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Improving undergraduate astronomy students' skills with research literature via accessible summaries: an exploratory case study with Astrobites-based reading assignments

Undergraduate physics and astronomy students are expected to engage with scientific literature as they begin their research careers, yet reading comprehension skills are rarely explicitly taught in major courses. We seek to determine the efficacy of a reading assignment designed to improve undergrad...

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Main Authors: Lewis, Briley (Author) , Waggoner, Abygail R. (Author) , Clarke, Emma (Author) , Crisp, Alison L. (Author) , Dodici, Mark (Author) , Doskoch, Graham M. (Author) , Foley, Michael M. (Author) , Golant, Ryan (Author) , Grayson, Skylar (Author) , Hegde, Sahil (Author) , Korhonen Cuestas, Nathalie (Author) , Law, Charles J. (Author) , Lefever, Roel (Author) , Mishra, Ishan (Author) , Popinchalk, Mark (Author) , Sagynbayeva, Sabina (Author) , Wong, Samantha L. (Author) , Yan, Wei (Author) , Ingraham Dixie, Kaitlyn L. (Author) , Supriya, K. (Author)
Format: Article (Journal)
Language:English
Published: 2025
In: Physical review. Physics education research
Year: 2025, Volume: 21, Issue: 1, Pages: 010124-1 - 010124-17
ISSN:2469-9896
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.21.010124
Online Access:Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.21.010124
Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.21.010124
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Author Notes:Briley L. Lewis, Abygail R. Waggoner, Emma Clarke, Alison L. Crisp, Mark Dodici, Graham M. Doskoch, Michael M. Foley, Ryan Golant, Skylar Grayson, Sahil Hegde, Nathalie Korhonen Cuestas, Charles J. Law, R. R. Lefever, Ishan Mishra, Mark Popinchalk, Sabina Sagynbayeva, Samantha L. Wong, Wei Yan, Kaitlyn L. Ingraham Dixie, K. Supriya
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Summary:Undergraduate physics and astronomy students are expected to engage with scientific literature as they begin their research careers, yet reading comprehension skills are rarely explicitly taught in major courses. We seek to determine the efficacy of a reading assignment designed to improve undergraduate astronomy (or related) majors’ perceived ability to engage with research literature by using accessible summaries of current research written by experts in the field. During the 2022-2023 academic year, faculty members from six institutions incorporated reading assignments using accessible summaries from Astrobites into their undergraduate astronomy major courses, surveyed their students before and after the activities, and participated in follow-up interviews with our research team. Quantitative and qualitative survey data from 52 students show that students’ perceptions of their abilities to understand jargon and identify the main takeaways of a paper significantly improved with the use of the tested assignment template. Additionally, students reported increased confidence in their abilities within astronomy after exposure to these assignments, and instructors having valued a ready-to-use resource for incorporating reading comprehension into their pedagogy. This exploratory case study, using Astrobites-based assignments, suggests that incorporating current research into the undergraduate classroom through accessible literature summaries may increase students’ confidence and ability to engage with research literature, thereby assisting in their preparation for participation in research careers.
Item Description:Online veröffentlicht: 25. März 2025
Gesehen am 14.11.2025
Physical Description:Online Resource
ISSN:2469-9896
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.21.010124

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