Strategies that Facilitate Biology Students’ Understanding of Primary Literature
Track
Research Proposal / Learning Theories and Pedagogy
Abstract
Reading the primary literature leads to many learning gains in biology undergraduates. But why can some students understand research articles more easily than others? We hypothesize that using a variety of metacognitive strategies while reading an article will increase student understanding. Think-aloud interviews of students reading an article were transcribed then coded using a taxonomy for metacognitive activities in text studying. Results suggest: 1) using more metacognitive strategies leads to greater understanding of the text, and 2) tools that aid in student understanding involve organizing thoughts and concepts in ways that go beyond restating the information found in the article.
Session Format
Poster Session
Publication Type and Release Option
Event
Recommended Citation
Knight, Diana L.; Whaley, Grant J.; and Segura-Totten, Miriam, "Strategies that Facilitate Biology Students’ Understanding of Primary Literature" (2017). SoTL Commons Conference. 35.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/sotlcommons/SoTL/2017/35
Strategies that Facilitate Biology Students’ Understanding of Primary Literature
Reading the primary literature leads to many learning gains in biology undergraduates. But why can some students understand research articles more easily than others? We hypothesize that using a variety of metacognitive strategies while reading an article will increase student understanding. Think-aloud interviews of students reading an article were transcribed then coded using a taxonomy for metacognitive activities in text studying. Results suggest: 1) using more metacognitive strategies leads to greater understanding of the text, and 2) tools that aid in student understanding involve organizing thoughts and concepts in ways that go beyond restating the information found in the article.
