Writing Right: Enhancing Student Engagement and Performance in an Ecology Course

This paper outlines the results of a collaborative effort between members of staff in the
Departments of Life Sciences and Language, Linguistics and Philosophy, which involved
the implementation of Writing Across the Curriculum strategies in an Ecology course. The
lecturer for this course had expressed concerns regarding the poor quality of the laboratory
reports presented and weak essays submitted by students. In order to enhance students'
understanding of the content to be included in the report, and to improve expression of
thought in writing, we agreed to 'treat' a sample of students selected from two laboratory
groups by giving each group the other's lab report to read and to subsequently carry out the
experiments described. Additionally a select group of students engaged in the planning,
writing and revising of responses to past exam essay questions. Results showed that final
exam grades for the ‘treated’ group and the writing group were significantly higher than
their ‘non treated’ and ‘non writing’ counterparts. Feedback from students was generally
positive. Implications and limitations are discussed.