The use of popular science articles in teaching scientific literacy

A Study of Adjective Types and Functions in Popular Science Articles

“…This is probably because the nature of the article is to narrate or report knowledge (Parkinson & Adendorff, 2004). Regarding Whelan (2009), "Popular science pieces must be written in a clear and direct style, so that any hard work by the reader comes from understanding the concepts, not fighting their way through the sentences" (p. 88).…”

“…Secondly, Parkinson and Adendorff (2004) assert that "popular texts function as narratives of research, reporting on new knowledge claims not yet endorsed as fact by the research community" (p. 388). Their assertion is possibly related to the findings of the study, which shows the possessive adjective was the second most frequently used adjective in the popular texts, and the demonstrative adjective was the fourth one.…”

“…In the educational sense, this kind of article "can make science more accessible to students, and so can play a useful role in the teaching of scientific writing as well as in the teaching of science" (Parkinson & Adendorff, 2004, p. 379). However, the scholars and researchers in the field are less interested in it even though research articles in science have been studied since the late of 19 th century (Parkinson & Adendorff, 2004). The existing research on popular science writing are varied in focuses such as establishing an image of a science writer based on writing models or theories (Yore, Hand, & Prain, 2002), writing stylistics in popular science (Whelan, 2009), making visual images in popular science articles and science journalism in terms of communicative functions and cultural meaning (Hornmoen, 2010), examining a corpus of texts in popular science articles (Hyland, 2010), scientific discourse (Orellana, 2012), a scientific epistemology, an influence of its roles in society, and a writing improvement (De Ridder, 2014).…”

“…The existing research on popular science writing are varied in focuses such as establishing an image of a science writer based on writing models or theories (Yore, Hand, & Prain, 2002), writing stylistics in popular science (Whelan, 2009), making visual images in popular science articles and science journalism in terms of communicative functions and cultural meaning (Hornmoen, 2010), examining a corpus of texts in popular science articles (Hyland, 2010), scientific discourse (Orellana, 2012), a scientific epistemology, an influence of its roles in society, and a writing improvement (De Ridder, 2014). Parkinson and Adendorff (2004), for example, studied the use of popular science articles in teaching scientific literacy in terms of comparing the discourse features of popular science with research articles and textbooks. The results found that the popular articles are useful for students because they are more accessible than textbook.…”

Ranking the Scientific-Technology Literacy Indexes of Students from the Viwepoint of Faculty Members

“…Researchers be-lieve that increasing scientific literacy is a major educational purpose around the world. This concept is as an umbrella that covers everything that is related to science and knowledge (8,9). The concept of scientific literacy includes the ability to participate in scientific assemblies of decision making and change the requirements associated with it towards a multi-dimensional form that not only includes the content of knowledge (terms, truths, and concepts), but most importantly includes procedural skills (manual and subjective), tendencies (attitudes and behaviors), and understanding our relationship between knowledge, technology, and society as well as the history and nature of science (6,10).…”