Papers to Podcasts

Abstract

Scientific practices are still largely absent from undergraduate curricula. Incorporating primary scientific literature (PSL) and podcasting into course curricula is an engaging way to provide instruction in scientific practices to undergraduate students. We present an innovative class project for biology undergraduates where students read a piece of PSL, develop annotations to learn more about the research contained within the PSL, and develop and produce a podcast episode to share the research findings with a general audience. To understand student perceptions of the project, we conducted surveys to obtain qualitative responses along with measures of science identity and project ownership. We found that the students felt like the project belonged to them and that their work on the project would ultimately benefit the scientific community. Here, we include a project handbook, schedule, and materials that can be used by any instructor to carry out this project.