Insights on biology student motivations and challenges when reading and analyzing primary literature
Open accessAbstract
Reading primary literature is a popular classroom practice that exposes students to the process of science. However, the analysis of primary literature can be taxing and time-consuming for students. For this reason, it is important to determine the source of student challenges and what motivates them to read primary literature. To better understand students’ challenges, preferences, and motivations towards analyzing primary literature, we held focus groups with biology undergraduates where we asked them about their thoughts and perceptions on this practice. Students felt they struggle with understanding the big picture of an article, certain aspects of scientific literacy like data interpretation and experimental setup, and lack of knowledge of terms and techniques. Further analysis of the data using the achievement goal and expectancy-value theories of motivation revealed that students: 1) demonstrate mastery and performance approach goal orientations, which are typically associated with positive learning outcomes, 2) value the usefulness of reading primary literature, and 3) feel most engaged in the process of reading an article when the topic interests them. We provide pedagogical recommendations based on our findings.
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Many students report that reading PSL can be difficult and frustrating, which may in turn dissuade faculty from continuing to teach PSL.
“For instance, many students report that reading such papers can be difficult and frustrating, which may in turn dissuade faculty from continuing to teach PSL (Hubbard and Dunbar, 2017; Lie et al., 2016; Howard et al., 2021).”
From Reading Primary Scientific Literature: Approaches for Teaching Students in the Undergraduate STEM Classroom (2023) · cites this paper as Howard et al., 2021
The Results (Student perceptions of their experience reading primary literature; page not available) report that students found aspects of reading primary literature difficult and frustrating. The Discussion (Implications for practice; page not available) says many instructors are concerned about using the practice because of student resistance. It does not establish that frustration dissuades faculty from continuing to teach it. (LLM, conf=0.83)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredSome students and expert readers of PSL report more intrinsic motivations for reading PSL, citing innate interest and enjoyment of reading the PSL and wanting to learn more about a given study.
“However, some students and expert readers of PSL report more intrinsic motivations for reading PSL, citing innate interest and enjoyment of reading the PSL and wanting to learn more about a given study (Hubbard and Dunbar, 2017; Howard et al., 2021).”
From Reading Primary Scientific Literature: Approaches for Teaching Students in the Undergraduate STEM Classroom (2023) · cites this paper as Howard et al., 2021
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“For instance, many students report that reading such papers can be difficult and frustrating, which may in turn dissuade faculty from continuing to teach PSL (Hubbard and Dunbar, 2017; Lie et al., 2016; Howard et al., 2021).”
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- Authors
- Howard, K. N., Stapleton, E. K., Nelms, A. A., Ryan, K. C., & Segura-Totten, M.
- Affiliations
- United States Department of Agriculture (US)
- University of North Georgia (US)
- Clemson University (US)
- Venue
- PLOS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2021-05-10
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- e0251275
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8109785
- OpenAlex
- W3160844493
- Cited by
- 23
- References
- 82
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 6.15
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- public-domain
- creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ (vor)
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, public-domain)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, public-domain)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- University of North Georgia
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Science Education and Pedagogy
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Education, Achievement, and Giftedness
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Educational Strategies and Epistemologies
- Keywords
- undergraduate biology students, student motivation, achievement goal theory, expectancy-value theory, mastery orientation, performance goal orientation, scientific literacy, data interpretation, student engagement, scientific method
- MeSH terms
- Biology, Female, Humans, Literature, Male, Motivation, Publications, Reading, Science, Students, Universities
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