UNPACKING THE STRUCTURE OF A BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH PAPER: A Conceptual Metaphor-Based Approach

Understanding the structure of a research article is important for establishing a foundation in academic literacy. This is particularly significant for medical undergraduates in China who are newly introduced to the concept of research and aim to acquire academic skills in reading and writing biomedical research articles. This chapter will introduce the implementation of a conceptual metaphor (CM) approach in a medical paper writing class for undergraduates in China. A quasi-experiment was designed to measure the effectiveness of this CM approach. A group of 20 students was instructed through the CM research is a journey as an extension of learning is a journey, to illustrate the connections of components in a biomedical research paper with an Introduction-Method-Results-and-Discussion (IMRaD) structure. A control group of 22 students was taught using a traditional teaching method, which introduced the connections directly without engaging in any metaphor-related concepts. Results found a non-significant difference in the immediate post-test. However, a one-week-delay test found a statistical significance where the metaphor group outperformed the control group. The findings from this study demonstrate how a CM approach reinforces the understanding of the structure of a biomedical research paper and consequently enhances learning retention. Practical implications are discussed.