Abstract
Science is not only a field for scientists to attain proficiency but also constitutes a field about which the general public should possess some basic knowledge. In this study, we analysed scientific terms with multiple meanings as one of the main factors that causes difficulties in students' science learning. We also inquired as to how many of these terms are included in the total scientific terms and the extent to which they are used in school education in South Korea. We collected those scientific terms in the field of Korean science, made a list of them and extracted polysemes and homonyms from the Standard Korean Language Dictionary. In addition, we extracted scientific terms used in middle and high school science textbooks and examined the ratio of polysemes and homonyms. The study found approximately 10,000 polysemes and 10,000 homonyms from over 380,000 types of scientific terms in Korea, and out of a total of 2,504 scientific terms extracted from secondary school science textbooks, about 900 (40%) were polysemes or homonyms.
Highlights
Science has come a long way since Newton in the 17th century
We extensively collected scientific terms from the glossaries published by various academic groups in the field of science, the list of words that marked as scientific terms in the Standard Korean Language Dictionary and terms used in elementary, middle and high school science textbooks and integrated them into one list
This study investigated the science textbooks of secondary schools to determine the percentage of polysemes and homonyms in scientific terms that students learn through school education
Summary
Numerous scientific terms have been coined in the scientific field. It is the quantity of terms that has increased and the quality of terms, with the hierarchy of concepts having gradually intensified. The quantitative and qualitative expansion of these scientific terms has served a positive role in promoting the academic development of experts, it has become a factor that adds to the difficulty in learning science for students [1],[2],[3],[4]. The difficulty of learning scientific terminology in students comes from the hierarchy, complexity and novelty of scientific concepts. The reason is because scientists coin new terms that correspond to new theories and concepts but sometimes add an extended meaning to everyday words for new concepts. The following examples illustrate scientific terms that retain two different meanings: the scientific and the everyday
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