with ~echnical~eanings Janet N. Ryan Southern Arkansas University-El Dorado, El Dorado, AR 71730 I t is likely that anyone who has taught a chemistry course designed for nonscience majors has experienced thefrustration of having several bright students who do not seem to grasp.what is beine discussed. You have tried to catch their interest and present material clearly, either explaining or avoiding technical terms, and the students are intelligent and appear to he paying attention, yet for some reason communication and learnine do not occur. I have had the opportunity to work with such students through our Special Services Proeram as well as in science studyskills workshops and have noticed that the problem is often due to a language gap. I t is not the long, obviously scientific terms that are causing trouble hut the short common words that have crept into the language of science bearing technical meanings. There have been a few references to specific aspects of this problem. For examole. ~ o i n t e dout recentlv that the . . Svamal " misuse of the word "complex" in coordination che&istry can he confusing,' and Hamori and Muldrev. sueeest .... that the iword "spmtaneous" for thermodynamically fa\wral)lr reac. tions is m ~ i l d i n cThrow .~ discuiied the ~ussibleconfusion that results whenwords such as "work," "force," and "power" are used with rigorous mathematical definitions in introductory physics courses; he concluded, however, that this does not present a problem to any but the "least able" students.3 Contrary to Throw's opinion, I believe that poorer students are not the only ones affected by the distinct, often rigorous scientific definitions of many common words. In fact, I have noticed that the nonscience major who has a superior vocabulary may have more trouble than does the average student4 ~
1098
Journal of Chemical Education
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In their article, Hamori and Muldrey mentioned that having to learn new technical meanings of old familiar words presents a problem for many students. However, an even greater problem is the failure to recognize that such words even have specialized definitions. They are examples of what Gowaty has called "paradoxical jargon" in that their familiarity obscures the fact that they are indeed technical terms.s Thus.. "eas" put .. is not what vou , . in vour car. nor is an "Ideal Gas'' one whivh givrs good milmge; "precipitation" refers to the formation of solids and not to rain: "acids" are not psychedelic drugs and "basic" does not mean fundamental: not all pleasant-smelling chemicals are "aromatic." Students reading or hearing s i c h words in chemistry courses mavassume thev alreadv knowtheir meanings and not registeriheir new definitions. Thus, they miss the whole concept being presented without realizing why. If the "specific" in specific heat or specific gravity i s understood to mean particular or unambiguous, it is very difficult to grasp these concepts, much less apply them to solving problems. Those students who do recognize that the word is being used in an unfamiliar sense mav subconsciouslv" trv" to identifv" iust what meaning it does convey, or to reconcile this use with established meanings. Meanwhile, the lecture continues, the
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' Syamal, A,, J. CHEM.EOUC., 62, 143 (1985).
Hamori, E., and Muldrey, J. E., J. CHEM.EDUC., 61, 710 (1984). Throw, F. E., Phys. Today, 36, [7], 96 (1983). Ryan, J. N., Amer. Biol. Teach., 47, 91 (1985). Gowaty, P. A,, Animal Behav., 30,. 630 (1982).
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