Mapping and Extending the Theoretical Perspectives of Reading in Science and Mathematics Education Research

Abstract

This introductory paper to the special issue “Reading in Science and Mathematics” presents four major theoretical perspectives of reading, literacy, and language that underpin many studies in this area, including the nine articles selected for this issue. It first outlines several new developments and contemporary issues that drive the growing importance of reading in science and mathematics. It then presents the perspectives that inform and situate the authors’ research as reported in this special issue, followed by a brief introduction of their articles situated within each of the perspectives. The four perspectives are reading comprehension, scientific/mathematical literacy, disciplinary literacy, and linguistic/semiotic meaning-making. The purpose in discussing these perspectives is to map out the theoretical terrain in the field and connect the key ideas within the research on reading in science and mathematics.

Comparative Analysis of Test for Improving Primary Students Mathematics Literacy Skills Through Project–Based Learning

“…This kind of ability is called mathematical literacy. Furthermore, mathematical literacy is defined as a person's ability to formulate, apply, and interpret mathematics in various contexts (Goos & O'Sullivan, 2023;Tang et al, 2022). Based on the definition above, mathematical literacy includes mathematical reasoning abilities and the application of concepts, facts, procedures, and mathematical tools in an effort to describe, explain, and predict phenomena.…”

Students’ Holistic Reading of Socio-Scientific Texts on Climate Change in a ChatGPT Scenario

“…As Yore and Tang (2022) argue, students' reading of scientific texts is not only limited to extracting and reasoning information, but students developed an awareness of the type of texts and drew on their epistemologies of science to comprehend these texts. Scientific texts read by students were not only limited to those in textbooks (Tang, Lin et al 2022), while these texts can be digital texts or ChatGPT outputs. In the context of reading ChatGPT outputs, students drew on their epistemic knowledge of both science and artificial intelligence to reason this scientific information (Billingsley et al 2023;Cheung, Pun and Fu, 2023).…”