A colleague of mine, a biologist, (let’s call him Ken) teaches an upper-level college course on genetics. Course requirements include the usual—class participation, quizzes, exams, and …a scientific paper. Each semester, when Ken mentions the paper the classroom erupts in shrieks and murmurs. Immediately after the noise dies down, hands shoot into the air and the questions begin:
Can I do an extra assignment instead of the paper?
What does writing have to do with genetics?
Does spelling count?
Ken’s answers in order of appearance:
No!
Writing is the most important part of scientific work.
What do you think?
Ken pushes forward and the paper stays. Students write the paper in various drafts and Ken uses class time to discuss and teach things like citation style, scientific notation, grammar and syntax. In the end, students create some great papers. But each semester is a struggle, as some students spend more time trying to not work on the paper than working on the paper itself. But Ken has the support of his department chair and he is the director the undergraduate science curriculum and plans to make writing an integral part of the science curriculum at all levels.
Ken’s students are not alone in their disdain for writing in the STEM disciplines. Many students and teachers, from Pre-K to college, see writing as the unwanted stepchild of science and math, something that’s secondary, even inferior, to scientific endeavor. But without writing there can be no STEM. Without reading, there is no STEM.
“Advocacy for STEM is, by extension, advocacy for literacy.”
Poor reading and writing skills are a major factor in high school dropout rates. Students who have dropped out are less likely to complete high school in the future, let alone enter STEM careers. Politicians, school districts and teachers have advocated for more STEM in the school curriculum, but they need to be just as concerned about literacy. Advocacy for STEM is, by extension, advocacy for literacy.
Below are 5 reasons why writing should be part of science and math education, at all levels:
1. To Interpret and Analyze Information
Good literacy is important for learning and understanding in math and science. Reading and writing are necessary to make sense of process and translation word problems in math. Science students, from astrophysicists to zoologists, need to read and understand case studies, and to write up clear, concise (elegant if you dare) experiment and research findings.
2. To Express Your Brilliant Idea
That idea is useless if no one, except you, knows about it or understands it. Expressing one’s ideas is at the cornerstone of scientific research and the tech industry. For research in math and science, in addition to interpreting and analyzing findings, you must articulate your ideas for funding requests. And you’ll need to write a report at the end of the funding period and likely publish a peer-reviewed paper. But more on this later.
You’ve got to articulate your ideas to colleagues in your field and to the school’s administration so that they can give permission to bust out the ceiling to install that new dilithium crystal fission reactor you need for your research on alternative fuels.
“In all, you’ll be a better tech industry hire if you can communicate well.”
In the tech industry, especially on a large project, you’ll work with people from various disciplines and industries. The true test of literacy is to communicate your ideas to different audiences. That means your fellow techies, folks in marketing and product design, the CEO… you get the idea. Even if you’re just coding a game, you’ll need to clearly communicate bugs to everyone on your team so that you can move the project to the next level. In all, you’ll be a better tech industry hire if you can communicate well.
3. You’ll Need to Publish
If you’re in research, you’ll need to write to get published. High school students and college undergraduates are often unaware of the role of ‘disseminating scientific discovery’ in establishing and maintaining a discipline. Often, scientific (and mathematical) papers are group endeavors, in which, sometimes up to 8 people contribute writing and research. Then once the paper is accepted, you and the other writers will need to respond to content and possibly grammatical critiques to get to the publishing stage.
4. Develop Critical Thinking Skills
Critical thinking is the ability to interpret, analyze and draw conclusions from a set of information. Once you’ve drawn conclusions, you should be able to clearly explain your point-of-view to others in a way that promotes understanding. And at the same time, you’re aware of your own thought processes and the reasons why you have drawn inferences and how you have added clarity and perspective to the knowledge you’re sharing.
“Reading and writing, in and out of your discipline, exposes you to various ways of thinking, experiences and ways of looking at the world.”
Writing and reading, especially outside your field (fiction and non-fiction), helps you develop critical thinking skills. You are exposed to different types of information and various ways of thinking that expand your own knowledge and repertories for drawing conclusions.
5. Explore Different ways of Thinking
This was mentioned in No.4, but it deserves its own section. Science exists in the world, a complex milieu of personality types and politics. You’ll have to survive this complex milieu before you can complete the next great engineering discovery or publish a paper. It is the so-called soft skills that will determine if you’re successful or not. Skills like emotional intelligence, getting along with diverse people (not just talking race here, I’m talking every kind of diversity, from nativity to disciplines of study), critical thinking, and strategic decision-making …you get the idea.
Reading and writing, in and out of your discipline, exposes you to various ways of thinking, experiences and ways of looking at the world. Add to that, talking and interacting with people from various disciplines will really help hone your soft skills.
The days of the lone scientist in his lab focused on his research and treating other carbon-based beings with caustic indifference are drawing to a close. The STEM fields serve humanity.
Students in STEM should see the humanities, not just reading and writing, as part of science to help bridge the gap between science and the humanity it serves and to make science and science education part of the human endeavor.
I’m sure you can think of other reasons why literacy is important in STEM. I welcome your comments and examples below.
Heidi Holder, Ph.D. is the founder of redloh education and was recently named one of LinkedIn’s “Top Voices on Education, 2015.”
