Inclusive Writing: Pre- and Post-COVID-19

The value of writing within the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) academic and professional communities is without dispute. Employers of STEM graduates often list effective written and oral communication skills as two of the top qualities in a prospective employee. As STEM educators, we also know the value of helping students to become more effective communicators. As our traditional classrooms have grown more and more diverse, so have the challenges associated with the inclusion of writing-based activities and assignments within them. With a focus on the written communication component, perhaps some logical questions to ask are, how do we adjust our curricula in order to provide students with more opportunities to build their communication skills? In addition, how do we create and implement a writing-based approach that also serves to enhance student learning without sacrificing the quality and quantity of material covered in our classes? How do we effectively and efficiently manage the issue of assessment of student writing activities? Given the wide diversity of student clientele within many of our classrooms, how can writing-based activities also serve to strengthen the inclusion of all learners? When Covid-19 hit in Spring 2020 the magnitude of these questions took on a new and deeper meaning. As many institutions implemented some type of hybrid or all online instructional scenario in order to keep their clientele safe, new types of teaching tools and strategies became front and center in many of our minds. At this point we could rightly ask all of these questions again, but this time with online learning in mind. How do the answers change in an online learning environment? Using two introductory physics courses as the backdrop, this paper aims to address these questions by providing short, writing-based strategies that can be used to enhance student learning and simultaneously strengthen efforts to make both the traditional and the online classroom environments more inclusive. One argument is that when students feel they are an integral part of the classroom community their motivation and willingness to learn can be enhanced. To further address the questions posed, this paper will also include a discussion of alternative forms of assessment, again aimed at enhancing student learning and building community and inclusivity within the traditional and online classrooms. Finally, a discussion of time-saving assessment strategies will be shared for both learning platforms.