Supporting Scientific Report Writing in a Chemistry Classroom

Abstract

Communication skill is one of the competency domains gaining prominence in the twenty-first century. In Singapore, developing students' literacy and communication skills has been emphasised in all subjects, including science. Despite the emphasis, science teachers have been reluctant to shift the focus from learning content knowledge to including literacy and communication skill teaching in their repertoire. Thus, literacy activities such as reading, writing, and presenting are rarely observed in science classrooms. This study explored and examined scientific report writing activity in a secondary three chemistry classroom in Singapore. A lesson series was codeveloped with a chemistry teacher to infuse literacy activities, especially scientific report writing, in the teaching of the topic of atmosphere. Video data and student-generated group reports were collected and analysed to explore how the teacher taught scientific report writing and the outcomes of the teaching as reflected by student-generated group reports. The findings from this study suggest a need for stronger emphasis on teaching writing in science classrooms.