Writing For Professional Journals

Writing For Professional Journals

In 2013, three Knowles Fellows—KD Davenport, Kirstin Milks, and Rebecca Van Tassell—received grants from the Knowles Teacher Initiative to fund a writing retreat. The 1.5 day retreat provided the time and space for the trio to review published articles in The American Biology Teacher, along with submission and reviewer guidelines. Additionally, the retreat included extended writing and feedback sessions. By the close of the retreat they had completed drafts of two articles to submit to the journal. In spring 2015, The American Biology Teacher published “Using Evolutionary Data in Developing Phylogenetic Trees: A Scaffolded Approach with Authentic Data” by KD Davenport, Kirstin Jane Milks, and Rebecca Van Tassell and “Investigating Tree Thinking & Ancestry with Cladograms” by KD Davenport, Kirstin Jane Milks, and Rebecca Van Tassell. During the 2015–2016 academic year, KD presented two, hour-long professional development workshops to approximately 25 colleagues, including non-science teachers, at Central High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The workshops were based on the activity described in the trio’s article on evolution.