{"id":65,"date":"2014-04-30T18:53:23","date_gmt":"2014-04-30T22:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chemreview.net\/blog\/?p=65"},"modified":"2026-03-17T18:58:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T22:58:11","slug":"reading-science-with-comprehension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chemreview.net\/blog\/?p=65","title":{"rendered":"3 – Reading Science With Comprehension"},"content":{"rendered":"

To free more time in lecture for demonstrations and higher-level activities, one strategy is to ask students to read <\/em>sections in their textbook<\/em>, but many instructors report that a high percentage of students are either unwilling or unable to do so.\u00a0 To explore why this may be the case, try these brief experiments in reading comprehension.<\/p>\n

Experiment 1: \u00a0<\/b>Explain the meaning.<\/p>\n

The tracheal chimera was fully lined with mucosa, which consisted of respiratory epithelium from the donor and buccal mucosa from the recipient.\u00a0 (NEJM, <\/i>1\/14\/10)<\/i><\/p>\n

*\u00a0 *\u00a0 * \u00a0*\u00a0 *<\/p>\n

Easier reading may be on a newspaper sports page.<\/p>\n

Experiment <\/b>\u00a0<\/b>2:\u00a0 <\/b>Read, then answer the questions below.<\/p>\n

When Sarwan and Chanderpaul were going on strongly, England were looking down the barrel. But they came back with Broad removing both of them within 8 overs of taking the 2nd new ball.\u00a0\u00a0 It was always going to be difficult to survive with that kind of a batting line up and England then seemed to be on top. But the last pair hung around for ages to ensure that light is offered and they walk off.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/i>(Times<\/i>, New Delhi<\/i>)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/i>What happened?\u00a0 Who won?\u00a0 Which words<\/em> in the passage are unfamiliar?<\/p>\n

*\u00a0 *\u00a0 *\u00a0 *\u00a0 *<\/p>\n

For probably 1\/2 of our worldwide English-speaking audience, that was easy!\u00a0 Now try<\/p>\n

Experiment <\/b>\u00a0<\/b>3:\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b>Given this historical anecdote, answer the questions below.<\/p>\n

With the game tied in the bottom of the ninth, Jeter scored on a sacrifice by Rodriguez to the warning track in right.<\/i><\/p>\n

What happened?\u00a0 What does \u201csacrifice\u201d mean?\u00a0 How many \u201couts\u201d were there?\u00a0 If this was a regular season game, exactly where in the universe was Derek\u2019s right foot planted at the moment the ball was caught?\u00a0 Why did he not run until the fly was caught?<\/p>\n

Where are those answers supplied?\u00a0 To answer each question, about how long did you take?<\/p>\n

*\u00a0 *\u00a0 *\u00a0 *\u00a0 *<\/p>\n

Finally, here are comprehension questions that less than 1% of most audiences can complete.<\/p>\n

Experiment <\/b>\u00a0<\/b>4: <\/b><\/p>\n

For carbon tetrachloride:<\/i><\/p>\n

What is its shape?\u00a0 What are its bond angles?\u00a0 What is its molecular dipole moment in debyes?\u00a0 Does it tend to dissolve in oils or water?<\/p>\n

How long did it take you to answer these questions?\u00a0 Were you slowly reasoning — or answering pretty much instantly?<\/p>\n

In the next post, we will note what cognitive science has to say in interpreting the results above.\u00a0 But first, let us invite you to Comment<\/i> on one or more of these questions:<\/p>\n

Given time, \u201cusing the internet and reasoning skills\u201d would likely work on Experiment 1.\u00a0 For the Experiment<\/i>s\u00a0 2 and\/or 3 that you found <\/i>difficult, would that strategy be efficient?\u00a0 Why or why not?<\/i><\/p>\n

On the question of the ability of students to read general chemistry texts with comprehension, what are some possible implications of the experiments above?<\/i><\/p>\n

Finally, on Experiment <\/i>2, would someone kindly explain to the blog author who won?<\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0#\u00a0\u00a0 #\u00a0\u00a0 #\u00a0\u00a0 #\u00a0\u00a0 #<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To free more time in lecture for demonstrations and higher-level activities, one strategy is to ask students to read sections in their textbook, but many instructors report that a high percentage of students are either unwilling or unable to do… <\/p>\n

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