Students “Tackle” Quantitative Literacy in their Science Communication with Real-World Football Activity

Undergraduate introductory biology students struggle when communicating quantitative data. This activity provides students with a real-world research experience to improve their quantitative literacy in science communication. Students were provided with a national sports media report that described...

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Autor principal:	Jacob J. Adler
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	American Society for Microbiology 2018
Materias:	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/eeb40114a9e54ad4ae17fd561ccbbd44
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:eeb40114a9e54ad4ae17fd561ccbbd442021-11-15T15:04:53ZStudents “Tackle” Quantitative Literacy in their Science Communication with Real-World Football Activity10.1128/jmbe.v19i1.13981935-78851935-7877https://doaj.org/article/eeb40114a9e54ad4ae17fd561ccbbd442018-03-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.v19i1.1398https://doaj.org/toc/1935-7877https://doaj.org/toc/1935-7885Undergraduate introductory biology students struggle when communicating quantitative data. This activity provides students with a real-world research experience to improve their quantitative literacy in science communication. Students were provided with a national sports media report that described a professional football athlete requiring 9,000 calories daily. Students were then asked to determine whether, based on their own research and calculations, the reporter had correctly calculated the total calories coming from the reported foods. Students discovered that their different sources of caloric information provided very different (albeit accurate) calculated totals, ranging from 6,000 to 11,000 calories. Importantly, the students generated professional letters outlining their calculated differences and sent them to the sports reporter. The professional letters to the reporter were assessed via rubric for accuracy of calculations, appropriate research evidence, professionalism, and readability for a nonexpert. A majority of the students provided accurate calculations; however, students scored lower on their professional writing skills, ability to cite appropriate research evidence, and readability for a nonexpert. Additionally, summative quantitative problems were individually completed and assessed, and activity cohorts achieved significantly higher on these problems compared with the non-activity cohort. Finally, surveyed students indicated that the activity helped prepare them for quantitative problems on the summative exam and helped them identify major course learning objectives. In conclusion, given an authentic research activity, students can take ownership of their learning and practice their communication to the general public about quantitative scientific information.Jacob J. AdlerAmerican Society for MicrobiologyarticleSpecial aspects of educationLC8-6691Biology (General)QH301-705.5ENJournal of Microbiology & Biology Education, Vol 19, Iss 1 (2018)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5
spellingShingle	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Jacob J. Adler Students “Tackle” Quantitative Literacy in their Science Communication with Real-World Football Activity
description	Undergraduate introductory biology students struggle when communicating quantitative data. This activity provides students with a real-world research experience to improve their quantitative literacy in science communication. Students were provided with a national sports media report that described a professional football athlete requiring 9,000 calories daily. Students were then asked to determine whether, based on their own research and calculations, the reporter had correctly calculated the total calories coming from the reported foods. Students discovered that their different sources of caloric information provided very different (albeit accurate) calculated totals, ranging from 6,000 to 11,000 calories. Importantly, the students generated professional letters outlining their calculated differences and sent them to the sports reporter. The professional letters to the reporter were assessed via rubric for accuracy of calculations, appropriate research evidence, professionalism, and readability for a nonexpert. A majority of the students provided accurate calculations; however, students scored lower on their professional writing skills, ability to cite appropriate research evidence, and readability for a nonexpert. Additionally, summative quantitative problems were individually completed and assessed, and activity cohorts achieved significantly higher on these problems compared with the non-activity cohort. Finally, surveyed students indicated that the activity helped prepare them for quantitative problems on the summative exam and helped them identify major course learning objectives. In conclusion, given an authentic research activity, students can take ownership of their learning and practice their communication to the general public about quantitative scientific information.
format	article
author	Jacob J. Adler
author_facet	Jacob J. Adler
author_sort	Jacob J. Adler
title	Students “Tackle” Quantitative Literacy in their Science Communication with Real-World Football Activity
title_short	Students “Tackle” Quantitative Literacy in their Science Communication with Real-World Football Activity
title_full	Students “Tackle” Quantitative Literacy in their Science Communication with Real-World Football Activity
title_fullStr	Students “Tackle” Quantitative Literacy in their Science Communication with Real-World Football Activity
title_full_unstemmed	Students “Tackle” Quantitative Literacy in their Science Communication with Real-World Football Activity
title_sort	students “tackle” quantitative literacy in their science communication with real-world football activity
publisher	American Society for Microbiology
publishDate	2018
url	https://doaj.org/article/eeb40114a9e54ad4ae17fd561ccbbd44
work_keys_str_mv	AT jacobjadler studentstacklequantitativeliteracyintheirsciencecommunicationwithrealworldfootballactivity
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Students “Tackle” Quantitative Literacy in their Science Communication with Real-World Football Activity

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