What Did They Say and Why Did They Say It?: Scholarship as Conversation in the Science Classroom

Abstract

Scholarly articles in the sciences come in different formats, with purposes which students may not fully appreciate. In this chapter, we discuss a lesson plan in which students discuss the relationships between an original research article, a review article and an invited comment, and how they interact. A one-shot instruction session both prepares students for an immediate assignment in a broader course and helps guide them in the construction of their own understanding of scholarly conversations within the sciences, using genuine examples of research articles and how they use citations to build upon each other. Although this lesson was initially designed for upper level biology students, it is readily usable in classes across the sciences.