Writing in physics

Abstract

In the fall of 2012, the Physics program at the United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA), in an effort to improve scientific writing and understanding of physics, added three major writing assignments to the Physics I curriculum. These writing assignments are focused on making students familiar with scientific and technical reading and writing. Scientific and technical reading and writing skills are not addressed elsewhere in the core curriculum. The assignments are meant to create a link between the writing classes and the upper major Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) classes. Students learn to read and summarize technical journal articles and to conduct a final project culminating in a paper and presentation.