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Send to friendCritical reading and analysis of scientific papers
Tutorial class (20 students)
Information analysis and communication skills
As part of second year zoology, students are tested each semester on their ability to critically read, analyse and summarise the important ideas in a scientific journal article. The class is given up to eight journal articles of varying topics and they sort themselves into groups of four or five people to research one of these articles. Each group then presents their findings for five minutes to a tutorial class of about 20. The presentation takes the form of a short seminar and although each person in the group contributes to the research of the topic and therefore all gain a similar depth of understanding, not all students are expected to present to the class. (Those who don't present in first semester, must in second). The initiative is assessed in two ways: those who speak each get a separate mark for how clearly they communicate the information; those who do not speak receive the average mark of their groups' speaking members.
Crosses used to score each presentation - to a max for each category.
| Content/ Preparation |
Presentation |
Effective Use of Visual Aids |
Clear explanation/ Evidence of understanding |
Kept to time |
Total /10 |
|
+++ (3) |
++ (2) |
+ (1) |
+++ (3) |
+ (1) |
10 |
This assessment initiative promotes groupwork as a method of learning, and most students say they have benefited from the experience divvying up the tasks and then reconvening and sharing information. The task caters for students who are less confident in presenting, and allows students to observe different methods of presentation and what is effective. Groupwork is also a good mechanism for time and resource constraints. It is more plausible to fit in six group presentations than 30 individual ones.
I have anecdotal accounts from our third year physiology teaching staff to the effect that the presentation skills of students coming into third year have improved markedly since they have been given this assessment task in second year.
Likert-scale responses from student evaluation surveys. Student experience seems to have improved as time goes on.
Semester 2 - 2003 (Vertebrates unit)
The tutorials have helped to improve my oral presentation skills.
|
|
n |
|
32 |
|
|
1 |
SA |
15.63% |
5 |
|
|
2 |
A |
65.6% |
21 |
|
|
3 |
N |
18.75% |
6 |
|
|
4 |
D |
|
0 |
|
|
5 |
SD |
|
0 |
|
Semester 1 - 2003 (Invertebrates unit)
The tutorials have helped to improve my oral presentation skills.
|
|
n |
|
27 |
|
|
1 |
SA |
9.70% |
3 |
|
|
2 |
A |
32.30% |
10 |
|
|
3 |
N |
38.70% |
12 |
|
|
4 |
D |
6.50% |
2 |
|
|
5 |
SD |
0.00% |
0 |
|
Semester 1 - 2002 (Invertebrates unit)
The tutorials have helped to improve my oral presentation skills.
|
|
n |
|
39 |
|
|
1 |
SA |
7.69% |
3 |
|
|
2 |
A |
38.46% |
15 |
|
|
3 |
N |
33.33% |
13 |
|
|
4 |
D |
15.38% |
6 |
|
|
5 |
SD |
5.13% |
2 |
|
