The Science Teaching Journal Club is a partnership of the Science Literacy Program and the Teaching Engagement Program. Each week we read, discuss, and consider how to implement ideas from an article or book that explores issues relevant to teaching and learning in college science classrooms. We invite participants from all ranks and disciplines to join us for these sessions, which we use to model evidence-based teaching practices.
Fall 2020 Journal Club Readings
As the overwhelming urgency of last spring’s pivot to remote and online teaching fades, dipping into the science teaching literature can provide ideas for developing and revising our courses. This term in the journal club we will explore various active learning strategies and activities and discuss how to apply them to remote and online courses. We will concentrate for several weeks on assessment, as developing fair, probing assessments that maintain academic integrity continues to be a sticking point for many science faculty.
Making time to talk about teaching has become more important than ever as our opportunities for spontaneous conversations in hallways are temporarily on hold. The Science Teaching Journal Club provides a friendly, collegial gathering place for participants from all ranks and disciplines; we invite you to join us at our weekly meetings, which feature lively, structured discussions of the readings. Feel free to participate in the whole series or just drop in for a specific conversation.
| Week | Topic and Reading |
|---|---|
| Week One (10/1) |
We begin the term with a paper that presents a framework for understanding attention and considers how to design course activities to leverage student attention in order to maximize learning. To prepare for our meeting, please read: Keller, A. S., Davidesco, I., & Tanner, K. D. (2020). Attention Matters: How Orchestrating Attention May Relate to Classroom Learning. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 19(3), fe5. https://www.lifescied.org/doi/10.1187/cbe.20-05-0106 |
| Week Two (10/8) |
This week we begin a mini-concentration on assessment in the remote and online classroom with a communication outlining a variety of strategies employed in a chemistry department last spring. To prepare for our meeting, please read: Nguyen, J. G., Keuseman, K. J., & Humston, J. J. (2020). Minimize Online Cheating for Online Assessments During COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Chemical Education, 97(9), 3429-3435. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00790 |
| Week Three (10/15) |
This week we continue our mini-concentration on assessment by taking a closer look at online exam proctoring, which is seen by many faculty as a reliable way to preserve academic integrity in online exams. But services such as ProctorU, the company with which the University of Oregon has a contract, have come under criticism for being invasive and discriminating based on race, disability, and other factors. Our (short) readings begin with two pages from the ProctorU website that outline the mechanics of the student’s experience in a proctored exam. The other articles present some of the criticisms that have emerged. Rankin, J. E. (2020). Exam Day: What to Expect. Retrieved October 12, 2020, from https://support.proctoru.com/hc/en-us/articles/360043565051#h_8a507c06-d5ca-4453-b288-242770607b6f Rankin, J. E. (2020). What am I allowed and not allowed to do during my exam? Retrieved October 12, 2020, from https://support.proctoru.com/hc/en-us/articles/360043127892 Patil, A., & Bromwich, J. E. (2020, September 29). How It Feels When Software Watches You Take Tests. The New York Times. Retrieved October 12, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/29/style/testing-schools-proctorio.html Eyler, J. (2020, October 2). The Science of Learning vs. Proctoring Software. The Science of Learning. Retrieved October 12, 2020, from https://josheyler.wordpress.com/2020/10/02/the-science-of-learning-vs-proctoring-software/ |
| Week Four (10/22) |
This week we continue our mini-concentration on assessment with a look at an alternative form of assessment, structured oral exams. To prepare, please read: Wang, L., Khalaf, A. T., Lei, D., Gale, M., Li, J., Jiang, P., … & Wei, Y. (2020). Structured oral examination as an effective assessment tool in lab-based physiology learning sessions. Advances in Physiology Education, 44(3), 453-458. https://journals.physiology.org/doi/pdf/10.1152/advan.00059.2020 |
| Week Five (10/29) |
This week we continue our mini-concentration on assessment and academic integrity with a paper that describes the use of small-group meetings with students to establish relationships and provide incentive to keep up with their work, both of which can promote academic integrity. To prepare, please read: Wagner, E., Enders, J., Pirie, M., & Thomas, D. (2016). Supporting academic integrity in a fully-online degree completion program through the use of synchronous video conferences. Journal of Information Systems Education, 27(3), 159. http://jise.org/Volume27/n3/JISEv27n3p159.pdf |
| Week Six (11/5) |
Learning management systems such as Canvas provide instructors with a number of ways to control students’ access to course materials. Among these is conditional release: requiring students to complete one activity, perhaps to a specified degree of mastery, before being allowed to begin the next. This week’s paper explores the circumstances under which conditional release promotes student learning. To prepare, please read: Fisher, L., Brinthaupt, T. M., Gardner, J., & Raffo, D. (2015). The effects of conditional release of course materials. Journal of Student Success and Retention Vol, 2(1). http://www.jossr.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/CR-Research-FisherFinal-Sept23-15.pdf |
| Week Seven (11/12) |
Students have many choices when it comes to resources to support their learning. They can visit faculty and GE office hours, consult physical or electronic textbooks, and access internet resources. This week in the journal club we will look at why students choose the materials they do and how they use them. Instructors can use this information to shape their course design to enhance student learning. To prepare, please read: Ruggieri, C. (2020). Students’ use and perception of textbooks and online resources in introductory physics. Physical Review Physics Education Research, 16(2), 020123. https://journals.aps.org/prper/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.16.020123 In winter, the journal club usually reads a book together, and we’d like your ideas about what to read this year. Please fill out this (3 question maximum) survey to let us know what you think: https://oregon.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_79TjU8e3RDOUciF. |
| Week Eight (11/19) |
In this current situation of teaching and learning almost entirely remotely and online, students report feeling disengaged from their classes and a sense that they aren’t learning, even when they are completing their work successfully. Formation of study groups that meet online or in person can help foster a sense of connection and community in the course. This week’s paper describes one group’s efforts to facilitate study group formation. To prepare, please read: Geerling, W., Thomas, N., & Wooten, J. (2020). Facilitating Student Connections and Study Partners During Periods of Remote and Online Learning. Available at SSRN 3692086. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3692086 Also available here. |
| Week Nine (11/26) | Thanksgiving - No Journal Club |
| Week Ten (12/3) |
Teaching Showcase: This week in the journal club we welcome Nicola Barber and Cristin Hulslander, instructors of BI 211 General Biology I: Cells. They will give us a look into their fully online course, discussing their overall approach, course structure, and assessment strategies, with emphasis on how they use their Canvas site to support their goals. Join us for an interesting and informative look at how these colleagues are handling the issues we talk about each week in the journal club. To see how some other faculty are approaching their online courses, watch a recording of one or more of the excellent course tours given by our UO colleagues during the summer: Erin Beck, Associate Professor, Political Science Erik Ford, Instructor, Lundquist College of Business Leah Schneider, Senior Instructor, Lundquist College of Business |