1. 1 Learning Science by Reading Science Facilitating In-class Discussion of Scientific Literature Dr. David Lieske Department of Geography and Environment http://arcgis.mta.ca dlieske@mta.ca

2. 2  OVERVIEW  A confession;  Two challenges;  Strategies for overcoming those challenges;  Final thoughts, observations, etc.;  Open discussion (please!)

3. 3  A Confession  Early in my teaching career…  …I thought students would eagerly read papers I recommended based solely on their: 1.Inherent “coolness” 2.Novelty 3.Historical importance

4. 4  A Confession  I was wrong.  But you may be one of the lucky ones with a chronically zealous group of students.  Engaging students in paper discussions is not easy.  If so, I give you permission to grab your PDA and start checking email.

5. 5  If it’s so difficult, why bother?  Introductory classes tend to rely on textbooks to digest core concepts.  Textbooks have the advantages of being: Carefully edited; Augmented with explanatory figures and tables; Written in such a way as to maximize clarity and interpretibility;

6. 6  Why bother? 1 Reece et al. 2010. Campbell Biology, 9 th Ed. Pearson,

7. 7  Why bother? 1 Reece et al. 2010. Campbell Biology, 9 th Ed. Pearson.

8. 8  Why Bother?  The primary literature is the current (or historical record) of the “bleeding edge” of inquiry.  It’s where science actually happens.  I think we would all agree that the best way to understand the “discussion” going on a discipline is to read its literature.  It’s a necessary part of the training of research students.

9. 9 1 Heikkinen et al. 2007. Biotic interactions improve prediction of boreal bird distributions at macro-scales. Global Ecology and Biogeography 16: 754-763.

10. 10  Challenges 1.Challenge #1: how do we get students to read papers? 2.Challenge #2: how do we get students to talk about papers?

11. 11  Challenge #1: Reading Papers  Reading is difficult; reading scientific papers is really, really difficult.  The writing is terse, dry and the methods can appear (to the uninitiated) to be totally impenetrable.  Many students will “duck out” and avoid reading papers at every opportunity.

12. 12  Challenge #1: Reading Papers  I find the only successful strategy for encouraging reading is accountability and evaluation.  I ask students to submit typewritten notes on the readings, which must be prepared in advance and brought to lecture.  I don’t collect the summary notes right away; I collect them at the end of lecture.

13. 13  Challenge #1: Reading Papers  Another thing I learned a while ago: students complete assignments with an enthusiasm proportional to their grade value.  I use a simple 3 or 5-point grading system – but I don’t grade every assignment! enthusiasm Grade value

14. 14  Challenge #1: Reading Papers  I’m not correcting grammar.  I am primarily looking for evidence of careful reading.  Even with a quick assessment system, this approach is probably limited to < 30 students.  I’ve found that structured questions help to get them started.

15. 15  Challenge #1: Reading Papers  Structured questions:  What questions did the author(s) pose?  What methods did they use?  What were their main findings?  What gaps or problems remain unaddressed?

16. 16  Challenge #1: Reading Papers  My findings? o Students seem to respond most immediately to papers with a direct, experimental-type of structure:  Introduction  Methodology (experimental design, data collection framework)  Analysis / Results  Discussion / Conclusions

17. 17  Challenge #1: Reading Papers

18. 18  Challenge #1: Reading Papers

19. 19  Challenge #1: Reading Papers  Other findings? o Students tend to dislike conceptual, theoretical or review papers (e.g., TREE).

20. 20  Challenge #1: Reading Papers  Other findings? o Choice of papers – should they be the most readily accessible, or the most relevant? o I try to use papers that satisfy both criteria, but this is not always possible to do.

21. 21  Challenge #1: Reading Papers  Watch out for: o Subversion #1: students come to class unprepared, jot down notes during the discussion, and attempt to submit their notes for grading purposes at the end of class. o Subversion #2: the hurried regurgitation of the paper’s abstract.

22. 22  Challenge #2: Talking About Papers  The “cone of silence”.  It’s difficult to get undergraduate students to “speak up” and volunteer an opinion.  Wading into the literature takes students a long way from their comfort zones.  Response: how do you make the lecture hall a safe space to be “wrong”?

23. 23  Challenge #2: Talking About Papers  I’ve gone through a few iterations of having students participate in in-class paper discussions.  I would describe my approach as a variant on the note sharing and think- pair-share types of active learning strategies.

24. 24  Challenge #2: Talking About Papers  This is what I do: 1.Start the class by asking them to share their notes with the person next to them (~10 min). 2.Then I take the lead on the discussion and normally start by asking them to pick out their favourite paper and discuss why.

25. 25  Challenge #2: Talking About Papers  This is what I do: 3.I then probe the class about the structured questions presented in the original reading assignment. 4.Whenever necessary or appropriate, I will comment on particular aspects of each paper.

26. 26  Challenge #2: Talking About Papers  This is what I do: 5.I usually maintain a “participation” check list; when students contribute to the discussion I check their name off. o As an aside: I feel I need to increase the participation portion of the course grade.

27. 27  Challenge #2: Talking About Papers  Even with (1) prepared notes, and (2) “pair and share” efforts, there is a persistent group of ~ 30% who I will not participate.  Perhaps increasing the percentage allocated to participation from 5% to 10%-15% will help?

28. 28  Challenge #2: Talking About Papers  You also have to contend with individual personalities, e.g., loners, the chronically shy.

29. 29  Some final thoughts  If we are going to ask students to read papers, we need to be willing to teach them how.  Reading the literature is really the process of observing the scientific method in action.  What we’re trying to do is create a particular type of “culture”.  Success = “buy in”.

30. 30  Some final thoughts  Students really enjoy hearing about your preferences, as well as your stumbling blocks and points of confusion.  It builds solidarity and lets them know that they aren’t alone in being confused.  An unanticipated side effect: opportunity to discuss good and bad science writing.

31. 31  Some final thoughts  Students confess to me that they feel really overwhelmed by the methodological details.  To which I reply: the literature is like jumping into a conversation; at first you’re lost and disoriented, but once you have your bearings you will get the “gist” of it.  Students are dubious, but many admit that they learn a lot during the process.

32. 32  Some final thoughts  Caveat: o In-class discussions exert wear-and- tear on the students and lead to burn out. o I don’t assign readings every single week (maybe 6-7 sessions throughout the term), and try to keep the number of papers manageable (1-2, 3 exceptionally).

33. 33  Open Discussion  Your experiences??  e.g., does anyone rely on student- directed presentations?