Source

Science is messy. Yet many students think science is a bunch of facts and/or experiments always work. I loved the #overlyhonestmethods hashtag because it gives a glimpse into the reality of experiments.

In my jobs, I get to work with students starting their first science experiment. They are enthusiastic but also a bit intimidated. Not only does it take time to learn to read the previous research but they want to do science ‘right’. Their experience in school has often had one correct method. Plus papers often present rational reasoning and precise protocols so the students expect obvious directions. This can lead to a scientist version of ‘Who’s on first?‘:

Reading scientific papers is difficult, especially when you are new to a field. At our program for high school students, Future Science Leaders, we are trying to give them useful tools for their future as scientists and innovators so reading primary research papers is an obvious choice. But how to do it?

I don’t really remember how I learned to read primary papers. I remember being awed by them as an undergrad and early grad student. My supervisor dumped a stack of papers on my desk with an unreasonable (I thought) expectation of discussing them in 3 days. I was still approaching papers as facts to cram in my head and not as a bunch of connected information. I think after that marathon session, I started approaching papers as proper reference material. So, I thought we should just try reading some papers. I got some ideas from Snow and Science where he introduced reading papers to undergraduate students. This post will outline what we did and I’d love some suggestions on how to do it better next year.

Spoiler alert: students can read papers, especially when motivated.

As part of learning how to read primary research papers, students wrote the following adapted paper. The original paper is Sagiv et. al (2012) Prenatal Exposure to Mercury and Fish Consumption During Pregnancy and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder–Related Behavior in Children (PubMed – paywall).

Note: the pieces of the paper are written by different groups with minimal edits so there may be different styles throughout. The sections were written by each blog group and a link is provided for you to check out their other science writing. If you have suggestions for improvement, please leave a comment and I’ll share it with the students.

Writing by Elisa Xyz

How do you decide who is an author on a paper? I teach in a course where medical students do some introductory research and they are thinking forward to publication. They were concerned about how to ensure some established faculty members got on the paper – and were flummoxed when I asked why those people would be on the paper.

I was taught – and follow – that people who significantly contribute to the paper are authors. If someone provided samples but didn’t provide ideas or trouble-shoot, they are acknowledged but not given authorship. My students disagreed and told me that you have to include the big shots, that’s how it is done. I disagree but what do you think?

Source

Scientific papers are important and we encourage people to read the original source – but they can be boring. In fact, even our description of a paper seems dry and academic so I tried to come up with a new way to describe it. What if we used the parts of a movie to help understand the parts of a scientific article?

Thanks to Tanya for the discussion on twitter for valuable film-making insights making this analogy useful!

In the first case-based class of medical school, students are asked to answer a virtual patient’s question about the development of the fetus. These students are smart and they know all about betaHcG and are anxious to showcase their knowledge of the menstrual cycle with fluctuating levels of various hormones (FSH, progesterone, etc.). Yet one question brings confusion, “How pregnant is this women?” The related question,  ”When does pregnancy start?” leaves the students flummoxed. Is it at conception? But how do you know when that happens? Or does implantation make more sense? It’s a great example of how detailed facts need the larger context.

The usual dating is gestational age, based on the first day of your last menstrual period. However, you can also date a pregnancy with embryological age, starting at conception.