Abstract
Before science can be completely understood, one of the fundamental skills that must be developed is observation. Improving descriptive writing and investigating students’ observational skills in the classroom is the purpose of this study. The study was designed to determine if such skills, practiced through modeling activities, serve as a way to improve students’ descriptive directional writing skills. Participating in this study were two groups of seventh (N = 12) and eighth graders (N = 12) at a middle school in the Midwest, USA. The students participating in the study each received a set of materials to construct an item (a 3D object) in an isolated area within the room for privacy. After constructing the item, the student was to write a set of directions on how to construct the item that they had made. A second student was then given the same set of materials along with the first student’s instructions on how to construct it. This activity was repeated four times over a 4-week period. Results indicated that over time students made a significant improvement in their descriptive writing skills and observational skills. Implications of the findings are discussed in terms of the characteristics of middle school students’ skills and knowledge of descriptive writing and observation.
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Appendices
Appendix A. Survey Questions
Pre-survey
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1.
How would you describe your descriptive directional writing skills in terms of details and sequential information? 1-bad, 2-poor, 3-fair, 4-good, and 5-excellent
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2.
How would you describe your observational skills through writing?1-bad, 2-poor, 3-fair, 4-good, and 5-excellent
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3.
What would you describe the greatest strength of your descriptive directional writing skills as?1-bad, 2-poor, 3-fair, 4-good, and 5-excellent
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4.
What would you describe the greatest strength of your observational skills through writing as?1-bad, 2-poor, 3-fair, 4-good, and 5-excellent
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5.
How would you rate your need to improve on your observational skills ability?1-bad, 2-poor, 3-fair, 4-good, and 5-excellent
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6.
How would you rate your need to improve your descriptive directional writing skills ability?1-bad, 2-poor, 3-fair, 4-good, and 5-excellent
Post-survey
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1.
After participating in the last 4 activities how would you describe your descriptive directional writing skills in terms of details and sequential information?1-bad, 2-poor, 3-fair, 4-good, and 5-excellent
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2.
After participating in the last 4 activities how would you describe your observational skills through writing?1-bad, 2-poor, 3-fair, 4-good, and 5-excellent
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3.
If your descriptive directional writing skills have improved through these past 4 activities, how would you describe your improvement?1-bad, 2-poor, 3-fair, 4-good, and 5-excellent
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4.
If your observational skills have improved through these past 4 activities, how would you describe your improvement?1-bad, 2-poor, 3-fair, 4-good, and 5-excellent
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5.
Do you think the past 4 activities have improved overall both your observational and descriptive directional writing skills, how would you describe your improvement?1-bad, 2-poor, 3-fair, 4-good, and 5-excellent
Appendix B Rubric
Stays on task | Follows directions | Uses complete sentences, grammar, spelling and punctuation | Uses appropriate descriptive terms | Includes appropriate details for the constructed object | Directions follow a logical and structural sequence |
3-always | 3- always | 3- less than 2 errors | 3- less than 2 errors | 3- less than 2 errors | 3- less than 2 errors |
2- most of the time | 2- most of the time | 2- between 2 and 4 errors | 2- between 2 and 4 errors | 2- between 2 and 4 errors | 2- between 2 and 4 errors |
1- some of the time | 1- some of the time | 1- between 5 and 7 errors | 1- between 5 and 7 errors | 1- between 5 and 7 errors | 1- between 5 and 7 errors |
0- never | 0- never | 0- more than 7 errors | 0- more than 7 errors | 0- more than 7 errors | 0- more than 7 errors |
Project rubric
Student Number_______________________
Activity Number and Date_____________________
Total score out of 18_________________________
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Park, DY., Logsdon, C. Effects of Modeling Instruction on Descriptive Writing and Observational Skills in Middle School. Int J of Sci and Math Educ 13, 71–94 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-013-9456-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-013-9456-2