Ciaran Evans (Wake Forest University), Nicole Dalzell (Wake Forest University)
Abstract
When students participate in open-ended experiences such as class projects or independent research, they are often expected to learn and implement new information by reading statistical research papers. While scholarly articles follow conventions on content, organization, and writing style which make them accessible to fellow researchers in the field, many students are unfamiliar with these conventions and struggle to engage with original research. In this session, we discuss strategies and activities for guiding students through the process of reading real journal articles, and identifying and summarizing salient information. As many applied articles involve raw data, we also discuss challenges involved in "reading" a new dataset, such as deciphering variable names and creating an effective data dictionary. Teaching students how to read and engage with research papers both helps students learn how to communicate their work more effectively to others, and encourages this communication to be a dialogue between the reader and the writer. In this session, we will share some of the activities we use with students to teach them how to engage with research papers. Session participants will have the opportunity to work through some of these activities in groups to see them in practice, and we will also discuss other techniques participants have used to help students to read and understand research papers. We hope that participants who attend the session will take away several new activities and resources to use in their own, and useful advice for guiding students through research papers.
*Due to the medical needs of some individuals attending this event, please refrain from wearing perfume, cologne, or any other scented product to this session. *