Martin recognises the value of the reflective journal as an authentic writing task for his students. The students write regular entries in a journal to keep a record of their investigation. This includes a description of the actions they carry out and reflections on their learning.
In this video, he describes the styles of writing he expects to see in a reflective journal and how this will support his students to meet the demands of the curriculum. The level 4 Investigating in science sub-strand requires students to “Ask questions, find evidence, explore simple models, and carry out appropriate investigations to develop simple explanations.”
The purpose of this writing task was for students to:
- clarify and build understanding of the scientific ideas and information
- refer back to a sequence of events when needed
- track a thinking process
- provide evidence of their thinking and learning.
Demands of the writing task
The writing typical of a reflective journal includes several text types and purposes, for example, description, recount, and explanation. Martin developed criteria with his students to support the science teaching and learning. The writing needed to include:
- accurate facts and information
- conciseness for clarity of understanding
- relevant content
- appropriate structures and features
- comments and reflections
- references.
The students also referred to criteria required by the science fair as evidence of their thinking and learning (www.sciencefair.org.nz).
Supporting the writing
To introduce the writing task, Martin explained and modelled the process of developing a reflective journal. He provided three examples to initiate discussion and inform the criteria they developed.
Martin modelled a process for writing up a whole-class shared experiment. The teaching focus was on the importance of fair testing when carrying out experiments.
The students started their reflective journals as they began to develop questions and areas of interest for their own investigations. This writing was independent. After several weeks, Martin checked the students’ writing against the standards. He was able to use this information to determine his next steps for teaching to ensure that all students were working towards the appropriate standard.