Faculty cooperation in teaching academic literacy using popular science texts: A case study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.6.2.4Keywords:
Academic Literacy, Popular Science, Coherence, Undergraduate, Science CommunicationAbstract
Developing strong communicative ability amongst science graduates, especially in science communication, has been included as a fundamental learning outcome in some science degree programmes. This article focuses on a compulsory academic literacy course for first-level undergraduates that is aimed at developing academic reading and writing skills beyond the considerations of deficit language proficiency. It straddles the general, discipline-specific dichotomy in the skills aimed at, course content, and materials used. It targets two core science communication skills in addition to general academic literacy. In addition, the content and materials consist of popular science and media texts to facilitate the discussion of scientific ideas made accessible to the lay reader. It investigates course effectiveness on developing coherence in students’ writing. Results obtained suggest that indicators of coherence, especially in the integration of source ideas and writers’ proposition and the logical progression of textual ideas, are correlated to the difference in improved essay scores.
Metrics
References
Afonso, A. S., & Gilbert, J. K. (2013). The role of “popular” books in informal chemical education. International Journal of Science Education, Part B, 3(1), 77-99. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21548455.2012.733439
Arkoudis, S., Richardson, S., & Baik, C. (2012). English Language Standards in Higher Education: From Entry to Exit. Camberwell: ACER Press.
Bamberg, B. (1983). What makes a text coherent? College Composition and Communication, 34(4), 417-429. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/357898
Blake, R. M., & Pates, J. (2010). Embedding report writing workshops into an undergraduate Environmental Science module through a subject specialist and learning developer partnership. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, 2. https://journal.aldinhe.ac.uk/index.php/jldhe/article/view/43
Bond, T. G., & Fox, C. M. (2007). Applying the Rasch Model: Fundamental Measurement in the Human Sciences (2nd ed.). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Bradley, D., Noonan, P., Nugent, H., & Scales, B. (2008). Review of Australian Higher Education: Final report. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. http://apo.org.au/node/15776
Bullock, S. (2006). Building concepts through writing-to-learn in college physics classrooms. Ontario Action Researcher, 9(2), 1-8. http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ814916
Concha, S., & Paratore, J. R. (2011). Local coherence in persuasive writing: An exploration of Chilean students’ metalinguistic knowledge, writing process, and writing products. Written Communication, 28(1), 34¬69. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0741088310383383
Crossley, S. A., & McNamara, D. S. (2010, August). Cohesion, coherence, and expert evaluations of writing proficiency. Paper presented at the 32nd annual conference of the Cognitive Science Society, Portland, OR.
Emerson, L., MacKay, B. R., MacKay, M. B., & Funnell, K. A. (2006). A team of equals: Teaching writing in the sciences. Educational Action Research, 14(01), 65-81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09650790600585335
Ganobcsik-Williams, L. (2006). Teaching Academic Writing in UK Higher Education: Theories, Practices and Models. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Harris, A. (2016). Integrating written communication skills: Working towards a whole of course approach. Teaching in Higher Education, 21(3), 287-300. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2016.1138456 Hathaway, J. (2015). Developing that voice: Locating academic writing tuition in the mainstream of higher education. Teaching in Higher Education, 20(5), 506-517. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2015.1026891
Hoey, M. (1991). Another perspective on coherence and cohesive harmony. In E. Ventola (Ed.), Trends in Linguistics, Studies and Monographs, Functional and Systemic Linguistics (385-414). Berlin: Mounton de Gruyter.
Hubball, H., & Burt, H. (2007). Learning outcomes and program-level evaluation in a four-year undergraduate pharmacy curriculum. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 71(5), 90. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2064888/
Hubball, H., & Clarke, A. (2010). Diverse methodological approaches and considerations for SoTL in higher education. Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 1(1), Article 2. http://dx.doi.org/10.5206/cjsotl-rcacea.2010.1.2
Knoch, U. (2007). Little coherence, considerable strain for reader: A comparison between two rating scales for the assessment of coherence. Assessing Writing, 12(2), 108-128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2007.07.002
Lea, M. R. (2004). Academic literacies: A pedagogy for course design. Studies in Higher Education, 29(6), 739-756. https://doi.org/10.1080/0307507042000287230
Lee, I. (2002). Helping students develop coherence in writing. Forum, 40(3), 32-39. http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ671646.
Linacre, J. M. (1994). Many-Facet Rasch Measurement. Chicago: MESA Press. https://www.insteps.com/a/Linacre-MFRM-book.pdf
Lunz, M. E., & Linacre, J. M. (1998). Measurement designs using multifacet Rasch modeling. In G.A. Marcoulides (Ed.), Modern Methods for Business Research (47-77). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Mercer-Mapstone, L., & Kuchel, L. (2015). Core skills for effective science communication: a teaching resource for undergraduate science education. International Journal of Science Education, Part B, 1-21. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21548455.2015.1113573
Mubarak, Z. H., Hamzah, & Radjab, D. (2013). An analysis of students’ ability in building cohesion and coherence in argumentative essays written by the fourth year students of English Department at University of Bengkulu. English Language Teaching (ELT), 1(3). http://ejournal.unp.ac.id/index.php/elt/article/view/4592
Murray, N., & Nallaya, S. (2014). Embedding academic literacies in university programme curricula: a case study. Studies in Higher Education, 41(7), 1-17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2014.981150
Parkinson, J., & Adendorff, R. (2004). The use of popular science articles in teaching scientific literacy. English for Specific Purposes, 23(4), 379-396. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2003.11.005
Rasch, G. (Ed.). (1992). Probabilistic Models for Some Intelligence and Attainment Tests. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Robles, M. M. (2012). Executive perceptions of the top 10 soft skills needed in today’s workplace. Business Communication Quarterly, 75(4), 453-465. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1080569912460400
Soules, A., Nielsen, S., LeDuc, D., Inouye, C., Singley, J., Wildy, E., & Seitz, J. (2014). Embedding multiple literacies into STEM curricula. College Teaching, 62(4), 121-128. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/87567555.2014.935699
Sweet, A. P. (2000). Ten Proven Principles for Teaching Reading. Washington, DC: National Education Association. http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED447441.pdf
Tapp, J. (2015). Framing the curriculum for participation: A Bernsteinian perspective on academic literacies. Teaching in Higher Education, 20(7), 711-722. http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1073305
Thompson, C., Morton, J., & Storch, N. (2013). Where from, who, why and how? A study of the use of sources by first year L2 university students. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 12(2), 99-109. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2012.11.004
Todd, R. W., Thienpermpool, P., & Keyuravong, S. (2004). Measuring the coherence of writing using topic-based analysis. Assessing Writing, 9(2), 85-104. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2004.06.002
Wingate, U. (2012). Using academic literacies and genre-based models for academic writing instruction: A “literacy journey”. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 11(1), 26-37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2011.11.006
Woodward-Kron, R. (2009). ‘This means that ...”: A linguistic perspective of writing and learning in a discipline. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 8(3), 165-179. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2009.07.002
Zhang, S. Q., Chng, M., Ng, K. L., Wu, S. M., & Chan, E. C. Y. (2017). Enhancing the communicative competence of science undergraduates through the use of popular science: A perspective from the students. Asian Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 7(2), 30-57. http://www.cdtl.nus.edu.sg/ajsotl/articles/v7n2articles2.pdf
