Improving together: better science writing through peer learning

Abstract

Abstract. Science, in our case the climate and geosciences, is increasingly interdisciplinary. Scientists must therefore communicate across disciplinary boundaries. For this communication to be successful, scientists must write clearly and concisely, yet the historically poor standard of scientific writing does not seem to be improving. Scientific writing must improve, and the key to long-term improvement lies with the early-career scientist (ECS). Many interventions exist for an ECS to improve their writing, like style guides and courses. However, momentum is often difficult to maintain after these interventions are completed. Continuity is key to improving writing.This paper introduces the ClimateSnack project, which aims to motivate ECSs to develop and continue to improve their writing and communication skills. The project adopts a peer-learning framework where ECSs voluntarily form writing groups at different institutes around the world. The group members learn, discuss, and improve their writing skills together.Several ClimateSnack writing groups have formed. This paper examines why some of the groups have flourished and others have dissolved. We identify the challenges involved in making a writing group successful and effective, notably the leadership of self-organized groups, and both individual and institutional time management. Within some of the groups, peer learning clearly offers a powerful tool to improve writing as well as bringing other benefits, including improved general communication skills and increased confidence.

Integrating Writing into Undergraduate Soil Management Course Enhances Student Learning

“…For example, students of three undergraduate plant science courses at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls found peer-review was useful to improving their oral and written assignments as well as their grades (Ortiz-Ribbing and Zlesak, 2015). Another study of early career scientists showed that peer learning can allow for improvement in writing and communications skills (Stiller-Reeve et al, 2016).…”

“…Incorporating peer and instructor review of written projects can be an additional strategy to further help students with writing improvement (Kaufman and Schunn, 2011;Stiller-Reeve et al, 2016). In a recent study, about 37% of students stated peer review improved their writing (Corcelles et al, 2017).…”

The role of climate scientists in the post-factual society

“…CC BY 4.0 License. students and taking part in scientific discussions, as well as contributing to better written research proposals and journal publications (Stiller-Reeve et al, 2016, and references therein).…”

Communicating climate change in a “post-factual” society: lessons learned from the Pole to Paris campaign

“…Following the formation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the US Senate testimony of James Hansen in 1988, climate science has increasingly become a topic of political debate, media coverage and part of the daily discourse in our societies (Bolin, 2007;Ungar, 2016). Simultaneously, the scientific understanding of climate change has been rapidly expanding, with the number of climate change papers published per year growing exponentially (McSweeney, 2015) and the confidence in humans as the main cause of global warming going from insufficient to "extremely likely" (as defined by the IPCC First to Fifth Assessment Reports; Houghton et al, 1990;Stocker et al, 2013).…”