WRITING TO LEARN STRATEGIES ON STUDENT LEARNING IN BIOLOGY: AN EXPERIMENT WITH STUDENTS WITH SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITES

Abstract

Current research has shown that writing to learn strategies have a positive impact on overall student learning. However, previous studies mainly assessed student learning through instruments that have been self-designed by researchers and there is little research examining relations between writing to learn strategies and science related context achievement such as biology measured through standardized testing. In addition, very few studies on writing to learn strategies with students with disabilities measure the potential relations with biology achievement. The purpose of this quantitative study is to address the literature gap by implementing the use of writing to learn strategies to institute growth and achievement in biological science in students with disabilities. The objective of the study is to evaluate content area growth of students with disabilities in biological science through the use of writing to learn strategies embedded in classroom pedagogy. Using experimental research, forty-eight students with high incidence disabilities in grades 9 and 10 received writing to learn strategies in their biology class during the school day. The quantitative instrumentation involved in the study is a pre-test comprehensive biology baseline exam, a mid-treatment biology assessment, and a post-test comprehensive biology exam, an acceptability survey, and an attitude toward biology survey that was administered over a semester’s timeline. The exams simulated standardized biology exams that employ the New Jersey Science Standards (NJSS) taught within the curriculum. All exams were slightly different; however, they focused on the same standards in biological science and the same overall content. Results were that the experimental group showed greater growth than the control group in the mid-treatment assessment, posttest and the Attitude Toward Biology Survey. Empirical implications are that writing to learn strategies would have significant impact on biological science standardized testing for students with disabilities.