Willard Amanda M, Brasier D J
Department of Biological Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213.
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ. 2014 Mar 15;12(2):A159-66. eCollection 2014 Spring.
Controversies in Neuroscience is a half-semester elective for first year science students at Carnegie Mellon University with an emphasis on discussing primary literature to highlight current research topics and to introduce students to neuroscience. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching first-year students using a literature-only approach, we took advantage of an opportunity to teach the same topics to a traditional textbook-based upper division course as to the first year seminar. Students in both courses took surveys at the beginning and end of the course, and self-reported confidence levels as well as exam scores were compared. At the conclusion of both courses, students reported increased level of comfort with scientific terminology and methodology. In addition, students enrolled in the first-year seminar performed at least as well or better than students involved in the upper division course on exam material. These results suggest that first year students are capable of making great strides in learning and understanding scientific principles strictly through exposure to primary literature, even with little or no access to a standard textbook. Furthermore, introducing students to primary literature-based courses early on in their undergraduate career can increase enthusiasm for learning science and improve confidence with neuroscience concepts and methodology. We therefore conclude that it is valuable to provide students opportunities to critically evaluate scientific literature early in their undergraduate careers.
《神经科学中的争议》是卡内基梅隆大学面向一年级理科学生开设的为期半学期的选修课，重点是讨论原始文献，以突出当前的研究课题，并向学生介绍神经科学。为了评估仅使用文献教学法教授一年级学生的效果，我们利用一个机会，将相同的主题同时教授给一门基于传统教科书的高年级课程和一年级研讨课。两门课程的学生在课程开始和结束时都进行了调查，并比较了自我报告的信心水平以及考试成绩。在两门课程结束时，学生们表示对科学术语和方法的熟悉程度有所提高。此外，参加一年级研讨课的学生在考试内容上的表现至少与参加高年级课程的学生一样好，甚至更好。这些结果表明，即使很少或根本没有使用标准教科书，一年级学生也能够通过接触原始文献在学习和理解科学原理方面取得巨大进步。此外，在本科生涯早期就让学生接触基于原始文献的课程，可以提高他们对学习科学的热情，并增强他们对神经科学概念和方法的信心。因此，我们得出结论，在本科生涯早期为学生提供批判性评估科学文献的机会是很有价值的。
