The Development and Evaluation of the Science Reading and Essay Writing System

Abstract

Popular science reading and science essay writing are parts of the science inquiry activities which can facilitate learners to construct their science knowledge and develop science literacy in school. However, there are a great deal of difficulties and challenges for students to learn how to read popular science articles and write essays. Therefore, helping students read and write should be a crucial issue. Previous research has revealed the effectiveness of teacher community on teachers’ professional development. This study developed a “Science Reading and Essay Writing System” (SREWS) as a platform for students to read popular science articles and write essays. After the development of the SREWS, system evaluations were also conducted. A total of 60 senior high school students participated in the system evaluations. The results showed that they expressed satisfactory perceived usefulness and ease of use of the system. Also, they expressed high willingness to use the SREWS. They also appreciated the usefulness and usability of the scaffolding functions of the system. Some suggestions and implications for system design, and future work are also discussed.