[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-598617-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-598617-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","enhancing-undergraduate-critical-reading-skills-in-neuroscience-using-instructor-developed-study-guides","Enhancing Undergraduate Critical Reading Skills in Neuroscience Using Instructor-Developed Study Guides","","A study proposes an instructor-developed study-guide approach to strengthen critical reading skills in an undergraduate neuroscience course at the University of Toronto Scarborough. Students reported difficulty analyzing and interpreting empirical and review journal articles. The research examines learner attitudes and perceptions after using weekly content-based questions and study aids. Results from mid-semester and end-of-term evaluations show high perceived usefulness and improved concept identification, suggesting benefits that may transfer to other disciplines using journal articles for required reading.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/enhancing-undergraduate-critical-reading-skills-in-neuroscience-using-instructor-developed-study-guides/598617/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/enhancing-undergraduate-critical-reading-skills-in-neuroscience-using-instructor-developed-study-guides/598617.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"awa","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",6,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What problem does the study address in undergraduate neuroscience reading?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"Students often struggle to analyze and interpret empirical and review journal articles, partly due to the emphasis on methodology, the volume of results, and the heavy use of scientific language.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How were the instructor-developed study guides used in the course?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"From September to November 2007, content-related questions for most assigned scientific articles were posted weekly on the course website, and feedback was collected during a mid-semester evaluation.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What were the key results from the study?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Eighty-nine percent of respondents found the study aids useful, and eighty-six percent believed the guides improved their ability to identify important concepts in the articles.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},598617,1792210575,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":55,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144},3985747858093,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","21  \nEnhancing Undergraduate Critical Reading Skills in Neuroscience Using Instructor-Developed Study Guides  \nAndreea Moraru  \nUniversity of Toronto  \nJanelle C. LeBoutillier  \nUniversity of Toronto Scarborough  \nThis study proposes an innovative instructional methodfor enhancing critical reading skills. Students enrolled in an undergraduate neuroscience course offered at the University of Toronto Scarborough reported that they often experience difficulty in analyzing and interpreting empirical and review journal articles. Our research focuses on student attitudes and perceptions of learning following exposure to instructor-developed study aids based on course readings from various scientific journals. The results of this study can be translated across disciplines to courses that use journal articles as part of the reading requirements, and can further impact course development to better facilitate student learning.  \nIntroduction  \nL elaercningtureaannddtMotivutoriaaltioncourisseaothirdffered-yeahhaelfU-cnediver-t  \nsity of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) as part of both the major and specialist programs in Neuroscience. Tutorials are intended to familiarize the students with the general knowledgebase of neuroscience, namely the published literature. However, based on previous course feedback, the vast majority of undergraduate students enrolled in Learning and Motivation experience difficulty analyzing and interpreting empirical  \nand/or review journal articles due to the emphasis on methodology, the abundance of results from previous studies, and the heavy use of scientific language (Anderson, 1992; Hartley, Trueman, & Meadows, 1988) .  \nLectures and tutorials are focused on delivering course-specific content, and typically, minimal class time is dedicated on developing higher-level thinking and article-analysis skills (Kreber, 2002; Lopez & Whittington, 2001; Steele, Medder, & Turner,  \n2000) . To date, previous research on teaching and learning in the sciences has not addressed the importance of developing study aids to enhance critical analysis skills when reading scientific journal articles. Furthermore, the use of student feedback at midterm and at the end of term has not been documented. This paper summarizes an innovative instructional technique that aims to improve critical reading skills in undergraduate neuroscience students, and has the potential to be translated across multiple disciplinesand courses that rely on scientific journal articles as part of their reading requirements.  \nObjectives  \nThe current study had three main objectives: 1) to develop a series of content-related questions based on the assigned article readings to be used as study aids, and to examine student attitudes and perceptions of learning; 2) to evaluate students’ ability to write potential exam questions following prior exposure to instructor-developed study aids; and 3) to evaluate the ability of students to rate potential exam questions written by themselves and their peers, based on difficulty and fairness, to be included on a course exam.  \nResearch Methods  \nEach week, from September to November, 2007, the questions for 13 of the 16 assigned scientific articles were posted on the course’s website. These questions identified the essential concepts in the articles and served as a guideline for student learning and comprehension of the readings. In October, as part of the mid-semester evaluation, a voluntary and anonymous feedback questionnaire assessed the usefulness of the study aids, frequency of use, whether or not the weekly study guides improved concept learning, and the students’ study habits. By mid-semester evaluation, four instructor-developed study aids had been provided to the students.  \nSubsequently, students were asked to write potential exam questions (multiple choice and shortanswers) for two assigned empirical papers without  \nstudy guides. This was not a mandatory assignment, but the students who submitted both the quest","cbCaifgWEGz3LL0y","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaifgWEGz3LL0y","pdf",321753,"English","# Introduction\n# Objectives\n# Research Methods\n## Feedback and study-guide implementation\n## Exam-question development and rating exercise\n# Research Findings","[{\"question\":\"What problem does the study address in undergraduate neuroscience reading?\",\"answer\":\"Students often struggle to analyze and interpret empirical and review journal articles, partly due to the emphasis on methodology, the volume of results, and the heavy use of scientific language.\"},{\"question\":\"How were the instructor-developed study guides used in the course?\",\"answer\":\"From September to November 2007, content-related questions for most assigned scientific articles were posted weekly on the course website, and feedback was collected during a mid-semester evaluation.\"},{\"question\":\"What were the key results from the study?\",\"answer\":\"Eighty-nine percent of respondents found the study aids useful, and eighty-six percent believed the guides improved their ability to identify important concepts in the articles.\"}]","Enhancing Undergraduate Critical Reading Skills in Neuroscience Using Instructor-Developed Study Guides | PDF",1792087265,15]