I Introducing Primary Scientific Literature to First-Year
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SUMMER 2013 • Volume 34, Number 4 ON THE WEB COUNCIL ON UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH z Introducing Primary Scientific Literature To First-year Undergraduate Researchers Swan, Chris, Jesse Cooper, and Amanda Stockwell. 2007. “Introducing Engineering Students to Research Through a First Year Advising Program.” Susan Carson, Eric S. Miller American Society for Engineering Education. Honolulu, Hawaii, June 24-27. North Carolina State University of the phages in the second semester. The student experience at our institution incorporated critical aspects of under- Wonziak, Carl. 2011. “Freshman Fellows: Recruiting and Retaining Great In the past decade, recommendations for reforming the graduate research, including: project ownership; keeping a Students Through Research Opportunities.” Council on Undergraduate Research way we teach science to undergraduate students have detailed laboratory notebook; disseminating research find- Quarterly 32: 8-15. surged. In particular, emerging research suggests that stu- ings in both oral and written forms; and— the focus of this Zydney, Andrew L., Joan S. Bennett, Abdus Shahid, and Karen W. Bauer. dents benefit from self-guided learning practices that are article—reading and discussing relevant primary scientific 2002. “Faculty Perspectives Regarding Undergraduate Research Experience in focused on core concepts and competencies rather than on literature. Science and Engineering.” Journal of Engineering Education 91: 291-297 content coverage. (National Research Council 2003, 2007, 2009; American Advancement for the Advancement of Other papers have been published on introducing under- Science 2011) graduates to the scientific literature. Notably, the C.R.E.A.T.E. Tolga Kaya It is well-established that performing undergraduate research approach (consider, read, elucidate hypotheses, analyze and interpret data, think of the next experiment) has been shown Central Michigan University, [email protected] greatly enhances the educational experience (Lopatto 2004; to enhance upper-level undergraduates’ analytic abilities, Tolga Kaya, PhD, is an assistant professor in the School of Seymour et al. 2004). The process of researching a topic in positively affect students’ confidence in understanding the Engineering and Technology at Central Michigan University. the primary literature, designing experiments, implement- literature, and provide insight into the scientific process in He works on interdisciplinary sensor-development projects in ing those experiments, and analyzing the results is critical an intensive course focusing on primary literature (Hoskins which he supervises undergraduate and graduate students in for developing the analytical skills necessary to become a et al. 2011). Another study showed that weekly journal engineering, physics, chemistry, and advanced materials. He also scientist. Furthermore, students benefit from undergradu- clubs, in conjunction with independent undergraduate investigates the impact of research on students and the public ate research experiences through increased graduation rates research and opportunities to present the research, increased and conducts site visits and teacher training in local high-school (Nagda et al. 1998), increased pursuit of graduate education student confidence and scientific literacy and facilitated the science classrooms. Before joining Central Michigan University, (Kreme et al. 1990; Hathaway et al. 2002), and increased transition to graduate school for students in their final three he worked as a researcher at Yale University. Kaya completed interest in science careers (Fitzsimmons et al. 1990). undergraduate semesters (Kozeracki et al. 2006). his master’s and doctoral degrees in electronics engineering at Our institution, North Carolina State University, has a strong Istanbul Technical University, Turkey. culture of mentoring upper-level undergraduates in research Not surprisingly, most studies investigating the benefits of introducing undergraduates to the scientific literature have Lauren Miller Griffith, PhD, is an instructional designer in the projects within investigator-funded research labs. First-year focused on upperclassmen. One study that did center on Faculty Center for Innovative Teaching at Central Michigan undergraduates, however, can find it difficult to secure posi- first-year students examined the integration of informa- University, where she uses her skills as an applied anthropologist tions in research laboratories for varying reasons (e.g., lack tion and science literacy. However, students only read one to observe, analyze, and develop plans for improving education at of personal confidence, labs being filled before students “model” journal article and selected one journal article to the local level. Her instructional-design research includes work on arrive on campus, reluctance of faculty mentors to take read on their own in a general biology course. The authors of collaborative learning, metacognition, and intellectual develop- on “unproven” students). Therefore, some students with the paper state that while this was a start in introducing the ment. She taught anthropology at Northern Arizona University great potential withdraw from STEM (science, technology, students to the literature, it was not sufficiently intensive to before joining Central Michigan University. Griffith completed engineering, and mathematics) disciplines before they have produce literate graduates (Porter et al. 2010). her master’s and doctoral degrees in cultural anthropology at a real chance to become engaged in the discipline beyond Indiana University. Her anthropological research is focused on the simple coursework. The unique aspect of our research is that it focuses on first- intersections of tourism, performance, and education. To provide some of our first-year students with an authentic year students in the context of an original research experi- research experience, we participated in a program funded ence, in which students read literature relevant to their own by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Science work. In our courses, reading of primary scientific literature Education Alliance-Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and was introduced early, in a low‐stakes manner that then Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) program (http://www. required written summaries, classroom discussion, and, hhmi.org/grants/sea/index.html). In this program, students gradually, full student responsibility for guiding classroom each isolated and characterized a novel mycobacteriophage discussion of the assigned research articles. At the comple- in the first semester, and then annotated the genome of one tion of the second semester, students reported a high degree of exposure to and confidence in reading the scientific litera- Council on Undergraduate Research 16 www.cur.org 17 SUMMER 2013 • Volume 34, Number 4 ON THE WEB COUNCIL ON UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ture. They also reported that reading the literature increased their work individually in Phage Hunters, and then in groups cussion of third paper was primarily student-led. Individual optional, anonymous survey we prepared using the Qualtrics their depth of understanding of their own research and their in Phage Genomics. students volunteered in advance to present one figure in the survey tool (www.qualtrics.com). ability to communicate their research to others. article, and an instructor guided the class in tying all of the During the first semester (Phage Hunters), each student Table 2. Student Survey Questions pieces of the paper together. During the first semester, we did made a three-minute oral presentation early in the semester. not issue grades for the oral discussions of the three journal 1 Prior to this course series, I had considerable exposure to The students also each made an oral mid-term presentation Project Outline articles. Grades associated with those articles were based on reading primary scientific literature (journal articles). All participants were first-year students at North Carolina on their research, followed by a mid-term lab report on their written assignments and class participation. 2 At the conclusion of this course series, I had considerable research in the format of a standard biology journal article. State University (NCSU), although many had sophomore exposure to reading primary scientific literature (journal standing due to either Advance Placement credit or partici- Students also submitted final written lab reports and gave articles). pation in an “early college” high-school curriculum in which final oral research presentations to the class. Table 1. Papers Read and Discussed by Students 3 Prior to this course series, I was confident in reading and understanding primary scientific literature (journal articles).. they earned college credits. All students were enrolled in a During the second semester (Phage Genomics), each team of Semester 1, Phage Hunters, wet lab portion two-semester, first-year laboratory research course (described 4 At the conclusion of this course series, I was confident students made three group presentations regarding the work 1 Villarreal, L. P. Dec. 2004. Are Viruses Alive? Scientific in reading and understanding primary scientific literature below). Students chose the course on their own and since it they were doing in annotating their portions of the bacterio- American did not fulfill requirements toward any major, the students (journal articles). phage’s genome. These were followed by a capstone poster 2 Debarbioeux, L, D. Ledu, D. Maura, E.