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Description

Reading scientific literature is a critical science competency that proves difficult to “teach.” Students enter our classes with varying science vocabularies, and many suffer imposter syndrome when reading technical reports because they do not yet identify as capable scientists. The “Science Literacy” assignment guides students to develop and expand strategies to read science articles. Over the semester, students read 5 to 6 articles ranging from peer-reviewed manuscripts to popular science magazines to science blogs about sequencing Ozzy Osbourne's DNA. In Canvas Discussion boards, they a guiding set of questions and then respond to their peers. This assignment is a low-stakes pathway for students to build skills to approach and analyze scientific articles thus putting the intimidation behind them. Pre- and post-assignment survey data from Fall 2020 show that this semester-long science literacy assignment increased the number of students with strategies for reading scientific literature. In addition, the percent of students feeling uncomfortable reading scientific articles began at 16% and dropped to 3% by the end of the term. The skills learned in “How to Implement Effective Discussions,“ a 2-week workshop hosted by the UNLV Office of Online Education allowed me to launch this assignment effectively in Canvas Discussions. I also consulted UNLV Librarians to ensure that the assignment aligned to best practices in building science literacy for undergraduate students.

Publisher Location

Las Vegas (Nev.)

Publication Date

2022

Publisher

UNLV Office of Faculty Affairs

Language

English

Keywords

Science literacy; Peer discussion; Primary research articles; Science literature; online learning ; Discussion boards; Scientific articles; Teaching and learning online; Hybrid classroom ideas; Reading literature

Disciplines

Biology | Education | Higher Education | Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

File Format

pdf

File Size

607 KB

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Toward Building Science Literacy


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