It is a challenge in undergraduate education within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to move students from the rote memorization of facts to a deeper appreciation of the concepts that unite scientific processes.  

Many assignments are focused upon learning-to-write  – the goal of which is to improve student scientific writing (Moskovitz and Kellogg, 2011).  Less frequently, assignments are targeted towards writing-to-learn (WTL) –  using writing to improve student understanding of content, concepts, and the scientific method (Reynolds et al, 2012). WTL assignments are typically short and focussed upon applying a concept to a new scenario using published research.

I use Writing to Learn assignments in Life Science 3A03. Sample: Writing to Learn sample