Words that Matter in Science and Technology

Marshall, Stewart; Gilmour, Marion; Lewis, Don

doi:10.1080/0263514910090102

Cited by 19 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…For example, the word "volatile" seemed to be well understood when applied to people but poorly understood in a chemical context. Marshall, Gilmour and Lewis [14] and Pickersgill and Lock [15] reported similar findings and highlighted instances of students choosing the opposite meaning for some words such as scarce for abundant and longer instead of contract. In a study of over 1000 South African High School pupils, Oyoo [16] made similar observations.…”

Section: Scientific Contextmentioning

confidence: 64%

“…In multiple choice tests students have been shown to confuse similar words such as retract and contract, conversion instead of convention and negligent instead of negligible. [14,15,22] More recently, Vladušić, Bucat and Ožić's [5] study of 82 Croatian undergraduate and 36 graduate chemistry students, found students mistaking words that are similar in appearance but have different meanings. For example, students confused težište, which means the "centre of mass in relation to electron distribution in bonding" with težnja, which means "aspiration".…”

Section: Similaritymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other studies have reported similar occurences. [5,14,22] A word that can be easily confused corresponds to greater linguistic demand. For example, students confuse electronegative with negative and electron density.…”

Section: Similaritymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Meeting the Challenge of Chemical Language Barriers in University Level Chemistry Education

Rees

Kind

Newton

2018

Israel Journal of Chemistry

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The specific yet varied challenges chemical language presents to students learning the subject are widely recognised. However, to effectively engage a student population becoming increasingly diverse in terms of culture, language and prior knowledge chemistry educators must develop pedagogical strategies that address issues of language comprehension. In this paper we discuss the body of literature that provides evidence of the multiple challenges that the language of chemistry presents students. These include: words in a scientific context, words with dual meaning, similar words and symbolic language. The chemistry learning triplet is used to illustrate how students must use chemical language to move between the macroscopic, sub-microscopic and symbolic levels. Combining evidence from our research and the wider literature we describe a novel model of linguistic demand in multiple dimensions that represents the challenge of chemical language. This model can be used to assess the linguistic demand of teaching resources and to focus the appropriate use of language and literacy informed pedagogical strategies.

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Section: Scientific Contextmentioning

confidence: 64%

Section: Similaritymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Meeting the Challenge of Chemical Language Barriers in University Level Chemistry Education

Rees

Kind

Newton

2018

Israel Journal of Chemistry

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“…(Tabla 2A). Diferentes trabajos, centrados principalmente en alumnos de ciencias de edades comprendidas entre 14 y 17 años (Cassels y Johnstone, 1980Gardner, 1980a;Pickershill y Lock, 1991;Marshall, Gilmour y Lewis, 1991;Johnstone y Kellet, 1980;Farell y Ventura, 1998;Prophet y Towse, 1999), así como algunos estudios referidos a estudiantes universitarios (Dalcq, Van Raemdonck y Wilmet, 1989;Jacobs, 1989;Oyoo, 2012), han mostrado las dificultades del alumnado en la comprensión de esta clase de palabras. Además, algunos de estos trabajos (Cassels y Johnstone, 1985;Dalcq et al, 1989;Pickershill y Lock, 1991) encontraron que, en ocasiones, los estudiantes asignan el significado opuesto a un determinado término científico (e.g.…”

Section: Términos No Técnicosunclassified

Clasificación y análisis de los problemas terminológicos asociados con el aprendizaje de la química: obstáculos a superar

Quílez-Pardo¹,

Quílez-Díaz²

2016

Rev_Eureka_ensen_divulg_cienc

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“…Using similar questions to Cassels and Johnstone (1985), Pickersgill and Lock (1991) tested the understanding of some non-technical words by students aged 14-15 years, and Marshall et al (1991) conducted a similar study with grade 7 up to first-year university students. In both cases, the general conclusion drawn was that a significant number of students were unfamiliar with the meanings of most words.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding of words and symbols by chemistry university students in Croatia

Vladušić

Bucat

Ožić

2016

Chem. Educ. Res. Pract.

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This article reports on a study conducted in Croatia on students' understanding of scientific words and representations, as well as everyday words used in chemistry teaching. A total of 82 undergraduate chemistry students and 36 pre-service chemistry teachers from the Faculty of Science, University of Split, were involved. Students' understanding of language was probed using a diagnostic instrument with various types of tasks: creation of a scientifically sensible sentence using the key word provided without context; explanation of the meaning of a word provided in a contextual sentence; selection of the appropriate usage of a term from multiple-choice options; explanation of the meaning of a word provided without context. With every kind of task, evidence of inadequate understanding of many terms and symbols was found. Accordingly, it cannot be presumed that students in Croatia, either undergraduates or graduates, understand well the meanings of scientific words, symbolic representations or everyday words that are used in teaching and learning chemistry. There are considerable differences in the extent of understanding, from word to word, and symbol to symbol. Some of the findings are in common with other studies conducted in English-speaking countries, and some are particular to the Croatian language – especially due to students' confusion in the cases of similar sounding words with different meanings, and the different meanings of words in the everyday and science contexts. Recommendations are made for teaching that involves specific attention to learning about the language associated with topics, through reflective discussion and in formative assessments. Issues of knowledge transfer from research to teachers' pedagogical content knowledge, as well as considerations for further research, are discussed.

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Words that Matter in Science and Technology

Cited by 19 publications

References 1 publication

Meeting the Challenge of Chemical Language Barriers in University Level Chemistry Education

Meeting the Challenge of Chemical Language Barriers in University Level Chemistry Education

Clasificación y análisis de los problemas terminológicos asociados con el aprendizaje de la química: obstáculos a superar

Understanding of words and symbols by chemistry university students in Croatia

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