Writing in Physics: Challenges in achieving higher-order goals in introductory courses

Many colleges and universities promote writing across the curriculum, both for developing writing skills and for gaining content knowledge. Writing is one of many higher-order goals that can be a focus of the introductory curriculum. But do we know if it is effective, or how to use it to promote learning? Historically writing in the disciplines is assumed beneficial, but most published papers fail to show a link between writing and improved conceptual understanding within a discipline. Members from both the Physics and English departments at the Ohio State University and Rochester Institute of Technology have been involved in a study aimed at answering these questions. This talk will state what we can learn about writing to learn from existing literature, and what we have learned from our recent studies. It will also address the broader issues of effectively implementing higher-order goals into the curriculum.