Abstract
Whilst the role of disciplinary literacy in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is becoming more prominent, there appears to be little adaptation or allowance made for English as a foreign or second language (EFL/ESL) students learning science in English, as well as no clear understanding of what comprises disciplinary literacy in science. In this article, we define the construct of disciplinary literacy in science education and justify the use of the Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome (SOLO) taxonomy (Biggs and Collis, Teaching for quality learning at university 1982) as a tool for measuring EFL students’ disciplinary literacy development. This SOLO taxonomy was trialled in a STEM integrated astronomy course enhanced with a digital storytelling approach. Data were collected from adolescent EFL students’ written responses in their pre- and post-Astronomy Diagnostic Test. The results show a positive change in participants’ science disciplinary literacy development and contribute to the understanding of the EFL/ESL students’ science disciplinary literacy development and assessment.
Highlights
The role of literacy for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is gaining international recognition (Bauerle et al 2014; Dutton and Rushton 2018) that ignites a debate about how to define literacy within and across each of the STEM disciplines
This research trialled a new approach to disciplinary literacy assessment in science education and argues that the Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome (SOLO) taxonomy (Biggs and Collis 1982) is a valid science disciplinary literacy assessment tool
It is clear that this increase in SOLO rating was mainly attained due to the students’ attempt to explain more answers in their post-test rather than they did in the pre-test (Table 2)
Summary
The role of literacy for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is gaining international recognition (Bauerle et al 2014; Dutton and Rushton 2018) that ignites a debate about how to define literacy within and across each of the STEM disciplines. There is a need to establish a definition of the construct in science education in order to develop appropriate instructional and assessment approaches. This article contributes to the definition of disciplinary literacy within science education and outlines the outcomes of a pilot integrated STEM course targeted at (2019) 9:19 disciplinary literacy development in astronomy, one area of science curriculum content in many educational jurisdictions. This research trialled a new approach to disciplinary literacy assessment in science education and argues that the Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome (SOLO) taxonomy (Biggs and Collis 1982) is a valid science disciplinary literacy assessment tool.
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