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Why Do Students Learn Better by Writing?

Often, teachers and professors overuse the phrase “learning by doing.” While this approach is effective, it can also be limiting. After all, if you’re only doing, then you’ll only be learning about the things you’re doing.

If you want to learn something new, then you should absolutely explore other methods of education. One of the most effective ways of learning is by writing. Not only does it allow you to explore a new subject creatively, it also provides you with a new perspective on the topic matter — whether you’re writing about a biology lesson or you’ve covered the topic in an English course.

Here are just a few of the important reasons why students learn better by writing.

Deep Understanding

Writing is often seen as a necessary evil in school: you’ve got to write your papers, reports, and exams so you can pass the class, right? But there’s more to writing than meets the eye. Far from being just a necessary evil, writing allows you to delve into concepts more deeply. You engage with the material on a different level, which in turn, allows you to draw deeper conclusions and understandings.

For example, let’s say you’re learning about organic chemistry and you’ve been assigned to write an essay on the structures of various molecules. You could argue that since writing is largely based on logic and analysis, it would be best suited for the task. After all, you’ll need to be able to follow the lines of logic in your essay and support your conclusions with verifiable evidence.

This is especially important in today’s world, where factual information is often disputed. Learning to write well will help you present your point of view confidently, giving you an advantage in any argumentative writing situation. It also helps you develop your critical thinking skills, which are valuable throughout life.

Creative Thinking

This one might sound a little bit redundant with the previous point, but let’s look at it from a different angle. Creative thinking is important because it helps you find new ways of looking at things, people, and situations. When you’re presented with a problem, you should absolutely be able to come up with multiple solutions. And when you’re presented with an opportunity, you should be able to think of multiple ways in which you could achieve your goal.

Writing allows you to do this through a process known as brainstorming. In brainstorming, you literally write down all the ideas that come to mind. You may put these ideas on paper or on a white board in your classroom. Then, you discuss each idea with the other members of your group, allowing you to sift through the ideas, find the best ones, and build on them.

This process is called associative thinking, and it’s an important part of being creative. Associative thinking helps you connect seemingly unconnected ideas and find new relationships between them. For example, let’s say you’re trying to find the best approach to engage your students in your English course. You could connect literature and songs with your coursework, using the theme “Speak With Signs” to inspire your students. You might read a famous poem or play and use it as a springboard to teach your students about literary form.

Through writing, you can apply your critical thinking skills to new situations. This opens up a world of new possibilities for you to explore, experiment with, and eventually, master.

Self-expression

Writing is important because it allows you to express yourself creatively. This isn’t always the case, of course, but as a general rule, the more you write, the more you’ll be able to express yourself. If you have a good writing style, this will naturally come through. It’s also important to remember that every individual has the right to express themselves, so long as they’re not hurting someone else or breaching any laws. This is why school administrations may not always support students’ creative impulses.

When you write, you’re freeing your mind of any previous thoughts and ideas. You’re giving yourself a chance to generate new content and build a new vocabulary. This is important because the more you know, the more you understand. In the same way, the more you write, the more you’ll be able to understand relationships and concepts that you didn’t see before. In other words, it’s like you’re expanding your mind, learning new things.

In a nutshell, writing is important because it allows you to learn in different ways. Whether you prefer a hands-on learning experience or you’d rather do your learning remotely, writing allows you to explore and find the best approach for you. So, the next time someone asks you why you should learn something, it might be worth mentioning that you could potentially learn better by writing about it. At the very least, it’s something new that you could explore and add to your repertoire.