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Chi Shen, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong KongAbstract
This presentation focuses on a case study of senior Math undergraduates’ learning of popular science communication through scaffolded reflective practice. The case begins with the challenge of transitioning from academic writing (essays and mathematical proofs) to writing for the general public. To students of Math/Computer Science majors whose first language is not English (despite learning in an English Medium Instruction/EMI environment), transitioning between two different writing styles doubles up on their existing effort of language development, as these students need to not only acquire a style that is less practised in academia but present abstract/ advanced math ideas to audience outside of the silo of math. To enable Math students to practice the popular-science communication style, the teaching of written communication has resorted to a preset learning portfolio and scaffolded practice of written reflection. This alternative ‘process writing’, as evidenced in students’ practices and their final products, has enabled various degrees of transition from the research-focused, impersonal and formal academic style to a more audience-centred and engagement-conscious approach to written communication. The consistent practice of written reflection also intends to mitigate unproductive use of GenAI for language learning – instead of generating the most probable content for task completion, students are encouraged to explicate the development of ideas, personal voices and choices of styles. As conclusion, this talk will discuss what constitutes critical reflection and how (possible) to assess written reflection by comparing human reflection and statistical modelling of human reflection.
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