A Guided-Inquiry Activity for Introducing Students to Figures from Primary Scientific Literature

Reading and understanding scientific literature is an essential skill for any scientist to learn. While students' scientific literacy can be improved by reading research articles, an article's technical language and structure can hinder students' understanding of the scientific material. Furthermore, many students struggle with interpreting graphs and other models of data commonly found in scientific literature. To introduce students to scientific literature and promote improved understanding of data and graphs, we developed a guided-inquiry activity adapted from a research article on snow chemistry and implemented it in a general chemistry laboratory course. Here, we describe how we adapted figures from the primary literature source and developed questions to scaffold the guided-inquiry activity. Results from semi-structured qualitative interviews suggest that students learn about snow chemistry processes and engage in scientific practices, including data analysis and interpretation, through this activity. This activity is applicable in other introductory science courses as educators can adapt most scientific articles into a guided-inquiry activity.

Automated summary

Reading and understanding scientific literature is crucial for scientists, but the technical language and structure of articles can make it difficult for students to understand. This study developed a guided-inquiry activity based on a research article on snow chemistry, using adapted figures and questions to help students engage with the material. Results from interviews suggest that students learn about snow chemistry and gain scientific skills through this activity, and it can be applied in other science courses.