Give it a "TWIST!": Turning writing into student thinking

A number of studies have shown that the active process of writing can promote deeper and more meaningful student learning. Writing can also serve as a motivator to learn, and lead to longer term retention of the material under study. However, for the instructor, adopting a writing approach in the classroom often means additional time spent grading. This paper offers a "TWIST" on more traditional classroom writing strategies. The "TWIST" comes in the form of free-writing activities. This paper will describe what free-writing activities are and how they can be effectively and efficiently used in the classroom - even in a large classroom. The free-writing activities to be described are used with introductory level physics students at American University. These short activities are designed to help students confront and elicit their conceptions regarding a given topic or concept in physics. Misconceptions in student thinking can be teased out using free-writing activities, before they can turn into a more serious problem and significantly hinder student learning. Strategies for implementing free-writing activities in the physics classroom will be described. In addition, samples of student writing will be shared. Finally, techniques for quickly and efficiently providing students with effective feedback will be shared. The usefulness of these techniques in terms of enhancement of student understanding will also be discussed.