Discipline: Science and Mathematics Education
Subcategory: Education
Session: 4
Kiana Kasmaii - Florida International University
Co-Author(s): Chelsey Manrique, Florida International University, Miami ; Amy Acosta, Florida International University, Miami ; Melissa McCartney, Florida International University, Miami
BACKGROUND/SPECIFIC AIM: Primary scientific literature (PSL) is a great source of information of what scientists are researching. These results discovered by scientists are very important because this is the foundation of our advancements as a society. Most universities do not require students to read PSL as part of the curriculum. For the few courses that do read PSL, is difficulty with deciphering the content within PSL one of the reasons students switch out of STEM majors? The McCartney lab has partnered with AAAS and the Science in the Classroom project, which features annotated PSL, to further understand how students interact with PSL. Previous research has demonstrated that since PSL is written by scientists themselves, it does not commonly include the practical reasoning that is required to understand the articles (Yarden, 2009). Additionally, studies have shown that students become discouraged when attempting to read scientific articles due to the complexity and objectiveness of the papers. Providing additional information has been proven beneficial to students, especially non-science majors, when reading PSL (Gillen, Vaughan, Lye, 2004). The research question being asked incorporates both annotated PSL and videos containing additional information featuring the author(s) of each of the scientific research papers. It has been predicted that a combination of both of these resources will result in both science and non-science majors having more success with reading PSL. METHODS: A questionnaire was developed in order to investigate whether students require additional information and if so, what areas they needed more clarification from the authors. Two focus groups were tested; one focus group contained only science majors (n=4) while the other group had non-science majors (n+1). During the focus groups, students read an annotated article about ecological research that a professor at Florida International University (FIU) conducted. After approximately an hour, students were asked to complete the first portion of the questionnaire, which was collected through qualtrics and then later analyzed. Because this was a pilot study, and there was no knowledge of the previous experiences of the participants, qualitative research methods were chosen as a way to further understand how participants would want to interact with the authors of the paper. Specifically, participants were asked “If you could meet the author of this research paper for 10 minutes, what would you ask them and why?” RESULTS: A large portion of the responses asked for the authors to further explain the model system being used in the research paper. As this is not currently a Learning Lens category on the annotated PSL, having this information in a video with the author will provide additional information. Similarly, several other responses asked for the authors to explain the figures shown in the paper. While this is a Learning Lens category, it suggests that simply explaining the figures shown may not lead to a complete understanding and perhaps the author interviews can be used to for this. CONCLUSION: This research suggests that having additional information from the authors can be beneficial for non-science majors as well as undergraduate introductory science courses that use PSL. The additional clarification would aid both students that wish to pursue science and students that wish to better understand the world around them although they are not pursuing science. REFERENCES: Gillen, C. M., Vaughan, J., & Lye, B. R. (2004). An online tutorial for helping nonscience majors read primary research literature in biology. Advances in physiology education, 28(3), 95-99. Yarden, A. (2009). Reading scientific texts: Adapting primary literature for promoting scientific literacy. Research in Science Education, 39(3), 307-311.
Funder Acknowledgement(s): NSF
Faculty Advisor: Melissa McCartney, mmccartn@fiu.edu
Role: I mainly focused on creating a questionnaire asking students if they need additional information and what areas they needed more clarification from the authors. I also hosted focus groups inorder to deliver these questionnaires.