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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 1997  > February  >
In the Classroom
An Effective Technique for Reading Research Articles - The Japanese KENSHU Method
Bruce D. Drake, Garcia M. Acosta, and Richard L. Smith, Jr.
University of South Carolina, Department of Chemical Engineering, Columbia, SC 29208

Cover
February 1997
Vol. 74 No. 2
p. 186

Abstract
In this paper, we outline a method that teaches students how to study research literature. The method aids in developing a student's confidence by posing a simple set of steps with questions. The method has been used successfully for developing literature skills with high-school, undergraduate and graduate students in U.S. engineering curriculum. The method, which has the Japanese name, KENSHU, was developed by modifying a system used at a top Japanese national university. KENSHU is Japanese for research understanding. The basic steps of KENSHU are: (i) take a recent foreign (English) scientific article and divide it into sections, (ii) read and discuss a single section with a more experienced classmate, (iii) translate the section, (iv) continue step iii until all sections are finished, (iv) prepare a one page summary of the article with key graphs and tables, and (v) present the findings of the article at a miniconference. In this work, we have put into words, the aspects of reading a scientific article that incorporates the KENSHU framework. We applied the method to U.S. university juniors and seniors, graduate students as well as junior and senior high-school students. We conclude that the method is effective for not only learning how to read scientific articles, but also for learning how to write scientific articles.
More Information
*  Citation
Drake, Bruce D.; Acosta, Garcia M.; Smith Jr.; Richard L. J. Chem. Educ. 1997 74 186.
*  Keywords
Teaching/Learning Aids, Teaching/Learning Theory/Practice, Graduate Education/Research, Chemical Education Research
*  History
Created:
Last Updated:
July 29, 1999
June 23, 2005
  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 1997 > February > Page 186



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