TEACHx 2024

By the time we are experts in our discipline, the way we approach topics and skills has become second-nature, and it is easy to forget how we learned key skills in our discipline. How do you teach students to approach a topic like an expert in the field in an engaging and active way? Here I share an iterative approach I took to develop students’ scientific literacy skills in an upper-level Biology course. Over a series of semesters, I used established concepts from the C.R.E.A.T.E method and other literature to develop stepwise reading guides for scientific articles that I used in lessons, worksheets, and guided article discussion activities, targeted at developing students’ scientific literacy as part of a quality improvement exercise. Students’ perceived gains in scientific literacy from the beginning to the end of the semester improved after implementing the guides and activities. Here I will share the guides and activities used to facilitate student expertise in reading scientific articles, the retrospective pre-post survey given to students on their perceived gains in scientific literacy, the supporting literature I used to develop my materials, and discuss application to disciplines beyond biology.