ArticleCBE life sciences education2014
Practice makes pretty good: assessment of primary literature reading abilities across multiple large-enrollment biology laboratory courses.
Article in CBE life sciences education, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 56 citations in OpenAlex.
- Unveiling Undergraduate Research: Employing Ecological Momentary Assessment to Characterize and Compare Undergraduate Research Experiences.CBE life sciences education · 2025Article
- Modifying the CREATE method with inclusive approaches helps students engage with socioscientific applications of the primary scientific literature.Journal of microbiology & biology education · 2025Article
- Student-led discussions of landmark discovery articles: a foothold in teaching primary virology literature.Journal of microbiology & biology education · 2024Article
- Peer-reviewed presentation exchange in an undergraduate classroom.Journal of microbiology & biology education · 2024Article
- Postsecondary biology students' ways of participating in the critique and discussion of primary scientific literature.CBE life sciences education · 2023Article
- Reading Primary Scientific Literature: Approaches for Teaching Students in the Undergraduate STEM Classroom.CBE life sciences education · 2023Review
- From Novice To Expert: An Assessment To Measure Strategies Students Implement While Learning To Read Primary Scientific Literature.Journal of microbiology & biology education · 2022Article
- The Five Core Concepts of Biology as a Framework for Promoting Expert-Like Behaviors in Undergraduates Learning How to Read Primary Scientific Literature.Journal of microbiology & biology education · 2022Article
- Insights on biology student motivations and challenges when reading and analyzing primary literature.PloS one · 2021Article
- A Modified CREATE Intervention Improves Student Cognitive and Affective Outcomes in an Upper-Division Genetics Course.Journal of microbiology & biology education · 2020Article
- Expert-Novice Comparison Reveals Pedagogical Implications for Students' Analysis of Primary Literature.CBE life sciences education · 2019Article
- Just Figures: A Method to Introduce Students to Data Analysis One Figure at a Time.Journal of microbiology & biology education · 2019Article
- Using "Research Boxes" to Enhance Understanding of Primary Literature and the Process of Science.Journal of microbiology & biology education · 2019Article
- Annotated primary scientific literature: A pedagogical tool for undergraduate courses.PLoS biology · 2019Article
- CBE-Life Sciences Education: the story of a "great journal scientists might be caught reading".Molecular biology of the cell · 2018Article
- Using Blogs as Practice Writing About Original Neuroscience Papers Enhances Students' Confidence in Their Critical Analysis of Research.Journal of undergraduate neuroscience education : JUNE : a publication of FUN, Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience · 2018Article
- A Case Study in the Use of Primary Literature in the Context of Authentic Learning Pedagogy in the Undergraduate Neuroscience Classroom.Journal of undergraduate neuroscience education : JUNE : a publication of FUN, Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience · 2017Article
- Perceptions of scientific research literature and strategies for reading papers depend on academic career stage.PloS one · 2017Article
- Designing an Audiocast Assignment: A Primary-Literature-Based Approach that Promotes Student Learning of Cell and Molecular Biology through Conversations with Scientist Authors.Journal of microbiology & biology education · 2016Article
- Brewing for Students: An Inquiry-Based Microbiology Lab.Journal of microbiology & biology education · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Primary literature is essential for scientific communication and is commonly utilized in undergraduate biology education. Despite this, there is often little time spent training our students how to critically analyze a paper. To address this, we introduced a primary literature module in multiple upper-division laboratory courses. In this module, instructors conduct classroom discussions that dissect a paper as researchers do. While previous work has identified classroom interventions that improve primary literature comprehension within a single course, our goal was to determine whether including a scientific paper module in our classes could produce long-term benefits. On the basis of performance in an assessment exam, we found that our module resulted in longitudinal gains, including increased comprehension and critical-thinking abilities in subsequent lab courses. These learning gains were specific to courses utilizing our module, as no longitudinal gains were seen in students who had taken other upper-division labs that lacked extensive primary literature discussion. In addition, we assessed whether performance on our assessment correlated with a variety of factors, including grade point average, course performance, research background, and self-reported confidence in understanding of the article. Furthermore, all of the study conclusions are independent of biology disciplines, as we observe similar trends within each course.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.