Science Article Assignment

One of the assignments in ALES 204 was to complete a comparison of a journal from 15-20 years ago to a current edition of the journal. Due to my interest in Nutrition, I chose the Journal of Nutrition. This journal dates back to September, 1928! Portraying nutritional information is not a recent concept, and dates back more than 80 years!


When reading some of the articles for this assignment, as I was thinking about the importance of communicating scientific information. Before coming to university, I was unaware there were scientific journals filled with articles that were published monthly for scientists to read and reference to. (Looking back on this now, I am not sure how I thought scientists communicated their information?) Yet, once attending university, I was bombarded with knowledge from professors or textbooks. However, ultimately this knowledge was from a scientific article, published by researchers into a journal. This is the basis of communicating science information from Edmonton, Canada to Shanghai, China and back. 


However, one of the issues that arise from scientific articles is the type of language, or jargon used in these articles. 


1st year me: "What, you want me to read this? None of these words make sense!"
3rd year me: "Okay, I can understand some parts of the article really well, and some not so much. Some of the parts I understand, I actually get excited to read because I might have just learned about that in my Biochemistry class." 

Portraying this information in a language that all can understand is the job of graduates with university degrees. As an aspiring registered dietitian, I will be a "recognized expert in translating scientific, medical and nutrition information into practical individualized therapeutic diets and meal plans for people"(College of Dietitians of Alberta, 2010). My role in society will be to understand these scientific articles and help the public in understanding how to better their health, based on recent findings. My fellow classmate, Naomi shares similar thoughts on her blog stating we as nutrition experts have to put the science into simple terms. Naomi also states the importance of the use of social media sites to 
promote health facts quickly, like "wildfire". 


By comparing these articles from two different time periods, I was able to see some advancement in science through the very specific research done currently, and the technological advancements such as computers. I look forward to seeing what the advancements will be during my career.  


Photo:
From L. Adam (personal collection, Nov 2011)
References:


College of Dietitians of Alberta. (2010). About Registered Dietitians. Retrieved from http://www.collegeofdietitians.ab.ca/Public/About RegisteredDietitians.aspx