Questioning and Analytical Thinking
Reading assignments begin with health newsletter articles which describe research on topics of interest but which don't include details of experimental design and data analysis contained in the original articles. In class discussions, students find that many of the questions they raise are ones that could be answered if they knew more about how the experiment was done. These assignments are intended to motivate students to read the more detailed primary articles assigned next and primes them to ask good questions about the evidence presented.
One consideration in choosing primary articles is to find some for which the conclusions contradict those from other assigned articles or which challenge some common belief (the cholesterol/heart disease literature is a rich one for such choices, but many exist in all fields).
A library lesson with the science librarian introduces students to indexing services (both print and on-line) and they are asked to find references to five primary articles on a topic about fat and to write a summary of one of those articles. Selin (1992) discusses the role of the science librarian in this process.
Students each hand in a weekly summary of an article about the course topic and write a list of questions they would like to ask the author. For the first few weeks, students may choose articles from newspapers and magazines, but after they are introduced to using primary literature, they are expected to use that. They are asked to revise their summaries, responding to feedback intended to make the writing clearer and the analysis more detailed.
For their final paper, students may either report the details of study they carried out using the format of a primary article or write a critical literature review (using primary literature) of a focused topic ending with a section on what experiment they would like to see done next and how it might be carried out. Usually students work through more than one draft of most sections of this paper.
Computers and Elementary Statistical Mathematics
Two lab activities (each of which takes 3-5 sessions + non-class time) introduce students to the use of computers in the lab:
1. Keep a 3 day food diary and do nutritional analysis. This assignment raises students' awareness of the difficulty in collecting accurate, reliable data even when you're really motivated to do so. In lab, they use a computerized nutritional data base (FoodPro II) to analyze their diets, and they have to justify ways they make estimates of the input when the exact things they ate are not on the database. In their write-ups they are asked to list questions raised for them by these analyses and to propose ways to follow up on these questions experimentally.
2. Percent Body Fat. Three techniques for measuring percent body fat are introduced in lab (skinfold thickness, impedance/reactance measurements, and infra red reflection at the biceps). Over the next week, students use these techniques on one another, their friends, and any faculty they can coax into the lab. They build a database (anonymous labels ) on a computer spreadsheet and learn to manipulate the data and perform some simple statistical tests. Their final assignment is to work in teams each of which designs and conducts a small study including data analysis, critique of their study and suggestions for improving it. The final lab period is devoted to presentations and discussion of that work.
The coordinator of the quantitative skills program participates in the Percent Body Fat lab and holds special office hours for students who wanted more help in using the spreadsheet for data manipulation and graphing.
Before students realize it, they are comfortable using First Search, plowing through jargon of primary articles to get to the experimental ideas, and using computers in the lab for data manipulation. As part of their final evaluation, students are asked to prepare a portfolio of all the written work they have done (including faculty comments) and then sit down, read it through, and write a 1-2 page reflection of what they have learned in the course.
Specific Links to Science for All Americans
The following links activities in the course to specific SFAA chapters and sections.
Chapter 1: The Nature of Science
The Nature of Scientific Inquiry and The Scientific Enterprise are addressed in the following activities:
1. Each week, students turn in a summary of an article they find relating to the course. At first, these are chosen from the popular literature, but eventually students draw from primary research literature. Students are asked to critique the article based on questions, such as "What evidence have the authors presented to support what they are saying?" "What do I wish they had done or told me more about?" Students revise their summaries in response to faculty comments intended to get them to read more analytically.
2. In the first few weeks, the class reads and discusses in some detail primary research articles. The goal is to teach students how experimental questions are articulated, analysis of experimental design, data analysis, and how to speculate and develop new hypotheses. Issues (in human research) such as choice of subjects, general applicability to the humans, ethics, etc. are raised (usually by the students) in the course of studying these articles.
3. In the labs, students design and carry out small studies and learn limitations imposed by experimental design on conclusions they can draw.
Chapter 3: The Nature of Technology
Science And Technology is addressed in the fat class lab. In this class, students use three techniques for measuring percent body fat (skinfold thickness, impedance/reactance measurements, and infra red reflection at the biceps).
Chapter 4: The Physical Setting
The Structure of Matter is addressed in classes that deal with the basic chemistry of fats. Students use model building sets to create activated and unsaturated fatty acids, triglycerides, cholesterol, etc.
Transformations of Energy is addressed in classes that deal with the TCA cycle and energy in foods.
Basic Functions is addressed in classes that deal with digestion, transport of fatty acids, etc. (LDLs, HDLs, etc.: where they go and why).
Physical Health is addressed in classes that deal with metabolic ratio (how it is measured and its relation to food energy) and the use of a nutritional database on the computer to analyze three day dietary records.
Mental Health is discussed in classes that deal with eating disorders.
Cultural Effects On Behavior are sometimes addressed in discussion of research on eating behavior and patterns. Many students are concerned with eating disorders, body image, and the influence of society on such issues.
Issues in Health Technology are discussed as they relate to diet and health (e.g., low fat products -- are they?)
Chapter 9: The Mathematical World
Uncertainty is addressed in lab projects and analysis of research articles.
Computation And Estimation Skills, Manipulation And Observation Skills, and Communication Skills are addressed in the following activities:
1. By looking at graphs and tables in primary articles, students are introduced to elementary statistical analyses.
2. Some simple experiments raise issues of statistical analysis, how to organize and present data in ways that reveal patterns and relationships.
3. In labs, students analyze their own data and compare with others and with the literature.
4. In labs, students use computer spread sheets and graphics.
Critical Response Skills are addressed in the following activities:
1. Each week, students turn in a summary of an article they find relating to the course. At first, these are chosen from the popular literature, but eventually students draw from primary research literature. Students are asked to critique the article based on questions, such as "what evidence have the authors presented to support what they are saying?" "What do I wish they had done or told me more about?" Students revise their summaries in response to faculty comments intended to get them to read more analytically.
2. In the first few weeks, the class reads and discusses in some detail, primary research articles. The goal is to teach students how experimental questions are articulated, analysis of experimental design, data analysis, and how to speculate and develop new hypotheses. Students are asked to comment on whether they agree with the conclusions drawn from the data, whether the conclusions are overgeneralized or appropriate, and what further experiments they would think of to answer remaining questions.
References
Selin, H. (1992). Science at Hampshire College: Graduate level research in an undergraduate setting. Science Librarianship at America's Liberal Arts Colleges, The Haworth Press, Inc.