29A-3 |
Writing across the curriculum: A hermeneutic study of using academic journals in food science education |
D. J. DZUREC, JR., Dept. of Nutritional Sciences, Univ. of Connecticut, 3624 Horsebarn Rd. Ext., Storrs, CT 06269-4017 and L. C. Dzurec, School of Nursing, Univ. of Connecticut, 231 Glendbrook Rd., Storrs, CT 06269-2026. Many students hate to write and view writing as laborious and taxing. Choosing the right words to express themselves and to meet course requirements does not come naturally to most students. Despite the restrictions imposed by course requirements, the most successful writing is free-flowing and positive. Writing can, in fact, enhance learning by helping students to put words to their thinking about course material. The purpose of this study was to assess student learning of food science content through a structured academic journal writing exercise. After each class (2 per week), 20 students completed a one-page journal entry (40 journal entries per week x 15 weeks). Students were asked to summarize in five lines the lecture material from class. Students used the rest of the page (17 lines) to intergrate what they had learned in class with some other experience,educational or personal, from their lives. Journal entries served as the data for the study. The investigator provided comments daily to journal entries for each individual student. At the end of the semester, the investigator conducted a hermeneutic analysis of the individual journals and of the group of journals as a whole. Hermeneutics is a philosophy of science and a qualitative research method. Hermeneutic analysis comprises three steps: description of themes taken from a global reading of the journals; reduction or relating themes to specific, verbatim statements found in the journal; and interpretation or imposition of meaning on the themes and statements. Results from the study indicated that all students completed daily journals on time. Their knowledge of food science and its application increased over time. The analysis of results showed that journals were beneficial learning tools for all of the students, that students believed their writing skills improved over the course of the semester and that the process of journal writing served to help students integrate their learning.
Session 29A, Education: General
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