Choosing and Using Readings in Teaching the Process of Science

Most textbooks have one chapter (at most) to introduce the scientific methods at the beginning, and it is not well-integrated into the remainder of the text. If you want to integrate the process of science into your teaching, you will often need to seek resources elsewhere whether or not you use a textbook. Here are some suggestions for choosing and using text resources in teaching the process of science:

Eichinger Reading List
Ruggeri reading list

General ideas and issues
- People tend to believe that what they read is true, especially on the internet. Also an issue in the process of science that what we know is changing
- Need to allow time for discussions of things that students don't understand in the readings
- Readings can be used as models for writing
- Ideally, process would be integrated into content
- ***** references on research about incorporating reading ****

Types of supporting text resources available
*** each of these will link to example activities in the SERC library ***
  • Journal articles
    • **** list of open access science articles that are good for incorporating ****
    • What are they good for teaching about the process?
      • Demonstrating data collection, interpretation, drawing conclusion
      • Teaching a student what it is like to be a researcher
    • Strategies for incorporating
      • Teach students how to read a journal article first if you want people to understand - see Visionlearning module
      • Demonstrate that this is the sanitized version of the science - bring in the author to talk about the process
      • Read the same article at the beginning and end of a course, and see what more they get out of it
      • Read just abstracts, pick apart abstracts and use as model for own writing
  • News articles
    • What are they good for teaching about the process?
      • They are current and topical
      • Usually a societally relevant topic and readily accessible science
      • Bringing out the human aspect of science (especially in contrast to the journal)
    • Strategies
      • Use news articles with the journal articles and figure out what the journalists got wrong, discussion of different audiences for writing
      • Pull from current events
  • Biographies, profiles, autobiographies
    • What are they good for teaching about the process?
      • Life lessons as pertain to science and education
      • Books - Lewis Thomas, Richard Feynman, Randy Pausch, Atul Gawande, Walter Alvarez, Barbara McClintock
    • Strategies
      • Integrate short essays into
      • Book reviews that pull out elements of the nature of science either from a biography or scientific concept through time
      • Pair historical figure with modern scientist - compare aspects of their engagement of the process of science
  • History of science books/essays
    • What are they good for
      • Cultural influence on science
      • How personal conflicts and politics can influence the process of science
      • Tools available for doing science
    • Strateigies
      • Have students abstract the process from the specific steps given in the text
  • Texts specifically about the process and philosophy of science
    • What are they good for
      • Explicit discussion of aspects of the process
    • Strategies for incorporating
      • After discussion of personal experiences answering questions like "What is science? How does science work?", then do a reading about the nature of science and compare personal experience
      • Pair with content so that in talking about a particular content theory you have them explicitly read about "What is a theory?"
      • Use as preparation for an activity
  • Blogs - many different kinds, including individual scientists who have their personal blogs, blogs of scientific expeditions by organizations like WHOI, National Geographic
    • What are they good for?
      • Highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of individual scientists
    • Strategies
      • Need to emphasize that individuals may be presenting ideas as gospel truth
      • ****assemble list of good blogs for resources****
    • Resources
      • Polar discovery, WHOI: Live From the Poles - http://polardiscovery.whoi.edu/expedition5/journal.html
  • Scientific reports
    • Good for?
      • Evocative of the idea of big science
      • Process of achieving scientiifc consensus
    • Strategies
      • Need to make less boring, or use sparingly
  • Video clips of scientist