ࡱ > %` a bjbjNN @ , , X ` ` ` ` ` ` ` t . . . 8 P. T . t f v 4/ P2 f2 f2 f2 f2 f2 f2 f f f f f f f $ h h sj r :f ` z4 f2 f2 z4 z4 :f ` ` f2 f2 Of ? ? ? z4 \ ` f2 ` f2 pa ? z4 f ? ? n \ ` ` _ f2 (/ .D| . 9 4 ] L_ $ ef 0 f ,] j
= j @ _ j ` _ , f2 L 2 6 ? 2 , 3 f f2 f2 f2 :f :f *? d f2 f2 f2 f z4 z4 z4 z4 t t t $ . t t t . t t t ` ` ` ` ` ` A BIOLOGY JOURNAL CLUB FOR ENGINEERING STUDENTS
July, 2005
Gregory J. Crowther and Mary E. Lidstrom
University of Washington, Seattle WA
ABSTRACT
Aside from engaging students in original laboratory research, exposing them to the primary literature is perhaps the best way to help them understand what professional biologists do and why. We have incorporated a weekly journal club into an introductory biology course for undergraduate and graduate engineering students with no previous college-level biology experience. Here we describe our strategies for selecting the journal articles, assigning homework, and leading in-class discussions of the articles. Most importantly, we recommend (1) choosing articles that relate closely to the lecture material, address a simple question, and will be seen as exciting and important by the students; (2) giving students a study guide that explicitly relates each article to its historical context and to the rest of the course; and (3) leading discussions that allow students to express their confusion and answer each others questions. Preliminary assessment results suggest that students benefit from and enjoy the journal club format despite the additional work involved.
INTRODUCTION
It is generally agreed that science education should include inquiry-based activities that mimic the work of professional scientists ADDIN EN.CITE Mulnix200318750Mulnix, A. B.2003Investigations of protein structure and function using the scientific literature: an assignment for an undergraduate cell physiology courseCell Biology Education24248-55Winter14673490AttitudeAudiovisual Aids*Cell PhysiologyCommunicationCurriculumEducational MeasurementEvaluation StudiesFacultyGroup Processes*Peer Review, Research*PeriodicalsProteins/*chemistry/*metabolism*ReadingResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tStructure-Activity RelationshipStudents/psychologyTeaching/*methodsTime FactorsUniversitieshttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=14673490Department of Biology, Drawer 83, Earlham College, 801 National Road West, Richmond, Indiana 47374, USA. amymul@earlham.edu(Mulnix, 2003). One such activity is open-ended, student-directed laboratory or field research; however, the costs of providing students with the needed technical training, supervision, and equipment can be astronomical. A practical low-cost alternative is to have students read and analyze selected pieces of primary literature. The potential benefits are numerous: students learn to exploit library resources ADDIN EN.CITE Nussbaum199118700Nussbaum, F. E.1991Introduce successful library assignments to students in biological sciencesAmerican Biology Teacher53301-304Am Biol Teach(Nussbaum, 1991); they are exposed to the details of how new scientific discoveries are made; they are stimulated to ask complex comparative and cause-and-effect questions ADDIN EN.CITE Brill200318760Brill, G.Yarden, A.2003Learning biology through research papers: a stimulus for question-asking by high-school studentsCell Biology Education2266-74Winter14673492CurriculumDevelopmental Biology/*educationEducational MeasurementFacultyFemaleHumansIsrael*LearningMale*Peer Review, ResearchPeriodicalsQuestionnairesReading*Research DesignResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov't*SchoolsStudents/*psychologyTeaching/*methodshttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=14673492Department of Science Teaching, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.(Brill and Yarden, 2003); they grapple with ambiguous and surprising data ADDIN EN.CITE Camill200018830Camill, Phil2000Using journal articles in an environmental biology courseJournal of College Science Teaching3038-43BiologyCase StudiesClassroom TechniquesEcologyEnvironmental EducationHigher EducationJournal ArticlesProcess EducationScience ActivitiesScience Process SkillsTeaching MethodsWetlandsEnvironmental Protection AgencyHerman199918810Herman, C.1999Reading the literature in the jargon-intensive field of molecular geneticsJournal of College Science Teaching28252-253(Herman, 1999; Camill, 2000); they acquire a healthy skepticism regarding the claims of published studies ADDIN EN.CITE Alguire199818900Alguire, P. C.1998A review of journal clubs in postgraduate medical educationJournal of General Internal Medicine13347-53May9613892Adult*Education, Medical, Graduate/methodsHumans*PeriodicalsReadinghttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=9613892Department of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA.(Alguire, 1998); they gain confidence in their ability to independently research scientific and medical issues ADDIN EN.CITE Alguire199818900Alguire, P. C.1998A review of journal clubs in postgraduate medical educationJournal of General Internal Medicine13347-53May9613892Adult*Education, Medical, Graduate/methodsHumans*PeriodicalsReadinghttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=9613892Department of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA.Breakwell200318930Breakwell, D. P.2003Using the primary literature in an Allied Health microbiology courseMicrobiology Education430-38Microbiol EducHoude200018840Houde, Anne2000Student symposia on primary research articles: A window into the world of scientific researchJournal of College Science Teaching30184-187ConferencesHigher EducationJournal ArticlesResearch MethodologyScience EducationScientific ResearchTeaching MethodsLake Forest College ILRussell200418680Russell, J. S.Martin, L.Curtin, D.Penhale, S.Trueblood, N. A.2004Non-science majors gain valuable insight studying clinical trials literature: an evidence-based medicine library assignmentAdvances in Physiology Education281-4188-94Dec15545347*Clinical Trials*Evidence-Based MedicineHumans*Libraries, MedicalPhysiology/*educationQuestionnairesResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tTeaching/*methodshttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=15545347Department of Biology, Earlham College, 801 National Road, Richmond, IN 47374, USA.(Alguire, 1998; Houde, 2000; Breakwell, 2003; Russell et al., 2004); and the quality of their own labwork and lab report writing improves ADDIN EN.CITE Herman199918810Herman, C.1999Reading the literature in the jargon-intensive field of molecular geneticsJournal of College Science Teaching28252-253Janick-Buckner199718800Janick-Buckner, Diane1997Getting undergraduates to critically read and discuss primary literatureJournal of College Science Teaching2729-32BiologyContent Area ReadingCourse ContentCytologyHigher EducationLearning StrategiesScience CurriculumScience InstructionUndergraduate StudyKuldell200318870Kuldell, N.2003Read like a scientist to write like a scientistJournal of College Science Teaching3332-35(Janick-Buckner, 1997; Herman, 1999; Kuldell, 2003).
To achieve these benefits, several barriers to student understanding need to be removed or at least kept in mind. Obviously, the technical language of the literature can baffle many students ADDIN EN.CITE Herman199918810Herman, C.1999Reading the literature in the jargon-intensive field of molecular geneticsJournal of College Science Teaching28252-253Breakwell200318930Breakwell, D. P.2003Using the primary literature in an Allied Health microbiology courseMicrobiology Education430-38Microbiol Educ(Herman, 1999; Breakwell, 2003). Students do not always see the connections between the literature and other course content ADDIN EN.CITE Smith200118850Smith, Geoffrey R.2001Guided literature explorations: introducing students to the primary literatureJournal of College Science Teaching30465-469Active LearningBiologyCommunication (thought Transfer)CurriculumEcologyEducational ChangeEvaluationEvolutionHigher EducationScience EducationPrimary Literature(Smith, 2001). Moreover, the Introduction, Methods, and Results sections of articles can all be difficult for different reasons ADDIN EN.CITE Muench200018820Muench, Susan Bandoni2000Choosing primary literature in biology to achieve specific educational goalsJournal of College Science Teaching29255-260BiologyCritical ThinkingEvolutionHigher EducationLiteraturePrimary SourcesScience EducationScientific MethodologyUndergraduate StudyNatural SelectionPrimary LiteratureDeutch199218730Deutch, C. E.1992A strategy for introducing students to the primary literatureBiochemical Education2085-86Smith200118850Smith, Geoffrey R.2001Guided literature explorations: introducing students to the primary literatureJournal of College Science Teaching30465-469Active LearningBiologyCommunication (thought Transfer)CurriculumEcologyEducational ChangeEvaluationEvolutionHigher EducationScience EducationPrimary Literature(Deutch, 1992; Muench, 2000; Smith, 2001). For example, in many Results sections, Data that are not easily visualized are subjected to analytical approaches too complex to do with pencil and paper ADDIN EN.CITE Muench200018820Muench, Susan Bandoni2000Choosing primary literature in biology to achieve specific educational goalsJournal of College Science Teaching29255-260BiologyCritical ThinkingEvolutionHigher EducationLiteraturePrimary SourcesScience EducationScientific MethodologyUndergraduate StudyNatural SelectionPrimary Literature(Muench, 2000). Overall, we believe that students struggle with the primary literature because they do not filter it as professional scientists do. While professionals have learned to set aside confusing but minor details in order to quickly grasp the major points of a paper, students cannot judge what is minor and what is major, so they become overwhelmed by the density of information. It is not surprising that many students approach literature assignments with considerable anxiety ADDIN EN.CITE Smith200118850Smith, Geoffrey R.2001Guided literature explorations: introducing students to the primary literatureJournal of College Science Teaching30465-469Active LearningBiologyCommunication (thought Transfer)CurriculumEcologyEducational ChangeEvaluationEvolutionHigher EducationScience EducationPrimary LiteratureMulnix200318750Mulnix, A. B.2003Investigations of protein structure and function using the scientific literature: an assignment for an undergraduate cell physiology courseCell Biology Education24248-55Winter14673490AttitudeAudiovisual Aids*Cell PhysiologyCommunicationCurriculumEducational MeasurementEvaluation StudiesFacultyGroup Processes*Peer Review, Research*PeriodicalsProteins/*chemistry/*metabolism*ReadingResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tStructure-Activity RelationshipStudents/psychologyTeaching/*methodsTime FactorsUniversitieshttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=14673490Department of Biology, Drawer 83, Earlham College, 801 National Road West, Richmond, Indiana 47374, USA. amymul@earlham.edu(Smith, 2001; Mulnix, 2003).
Despite these obstacles, instructors have integrated literature-related exercises into courses in animal behavior ADDIN EN.CITE Houde200018840Houde, Anne2000Student symposia on primary research articles: A window into the world of scientific researchJournal of College Science Teaching30184-187ConferencesHigher EducationJournal ArticlesResearch MethodologyScience EducationScientific ResearchTeaching MethodsLake Forest College IL(Houde, 2000), biochemistry ADDIN EN.CITE Deutch199218730Deutch, C. E.1992A strategy for introducing students to the primary literatureBiochemical Education2085-86(Deutch, 1992), chemistry ADDIN EN.CITE Drake199718780Drake, B. D.Acosta, G. M.Smith, R. L.1997An effective technique for reading research articles -- the Japanese KENSHU methodJournal of Chemical Education74186-188(Drake et al., 1997), environmental studies ADDIN EN.CITE Camill200018830Camill, Phil2000Using journal articles in an environmental biology courseJournal of College Science Teaching3038-43BiologyCase StudiesClassroom TechniquesEcologyEnvironmental EducationHigher EducationJournal ArticlesProcess EducationScience ActivitiesScience Process SkillsTeaching MethodsWetlandsEnvironmental Protection AgencyChisman199818890Chisman, Janet K.1998Introducing college students to the scientific literature and the libraryJournal of College Science Teaching2839-42Higher EducationLibrary SkillsNonmajorsScience EducationScientific MethodologyTeaching Methods(Chisman, 1998; Camill, 2000), exercise physiology ADDIN EN.CITE Gillen200418670Gillen, C. M.Vaughan, J.Lye, B. R.2004An online tutorial for helping nonscience majors read primary research literature in biologyAdvances in Physiology Education281-495-9Dec15319189Biology/*educationComputer-Assisted Instruction/*methodsCurriculumHumans*PublicationsResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tUniversities/organization & administrationhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=15319189Department of Biology, Kenyon College, Gambler, OH 43022, USA. gillenc@kenyon.edu(Gillen et al., 2004), evolution ADDIN EN.CITE Muench200018820Muench, Susan Bandoni2000Choosing primary literature in biology to achieve specific educational goalsJournal of College Science Teaching29255-260BiologyCritical ThinkingEvolutionHigher EducationLiteraturePrimary SourcesScience EducationScientific MethodologyUndergraduate StudyNatural SelectionPrimary LiteratureSmith200118850Smith, Geoffrey R.2001Guided literature explorations: introducing students to the primary literatureJournal of College Science Teaching30465-469Active LearningBiologyCommunication (thought Transfer)CurriculumEcologyEducational ChangeEvaluationEvolutionHigher EducationScience EducationPrimary Literature(Muench, 2000; Smith, 2001), human biology ADDIN EN.CITE Russell200418680Russell, J. S.Martin, L.Curtin, D.Penhale, S.Trueblood, N. A.2004Non-science majors gain valuable insight studying clinical trials literature: an evidence-based medicine library assignmentAdvances in Physiology Education281-4188-94Dec15545347*Clinical Trials*Evidence-Based MedicineHumans*Libraries, MedicalPhysiology/*educationQuestionnairesResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tTeaching/*methodshttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=15545347Department of Biology, Earlham College, 801 National Road, Richmond, IN 47374, USA.(Russell et al., 2004), medicine ADDIN EN.CITE Edwards200118920Edwards, R.White, M.Gray, J.Fischbacher, C.2001Use of a journal club and letter-writing exercise to teach critical appraisal to medical undergraduatesMedical Education357691-4Jul11437973CommunicationEducation, Medical, Undergraduate/*methodsEducational MeasurementEnglandHumansProfessional Competence/standardsTeaching/*methodsWritinghttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=11437973Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, The Medical School, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, UK.Bennett198718770Bennett, K. J.Sackett, D. L.Haynes, R. B.Neufeld, V. R.Tugwell, P.Roberts, R.1987A controlled trial of teaching critical appraisal of the clinical literature to medical studentsJAMA2572451-4May 83573243*Clinical Clerkship*CurriculumDiagnosis*Education, Medical, UndergraduateEvaluation StudiesOntarioProfessional Competence*Research DesignTherapeuticshttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=3573243(Bennett et al., 1987; Edwards et al., 2001), microbiology ADDIN EN.CITE Breakwell200318930Breakwell, D. P.2003Using the primary literature in an Allied Health microbiology courseMicrobiology Education430-38Microbiol Educ(Breakwell, 2003), and molecular/cell biology ADDIN EN.CITE DebBurman200218740DebBurman, S. K.2002Learning how scientists work: experiential research projects to promote cell biology learning and scientific process skillsCell Biology Education14154-72Winter12669101Biology/*educationBiomedical Research/*education*CellsCurriculumData CollectionEducation/*methodsHumansJournalism*Research PersonnelRole PlayingStudents/psychology*UniversitiesWritinghttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=12669101Department of Biology, Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, Illinois 60045, USA. debburman@lfc.eduSmith200218720Smith, C. N.2002Using the cell signaling literature to teach molecular biology to undergraduatesBiochemistry and Molecular Biology Education30380-383(DebBurman, 2002; Smith, 2002). Although many of these reports focus on biology majors, several report success in introducing biology literature to nonmajors ADDIN EN.CITE Breakwell200318930Breakwell, D. P.2003Using the primary literature in an Allied Health microbiology courseMicrobiology Education430-38Microbiol EducChisman199818890Chisman, Janet K.1998Introducing college students to the scientific literature and the libraryJournal of College Science Teaching2839-42Higher EducationLibrary SkillsNonmajorsScience EducationScientific MethodologyTeaching MethodsEpstein197218940Epstein, H. T.1972An experiment in educationNature235203-205Gillen200418670Gillen, C. M.Vaughan, J.Lye, B. R.2004An online tutorial for helping nonscience majors read primary research literature in biologyAdvances in Physiology Education281-495-9Dec15319189Biology/*educationComputer-Assisted Instruction/*methodsCurriculumHumans*PublicationsResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tUniversities/organization & administrationhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=15319189Department of Biology, Kenyon College, Gambler, OH 43022, USA. gillenc@kenyon.eduPall200018710Pall, M. L.2000The value of scientific peer-reviewed literature in a general education science courseAmerican Biology Teacher62256-258Russell200418680Russell, J. S.Martin, L.Curtin, D.Penhale, S.Trueblood, N. A.2004Non-science majors gain valuable insight studying clinical trials literature: an evidence-based medicine library assignmentAdvances in Physiology Education281-4188-94Dec15545347*Clinical Trials*Evidence-Based MedicineHumans*Libraries, MedicalPhysiology/*educationQuestionnairesResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tTeaching/*methodshttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=15545347Department of Biology, Earlham College, 801 National Road, Richmond, IN 47374, USA.(Epstein, 1972; Chisman, 1998; Pall, 2000; Breakwell, 2003; Gillen et al., 2004; Russell et al., 2004). As pointed out by Gillen et al., In college introductory classes, students routinely read difficult primary writings, for example, those of Shakespeare and Kant. Nonscience majors thus may be familiar with the process of critical analysis of texts ADDIN EN.CITE Gillen200418670Gillen, C. M.Vaughan, J.Lye, B. R.2004An online tutorial for helping nonscience majors read primary research literature in biologyAdvances in Physiology Education281-495-9Dec15319189Biology/*educationComputer-Assisted Instruction/*methodsCurriculumHumans*PublicationsResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tUniversities/organization & administrationhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=15319189Department of Biology, Kenyon College, Gambler, OH 43022, USA. gillenc@kenyon.edu(Gillen et al., 2004). In a few cases, literature-based assignments have even been implemented at the high-school level ADDIN EN.CITE Ellis199018690Ellis, L. K.1990Using scientific journals in the secondary science curriculumAmerican Biology Teacher52235-239Am Biol TeachDrake199718780Drake, B. D.Acosta, G. M.Smith, R. L.1997An effective technique for reading research articles -- the Japanese KENSHU methodJournal of Chemical Education74186-188Brill200318760Brill, G.Yarden, A.2003Learning biology through research papers: a stimulus for question-asking by high-school studentsCell Biology Education2266-74Winter14673492CurriculumDevelopmental Biology/*educationEducational MeasurementFacultyFemaleHumansIsrael*LearningMale*Peer Review, ResearchPeriodicalsQuestionnairesReading*Research DesignResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov't*SchoolsStudents/*psychologyTeaching/*methodshttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=14673492Department of Science Teaching, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.(Ellis, 1990; Drake et al., 1997; Brill and Yarden, 2003).
We teach a course called Biological Frameworks for Engineers to undergraduate and graduate engineering students with no previous college-level biology experience. In running a weekly journal club for our students, we have employed some techniques described previously and others that may be new. These techniques are described below. The centerpiece of our efforts is a weekly study guide that accompanies each assigned article; previous study guides are available online for the benefit of interested readers.
METHODS
Course Background
Biological Frameworks for Engineers is an elective one-quarter course offered to undergraduate juniors and seniors as well as graduate students. The students typically have not taken any biology since high school.
The class consists of about 20 students per quarter. We meet twice per week for 120 minutes per session. The course begins with introductory material on the components of a cell, transcription and translation, protein structure and function, and genetic diseases. The rest of the course content varies somewhat depending on the quarter. With chemical engineers, we cover topics such as cellular metabolism, metabolic engineering, and bioremediation; with electrical engineers, we discuss circuit models of gene expression, cells as batteries, and lab-on-a-chip devices.
We believe that engineers learn best when engaged in solving problems. Consequently the course includes numerous problem sets, discussions, computer simulations, and labs as well as traditional lectures.
Journal Club Format
Aside from the two regular 120-minute sessions per week, graduate students are required to attend a weekly 60-minute journal club session. (The journal club is optional for undergraduates.) Each journal club session is an instructor-led discussion of a piece of literature handed out a week earlier along with a study guide. The graduate students are graded on their participation in these discussions, accounting for 10% of their overall course grade. We give each student a grade for each session immediately after the session, while their contributions are still fresh in our mind ADDIN EN.CITE Janick-Buckner199718800Janick-Buckner, Diane1997Getting undergraduates to critically read and discuss primary literatureJournal of College Science Teaching2729-32BiologyContent Area ReadingCourse ContentCytologyHigher EducationLearning StrategiesScience CurriculumScience InstructionUndergraduate Study(Janick-Buckner, 1997).
Article Selection
We use several criteria to select articles that are interesting and appropriate for students with minimal biology background. Our criteria overlap somewhat with those of Muensch ADDIN EN.CITE Muench200018820Muench, Susan Bandoni2000Choosing primary literature in biology to achieve specific educational goalsJournal of College Science Teaching29255-260BiologyCritical ThinkingEvolutionHigher EducationLiteraturePrimary SourcesScience EducationScientific MethodologyUndergraduate StudyNatural SelectionPrimary Literature(Muench, 2000). Examples of articles and notes on why they were chosen are presented in Table 1.
Length. Two to four pages the length of many short reports in Nature and Science is ideal. Students should have time to read the paper twice, since most papers make a lot more sense the second time through. Using short articles also limits the number of different experimental techniques that students encounter in a given article ADDIN EN.CITE Muench200018820Muench, Susan Bandoni2000Choosing primary literature in biology to achieve specific educational goalsJournal of College Science Teaching29255-260BiologyCritical ThinkingEvolutionHigher EducationLiteraturePrimary SourcesScience EducationScientific MethodologyUndergraduate StudyNatural SelectionPrimary Literature(Muench, 2000).
A generalist audience. Multi-discipline journals such as Nature, Science, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences tend to publish biology articles that are accessible to non-biologists ADDIN EN.CITE Herman199918810Herman, C.1999Reading the literature in the jargon-intensive field of molecular geneticsJournal of College Science Teaching28252-253Muench200018820Muench, Susan Bandoni2000Choosing primary literature in biology to achieve specific educational goalsJournal of College Science Teaching29255-260BiologyCritical ThinkingEvolutionHigher EducationLiteraturePrimary SourcesScience EducationScientific MethodologyUndergraduate StudyNatural SelectionPrimary Literature(Herman, 1999; Muench, 2000). Articles from medical journals also tend to be relatively accessible, since their audience includes physicians with little research training ADDIN EN.CITE Pall200018710Pall, M. L.2000The value of scientific peer-reviewed literature in a general education science courseAmerican Biology Teacher62256-258(Pall, 2000).
Connection with lectures and labs. The more closely an article relates to the rest of the course, the better. Lectures and labs should supply background information that will help the students understand the articles; ideally, an article will cover experimental techniques that the students do in lab ADDIN EN.CITE Camill200018830Camill, Phil2000Using journal articles in an environmental biology courseJournal of College Science Teaching3038-43BiologyCase StudiesClassroom TechniquesEcologyEnvironmental EducationHigher EducationJournal ArticlesProcess EducationScience ActivitiesScience Process SkillsTeaching MethodsWetlandsEnvironmental Protection Agency(Camill, 2000). Care should be taken to avoid the perception that articles are randomly selected and unrelated to lecture material.
Significance of findings. Although students can benefit from studying seriously flawed papers ADDIN EN.CITE Meers200318880Meers, M.Demers, N. E.Savarese, M.2003Presenting the scientific processJournal of College Science Teaching3334-39(Meers et al., 2003), we generally select articles whose importance genuinely excites us. Examples are classic papers in which Nobel Prize-winning work was first reported and recent cutting-edge papers, often related to a disease. Students are more willing to struggle through a paper if theyre convinced that it represents a major breakthrough. To promote the students interest, we give each series of articles a provocative title such as Great Moments in Biology or Breakthroughs in Biology.
Whats the question? We favor papers that address a very simple question (even if the answer turns out to be somewhat complicated). Students should continually be thinking about how the details of a paper relate to the overall question being addressed. This will be much easier if they actually understand the question.
Clear Introduction and Methods sections. Clear prose is helpful in general but especially important in the Introduction and Methods sections. The Introduction provides the big-picture context for the details to follow, and if students do not grasp the big picture they are unlikely to digest or care about the details. Methods sections are often incomprehensible to novice biologists, but a few authors actually identify their control experiments as such and group experimental steps together in meaningful ways. Look for helpful summary statements such as, We tested our hypothesis in the following three ways and The overall purpose of the 17 steps listed below was
Clear figures. These are particularly useful for visual learners and, if designed well, can compensate for mediocre text by compactly highlighting key methods and data. Good figures facilitate good class discussions ADDIN EN.CITE Smith200218720Smith, C. N.2002Using the cell signaling literature to teach molecular biology to undergraduatesBiochemistry and Molecular Biology Education30380-383Kuldell200318870Kuldell, N.2003Read like a scientist to write like a scientistJournal of College Science Teaching3332-35(Smith, 2002; Kuldell, 2003), since the basic story of the article can often be reconstructed by discussing the figures in the order that they appear ADDIN EN.CITE Janick-Buckner199718800Janick-Buckner, Diane1997Getting undergraduates to critically read and discuss primary literatureJournal of College Science Teaching2729-32BiologyContent Area ReadingCourse ContentCytologyHigher EducationLearning StrategiesScience CurriculumScience InstructionUndergraduate Study(Janick-Buckner, 1997).
Back-up option: review articles. If suitable primary literature cannot be found, we assign a review article instead. Examples include the articles in Table 1 by Kandel and by Lindstedt et al. Reviews can summarize huge amounts of data, reconcile seemingly contradictory studies, and generally provide a broader perspective than primary research articles. Students can benefit from all of these advantages.
Study Guide Design
Our study guides bear some resemblance to those of Deutch ADDIN EN.CITE Deutch199218730Deutch, C. E.1992A strategy for introducing students to the primary literatureBiochemical Education2085-86(Deutch, 1992), who lists the goals of the study, definitions of key terms and techniques, and questions to guide students through the article. Study guides for all of the articles listed in Table 1 are available at www.biologyforengineers.org. In general, our study guides include the following features.
Essential background information. We define a few vocabulary words that must be understood for the paper to make sense. We also put the article in its historical context, explaining what was and wasnt known at the time of the study.
Thought questions. We move students through the paper with questions that focus their attention on the aspects we consider most important. We make some of the questions very easy (so that every student will arrive at the discussion with some confidence and something to say) and others very hard (so that even the best students will arrive at the discussion eager to clear up some uncertainties). Rangachari and Mierson have published a useful checklist of critical evaluation questions that can be applied to any article ADDIN EN.CITE Rangachari199518660Rangachari, P. K.Mierson, S.1995A checklist to help students analyze published articles in basic medical sciencesAmerican Journal of Physiology2686 Pt 3S21-5Jun7598169Education, Medical, Undergraduate/*methodsHumans*PeriodicalsQuestionnaires*Readinghttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=7598169Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.(Rangachari and Mierson, 1995); however, we prefer to tailor our questions to each article according to our specific pedagogical objectives.
Suggestions to ignore parts of the article. Since we are not aiming for 100% comprehension of the articles, we feel justified in telling students to ignore certain aspects of them, thus minimizing the time they spend agonizing over tangential details. Other instructors have achieved this same goal by removing or rewriting difficult parts of articles ADDIN EN.CITE Brill200318760Brill, G.Yarden, A.2003Learning biology through research papers: a stimulus for question-asking by high-school studentsCell Biology Education2266-74Winter14673492CurriculumDevelopmental Biology/*educationEducational MeasurementFacultyFemaleHumansIsrael*LearningMale*Peer Review, ResearchPeriodicalsQuestionnairesReading*Research DesignResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov't*SchoolsStudents/*psychologyTeaching/*methodshttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=14673492Department of Science Teaching, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.Smith200118850Smith, Geoffrey R.2001Guided literature explorations: introducing students to the primary literatureJournal of College Science Teaching30465-469Active LearningBiologyCommunication (thought Transfer)CurriculumEcologyEducational ChangeEvaluationEvolutionHigher EducationScience EducationPrimary Literature(Smith, 2001; Brill and Yarden, 2003), but we have left the articles intact for any curious or motivated students who want to see things as originally published.
In-Class Discussions
Leading engaging discussions is something of an art. We have had reasonable success by adhering to the following guidelines.
Keep groups as small as possible. Even a group size of eight to ten may suppress input by some students, in which case groups can be subdivided for part of the discussion period.
Base the discussion around the study guide questions. After all, the questions on the study guide represent the most important aspects of the article. However, we try not to stick too rigidly to the study guide, since student questions and comments may send the discussion off in other fruitful directions. Also, if discussions are devoted solely to the study guides, some students who think they have already mastered the study guides may not participate.
Be supportive of confused students. For example, DebBurman ADDIN EN.CITE DebBurman200218740DebBurman, S. K.2002Learning how scientists work: experiential research projects to promote cell biology learning and scientific process skillsCell Biology Education14154-72Winter12669101Biology/*educationBiomedical Research/*education*CellsCurriculumData CollectionEducation/*methodsHumansJournalism*Research PersonnelRole PlayingStudents/psychology*UniversitiesWritinghttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=12669101Department of Biology, Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, Illinois 60045, USA. debburman@lfc.edu(DebBurman, 2002) tells his students that they are not expected to understand more than one-fourth of an article when they discuss it with him for the first time. This relatively low baseline makes it clear that students should not be ashamed by their initial confusion.
Let students answer each others questions. Student questions are usually directed to us, but we often redirect the questions back to the class. Also, we sometimes have students work in groups of three for the first few minutes of the period, with no instructor involvement, so that they can resolve some issues without having to demonstrate their confusion to the instructor and the entire class.
Get students to use the blackboard. Drawing out molecular structures, expected data, etc. will often reveal assumptions or misunderstandings ADDIN EN.CITE Camill200018830Camill, Phil2000Using journal articles in an environmental biology courseJournal of College Science Teaching3038-43BiologyCase StudiesClassroom TechniquesEcologyEnvironmental EducationHigher EducationJournal ArticlesProcess EducationScience ActivitiesScience Process SkillsTeaching MethodsWetlandsEnvironmental Protection Agency(Camill, 2000). In addition, discussing a figure is often easier than can discussing an abstract thought.
Point out the strengths and limitations of each article. Students need to be reminded that even well-done research is not infallible.
Assessment
Two types of assessment of the journal club have been performed thus far. First, a standard end-of-course student comment sheet is distributed at the end of each quarter to collect input on all aspects of the course. This sheet asks open-ended questions such as, What aspects of this class contributed most to your learning? and What aspects of this class detracted from your learning? Second, an additional journal club-specific survey (see Figure 1) was given to the graduate students who took the course in the winter quarter of 2004. Anonymity was preserved for all questionnaires, and students were assured that their comments would be read only after final grades were turned in.
RESULTS
A total of 29 students have participated in the journal club over the three quarters in which it has been offered. One might hypothesize that the students would be resentful of the journal club, since it represents a fifth hour of in-class work for a course for which they only receive three credits. Indeed, one student complained about this on his/her comment sheet. However, this student was the only one to list the journal club as an aspect of the course that detracted from their learning. Nine other students (31%) specifically mentioned the journal club in response to the question, What aspects of this class contributed most to your learning?
This generally positive attitude toward the journal club is also reflected in the one club-specific survey administered thus far. As indicated in Table 2, the students surveyed felt that the workload was appropriate and that the journal club was a useful supplement to the rest of the class. Students also gave fairly high marks to most of the articles selected for discussion. Although most students thought they had adequate chances to express themselves during the discussions, one student disagreed.
A variety of written comments concerning the journal club were also made on both surveys. A representative sampling is shown in Table 3. Two themes seem to emerge from the comments. First, many students praised the tight connection between lecture material and the articles. Second, some students felt the journal club was sufficiently worthwhile to expand it to extend it by an extra week, for example, or to include undergraduates or divide the main discussion group into subgroups.
DISCUSSION
Our assessment data, while limited, suggest that most students benefit from and enjoy the journal club in its current format. Several students praised the close ties between the assigned articles and lectures. The only problems cited by students are the additional work required by the club and the difficulties of getting a chance to speak during a discussion in which everyone has something to say. Although the latter complaint initially surprised us we didnt think this would be a problem in a discussion group of eight people we took it to heart and have since broken up the main group into subgroups when possible. As noted in the Methods, we tend to do this toward the beginning of sessions so that students can bounce ideas off of each other before having to present them to the entire group.
Our approach to the literature differs from previously described approaches in several respects. Many of these differences probably stem from differences in the students being taught, the number of articles studied, and/or the amount of in-class and out-of-class time devoted to each article. Nevertheless, a few are worth mentioning here.
To ensure that students prepare thoroughly for in-class sessions devoted to literature, many instructors quiz students on the articles or have them hand in written summaries ADDIN EN.CITE Breakwell200318930Breakwell, D. P.2003Using the primary literature in an Allied Health microbiology courseMicrobiology Education430-38Microbiol EducGillen200418670Gillen, C. M.Vaughan, J.Lye, B. R.2004An online tutorial for helping nonscience majors read primary research literature in biologyAdvances in Physiology Education281-495-9Dec15319189Biology/*educationComputer-Assisted Instruction/*methodsCurriculumHumans*PublicationsResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tUniversities/organization & administrationhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=15319189Department of Biology, Kenyon College, Gambler, OH 43022, USA. gillenc@kenyon.eduHoude200018840Houde, Anne2000Student symposia on primary research articles: A window into the world of scientific researchJournal of College Science Teaching30184-187ConferencesHigher EducationJournal ArticlesResearch MethodologyScience EducationScientific ResearchTeaching MethodsLake Forest College ILJanick-Buckner199718800Janick-Buckner, Diane1997Getting undergraduates to critically read and discuss primary literatureJournal of College Science Teaching2729-32BiologyContent Area ReadingCourse ContentCytologyHigher EducationLearning StrategiesScience CurriculumScience InstructionUndergraduate StudyLevine200118860Levine, Elena2001Reading your way to scientific literacyJournal of College Science Teaching31122-125Critical ThinkingHigher EducationReading AssignmentsScience InstructionScientific LiteracyUndergraduate StudySmith200218720Smith, C. N.2002Using the cell signaling literature to teach molecular biology to undergraduatesBiochemistry and Molecular Biology Education30380-383(Janick-Buckner, 1997; Houde, 2000; Levine, 2001; Smith, 2002; Breakwell, 2003; Gillen et al., 2004). We did not do this because we did not want to further increase the workload associated with this portion of the course, especially since one of our main goals was to make reading the literature less stressful and intimidating to novice biology students. Some professors allow students to select their own articles to read ADDIN EN.CITE Pall200018710Pall, M. L.2000The value of scientific peer-reviewed literature in a general education science courseAmerican Biology Teacher62256-258(Pall, 2000), which seems reasonable as long as the instructor provides some guidance and reviews the selections. Also, some have their students write down all of an articles unfamiliar vocabulary words ADDIN EN.CITE DebBurman200218740DebBurman, S. K.2002Learning how scientists work: experiential research projects to promote cell biology learning and scientific process skillsCell Biology Education14154-72Winter12669101Biology/*educationBiomedical Research/*education*CellsCurriculumData CollectionEducation/*methodsHumansJournalism*Research PersonnelRole PlayingStudents/psychology*UniversitiesWritinghttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=12669101Department of Biology, Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, Illinois 60045, USA. debburman@lfc.edu(DebBurman, 2002); this probably works well with advanced students, but given the potentially lengthy lists of our students, we focused on a holistic understanding of the articles rather than a comprehensive attack on the vocabulary. Finally, some literature series are structured so that the students are weaned away from the instructors help over the course of the semester ADDIN EN.CITE Deutch199218730Deutch, C. E.1992A strategy for introducing students to the primary literatureBiochemical Education2085-86Kuldell200318870Kuldell, N.2003Read like a scientist to write like a scientistJournal of College Science Teaching3332-35Muench200018820Muench, Susan Bandoni2000Choosing primary literature in biology to achieve specific educational goalsJournal of College Science Teaching29255-260BiologyCritical ThinkingEvolutionHigher EducationLiteraturePrimary SourcesScience EducationScientific MethodologyUndergraduate StudyNatural SelectionPrimary LiteratureSmith200118850Smith, Geoffrey R.2001Guided literature explorations: introducing students to the primary literatureJournal of College Science Teaching30465-469Active LearningBiologyCommunication (thought Transfer)CurriculumEcologyEducational ChangeEvaluationEvolutionHigher EducationScience EducationPrimary Literature(Deutch, 1992; Muench, 2000; Smith, 2001; Kuldell, 2003). We heartily endorse this progression when the course and articles are confined to a fairly specific field; if the articles overlap in terms of terminology, research questions, and methods, they should get progressively easier for the students. Unfortunately, our course is so broad that each article is rather unlike the others, so we do not make the study guides progressively shorter.
In summary, we have combined others approaches to teaching primary literature with our own strategies to create a journal club that appears useful for students with limited training in biology. Consistent with previous work, preliminary feedback suggests not only that nonmajors are capable of reading the literature, but that many of them genuinely enjoy the experience when given appropriate assistance and encouragement. We offer our study guides to other instructors in the hope that they can be adapted for other classes.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Dr. Carolyn Plumb (Director of Strategic Projects, Montana State University College of Engineering) compiled and analyzed some of the assessment data. Quan Zhou (graduate student, University of Washington Department of Technical Communication) maintains the website www.biologyforengineers.org, where our study guides are posted. John Koschwanez (graduate student, University of Washington Department of Electrical Engineering) helped select some articles and led some discussion sessions. The Biological Frameworks for Engineers course is supported by a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to Mary Lidstrom.
REFERENCES
ADDIN EN.REFLIST Alguire, P. C. (1998). A review of journal clubs in postgraduate medical education. J. Gen. Intern. Med. 13, 347-53.
Bennett, K. J., Sackett, D. L., Haynes, R. B., Neufeld, V. R., Tugwell, P., and Roberts, R. (1987). A controlled trial of teaching critical appraisal of the clinical literature to medical students. JAMA 257, 2451-4.
Breakwell, D. P. (2003). Using the primary literature in an Allied Health microbiology course. Microbiol. Educ. 4, 30-38.
Brill, G., and Yarden, A. (2003). Learning biology through research papers: a stimulus for question-asking by high-school students. Cell. Biol. Educ. 2, 266-74.
Camill, P. (2000). Using journal articles in an environmental biology course. J. Coll. Sci. Teach. 30, 38-43.
Chisman, J. K. (1998). Introducing college students to the scientific literature and the library. J. Coll. Sci. Teach. 28, 39-42.
DebBurman, S. K. (2002). Learning how scientists work: experiential research projects to promote cell biology learning and scientific process skills. Cell. Biol. Educ. 1, 154-72.
Deutch, C. E. (1992). A strategy for introducing students to the primary literature. Biochem. Educ. 20, 85-86.
Drake, B. D., Acosta, G. M., and Smith, R. L. (1997). An effective technique for reading research articles -- the Japanese KENSHU method. J. Chem. Educ. 74, 186-188.
Edwards, R., White, M., Gray, J., and Fischbacher, C. (2001). Use of a journal club and letter-writing exercise to teach critical appraisal to medical undergraduates. Med. Educ. 35, 691-4.
Ellis, L. K. (1990). Using scientific journals in the secondary science curriculum. Am. Biol. Teach. 52, 235-239.
Epstein, H. T. (1972). An experiment in education. Nature 235, 203-205.
Gillen, C. M., Vaughan, J., and Lye, B. R. (2004). An online tutorial for helping nonscience majors read primary research literature in biology. Adv. Physiol. Educ. 28, 95-9.
Herman, C. (1999). Reading the literature in the jargon-intensive field of molecular genetics. J. Coll. Sci. Teach. 28, 252-253.
Houde, A. (2000). Student symposia on primary research articles: A window into the world of scientific research. J. Coll. Sci. Teach. 30, 184-187.
Janick-Buckner, D. (1997). Getting undergraduates to critically read and discuss primary literature. J. Coll. Sci. Teach. 27, 29-32.
Kuldell, N. (2003). Read like a scientist to write like a scientist. J. Coll. Sci. Teach. 33, 32-35.
Levine, E. (2001). Reading your way to scientific literacy. J. Coll. Sci. Teach. 31, 122-125.
Meers, M., Demers, N. E., and Savarese, M. (2003). Presenting the scientific process. J. Coll. Sci. Teach. 33, 34-39.
Muench, S. B. (2000). Choosing primary literature in biology to achieve specific educational goals. J. Coll. Sci. Teach. 29, 255-260.
Mulnix, A. B. (2003). Investigations of protein structure and function using the scientific literature: an assignment for an undergraduate cell physiology course. Cell. Biol. Educ. 2, 248-55.
Nussbaum, F. E. (1991). Introduce successful library assignments to students in biological sciences. Am. Biol. Teach. 53, 301-304.
Pall, M. L. (2000). The value of scientific peer-reviewed literature in a general education science course. Am. Biol. Teach. 62, 256-258.
Rangachari, P. K., and Mierson, S. (1995). A checklist to help students analyze published articles in basic medical sciences. Am. J. Physiol. 268, S21-5.
Russell, J. S., Martin, L., Curtin, D., Penhale, S., and Trueblood, N. A. (2004). Non-science majors gain valuable insight studying clinical trials literature: an evidence-based medicine library assignment. Adv. Physiol. Educ. 28, 188-94.
Smith, C. N. (2002). Using the cell signaling literature to teach molecular biology to undergraduates. Biochem. Mol. Biol. Educ. 30, 380-383.
Smith, G. R. (2001). Guided literature explorations: introducing students to the primary literature. J. Coll. Sci. Teach. 30, 465-469.
TABLES
Table 1. Examples of biology articles selected for use with engineering students.
Article CommentsV. M. Ingram, "Gene mutations in hmoglobin: the chemical difference between normal and sickle-cell hmoglobin," Nature 180: 326-328, 1957.Many courses, including ours, teach protein structure using hemoglobin as an example. This paper is a natural extension of that, allowing us to discuss how a single amino acid change affects tertiary and quaternary structure. We also consult the genetic code to determine the DNA mutation responsible for the amino acid change. W. Gilbert and B. Mller-Hill, The lac operator is DNA, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 58: 2415-2421, 1967. The lac operon is a standard model for understanding the control of gene expression. This study helped unravel how it works. The first three pages can be read independently of the rest. Gilbert is a Nobel Prize winner.E. M. Purcell, Life at low Reynolds number, American Journal of Physics 45: 3-11, 1977.A transcript of a delightfully informal lecture (with hand-drawn figures) in which principles of physics and engineering are used to illuminate the swimming behavior of bacteria. Good for convincing engineers that their knowledge is relevant to biology. F. Sanger et al., "DNA sequencing with chain-terminating inhibitors," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 74: 5463-5467, 1977.Sanger won his second Nobel Prize for papers such as this one, which describes a method of DNA sequencing still used today. Our students send a DNA sample to a sequencing facility, and reading this paper ensures that they understand how DNA sequencing is done. Well written, with a good Discussion on the strengths and limitations of the method.H.-R. Lscher et al., How the size of motoneurones determines their susceptibility to discharge, Nature 282: 859-861, 1979.This study, from Elwood Hennemans lab, concerns his famous size principle, which dictates that the largest motor neurons are the last to be recruited. Can we understand why based on the physical properties of the neurons? Well written.E. R. Kandel, "Calcium and the control of synaptic strength by learning," Nature 293: 697-700, 1981.A review describing how a complex phenomenon (learning) can be explained in part by changes at the cellular level. Good for exploring the topic of how synapses work, with less jargon than most neuroscience papers. Well written. Kandel won a Nobel Prize. S. L. Lindstedt et al., "Limitations to aerobic performance in mammals: interaction of structure and demand," International Journal of Sport Medicine 9: 210-217, 1988.Models the oxygen cascade (lungs to blood to muscles) as a series of resistors and asks whether one resistor limits the overall flux or whether the resistors are tuned to each other. Good for electrical engineers trying to understand biological fluxes. Also a good example of meta-analysis figures drawing upon data from numerous previous studies.G. J. Lutz and L. C. Rome, Built for jumping: the design of the frog muscular system, Science 263: 370-372, 1994.The length-tension curve and force-velocity curve are fundamentals of muscle physiology. This study revisits them in order to figure out how frogs can jump so far, another problem that resonates with engineers.K. P. Lemon and A. D. Grossman, "Localization of bacterial DNA polymerase: evidence for a factory model of replication," Science 282: 1516-1519, 1998.A paper that combines three topics covered elsewhere in our course: green fluorescent protein (GFP), the lac operon, and DNA polymerase. The question posed is wonderfully simple: does DNA polymerase move along the DNA, or does the DNA move while the polymerase remains stationary? And the first five or so paragraphs are beautifully written.M. B. Elowitz and S. Leibler, "A synthetic oscillatory network of transcriptional regulators," Nature 403: 335-338, 2000.An interesting example of how cells can be engineered to behave in interesting, non-natural ways. In this case, an artificial cellular "clock" with oscillating GFP levels was created. Expands on lecture material about circuit models of gene expression; combines modeling with experiments. Y. Shav-Tal et al., Dynamics of single mRNPs in nuclei of living cells, Science 304: 1797-1800, 2004.How can you detect and track the movement of individual molecules inside cells? This sort of detection problem is perfect for collaborations between biologists and engineers.
Table 2. A journal club assessment survey given to electrical engineering graduate students who took the course in the winter quarter of 2004. See Table 1 for complete citations of journal articles. The number of students choosing a given answer is shown next to each answer.
1. The workload for this portion of the course (Thursday noon discussions) was:
much too heavy
somewhat too heavy
about right
somewhat too light
0 much too light
2. These assignments/discussions were a useful supplement to the rest of the course.
agree strongly
agree somewhat
not sure
disagree somewhat
0 disagree strongly
3. In these discussions, I had adequate opportunities to express my opinions and ask questions.
agree strongly
agree somewhat
not sure
1 disagree somewhat
0 disagree strongly
4. Please rate each of the following assignments on a scale of A (extremely worthwhile) to E (not at all worthwhile).
5 As, 2 Bs Ingram, 1957
6 As, 1 C Elowitz & Leibler, 2000
6 As, 1 B Sanger et al., 1977
5 Bs, 1 C, 1 D Kandel, 1981
2 As, 1 B, 4 Cs Lindstedt et al., 1988
2 As, 3 Bs, 1 D Lemon & Grossman, 1998
Table 3. Sample comments regarding the journal club compiled from anonymous end-of-quarter surveys.
I dislike lit review sessions 5 hours of meeting for a 3-credit course.
Breakout discussion groups would allow more people to contribute.
The literature review sessions were excellent ways to ingrain the course material.
I think that the papers were extremely topical. It is hard to make suggestions for other topics when the ones chosen matched so well with lecture topics.
All papers assigned were extremely relevant to the material being covered at the time. The only topic(s) I would have liked to cover more was the basics of DNA replication, transcription, translation, protein folding, or types of protein structure and what it does. Thats a lot to ask for from one course early on, but if for instance we had started this literature review one week earlier, such a paper might have fit in well.
I liked having papers that were normally a few pages in length, because the material could easily be looked over within an afternoon and I thought most of the papers were interesting and easy to understand (particularly after going over them in review sessions).
Should make [reading of research literature] mandatory for undergrads, too.
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