Incorporating current research into formal higher education settings using Astrobites

Abstract

A primary goal of many undergraduate-and graduate-level courses in the physical sciences is to prepare students to engage in scientific research, or to prepare students for careers that leverage skillsets similar to those used by research scientists. Even for students who may not intend to pursue a career with these characteristics, exposure to the context of applications in modern research can be a valuable tool for teaching and learning. However, a persistent barrier to student participation in research is familiarity with the technical language, format, and context that academic researchers use to communicate research methods and findings with each other: the literature of the field. Astrobites, an online web resource authored by graduate students, has published brief and accessible summaries of more than 1,300 articles from the astrophysical literature since its founding in 2010. This article presents three methods for introducing students at all levels within the formal higher education setting to approaches and results from modern research. For each method, we provide a sample lesson plan that integrates content and principles from Astrobites, including step-by-step instructions for instructors, suggestions for adapting the lesson to different class levels across the undergraduate and graduate spectrum, sample student handouts, and a grading rubric.

Improved content mastery and written communication through a lab-report assignment with peer review: an example from a quantum engineering course

“…Peer response and writing process designs have been used in science education, see e.g. references [51] and [52], and peer instruction is studied in the PER-context [53,54], but we believe we offer a closer analysis of its impact and a transferable rationale for the design.…”

Using blogs to make peer-reviewed research more accessible

“…Other ScienceBites efforts, such as Astrobites, have conducted readership surveys to better understand their audience and educational studies to explore their effectiveness and classroom applications [24][25][26]. However, given the unique nature of PERbites's audience and purpose among the Sci-enceBites sites, this effort warrants dedicated study.…”

AAS Nova and Astrobites as Bridges Between Astronomy Communities

“…AAS Nova and Astrobites have been used in outreach activities and undergraduate and graduate classes in a variety of ways. In particular, Astrobites has published multiple studies exploring different approaches to integrating Astrobites articles into undergraduate and graduate astronomy classes (Sanders et al 2012;Sanders et al 2017). The studies include detailed lesson plans for guided reading assignments (Figure 3), literature research projects, and writing projects in which students write their own Astrobites-style posts.…”