Word Parts Help Students Master the Language of Science

You can't really learn and experience what's going on in your world until you can use the language.

In an A&P course, most students don't come in as native speakers of scientific terminology. Even if they know what roots, suffixes, and prefixes are, most of them don't know the literal meanings of "meta," "juxta," "reno," or "cyto." If they pick up these word parts as they learn, however, they can quickly get comfortable with the language of A&P—and really ramp up their learning of core concepts.

In Anatomy & Physiology, we have woven language learning into every chapter so that students can more efficiently master the language of A&P.

Nearly every A&P teacher I know mentions word parts frequently in class discussions—especially when introducing the more convoluted terms that represent important concepts.

Besides breaking down impossibly long words into easily consumed, bite-sized pieces, it's also a stealthy strategy to "sneak in" some language learning. Without having to "put it on the test" we can introduce word parts— and how they are used to construct phrase-like terms—in a way that allows natural language learning. Students often don't even realize that our repeated mentioning of the meaning of common word parts is adding to their mental lexicon. Soon they start recognizing these word parts on their own.

When students know what common word parts mean, they start using them as mnemonic tools (memory aids). They find themselves using the word parts as clues to remember the actual working definition of the term—and the essence of the concept that the term represents.

In Anatomy & Physiology, we support this widely used classroom approach in several ways. A central strategy is our inclusion of word parts in the chapter word lists.

In a recent post, I described our chapter word lists and explained how previewing unfamiliar words before reading a chapter helps to get those words into the reader's mental lexicon more quickly—and how that, in turn, improves reading comprehension. See Word Lists Help Students Build Their Mental Lexicons. Because we also include word parts in the chapter word lists, scanning these lists naturally builds competence in scientific language.

A widespread and effective strategy in teaching reading skills—from elementary school to advanced courses in college reading efficiency—is often called word study. In a nutshell, word study instruction encourages readers to strengthen their recognition of word patterns as first step, rather than simply memorizing new words as they encounter them. This is based on the fact that we read words and phrases as a whole.  It's one of many brain-based strategies of learning that translate current concepts of neuroscience into practical strategies.

Incorporating word parts in the chapter word list, where they can be scanned before reading the chapter, offers the opportunity for readers of Anatomy & Physiology to make the word study method part of their overall reading strategy. By building pattern-recognition skills, readers can better get new terms into their mental lexicon and thus be able to read them without stumbling and thus learn concepts more efficiently.

But wait! There's more! In Anatomy & Physiology, we provide even more built-in tools to help students gain skill in using their new language.  In my next post, I'll point these out.

Handy Supplement Helps Students Master the Lingo of A&P

In my two previous posts, I explained my rationale behind providing tools for A&P students to easily master the language of A&P.  In Word Lists Help Students Build Their Mental Lexicons, I discussed a proven method to help students improve their reading comprehension using chapter word lists. In Word Parts Help Students Master the Language of Science, I discussed how word-study strategies can help students learn their terminology easily and permanently.

In this third installment, I'd like to give you a tour of the supplement Quick Guide to the Language of Science and Medicine—which I usually just call "the Quick Guide."

Packaged at no extra cost with Anatomy & Physiology, this handy guide complements the Language of Science and Language of Medicine word lists in each chapter of the main textbook. Think of it as the conceptual framework for using the word parts in those chapter lists. It's found along with the Brief Atlas of the Human Body inside the booklet labeled Brief Atlas & Quick Guide.

By the way, this booklet is also available as a separate piece, in case students who didn't get one with their used textbook want one. Just ask your Elsevier rep about how to get your bookstore to stock it.

What is the Quick Guide?  I'll get to the specifics in a moment, but in general it is a small set of tools that helps students along as they read and study A&P. It's sort of a Swiss army knife of handy little helpers that get students unstuck from problems using scientific terminology—or help set them on the right path in the first place.

What tools are included in the Quick Guide?  An annotated outline follows.

Learning and Using Scientific Terms (an introduction to general principles of terminology)

• Most Terms Come from Latin and Greek
• Sets the mindset of learning an new language
• Terms Are Made by Combining Word Parts
• Brief rundown of roots, prefixes, and suffixes
• Some Terms Use Latin Plural Forms
• Includes a table of common pluralizations (e.g., diaphysis/diaphyses, axis/axes)
• Avoid Confusing Adjectives with Nouns
• Explains why pectoral is an adjective and pectoral muscle is a noun with a modifying adjective)
• Correct Spelling is Important
• Promotes precision, which is important for safety in clinical settings.
• Includes a table contrasting U.S. and U.K. spellings
• Correct Pronunciation is Important
• Emphasizes the need for clear and accurate communications
• Includes how to find pronunciations and regional differences in pronunciation
• Be Aware of Alternate Terminology
• Explains why more than one alternate exists
• Defines eponyms and their current usage
• Practice New Terminology
• Gives hints on how best to learn the terminology of A&P

Table 1  Word Parts Commonly Used as Prefixes

• Defines word part and its meaning(s)

Table 2  Word Parts Commonly Used as Suffixes

• Defines word part and its meaning(s)

Table 3  Word Parts Commonly Used as Roots

• Defines word part and its meaning(s)

Table 4  Abbreviations Used for Anatomical Directions

• Gives letters used in the anatomical compass rosette used throughout the textbook, Lab Manual, and Brief Atlas
• Provides a diagram of directions terms and of the anatomical compass rosette
• See also Anatomical Rosettes Help Students Orient Themselves

Table 5  Common Eponyms and Equivalent Descriptive Terms

• Gives the eponym, its descriptive equivalent, and its location in the body

Table 6  Scientific Symbols, Acronyms, and Abbreviations

• Lists terms related to the basic sciences (not the clinical sciences)

Table 7  Medical Symbols, Acronyms, and Abbreviations

• Lists terms related to the clinical sciences (not the basic sciences)
• Mentions which symbols are now banned in clinical practice

Table 8  Chemical Symbols, Formulas, and Acronyms

• Lists chemical symbols used frequently in A&P, along with their written form

Table 9  Greek Alphabet

• A list of uppercase and lowercase Greek letters in alphabetic order
• Helps students better understand the use of alpha, beta, gamma, delta, etc. in A&P terminology

Table 10 Roman Numerals

• Helps students who never really learned Roman numerals, but need them understand cranial nerve notation and other terminology

There are also plenty of brief Hints scattered throughout the Quick Guide to help each student avoid common pitfalls in using scientific language.

Embedded Hints Improve Reading Comprehension

Can we assume that our students come to us already knowing how to read a book? Probably. 

Can we assume that they know how to effectively read and use an A&P textbook? Probably not.

Really? you may wonder. What's special about reading a textbook?

Technically detailed textbooks such as A&P textbooks are not much like books of popular literature. One cannot just sit down and read a chapter of an A&P textbook from start to finish—like you would with a novel—and expect to have learned much. And whatever you did comprehend would probably disappear from your brain by day's end.

No, college reading experts tell us that students must use reading strategies to comprehend what they read in a textbook. But I see that my students come to me without any such strategies or skills. They've gotten by without them until they hit their A&P textbook, then wonder why the textbook doesn't seem to be helping them much. Then they limp along on class notes only—missing out on the deeper learning possible with the complementary material in the textbook.

I was an excellent reader when I was an undergraduate. Looking back, however, I realize that I didn't use any special strategies—and I didn't really get a whole lot out of my hours of textbook reading. Not compared to what happens now when I do technical reading employing some of the proven strategies to increase my reading comprehension of technical scientific works.

So what to do? Spend a week teaching our students how to read their textbooks? After getting some training ourselves in college reading strategies?

I've provided a better option in Anatomy & Physiology.

To guide students step by step through an effective reading strategy, I've embedded a series of hints that tell students exactly what to do to learn from their textbooks more effectively—and by spending less total study time.

Some of these strategies I've discussed here in previous posts. For example, I've already walked you through the word-study approach to reading vocabulary and The Big Picture summary of interrelationships of concepts.

Take a look at any chapter in Anatomy & Physiology to see the embedded hints clearly marked with the Hint icon. If you don't have a copy, just go to this link and request a free review copy now!

Then let's help our students by advising them follow the directions in the hints to get the most out of their A&P textbooks—and reduce their total study time!