Reading Primary Literature in Intro Bio

Anne CasperEastern Michigan University

Lab Report Assignments for our Intro Bio students

3 2 1 0Relevance of sources

Sources are used that address the argument(s) or idea(s) from multiple angles.

Sources directly support the argument(s) or idea(s)

Sources are tangential to argument(s) or idea(s)

No sources, or sources are listed in works cited but not used in body of text.

Writing Assessment Rubric

3 2 1 0Selection of Resources*

Use of BOTH primary and secondary literature, with good reliance on primary literature. No reliance on tertiary literature.

Use of primary or secondary literature. No reliance on tertiary literature.

Some reliance on tertiary literature, but also use of either primary or secondary literature.

Complete reliance on tertiary literature and/or use of sources indicates confusion and lack of understanding.

Writing Assessment Rubric

* Primary literature: peer-reviewed publications of original research in scholarly journals* Secondary literature: peer-reviewed literature reviews published in scholarly journals* Tertiary literature: text books, internet sites, articles written for a general audience etc.

3 2 1 0Integration of sources

Effectively integrates sources into their argument i.e., sources are not used sequentially but instead build around ideas

Sources are generally sequential, but student uses more than 1-2 sentences from the source.

Only 1-2 sentences from source are used to support the argument. (Student does not appear to understand source.)

No sources, or sources are used inappropriately, or sources are listed in works cited but not used in body of text.

Writing Assessment Rubric

3 2 1 0Organization

Logical organization of the work, plus outstanding transitions and clear linking of the relationships between sections.

There is a logical progression or organization to the work.

Organization or progression could improve.

Progression or organization not logical or clear.

Writing Assessment Rubric

How are we introducing our students to the primary literature?

1. Reinforce concepts from lecture and lab activities

2. Demonstrate how concepts from class are applied by research scientists

3. Increase students’ awareness of how research is conducted

4. Increase students’ ability to read and understand primary literature

5. Increase students’ ability to integrate information from primary literature in their lab reports

My goals for reading primary lit in Intro Bio I

Start with “How to Read a Scientific Paper”

http://www.lib.purdue.edu/phys/inst/scipaper.html

General Questions1. Is this article primary scientific literature or secondary scientific

literature? How do you know?

2. At first, it may look like this article does not begin with an abstract. But, there actually *is* one – where is this article’s abstract?

3. What is the name of the journal in which this article was published? In what year was the article published?

4. Where is the research laboratory where the first author of this article works? (Hint: Look at the end of the article to find this information.)

5. Where did the authors get the money to support the research in this article?

Questions on the Introduction

8. Two research groups recently reported what causes HPGS.a. HGPS is caused by mutations in what gene?b. In what year did these two groups publish their discovery?c. What journals did these two groups publish their papers in?

Questions on the Introduction9. On the inner surface of the membrane surrounding the

nucleus, there is a meshwork of intermediate filaments. This meshwork, called the nuclear lamina, provides structural support to the nuclear membrane, and is involved in breakdown and reformation of the nuclear membrane during cell division.

a. What are the three main components of the nuclear lamina?

b. Lamin A and Lamin C are both encoded by the same gene. How is it possible for two different proteins to be made from the same gene?

Questions on the Introduction

10.Based on the results of the two previous papers about HGPS, does this disease have an autosomal dominant or autosomal recessive pattern of inheritance?

10.If there have already been two articles published on what causes HGPS, why did the authors think it was important to publish this article, since it’s also on the same topic?

Questions on the Results

Look at the “Carrier” sequence results. Why does the carrier have one peak in the sequencing read that is overlapping both blue and yellow?

Questions on the Results

The results of AluI digest of PCR products from particular individuals is shown in Figure 1C. Look carefully at the result for individual IV-5. Based on this result, what is the genotype of this individual?

Questions for you…-What are your goals for having Intro Bio students read primary literature?

-How did you select papers for students to read? (I spent a long time finding accessible ones….)

-How have you structured lab or class time for students to read the articles?

- How have you assessed the success of achieving your goals for students?