Reading Digital Texts

Leading team

Dr. Yael Shwartz

Postdocs and students

Dadi Marom, PhD student

Summary

Integration of digital text in teaching and learning is already a common practice, and will be even more common in the near future. We investigate different aspects of reading digital texts: design principles – what are the advantages of digital texts over printed ones for chemistry learning; cognitive aspects: how can specific thinking skills be developed while reading digital scientific texts? Pedagogical aspects: enhancing students’ independent learning; Affective aspects: Do digital texts (with specific design principles) enhance students’ interest in chemistry learning?

In a current study, Mr. Dadi Marom, a phD student, supervised by Dr. Yael Shwartz, develops a digital unit, that deals with “Green-Chemistry”. It exposes the socio-scientific aspects of chemistry concepts that they learn in an obligatory unit (for majors) in chemistry studies. Mr. Marom investigates the development of the following skills: chemical representation, comparison and argumentation.