Physicists Reading Physics: Schema-Laden Purposes and Purpose-Laden Schema
Abstract
Reading, as well as writing, is a constructive activity. Interviews and observations of research physicists reveal reading processes permeated with individual purposes and schema. These schema, or personal maps of the field, include not only consensual knowledge about the phenomena being discussed, but also perceptions as to the most promising lines of current work, methods that are most likely to produce good results, and personal knowledge about the other workers in the field. Schema thus are formed around the active research purposes of the reader. Equally, purposes are framed within the researcher's schematic understanding of the field. With schema and purposes evolving dialectically, texts are read, not as static arguments, but as part of the dynamic process of research activity.
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Experienced readers reading within their field benefit from having developed a 'purpose-laden schema' which allows the new information to be processed within their existing framework of knowledge, as well as a personal research interest to motivate their reading.
“Experienced readers reading within their field therefore benefit from having developed a ‘purpose-laden schema’ which allows the new information to be processed within their existing framework of knowledge [29], as well as a personal research interest to motivate their reading.”
From Perceptions of scientific research literature and strategies for reading papers depend on academic career stage (2017) · cites this paper as [29]
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- Authors
- BAZERMAN, C.
- Affiliations
- Baruch College (US)
- Corresponding author
- BAZERMAN, CHARLES
- ORCID
- BAZERMAN, CHARLES
- Venue
- Written Communication
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 1985-01
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 3-23
- ISSN
- 0741-0883 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-8472
- OpenAlex
- W2049852578
- Cited by
- 279
- References
- 16
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 16 · 2012: 11
- FWCI
- 13.78
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Written Communication (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Academic Writing and Publishing
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Educational Strategies and Epistemologies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Literature and Literary Theory › Discourse Analysis in Language Studies
- Keywords
- reading process, schemas, reading purposes, scientific reading, research activities, scientific texts
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