Beside math, content reading is done less in sciences than any other subject in school. Unless a student is told to do so, that student is very unlikely to pick up a scientific journal and read an article. To the adolescent reader, reading within a subject area is not viewed as important or rarely thought of. Every student knows that in english class, they will be asked to read some books and probably be asked to read some in history, also.
I think one reason content literacy is so poor in math and science is because so few teachers take to the time to teach students the proper way to read articles. Science has its own language, just like every other subject. Reading scientific journals are a difficult thing for the adolescent reader to digest. I remember my freshman year in college being asked to read short journal articles and feeling like everything in the articles was way over my head. I think its important to start students out just asking them to figure out the main points of the article and not to worry so much about the details (such as statistics in the articles). Getting students to understand why this research was done, what was found, and how it can be used should be the most important things to start with.
Teachers can't expect students to be excellent readers of science literature right off the bat, but can slowly build students up. One good way to help students look at articles as being important could be to pick an article and repeat the research done. This can give the students a better perspective on the article as they can then see what it all means. I know when I read the articles, I have to break them up into sections and read a section and then look back on it and reflect to make sure I understand what is going on, then proceed. If I just try to read right through it like reading a book I won't understand why the steps led to the result. Taking the time with students to show them helpful techniques in reading will go a long way.
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I definitely feel you on how hard it is to read Science journals. I never had teachers actually tell me how to read Science journals/articles and comprehend the information I was reading. But also I think something to think about is that I never really communicated to the teacher that I did not understand the information they wanted me to read. I also struggled with reading comprehension but instead of trying to get extra help from teachers I would ask my peers to give me the information I needed in order to pass quizzes or tests.
ReplyDeleteWhat strategies could we as teachers use to make sure that this situation does not happen to our students?? I am thinking STUDENT MOTIVATION could play a big role in this situation!
As a strong "English/History" minded person and not so much with the science, I can really relate to what you have written about Scientific journals. I don't think there is anything more intimidating than a lengthy journal about a subject I'm not particularly interested in. So, how can we motivate students in science or math class to WANT to learn and engage with material they may not naturally be interested in? I think one way we can do this is by helping students bridge the gaps they have between what they have experienced/their background knowledge, and whatever the material is we are teaching them. For example, I am sure there are students who love the CSI TV shows today. Maybe an exciting way to teach a science topic would be to interweave something from CSI with the material. If students can draw connections between their lives and what they are supposed to be learning, I think they will be much more motivated to tackle these intimidating aspects of various content fields. It would probably also help a lot if teachers would keep disinterested students in mind when planning assignments. Maybe by breaking a lengthy article or journal in more manageable chunks, students would perceive themselves as much more competent and would enjoy their work.
ReplyDeleteHaving students begin by picking out main parts is a great way to start students reading critically in almost any discipline. The problem I think you will face is having the students struggle being able to do that. I've had several classes where the associated journals and other required readings seemed complex and convoluted, and many times it was difficult to decipher the main ideas. I believe guided reading through question, group reads, or entire class reads will help adolescent readers better understand what they should look for.
ReplyDeleteI like your idea about peeling the layers of meaning. I wonder if using really short text. Not even research articles, but short reports, like on science websites, that report information in a more concise way. I imagine these formats could be dense, too, but may lend themselves to shared reading and lesson on strategies for reading science text. Chris Tovani uses what she calls comprehension constructors to guide students through the content and structure of the text. This way they get a sense of what is important. Previewing vocabulary might help, too.
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