Improving Science Practices With

Scientific Journal Articles in AP

Christina PalffyAdlai E. Stevenson High School

Lincolnshire, Illinois

Why Use Journal Articles in AP Classes?

Journal articles represent authentic research. Classroom lab activities do

not expose students to much of what researchers actually do.

There is a huge variety of topics and difficulty levels. Students can choose topics

that they enjoy. Teachers can differentiate

for students by choosing articles for them.

Topics can be related to class or completely unrelated.

Why Use Journal Articles in AP Classes?

For Science Classes, the assignment aligns with the Science Practices

Science Practice 1: The student can use representations and models to communicate scientific phenomena and solve scientific problems (UNDERSTAND)

Science Practice 2: The student can use mathematics appropriately (UNDERSTAND)

Science Practice 5: The student can perform data analysis and evaluation of evidence (PERFORM)

Science Practice 6: The student can work with scientific explanations and theories (PERFORM)

Science Practice 7: The student is able to connect and relate knowledge across various scales, concepts, and representations in and across domains (PERFORM)

 

Why use Journal Articles in AP Classes?

Students feel accomplished when they have read them.

Students will have to read them in the near future.

The following slides contain testimonials from former students.

Student TestimonialsI'm at a summer journalism camp at Yale, and I'm really excited, because we got to pick the topic of our article from a list of topics, and one of the options was "Yale researchers find link between depression and shrunken brain". So I wrote my article on it, and I got to interview a Yale professor of psychiatry, which was one of the coolest things I've ever done. I thought I'd let you know because we got to talk about transcription factors and synaptic connections! Plus, I read the excerpt of the article in Nature Medicine, which is where the study appeared, and I felt like I was doing a JAE again...so that wasn't fun. But when I asked the professor if I understood the study/results correctly, he said that I had it down perfectly, and I give all credit of that to you. I've attached my article if you want to read it! Hope you're having a great summer, and I hope to see you soon this school year!Vivian/V-Wang

Student TestimonialsI just wanted to email you and let you know I haven't forgotten AP bio. In my Chem 202 lecture today while talking about the retinal proteins that absorb light in the eye and how the electrons in the atoms jump up energy levels when hit with specific wavelengths of light which allows us to perceive different colors, my professor made a comment about how her eyes are bad and that its in her genetics that with age comes a worsening in the ability to see color. Upon hearing this I immediately turned to the kid next to me and said "that is actually not true, it is more of the interaction of her genetics with the environment she has been exposed to that affects her eye sight". I thought it was pretty funny. Also, I just wanted to let you know that I am about to start writing my first lab report. Glad I put in so much effort on my JAE's. Now its time for the big leagues. Just wanted to say high and wish all the little juniors in your class good luck and tell them to cherish AP bio while they got it! Any way keep in touch and have a great semester.--Aaron

Student TestimonialsHi Mr. Erdmann, Hope all is going well. Because I know that your students are so excited for their JAE to be due, I thought I would share with you my prelab assignment... JAEs really do help for college ! Hope you have a good school year. ---Sheridan

Student TestimonialsHi Mrs. Palffy,

I hope your summer is going well! Now that school is over, I've had the chance to spend a huge part of my time into my SPARK project. Its crazy how many AP BIO connections there are in my work...from gene expression to T-cell cell signaling. 

The lab is giving me a lot more autonomy this year. I've designed an experiment dealing with why females get multiple sclerosis 3x more than men and why they have more severe reactions. I'm looking into one of the root causes in a pathogenic immune response in mast cells that may cause this sex difference. I'll be looking into both male and female mast cells and look for the gene expression of certain inflammatory cytokines that may be specific in either male or females with MS. Maybe these cytokines could be the provide information into a cellular mechanism that drives this sex difference in the disease. 

On the first day I walked in, I actually asked them to hand me a mountain of literature before I started. Though my brain was fried after 4 hours of reading, I don't think I could have gotten through them without the practices of those JAE's. 

Thanks,

How to Help Students Read and Understand Journal

ArticlesThis is very difficult for students to do all at

once.

We used to make the mistake of giving students the entire assignment with no in class modeling. That was too difficult for most students.Students were frustrated and work quality was

very poor.

Scaffolding has gotten rid of the frustration.

Each teacher can scaffold the way they see fit for their group. This presentation shows what we do.

How to Help Students Read and Understand

Journal ArticlesNow we scaffold the assignment in the following way:

1st Assignment-Whole course reads the same article. Diagrams the experimental design in class. (We will model this today).

2nd Assignment-Students pick there own article (in class so they have support) and then outside of class, they diagram the experimental design.

3rd Assignment-Like the second, but they also write about how the article fits into the world and the Big Ideas.

4th Assignment-Like the third, but students also discuss the hypothesis and data that is important.

5th and 6th—Like the 4th. (We often give them a break on the last one to only have to do the graphic)

Assignment 1- Panda ArticleFirst assignment: The Panda Article

Hand out the article and have students read it for elements of experimental design.

Have them do this without much instruction first.

Assignment 1-Panda Article

Ask students to discuss the following in groups and fill it out the worksheet.

Purpose of Experiment

Independent Variable

Dependent Variable

Control group description

Experimental group description

Sample Size

Trials

Assignment 1-Panda Article

Give students large paper or big whiteboards.

Students should draw and label the experimental design separately.

After enough time is given, they should compare their drawings. What is good about each? What can be improved in

each? Together they can make a

new drawing.

If there is time, groups can evaluate each other’s drawings.

Assignment 2-Students find their own article in class and make a drawing

outside of class First, you need to show

students how to find articles. Each school is different

as to what they have access.

I like Ebsco Host and ProQuest if you have access to them.

Take them to a computer lab or the library so that they can search during class with your help. Some students have

never done this before.

Assignment 2-Students find their own article in class and make a drawing

outside of classStudents can pick whatever they want as long

as it is an experiment. I urge them to use key words about things they are

interested in: animal type, disorder, sport.

They need to really evaluate the article they choose to see if they can make sense of it. A big hint is whether they can understand the abstract.

At home, they can annotate the article and diagram the experimental design. You can have them do this with partners and/or use

class time if you choose. Also, you can add for them to define at least 5 unknown

words.

3rd Assignment Like the second, but they

also write about how the article fits into the world and the Big Ideas.

Give students descriptions of the Big Ideas.

Have students choose the Big Idea that best fits their article. Usually, a connection can be

made to all 4 (in Biology), but they should choose the clearest or most obvious.

For the Panda article, Big Idea 4 seems to be the most fitting

Students should write a paragraph or two connecting the big idea to the article.

4th AssignmentLike the 3rd, but students also state a hypothesis

and discuss data important to drawing a conclusion.

The hypothesis is sometimes directly stated, and sometimes must be inferred.

We require only 1 IV to be in the hypothesis and the major DVs.Some experiments have many DVs, and it can get

to be too much to write about all. Three is a good number.

4th AssignmentWe have the students use an “If…then…”statement for the

hypothesis that is as detailed as possible. If 11 female and 3 male pandas are observed while in large

playgrounds (>200m2) and in small, dark, dank pens (<12m2), then movement, tail raising, and bleating will increase significantly in both males and females during the mating season.

For the data section, they must first state which data is important to draw a conclusion.

They must then state what a p-value is and what it means.

Finally, they must state whether the data supports or refutes the hypothesis based on the data and statistical analysis.