The traditional distinction between writing across the curriculum and writingin the disciplines (WID) as writing to learn versus learning to write understates
WID’s focus on learning in the disciplines. Advocates of WID have described
learning as socialization, but little research addresses how writing disciplinary
discourses in disciplinary settings encourages socialization into the disciplines.
Data from interviews with students who wrote lab reports in a biology lab suggest
five ways in which writing promotes learning in scientific disciplines.
Drawing on theories of situated learning, the authors argue that apprenticeship
genres can encourage socialization into disciplinary communities.