by:
  Joan Maloof

  Primary Sources and Course Design

In almost every field of study journal articles, also called primary sources, contain the detailed reports of new methods and discoveries. Textbooks often contain simplified summaries of the research, and students are familiar, and comfortable, with textbooks, but for a person to be truly competent in a field of study they must be adept at finding and comprehending articles from primary sources. Therefore, it is the goal of many college teachers to introduce their advanced undergraduates to the primary sources. When students are unfamiliar with reading from primary sources, however, the initial assignments can be frustrating for both student and teacher. By using the jigsaw technique to teach from primary sources, students can gain a deeper understanding of the readings and while having a more positive experience.

I used the jigsaw method in two sections of a course called Scientific Knowledge (one section of 16 students and another section of 24 students, all sophomores or juniors). The course was one of four required for graduation with Honors. There was wide variation in the science backgrounds of these students; some students were science majors, and others only had one or two previous science courses. The objective of the course was to introduce the skills necessary to think, design experiments, write, and read, like a scientist. Being comfortable reading and comprehending the primary scientific literature was a key component of the course.

The course opened with discussions about what sorts of questions science can answer, and methods of designing experiments, collecting data, and using statistics to analyze results. For this part of the course we used A Handbook of Biological Investigation (Ambrose and Ambrose 1995) as a reference text. First alone, then in pairs, and finally in teams of four, students designed and completed “mini-experiments.” Using this approach students had an opportunity to become familiar with other class members before they were assigned to their permanent teams. The permanent teams contained five students each.

E.O. Wilson’s Consilience (1998) was the second text for the course. In this book Wilson reaches conclusions by drawing on results from experiments in many different scientific disciplines. By having students read papers related to selected chapters, I hoped that they would not only become practiced reading primary sources, but they would also understand the level of effort and detail needed for the advancement of scientific knowledge.

At first I assumed that I would have to find the supplemental journal articles myself. Then I realized that the very process of finding a journal article on a specific subject was itself an important part of scientific knowledge. Consequently, I listed the topics discussed in selected chapters (Appendix 1) and asked that each student find a journal article, on one of the listed topics, from each chapter. Students were not required to understand the articles they found, they were simply required to copy them and turn them in. This was done early in the semester and most students were able to accomplish the task with little difficulty. (Of course the size and quality of the library has a bearing on the difficulty level of this assignment — yet another lesson in scientific knowledge!)

• Introduction
• Primary Sources and Course Design
• Using the Jigsaw Method
• Communication, Accountability and Knowledge
• Summary
• Appendix A
• References
• print version