How Do Students Interact With the Primary Scientific Literature in an Undergraduate Science Program?

Abstract

The ability to read, understand, and interpret primary scientific literature is an essential skill for undergraduate students in science. This study aimed to provide a detailed understanding of how second- and third-year undergraduate students in a biochemistry and molecular biology major at the University of Melbourne in Australia feel about reading research articles and how often they are expected to do so. Teachers ’ expectations of the students ’ use of literature in their assessment tasks were compared with the experiences of students with their reading of the literature. There was a clear increase in the confidence and reported skills of third-year students, as well as an increase in the importance they see in reading the literature, compared with the second-year students. This increase was matched by much higher teacher expectations that students would read the literature for their assessment tasks. This expectation can be seen in the shift from a low proportion of relatively low-level literature “understand” interactions on Bloom ’s revised taxonomy to a larger proportion of marks for higher-level “analyze.” A more guided approach with second- year students would be beneficial.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yi Hou

Yi Hou ([email protected]) is currently a doctoral student in the Faculty of Education at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.

Heather Verkade

Heather Verkade ([email protected]) is an associate professor in biomedical education in the Department of Biochemisry and Pharmacology, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine Dentistry and Health Sciences

Jan van Driel

Jan van Driel ([email protected]) is a professor in science education, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, Faculty of Education, both at the University of Melbourne in Australia.