Accreditation
Reading and Understanding the Scientific Literature: ACE 10 Course: Biochemistry 435 Advanced Topics
Date of this Version
2014
Document Type
Article
Abstract
ACE 10 Question
Learning Objectives
Writing: Students will generally be writing in a scientific format for the first time. This may be very different from prior writing in the university. This will come from discussions in the classroom sessions and from feedback on the course paper chapters that are submitted during the progress of the course.
Oral Communication: This is reinforced by the presentation of relevant papers from the scientific literature during most of the class periods. Students need to learn to master the content of such papers, prioritize the important elements, and present them in a coherent fashion. The student effort receives intrinsic feedback during the process by questions and comments from the instructor and from the other students.
Critical Thinking: Critical thinking can only be done once a student has mastered a significant amount of foundational literature. Students at the start of the topic will have little ability to carry out critical thinking about the course theme. As students read more of the primary literature and seek out other references to flesh out certain aspects and to reconcile contradictory reports, they will be encouraged to reflect on the epistemology of the conclusions.
Ethics: Each section of the class involves one class session related to an ethical issue. This usually involves a case study that is read prior to the class and a group discussion. In some cases, it is productive to have students attempt to present differing viewpoints, but in for other topics, students seem able to grasp the diverse social impacts.
Student Work
Rubric for evaluating student work
Broad range of topics for each section of BIOC435
Method of Analysis
Findings
Improving ACE 10 Learning
Comments
For Achievement—Centered Education (ACE 10) Faculty Inquiry Project (2013-14), University of Nebraska-Lincoln