# Applying writing-to-learn to ecological restoration > Dr. Yamina Pressler > Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo > Presented at SERCAL 2024 >[!info] About this talk >I presented this talk at the California Society for Ecological Restoration Meeting in May 2024. Below are the notes associated with my talk, including links and references. # Guiding question How can we connect to place and advance ecological restoration? # My answer Through writing-to-learn - writing is a process, not just an outcome - we can create a writing practice to facilitate our thinking, learning, and reflection about complex issues like ecological restoration # When we learn about nature, we feel more connected to place and engage in pro-environmental behaviors Research supports these ideas: - [Mackay & Schmitt 2019](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494418308557?casa_token=bYt8Gz-uLv4AAAAA:8r0z30A7XmmQNiHgjzitI4H3GO4Z1B9WlPBPTDq0w_eHz9-pFx0dpft6c8fenqh-yvlEapcBvZE) conducted a meta-analysis that found a correlation between people's connection to nature and positive environmental behaviors - [Whitburn et al. 2019](https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cobi.13381) found that connection to nature is associated with pro-environmental behavior and suggest that interventions designed to facilitate nature connections are needed - [Barragan-Jason et al. 2023](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320722003950?casa_token=JSTNm6NFMDIAAAAA:u7OW5_7tY5ELStYtCNf0UN3Uk7P8sIyzMs4DAmYg4itKDi52h4gN3eSUgVMOHJQ3pZ_FkOUuWHM) suggest that a connection to nature has benefits both for human health and for conservation - [Ardoin et al. 2020](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320719307116) completed a systematic review of 105 studies and found that environmental education at local level with meaningful collaborations can lead to positive outcomes for conservation I also draw from my personal experience: - when I started learning more about soils, my perspective about nature changed and I started to see the world through a different lens (I wrote about it in an essay here: [[Seeing the world through soils]]) - In 2020, I started birding and had a similar experience. The more I learned about the local birds around me, the more I would notice them, appreciate them, and became interested in bird conservation - My knowledge about nature has also translated into my art. I find it more intuitive to draw subjects that I have a deeper understanding of from my life as a naturalist and scientist. # Writing is a tool for learning and connecting to place - We often consider writing as a tool to communicate - Writing is also a process through which we learn and make meaning about our experiences - We can use writing as a tool to learn about our environment and strengthen our connection to place There is a lot of evidence that writing-to-learn has positive benefits for learning outcomes. Some examples: - [Elbow 2001](https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781410603968-21/high-stakes-low-stakes-assigning-responding-writing-peter-elbow) describes the concept of "low stakes writing" as a pedagogical tool - [Fry & Villagomez 2012](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/87567555.2012.697081) found that writing-to-learn helped college students make sense of course content and think through ideas - [Graham et al. 2020](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.3102/0034654320914744?casa_token=-8Vs9XGmthUAAAAA%3AUPKtL43Ci1LKvJn8iPqAyqJanb_mAvPMIghY5fjV_qqBsZ1Ae_bF493vPJmwuGNisEvS8iaK6rom5Q) found that writing is effective at increasing learning in K-12 students studying science, social studies, and mathematics - [Balgopal et al. 2018](https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/68/6/445/4990682) found that writing-to-learn is effective at increasing student performance in college biology course Writing-to-learn can be especially relevant in the context of environmental literacy where the problems and solutions are complex. - By using writing as a tool to connect news ideas with our personal experiences, we can improve our understanding and retention. - [Balgopal et al. 2011](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13504622.2011.576316) demonstrate that writing-to-learn prompts that ask students to make connections between ecological concepts and personal experiences can improve ecological literacy - [Seraphin 2012](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.5408/12-413.1) describes the benefits of place-based writing for students in the context of science classrooms # Writing can help us see that new knowledge builds upon our prior knowledge and experiences I recommend [Small Teaching by Lang 2021](https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Small+Teaching:+Everyday+Lessons+from+the+Science+of+Learning,+2nd+Edition-p-9781119755548) for a great review of ways to conceptualize our learning process. Chapter 4 is about connections. See this chapter and references therein for more about how we build knowledge upon our prior knowledge and experiences. I like to think of the process of learning like a crystal. Mineral crystals grow over time as the elements organize into a lattice structure. Elemental components attach to the existing lattice structure, and the crystal grows. Our existing knowledge is like the beginning of the lattice. When we learn something new, we are growing the crystal by adding to the lattice. If we don't have anything to connect news ideas to, it is difficult to make meaning and see connections between ideas. # Writing can help us see that learning is iterative Check out [Small Teaching by Lang 2021](https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Small+Teaching:+Everyday+Lessons+from+the+Science+of+Learning,+2nd+Edition-p-9781119755548) Chapter 3 about interleaving and Chapter 5 about practicing. Both speak to this idea of learning as iterative. Another way to think about learning is as an iterative circle. Each time we learn a concept, we add bits to the circle. When we revisit a concept in a different context, we add more clarity to that circle, and the circle starts to fill in. Over time, we learn a concept in many different contexts that helps us build a more complete understanding of that idea. This process is iterative, but never really finished. > I first learned this analogy in a philosophy of science education research course when I was a graduate student at Colorado State University. I think about that class all the time - it had a really big impact on the way I see the research process and my pedagogical principles. # Why do we need writing-to-learn in ecological restoration? - Repairing degraded ecosystems is a complex problem - Complexity has an architecture that can be understood with careful study - Therefore, there are many possible approaches to doing ecological restoration - Writing can help us think through these complex problems - The approaches we choose depend on our motivations and are informed (whether we are aware or not) by our assumptions and biases # Writing can help us make our motivations, assumptions, and biases explicit [Holl (2020)](https://islandpress.org/books/primer-ecological-restoration#desc) describes four categories of motivations for doing ecological restoration: - Fixing past damages - Economic - Cultural/spiritual - Legislative We can use writing as a tool to explore and evaluate our own motivations, to better understand our principles, and therefore be better equipped to act on and communicate those motivations. # Writing can reveal hidden connections Restoring an ecosystem requires drawing for many knowledge sources [(Holl 2020)](https://islandpress.org/books/primer-ecological-restoration#desc) such as: - ecological literature - case studies - traditional and local ecological knowledge - historical documents - oral histories - art Writing our observations can help us find connections between many information types that may not be immediately apparent. [Beller et al. 2020](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989419306031) reviewed historical ecology documents and demonstrate examples of how we might use these information sources for current and future ecosystem management # Writing-to-learn can facilitate adaptive management Writing to learn can be a tool to facilitate many parts of the adaptive management cycle. The adaptive management cycle requires a lot of decision making. Writing is a useful tool to aid the decision-making process. [Grantham et al. 2009](https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1890/080151?casa_token=4mMZFEYBPqkAAAAA%3Aaswca80esSgtjIhQ9k7a3wWxZRJiN8NcqoRpRfeWQfqni6o65jj8KR817fXT6ZuGKZCLS4TeClxFrJno) argue that conservation requires active adaptive management and learning We know that writing is an effective learning tool, so we have an opportunity to apply writing to the "learning" part of adaptive management. # We apply writing-to-learn in my ecological restoration course - The course is a capstone senior project course where students develop their understanding of ecological restoration and work in teams to complete a restoration project in San Luis Obispo, County - Check out the [syllabus](https://yaminapressler.com/Website/hidden/NR464+Syllabus+-+website) - Each week, students write a reflection essay designed to facilitate writing-to-learn by expanding upon and explaining an idea we covered in class that week (during in-class discussions or in the readings) and connecting those ideas to something they already know. This could be something they learned in another class, from another reading, or a personal experience. # Prompts to encourage you write to learn **Capture the idea** - Write it in your own words. **Connect to your knowledge** - How does this idea connect to a prior experience or something you already know about restoration? **Look for patterns** - review your notes. What major themes emerge? Remember there are feedbacks between each of these steps! # Thank you and questions Thank you for your interest in these ideas! If you are interested in talking more about how we can incorporate writing-to-learn in restoration, please [[contact me]].