social worker in this content, how this representation connects with their personal identity as professionals in the field, how it affects their motivation to practice the profession of social worker, etc. These writing exercises are sometimes elaborated individually, but also in groups using collaborative writing. Working and writing in a group promotes the confrontation of ideas, and the awareness of one’s own thinking by having to make it explicit to others. The reflective essays are finally provided to teachers, who give formative feedback on theoretical aspects related to the subject, but also on formal aspects related to writing.
Evaluation:
Activity without grade
Brunella Casalini
“Writing and experiences of discrimination”
University of Florence
Political philosophy
“Writing and experiences of discrimination”
Autobiographical narratives are considered a useful tool for exploring the social construction of self and mind, as they reflect an individual’s personality and identity construction. How could we use this technique to become aware of experiences of discrimination in the university context? Brunella Casalini has a proposal that connects writing, individual narratives, and discrimination processes in the universityObjectives:
The activity is designed to reflect on the processes of discrimination using autobiographical writing and personal narratives.
Methodology:
The activity was developed with PhD students. The students were asked to write a personal experience of discrimination (first-person or witnessed) after reading an excerpt from the book “Teaching to transgress” (bell hooks). In his own essay, bell hooks explained how when she taught “The Bluest eye” (Toni Morrison) in the classroom, she asked students to talk about a discrimination experience. Based on this suggestion by bell hooks, doctoral students were asked to write about a discrimination experience they had personally experienced or testimonies they had heard in the university setting (classroom activity, relationship with teachers, etc.), during formative experiences. Students had half an hour to write their personal experiences and then they were shared with the class. This activity gave each person a voice and encouraged collaborative reflection on this type of situations based on autobiographical writing and personal narratives.
Evaluation:
Activity without grade
Nicolo Bellanca
“The two faces of the journalist: combining objective and subjective writing”
University of Florence
Sustainable development economics
“The two faces of the journalist: combining objective and subjective writing”
The act of summarizing is closely connected to understanding written material, as the writer must comprehend the original text before summarizing it. Nonetheless, summarizing involves certain writing abilities that go beyond basic reading skills and may be more intricate. Research has indicated that teaching summarization not only improves writing proficiency, but it can also enhance learning. On the other hand, the use of writing with an epistemic use (linked to the construction of knowledge and not linked to the mere transmission of information) helps to establish a relationship between different concepts and to generate meaningful learning. How can writing be combined with a content synthesis purpose and a reflective goal? Nicolo Bellana has found the key with his activity: “the two faces of the journalist: combining objective and subjective writing”.Objectives:
Employ writing to synthesize the content of scientific papers and promote personal reflection and meaningful learning of the content.
Methodology:
This is an evaluation activity at the end of the course. Students have at their disposal in moodle recent scientific articles related to the content of the subject. Students have to choose one of these articles and carry out a two-part report. The first part consists in the elaboration of a synthesis of the most important aspects of the author’s/authors’ thought. The aim is to summarize and carry out an objective report of the proposed theory, without adding personal elements. The second part, however, consists of developing an essay that reflects personally on the content of the paper and relates it to previous knowledge and life experiences.
Evaluation:
Students are required to prepare a final report with a minimum length of 6 pages. This document is evaluated by the teacher through the use of a rubric (which is available to students from the beginning of the course). In addition, the teacher makes available in moodle good examples of reports (after giving the grade), with the intention of providing feedback on good products.
Francesco Salvestrini
“Supervised writing”
University of Florence
Medieval history and Renaissance history
“Supervised writing”
Feedback for written assignments often relies heavily on summative assessment, wherein an essay is assigned a grade or a percentage, accompanied by some general comments. Typically, this feedback is received after submitting the final version of the assignment, and students are already moving on to the next topic. Unfortunately, this approach deprives students of the chance to reconsider or revise their work, leading to a lack of progress in their subsequent writing assignments. As educators, it is crucial for us to augment the provision of formative feedback by incorporating drafting and immediate feedback. By doing so, we can foster the growth and enhancement of students’ writing abilities. Francesco Salvestrini and Igor Melani apply this formative feedback approach when they ask their students to prepare the final written report. How do they do it?Objectives:
Both professors ask their students to write a report at the end of the course on a historical topic. This report has to be elaborated as a scientific work and be based on a bibliographic search. The objective is to train the students in the elaboration of what will be the thesis at the end of their university degrees.
Methodology:
Both teachers guide their students through the writing process, asking for different intermediate products to which they provide formative feedback. For example, once the historical topic has been chosen, teachers can request an index of the main points that students will address in their report. They also ask for short excerpts from the report at different times before the final submission. During this process, individualized tutoring takes place through which teachers provide guidelines to improve the quality of the written product.
Evaluation:
Students submit the final report, which is evaluated and graded. This report is complemented with an oral defense.
Maria Ranieri
“Digital Storytelling”
University of Florence
Laboratory of Technologies of Instruction and Learning
“Digital Storytelling”
The activity “Digital Storytelling-DS” has been developed in the framework of a project funded by the European Union (The e-Media Education Lab-eMEL) whose objective is to develop and evaluate educational materials for initial and continuous teacher training in the field of media literacy.Objectives:
The main objective is to use digital storytelling as an effective pedagogical tool in educational settings to enhance media and digital literacy. Digital storytelling is considered a dynamic and versatile method capable of facilitating both analysis and production of media content, while fostering self-representation, self-expression and civic/social agency.
Methodology:
The activity is structured into four thematic sections, each representing a step in the process of creating a digital story. The initial unit serves as a theoretical introduction to DS, where students are exposed to various examples of digital stories and encouraged to contemplate potential applications of DS within the school environment. The second phase focuses on story writing, encompassing the presentation of techniques such as story core and story mapping. Students are given the task of individually designing their own stories and engaging in exercises to evaluate the effectiveness of their narratives. Visual literacy constitutes another unit, providing students with guidelines on audiovisual grammar and demonstrating the selection, production, and utilization of images and sounds to effectively communicate with and captivate the audience. Additionally, students actively analyze both static and dynamic images as part of a media analysis exercise. The final section is dedicated to the actual production of a digital story. Working in groups, students collaborate through a web forum to share ideas, plan their actions, and develop the script of their project using a wiki platform. The activity was mainly carried out online, using the eLAB platform.
Evaluation:
Every subtask incorporate feedback from the teacher. In addition, several tools are employed to facilitate self-assessment processes (e.g. rubrics and worked examples, which provided additional support and guidance for students to evaluate their own progress and performance).
Pacini Cesare
“Writing scaffolds: the power of templates”
University of Florence
Agroecological design and management & Agroecology
“Writing scaffolds: the power of templates”
In educational terms, scaffolding can be defined as a situation where a knowledgeable participant can create supportive conditions in which the novice can participate, and extend his or her current skills and knowledge to higher levels of competence. There are multiple ways to scaffold a writing process, but one way with proven evidence is through templates. In operational terms, scaffolding refers to the utilization of supportive templates that provide guidance to students through semiotically mediated situations. The template serves as a framework for the overall structure and key elements of the writing task, allowing learners to concentrate on the specific details within their capabilities. For instance, when using a template for a letter of invitation, the learner is provided with the basic structure and framework of the task, enabling them to focus on the specific details of the invitation itself. How to promote writing in the field of agronomy through templates? Cesare Pacini tells us about it.Objectives:
Use of templates to facilitate the development of higher-order writing skills and self-regulation among students, as well as the development of well-grounded projects in the field of agronomy.
Methodology:
At the beginning of the course, students receive a template, accompanied by a video tutorial, on how to develop a project in the field of agroecology. The template specifies in sections the key elements of a project aimed at promoting the transformation of a piece of land to make it more ecological and sustainable. Some of the sections are the characteristics of the client, site description, action plan, expected impact in ecological terms, etc. Throughout the lessons, part of the session is devoted to establishing connections between the theoretical and conceptual aspects and how to translate them into the project template. At the end of the course each student has to present his/her project, which will be evaluated and graded.
Evaluation:
The projects are evaluated and graded based on the criteria of the template (which is used as an evaluation rubric).
María Luisa Ruiz & Julio Manuel De Luis
“The writing and the social dimension of science”
University of Cantabria
Mining Engineering
“The writing and the social dimension of science”
Educational programs in scientific and technical fields traditionally prioritize acquiring knowledge and technical skills. Despite preparing students to be proficient professionals, a common challenge arises: many struggle to effectively communicate the significance of their work to society. This communication gap is evident as professionals often face difficulties conveying the societal relevance of their work. To address this, future scientists’ education should integrate optimal communication skills. María Luisa Ruiz and Julio Manuel De Luis are aware of this challenge in the technical areas and have therefore developed an activity based on the writing of a scientific poster to promote the social dimension of mining and energy activities. But how do they do it?Objectives:
Contribute to scientific dissemination through the writing of scientific posters.
Methodology:
The activity includes an initial phase of bibliographic research in which students gather information about the phenomenon they will later convey in poster format. For instance, one of the cases examined involves the analysis of a tidal power plant in France. During this initial documentation phase, students investigate when it was installed, how it was installed, its characteristics, and the specific features of the environment, among other aspects. Following this phase, students in the same class are divided into two groups. The first group is tasked with conveying this information in a scientific poster format, as if the audience were attendees at a scientific conference. The other half is assigned to communicate the message to the residents of the town where the plant is located, within the context of sociocultural events. Both groups receive instructions on organizing the poster information, following the established scientific standards for this format. Once the posters are completed, they are presented in class to analyze differences in communication patterns based on the target audience.
Evaluation:
Evaluation and grading using a rubric designed to assess both the content of the poster and the presentation of information.
In this section you will find flip cards that represent evidence-based practices. These practices are didactic approaches tested in the university context and published in different scientific journals. They are transversal methodologies related to writing that you can use in your area of knowledge with the guarantee that other people have proven their good results. On the front of the card you will find the name of the activity, the personal information of the researcher who tested its effectiveness (institution where he/she works and contact details) and the DOI of the scientific article where you can find all the details of the study. By clicking on the flip card, the synthesized information of the activity will appear (didactic objectives, methodology and main results).
Fernando Rodríguez-Gallego
“Peer feedback and collaborative writing”
University of the Balearic Islands
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-020-10312-2
“Peer feedback and collaborative writing”
Studies in higher education have shown that virtual classrooms based on asynchronous work forums, within the context of hybrid or blended learning, can enhance creativity in academic writing exercises. This approach, known as multidirectional learning, encourages students to engage as writers, readers, and evaluators of their classmates’ work. By creating a multidirectional learning environment, students are prompted to develop writing skills within their online community. On the other hand, feedback plays a crucial role in collaborative writing dynamics, especially in virtual environments. Recent studies have highlighted the varying effects of corrective, epistemic, questioning, and suggestive feedback on students’ online collaborative writing. Epistemic and suggestive feedback, in particular, promote the inclusion of complex arguments and engage students in cognitive and metacognitive processes. Fernando Rodríguez-Gallego et al. have developed a teaching innovation project which aimed to take full advantage of peer feedback in writing tasks.Objectives:
Examine the characteristics of peer feedback in a collaborative writing task and explore its potential impact on the development of writing skills in higher education.
Methodology:
The project focused on developing academic review writing skills through collaborative activities centered on short literary texts. The initial task involved creating social media profiles for assigned female writers and pedagogues, promoting collaboration within the groups and familiarizing participants with the digital platform and its tools. The second writing task involved collaborative analysis of a literary review, with group members working together to examine a review published in an academic or general press context. The third writing task involved students writing their own literary review. This task was conducted through the digital platform, and groups were required to read and evaluate another group’s review based on an evaluation rubric. The fourth task required individual reviews of a Spanish novel and each student was assigned to evaluate a classmate’s review using the evaluation rubric. To facilitate collaboration, they implemented different communication and learning tools, including instant messaging, file sharing, alerts, forums, and chats.
Main results:
Collaborative writing with peer feedback leads to more reflective and constructive student responses compared to unidirectional corrections from the teacher.
Íris Susana Pires Pereira
“Reflective writing during the Practicum”
University of Minho
https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2023.2193147
“Reflective writing during the Practicum”
Schön’s notion of the ‘reflective practitioner’ has been highly influential in professional education, including teaching, with ongoing debates and critiques. According to Schön, reflective practitioners constantly generate context-specific solutions to new challenges, leading to the development of their professional knowledge. He defines the practicum as a learning environment designed for the acquisition of a practice. In this setting, students engage in simulated or simplified projects that approximate real-world practice or work on real-world projects under close supervision. The practicum aims to provide experiential learning, offering learners a virtual representation of the practice world where they undertake challenging projects resembling their future work. The practicum provides a sheltered space for reflection-in-action by simplifying real-world complexities. It allows students to learn by doing and thinking as if they were already practitioners, enabling them to slow down, experiment, correct mistakes, and observe what works or doesn’t work. In the practicum, doing and knowing are inseparable. Íris Susana Pires Pereira et al. have developed a formative strategy framed in the context of Schön’s reflective practicum where writing played a fundamental role.Objectives:
Facilitate the development of professional knowledge among student teachers during their time at university, prior to their practical experiences in school settings.
Methodology:
Data for the study were gathered using a two-staged reflective writing approach. In the initial seminar, students engaged in a role-playing activity where they provided responses to a job interview scenario, specifically addressing the objectives, content, and strategies for language and literacy education in three distinct grade levels. Over the next 14 weeks, students worked on developing their practical projects. Once the process of envisioning practice was finished, students were requested to revisit their initial answers for further reflection.
Main results:
After engaging in the sheltered reflective practicum, students expressed a positive evaluation of their learning experience and the overall learning process. This was reflected in their final texts, which demonstrated that student teachers had developed a new set of practical knowledge that they considered valuable for their future profession.
Milou J. R. de Smet
“Electronic outlining and argumentative writing”
Expertise Centre for Effective Learning (ExCEL)
https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12825
“Electronic outlining and argumentative writing”
An outline is a vertical list of textual ideas. It helps writers concentrate on generating and organizing ideas, establishing a hierarchy among them, and categorizing the main points of the text under general headings. Electronic outlining, which involves using digital tools such as word processors, offers advantages over traditional pen and paper outlines. Electronic tools provide flexibility, allowing writers to easily modify and enhance their outlines. Research has shown positive effects of electronic outlining on students’ writing performance, particularly in argumentative texts. Argumentative writing requires a clear structure with various elements, including an introduction, one’s position, claims, counter-arguments, responses to counter-arguments, and a conclusion. Using electronic outlining can assist in planning and organizing these elements, resulting in a well-structured and coherent text. Milou J. R. de Smet et al. have investigated which type of electronic outlining instruction contributes most to argumentative writing.Objectives:
Investigate the impact of utilizing electronic outlining, specifically through observational learning or learning-by-doing approaches, on students’ writing performance.
Methodology:
This study aimed to compare the effects of electronic outlining and traditional planning strategies, while also examining the effectiveness of two instructional methods within electronic outlining. The methods tested were observational learning and learning-by-doing. In all conditions, students received explicit strategy instruction for planning and writing. The control condition involved learning by doing with traditional planning strategies, while the outline condition involved learning by doing with electronic outlining as a planning strategy. In the observation condition, students learned through observing videos of their peers using electronic outlining. The experiment consisted of seven 60-minute sessions conducted by the students’ own teacher. Technical instruction on the outline tool was provided in the outline and observation conditions, using the outline function in Microsoft® Word due to the students’ familiarity with the software.
Main results:
After the lesson series, the overall improvement in text structure was observed, but no significant differences were found between the conditions. However, the use of electronic outlining led to an increase in the total time spent on the texts and the revision ratio.
Miriam Granado-Peinado
“Writing critical essays in a History of Psychology course”
University Francisco de Vitoria
https://doi.org/10.1177/009862832110309
“Writing critical essays in a History of Psychology course”
The cognitive and metacognitive processes involved in composing a source-based essay give rise to advanced thinking skills. These processes encompass activities such as reading, writing, and learning, which facilitate reasoning, questioning, and hypothesizing about sources. Teaching students to critically engage with historical texts and relate them to contemporary issues represents an excellent opportunity to foster knowledge and understanding. Despite the potential educational benefits, the practice of writing critical essays is uncommon in university contexts. These tasks can also pose significant challenges for college students. Common difficulties include understanding the essay topic, identifying arguments in academic texts, integrating arguments from a variety of sources, and the process of writing argumentative texts. Miriam Granado-Peinado et al. have developed an innovation project to improve critical essay writing in the field of psychology.Objectives:
Develop an intervention program that focused on instructing students in writing critical essays.
Methodology:
The program aims to teach students how to write critical essays effectively through a series of sessions. It begins with an initial session where students complete an individual critical essay as homework without any instructions. In the following sessions, explicit instruction is provided in a traditional classroom setting, focusing on the step-by-step process of writing a critical essay, tailored to the students’ needs. A rubric for clear grading criteria is introduced and explained during this session. Subsequent sessions involve practicing in pairs, with specific essays assigned as homework. Students receive individualized feedback on their work through the online platform Moodle. Throughout the program, students also receive guidance on effective collaboration strategies and general feedback on the writing process, addressing common difficulties and answering student questions. The final session involves continued practice in pairs, with ongoing individualized feedback provided via Moodle.
Main results:
Implementing these methodologies led to improvements not only in the students’ critical essay writing skills but also in their understanding of historical texts.
Thiemo Wambsganss
“Automated feedback, social comparison nudging and Argumentation”
Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2022.104644
“Automated feedback, social comparison nudging and Argumentation”
Automated feedback, known by various terms such as individual, dynamic, adaptive, or personalized feedback, has garnered a great deal of attention as a means of providing learners with argumentative feedback to improve their skill set. On the other hand, social comparison, also known as social nudging, has great potential in integrating learning feedback and goal setting. For example, social comparison can be effectively employed by providing messages such as “other users have used more arguments on the same task”. Thiemo Wambsganss et al. have designed a novel pedagogical scenario in which they provided business undergraduate students with automated feedback with a social comparison in a real-world writing exercise. How did they do it?Objectives:
Evaluate whether automated argumentation feedback in combination with social comparison nudging help students to develop argumentation writing skills in a persuasive writing assignment.
Methodology:
They designed an adaptive learning tool that provided automated feedback on argumentation skills. The tool is a Google Docs add-on, allowing students to access feedback conveniently. It incorporated a social comparison nudge, focusing on logical argumentation errors, and can be used regardless of instructor, time, or location. The system included a feedback dashboard for analyzing selected paragraphs, comparing the number of claims to historical data. Color coding was used to subtly trigger behavioral changes, drawing from insights on digital nudging and social norms. Furthermore, they developed a learning system that provided automated argumentation feedback with a social comparison. Their approach was based on a corpus of 200 student-written business model pitches. They trained an argumentation mining model using an LSTM architecture and achieved satisfactory results in classifying argumentative components.
Main results:
The integration of automated feedback with social comparison nudging resulted in students demonstrating higher levels of argumentation skills in their written texts.
Instructions
In this section you will find flip-cards created by the ORWELL team. These are actions carried out by us in order to promote reflective and epistemic writing in the university context. On the front of the card you will find the name of the activity and the personal information of the researchers who put them into practice (institution where he/she works and contact details) By clicking on the flip card, the synthesized information of the activity will appear (didactic objectives, methodology and evaluation and main results).
Team ORWELL
“Collaborative writing with ChatGPT”
University of Florence
“Collaborative writing with ChatGPT”
The ChatGPT model, a variant of the Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) model, presents promising applications as an educational tool in various academic settings. It can serve as a valuable resource for accessing information quickly, developing educational chatbots, and generating personalized content. One specific area where ChatGPT shows potential is in assisting students with source-based writing tasks, which demand the synthesis of information from texts in response to prompts. These activities are inherently challenging, as they require students to possess a deep understanding of writing conventions and accurately comprehend the source material.Objectives:
The objective of this study was twofold. Firstly, we aimed to observe and classify the various strategies employed by undergraduate students as they utilized ChatGPT to complete a source-based writing task. Secondly, we wanted to examine how the integration of ChatGPT impacted the overall quality of the students’ written outputs.
Methodology:
Undergraduate students were presented with a task in which they had to apply media literacy skills and rely on the use of an artificial intelligence tool. Specifically, these students had to read a text with information for and against a controversial environmental topic with the aim of writing an argumentative essay expressing their opinion on the topic. In order to write this essay they had to assess the credibility of the source, avoided one-sided biased thinking and avoided disinformation processes. Students were offered the opportunity to use the ChatGPT tool to develop the activity. In this way, they were able to use the artificial intelligence tool to access more information about the controversy, to expand the arguments and counterarguments associated with the different perspectives, to investigate the properties of a quality argumentative text, etc. The entire task was recorded, and participants also engaged in think-aloud interviews.
Evaluation and Main results:
The study collected data, including ChatGPT questions, interview responses, and written texts. The information was analyzed using QCAMAP to identify argumentative categories and code the integration level of conflicting information. ChatGPT use negatively correlated with the inclusion of literal source-text information in students’ writing. However, the level of integration of conflicting information was not associated with the interaction with ChatGPT
Team ORWELL
PhD course “Rethinking (and rewriting) Introductory Chemistry”
University of Florence
PhD course “Rethinking (and rewriting) Introductory Chemistry”
In the field of science, writing plays a crucial role in supporting research, communication, and progress. Well-written scientific papers enable rigorous peer review, contributing to the collective knowledge and serving as a foundation for further exploration. Writing also facilitates collaboration between different disciplines, breaking down complex concepts for broader understanding. It promotes critical thinking and ensures only robust findings are shared. Additionally, writing influences public perception and policy decisions, bridging the gap between research and its practical implications. Overall, writing empowers scientists to make meaningful contributions, advancing our understanding of the world and leaving a lasting impact on society. However, writing is a skill that is poorly trained in PhD students, especially those in the natural sciences.Objectives:
The aim of this course was to apply reflective writing to elaborate on General Chemistry concepts. We covered different aspects of scientific writing, including the application of refutational texts to clear common misconceptions in Chemistry.
Methodology:
All the activities of the course have had an active and participatory methodology. The course comprised four lessons focused on the significance of writing in various aspects of learning and scientific understanding. The first lesson explored the profound relationship between writing and thinking processes, conceptualizing writing as an epistemic tool that enhances understanding. The second lesson, “Red Sky at Night, Shepherd’s Delight,” emphasized writing as a problem-solving activity, introducing strategies like Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) for mastering different writing genres. Lesson 3, “How to Ice Skate,” tackled common chemical misconceptions using persuasive refutational texts. The final lesson, “Bridges between Argumentative Writing and Science Learning,” emphasized reflective writing to counter one-sided reasoning and appreciate diverse perspectives.
Evaluation and Main results:
Lessons 2, 3, and 4 were divided into lectures and writing activities, and they were evaluated during the course. Also, students expressed their satisfaction with the course.
Team ORWELL
Recursivity in source-based writing
University of Florence
“Recursivity in source-based writing”
Source-based writing tasks demand that writers engage with multiple sources and synthesize information from them to address a specific objective, such as developing a comprehensive perspective on a controversial topic. Successfully tackling these writing tasks requires students to not only possess diverse writing skills but also demonstrate proficiency in reading and comprehending the provided sources. During the synthesis process, writers must first thoroughly comprehend the sources before reflecting on the information they’ve read. To achieve this, students need to read and reread the texts, identifying relevant information and integrating it effectively into their writing. This recursive process plays a crucial role in argumentative synthesis production. Recursivity involves an iterative “back and forth” approach between reading the sources and the actual writing. It serves as a self-regulatory cognitive process that enables writers to monitor their behavior, leading to the introduction of relevant changes in the planning, textualization, and evaluation phases of their writing.Objectives:
The study had three main objectives. The first objective was to observe and describe the recursivity behavior of university students as they engaged in reading conflicting sources and writing argumentative synthesis. This behavior was identified and tracked using keystroke logging software called Inputlog. The second objective was to examine the relationship between the frequency of recursivity events and two key factors: the quality of the students’ argumentative essays and their ability to recall information from the sources they read. Finally, the third objective aimed to link recursivity events to strategic behavior exhibited by the students during the reading and writing process.
Methodology:
The students’ task was to read four texts on a controversial topic and then write an argumentative essay expressing their opinion on the topic.
Evaluation and Main results:
The study involved three main components: think-aloud protocol during the reading process, recording recursivity using Inputlog software during the writing phase, and a recall task one week later. The research showed a noteworthy correlation between the reading strategies expressed through the think-aloud protocol and the students’ recursivity in the writing process. Additionally, it was found that recursivity positively influenced the quality of argumentative synthesis and the students’ ability to recall information from the texts they read.