Devon Pearce

9-12-19

Idea Scavenger Hunt

The sources below provide many different pieces of information regarding the

relationship between writing and the scientific field. They explain how writing is taught, from an

early time, to how it is used by experts in the field. The articles provide extensive information on

how writing is used in the sciences, whether it is simply to store ideas or to display them to the

public. They explain how writing is changing with the times as well, with new genres being

created and utilized by the people in the field. Overall, these sources provide an in depth look at

writing in science, along with how it is extremely important in a profession that many seem to

think is just scientists in lab coats performing random experiments, with minimal writing

involved.

References

Druschke, C. G., Reynolds, N., Morton-Aiken, J., Lofgren, I. E., Karraker, N. E., & McWilliams,

S. R. (2018). Better science through rhetoric: A new model and pilot program for training

graduate student science writers. Technical Communication Quarterly, 27(2), 175-190.

doi:10.1080/10572252.2018.1425735 This journal explains how there is an ever-

increasing need for effective communication in the sciences, yet there are very few

resources for students, particularly graduate students, to learn the proper and effective

means of communication. The data presented in the journal has shown that there are

increasing attempts to correct this, both by universities and the National Science

Foundation.
Freddi, M., Korte, B., & Schmied, J. (2013). Developments and trends in the Rhetoric of

Science. European Journal of English Studies, 17(3), 221-234.

doi:10.1080/13825577.2013.867184 This piece explains how the rhetoric, lexis, and

genres used in science are evolving, and how they are becoming more specialized. The

new forms of communication are compared to older forms, where the text was simpler

and easier for the general population to understand.

Kokkala, I., & Gessell, D. A. (2002). Writing Science Effectively: Biology and English Students

in an Author-Editor Relationship. Journal of College Science Teaching, 32(4), 252-257.

Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/42992285 This journal provides information

on how science is taught in some classrooms. The methods of teaching allow science

students to be better writers, highlighting the importance of writing in a field that many

seem to think is simply people performing different experiments.

Weinberger, C. J., Evans, J. A., & Allesina, S. (2015). Ten Simple (Empirical) Rules for Writing

Science. PLOS Computational Biology, 11(4), e1004205.

doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004205 This text lists ten methods for communication in

science that most rhetors in the discipline follow. These methods allow for more effective

communication that allows works to be better understood, widely read, and more

frequently built upon.