Practice makes proficient: teaching undergraduate students to understand published research (original) (raw)
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Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education, 2015
In response to the publication of Vision and Change, the biology department at Elmhurst College revised our curriculum to better prepare students for a career in science with the addition of various writing assignments in every course. One commonality among all of the assignments is the ability to comprehend and critically evaluate scientific literature to determine relevancy and possible future research. Several previous reports have analyzed specific methodologies to improve student comprehension of scientific writing and critical thinking skills, yet none of these examined student growth over an undergraduate career. In this study, we hypothesized upper-level students would be better able to comprehend and critically analyze scientific literature than introductory biology majors. Biology students enrolled in an introductory (200-level), mid- (300-level), or late-career (400-level) course were tasked with reading and responding to questions regarding a common scientific article an...
How to read scientific research articles: a hands-on classroom exercise
2009
Abstract Undergraduate students are generally unfamiliar with scientific literature. Further, students experience frustration when they read research articles the way they read textbooks, from beginning to end. Using a team-based active learning exercise, an instruction librarian and colleagues at University of Texas at Austin introduce nutritional sciences students to a method for reading research papers.
Cell Biology Education, 2011
The C.R.E.A.T.E. (Consider, Read, Elucidate hypotheses, Analyze and interpret data, Think of the next Experiment) method uses intensive analysis of primary literature in the undergraduate classroom to demystify and humanize science. We have reported previously that the method improves students’ critical thinking and content integration abilities, while at the same time enhancing their self-reported understanding of “who does science, and why.” We report here the results of an assessment that addressed C.R.E.A.T.E. students’ attitudes about the nature of science, beliefs about learning, and confidence in their ability to read, analyze, and explain research articles. Using a Likert-style survey administered pre- and postcourse, we found significant changes in students’ confidence in their ability to read and analyze primary literature, self-assessed understanding of the nature of science, and epistemological beliefs (e.g., their sense of whether knowledge is certain and scientific tal...
Atlas Journal of Science Education, 2017
Scientific literacy is directly correlated with building a new generation of stronger scientific minds that can effectively communicate research science to the general public. Increasing communication skills in reading and writing scientific work should help improve student understanding in the areas studied. We have constructed an introductory laboratory in biology at Brandeis University that utilizes the writing and reading of scholarly articles to increase student understanding and scientific literacy. The written assignments of the course are designed to guide the students through the process of studying what is known, interpreting their own experimental data, forming unique and rational conclusions, and finally critiquing their work. We have found that students appreciate this method of learning and are better able to make the conceptual connections between real laboratory data and the concepts governing the experiments.
Preprint articles as a tool for teaching data analysis and scientific communication
PLoS ONE, 2021
The skill of analyzing and interpreting research data is central to the scientific process, yet it is one of the hardest skills for students to master. While instructors can coach students through the analysis of data that they have either generated themselves or obtained from published articles, the burgeoning availability of preprint articles provides a new potential pedagogical tool. We developed a new method in which students use a cognitive apprenticeship model to uncover how experts analyzed a paper and compare the professional’s cognitive approach to their own. Specifically, students first critique research data themselves and then identify changes between the preprint and final versions of the paper that were likely the results of peer review. From this activity, students reported diverse insights into the processes of data presentation, peer review, and scientific publishing. Analysis of preprint articles is therefore a valuable new tool to strengthen students’ information ...
Improving Scientific Research and Writing Skills through Peer Review and Empirical Group Learning
Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education, 2011
Here we describe a semester-long, multipart activity called “Read and wRite to reveal the Research process” (R 3 ) that was designed to teach students the elements of a scientific research paper. We implemented R 3 in an advanced immunology course. In R 3 , we paralleled the activities of reading, discussion, and presentation of relevant immunology work from primary research papers with student writing, discussion, and presentation of their own lab findings. We used reading, discussing, and writing activities to introduce students to the rationale for basic components of a scientific research paper, the method of composing a scientific paper, and the applications of course content to scientific research. As a final part of R 3 , students worked collaboratively to construct a Group Research Paper that reported on a hypothesis-driven research project, followed by a peer review activity that mimicked the last stage of the scientific publishing process. Assessment of student learning re...
Selective Use of the Primary Literature Transforms the Classroom Into a Virtual Laboratory
Genetics, 2007
C.R.E.A.T.E., (Consider, Read, Elucidate hypotheses, Analyze and interpret the data, and Think of the next Experiment) is a new method for teaching science, and the nature of science, through primary literature. CREATE uses a unique combination of novel pedagogical tools to guide undergraduates through analysis of journal articles, highlighting the evolution of scientific ideas by focusing on a module of four papers from the same laboratory. Students become fluent in the universal language of data analysis at they decipher the figures, interpret the findings, and propose and defend further experiments to test their own hypotheses about the system under study. At the end of the course students gain insight into the individual experiences of paper authors by reading authors' responses to an email questionnaire generated by CREATE students. Assessment data indicate that CREATE students gain in ability to read and critically analyze scientific data, as well as in their understanding of, and interest in, research and researchers. The CREATE approach demystifies the process of reading a scientific paper and at the same time humanizes scientists. The positive response of students to this method suggests that it could make a significant contribution to retaining undergraduates in science majors. office 212-650-8585 fax LITERATURE CITED AAMC FACTS,
Instructor evaluation of progressive student skills in the analysis of primary literature is critical for the development of these skills in young scientists. Students in a senior or graduate-level one-semester course in Immunology at a Masters-level comprehensive university were assessed for abilities (primary traits) to recognize and evaluate the following elements of a scientific paper: Hypothesis and Rationale, Significance, Methods, Results, Critical Thinking and Analysis, and Conclusions. We tested the hypotheses that average recognition scores vary among elements and that scores change with time differently by trait. Recognition scores (scaled 1 to 5), and differences in scores were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA), regression, and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) (n = 10 papers over 103 days). By multiple comparisons testing, we found that recognition scores statistically fell into two groups: high scores (for Hypothesis and Rationale, Significance, Methods, and Conclusions) and low scores (for Results and Critical Thinking and Analysis). Recognition scores only significantly changed with time (increased) for Hypothesis and Rationale and Results. ANCOVA showed that changes in recognition scores for these elements were not significantly different in slope (F 1,16 = 0.254, P = 0.621) but the Results trait was significantly lower in elevation (F 1,17 = 12.456, P = 0.003). Thus, students improved with similar trajectories, but starting and ending with lower Results scores. We conclude that students have greatest difficulty evaluating Results and critically evaluating scientific validity. Our findings show extant student skills, and the significant increase in some traits shows learning. This study demonstrates that students start with variable recognition skills and that student skills may be learned at differential rates. Faculty can use these findings or the primary trait analysis scoring scale to focus on specific paper elements for which they desire to improve recognition.
Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 2012
Herein we report the development of an analytic rubric bank to assess non-content learning, namely higher order cognitive skills, the understanding of the nature of science, and effective scientific communication skills in student research projects. Preliminary findings indicate that use of this tool enhances our students’ learning in these areas, particularly in the area of communication, as well as eases and speeds the assessment of these skills. Our rubric bank is notable for its adaptability to a wide range of assignments, developmental levels, and science courses.