Students that graduate with degrees in science may pursue a variety of career roles. Many of these roles may require them to read primary scientific literature (PSL) or even write up their own manuscripts for submission. While literature has recognized the importance of integrating PSL into undergraduate curriculum, it is also important for students to recognize the writing process that one may need to take part in if they seek to disseminate their own publications. This article will go through a research assignment that was given to an introductory journal club class for biology majors at a large R1 Hispanic-serving Institution. This assignment was designed to mirror the publication process at many journals including drafting a manuscript, integrating editor recommendations, and drafting a letter to the editor. In the end, students produce a review paper while becoming more familiar with the traditional publication process. In turn, this can prepare them to eventually seek to publish their own manuscripts.

Learning to read primary scientific literature (PSL) is an important part of developing scientific literacy skills. First-year students entering college often have little previous exposure to PSL and therefore face initial barriers in learning how to engage with PSL. Annotations have been shown to be a useful tool in undergraduate education and have potential for guiding students in developing higher-level reading strategies. In this study, we collected both qualitative and quantitative data to test the hypothesis of whether annotated PSL aids in the development of reading strategies for novice students learning to read PSL. Our qualitative results showed that annotations help students (i) break down PSL into manageable pieces, (ii) summarize the text, (iii) identify key information, and (iv) distinguish between different sections of PSL. Quantitatively, we saw no significant influence of annotations on the development of reading strategies for students learning to read PSL. Overall, our study provides a window into better understanding of specific strategies that students employ in reading PSL. Collectively, we suggest incorporating annotated PSL with some scaffolding social activities as an effective strategy to bring novice readers up the on-ramp of scientific literacy.

The 2019 coronavirus disease pandemic and distrust for popular media have highlighted the need for effective methods of direct communication of biomedical science to the public. It is presently unclear how well nonexperts can learn from primary scientific sources and what factors predict such learning in the general public. The present study examined three modalities for learning about biomedical science directly from study investigators: primary scientific articles, annotated primary scientific articles presented online with interactive learning features, and TEDTalks about scientific studies presented by a study investigator. Each modality presented the same study, \"Sleep Drives Metabolite Clearance from the Adult Brain\" (L. Xie, H. Kang, Q. Chen, Y. Liao, et al., Science 342:373-377, 2013, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1241224). Knowledge about the study\'s scientific content was assessed before and after the randomly assigned learning modality using multiple-choice questions. Participants included a sample of college psychology students and a sample of community-dwelling older adults. Cognitive tests were used to assess individual differences in working memory, processing speed, science literacy, and semantic knowledge. Surveys were used to assess trust in science and scientists, attitudes toward science, and attitudes toward cognitive tasks. Results indicated that both younger and older adults can learn basic biomedical science from a primary source. Knowledge gains were observed in all three learning modalities with no evidence of age group differences. Notably, the largest learning gains for undergraduates and older adults were observed in the primary scientific article condition, followed by the TEDTalk, and the annotated paper. Baseline knowledge about the science study topic and adoption of \"scientific attitudes\" (e.g., open-mindedness) predicted learning across age groups and learning modalities. These findings suggest that science educators, communicators, and outreach professionals should consider methods of promoting science literacy in the general public through direct access to primary scientific sources.

Primary Scientific Literature (PSL) has been used in undergraduate classrooms as a way to engage students with the research process and to increase science literacy. Most curricula lack any formal training for undergraduates to critically read PSL even though most undergraduate science courses require students to engage with PSL at some level. In addition, there are limited studies exploring the process by which expertise in reading PSL develops in undergraduates. In this study, we adapted behaviors that expert and novice PSL readers exhibit into a quantitative assessment tool, the PSL Reading Strategies Assessment, to evaluate undergraduates\' development of reading strategies when learning to read PSL. Factor analysis and reliability measures were implemented to determine the structure of our assessment tool. Our results show the PSL Reading Strategies Assessment is sensitive enough to measure differences among student populations, suggesting that it can be used as a diagnostic tool to guide instructors and researchers as they change curricula, implement new teaching strategies, and strive to develop students\' science literacy. Moreover, our data show that developing expert-like reading strategies in students learning to read PSL is not easy. Simply reading a PDF does little to promote the development of reading strategies in students learning to read PSL.

This case study was based on a popular press news article about Krystle Beauchamp Gridley\'s experience with meningitis while in college (Miller, 2019). Students in an introductory neuroscience course read the popular press news article as well as an empirical article that identified risk factors for contracting meningococcal disease in college (Bruce et al., 2001). Students used information from the empirical article to identify Krystle\'s risk factors for meningitis. Then, students evaluated their University\'s policy on students receiving the meningococcal vaccine based on what they had learned. This case supports two important goals of neuroscience education, 1) exposing students to primary scientific literature early in their undergraduate education and 2) developing an understanding of the broader implications of scientific research for society. Students enjoyed learning about meningitis using the case-study method, reading the primary scientific article, and considering how scientific research can be applied to policy decisions. Further, the case was instrumental in supporting the content and process learning objectives.