Investigating the use of term recall and recognition tools in learning terminology and concepts in a senior biology classroom

A senior biology classroom can feel like a visit to a foreign country. A foreign language is spoken. The increased rate of technological and molecular applications in biology has resulted in the development of a multitude of new terms. In some cases, even the meaning of these terms change with new discoveries and scientific understanding.

Senior secondary school Biology requires students to recall key scientific terms and how they link together to describe or explain a variety of biological concepts. If students do not possess the required vocabulary, how can they express what they know and understand? This requires labelling, remembering and connecting vocabulary that may be very specific to the context in which they are working.

Students need opportunities to construct, develop and play with the biological vocabulary, so that they can understand the biological concepts and be able to communicate their understanding. How can classroom biology teachers assist their students in the journey of acquiring, applying and communicating this new biological knowledge? Is there a way in which this could be incorporated into a senior biology classroom? Which strategies would be most effective across the diverse range of abilities and learning styles within a senior biology classroom?

This paper responds to these questions from a teacher researcher perspective (see for example, Berry, Loughran, Lindsay, & Smith, 2009; Clarke & Erickson, 2003; Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1990) based on the first author's extensive examination of her teaching and her students' learning in senior high school Biology.

Learning biological concepts

For decades, researchers have acknowledged the importance of language in science education. Wellington and Osborne (2001) noted that as learning the language of science plays a key role in learning science, an increased focus on learning scientific language may improve the quality of science education. Biological terms may be considered as one of the building blocks of biological knowledge (Schönborn & Bogeholz, 2013). The domain-specific vocabulary and terminology used to communicate molecular biology, genetics and biochemistry ideas, concepts and details can be a barrier for students learning these disciplines (Knippels, Waarlo, & Boersma, 2005; Lidbury & Zhang, 2008).

Yager (1983) noted that science textbooks can introduce more new terms than would be expected in studying a foreign language within a similar time frame. As significant time is devoted to vocabulary and grammar when learning a foreign language, Lidbury and Zhang (2008) were of the view that science education should aspire to immerse students in scientific language. Spencer and Guillaume (2006) suggested that rather than learning about a new word in a single exposure, learning should occur in small steps over time with the word being encountered in different contexts. They proposed that word knowledge is multidimensional. Rather than just recalling or knowing the meaning of the word, it involves knowing what the word means, how it relates to other words, how it is pronounced and how it can be used in a sentence. Further to this, Blachowicz and Fisher (2008) suggested that learners need anchor concepts (e.g., knowing what circle means assists learning terms like radius and circumference) as well as vocabulary to learn new words and connect them to concepts already known.

Teaching scientific language

Studies indicate that while teachers realise vocabulary to be important to understanding text and to allow time for vocabulary instruction, they usually do not address the complexity of word knowledge and do not always incorporate best practice into their instruction (Blachowicz, Fisher, Ogle, & Watts-Taffe, 2006; Flanigan & Greenwood, 2007; Spencer & Guillaume, 2006). Even when research provides teachers with useful general principles and methods of vocabulary instruction, its translation from theory into the practice of specific classroom contexts has proved difficult (Flanigan & Greenwood, 2007).

Over sixty years ago, Deck (1952) identified that the specific technical vocabulary of each field of science contributed to difficulties in learning science. He believed that it was necessary for the teacher to identify the new or difficult terms and to develop learning activities that would support student meaning-making and understanding of these terms. Likewise, Blachowicz (1986) identified highlighting key vocabulary terms to be encountered and the development of strategies for students to focus on and hypothesize about words. She suggested that such predictive strategies supported the active learning of new words, their connections and varied usage.

The requirement to understand scientific terms that are used to describe and explain scientific concepts supports the need for reflective and active reading skills to be explicitly taught in the science classroom (Wellington & Osborne, 2001). Research on effective reading instruction has demonstrated that effective teachers directly and explicitly teach students what they need to know. Direct and explicit instruction of phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension needs to be an integral part of student learning (Rupley, Blair, & Nichols, 2009).

Effective vocabulary instruction, Blachowicz et al. (2006) advised, requires a context-related repertoire of teaching activities and instructional strategies that are embedded within the curriculum. They also proposed that students be repeatedly exposed to the words and provided with opportunities to be actively engaged in exploring semantic connections and in the development of their own independent strategies for dealing with future new words.

Lombardi (2008) suggested activities that assist the brain's search for meaning through patterning. Effective English language teachers, she noted, used graphic organisers, prediction strategies, and introduced vocabulary to prepare the brain for the new knowledge to come. Kessler (1999) also promoted student awareness of root words to predict the definitions of unfamiliar words. Recognition of patterns such as these and making connections assists the incorporation of new memories into the brain's long term storage (Bellanca & Fogarty, 2005; Fogarty, 2005).

Vocabulary instruction within a science classroom is more than just teaching scientific terms or the strategies that will be used to teach them. Vocabulary instructional decisions also need to consider the particular nature of the words, the purpose for teaching them and the particular students being taught (Flanigan & Greenwood, 2007). While many teachers intuitively incorporate brain-compatible strategies in their instruction, Wolfe (2006) suggested that they need to move these from the intuitive to the conscious level, so that such knowledge may be articulated. Once articulated, it may contribute to reducing the gap between vocabulary instruction research theory and practice, and an understanding of how scientific terminology may be more effectively taught in science classrooms.

This paper examines an attempt to articulate strategies to support the learning of scientific terminology with senior high school Biology students across cohorts over a five year period.