Thinking outside the box: Senior scientists’ metacognitive strategy knowledge and self-regulation of writing for science communication
Journal article, 2023

Academics are increasingly engaged in writing genres with purposes and for readers outside of academia—a variety of science-based communication practices that fall under the term science communication. These practices often span different modes, genres, and even languages, requiring high degrees of rhetorical flexibility, strategic knowledge, and regulation of writing. In this study, we probe the self-regulation and specifically the metacognitive strategy knowledge (MSK) of seven senior scientists who regularly and actively engage with writing for science communication. We argue that understanding their MSK can illuminate how strategic knowledge is transferred across written genres, and importantly offer useful insights for the training of future scientists. Using data derived from in-depth, narrative interviews with a recall component, we identify a variety of strategies for task conceptualization/analysis, planning and goal setting, monitoring, and evaluating the writing of different genres. Task analysis appears particularly crucial in science communication writing, due to the great variety of purposes and readers that fall under this umbrella. Interestingly, our participants underscore storytelling strategies, and seem to transfer language and style monitoring strategies to and from science communication and publication. We map the strategies identified and discuss the implications of our study for further research and science communication pedagogy.

popular science

writing regulation

Science dissemination

scientific writing

metacognition

Author

Raffaella Negretti

Chalmers, Communication and Learning in Science, Language and Communication

Carina Sjöberg Hawke

Chalmers, Communication and Learning in Science, Language and Communication

Maria Persson

University West

Chalmers, Communication and Learning in Science, Language and Communication

Maria Cervin-Ellqvist

Chalmers, Communication and Learning in Science, Language and Communication

Journal of Writing Research

2030-1006 (ISSN) 22943307 (eISSN)

Vol. 15 2 333-361

Scientific communication and metacognition: Thinking outside the box

GENIE, Chalmers Gender Initiative for Excellence, 2020-01-01 -- 2022-01-03.

Birgit och Gad Rausing Foundation for research in the humanities (Scholarship2019), 2020-01-01 -- 2021-08-31.

The Chalmers University Foundation, 2020-01-01 -- 2022-01-03.

Subject Categories

Learning

Other Humanities

General Language Studies and Linguistics

Specific Languages

Communication Studies

Learning and teaching

Pedagogical work

DOI

10.17239/jowr-2023.15.02.04

More information

Latest update

11/22/2023