Mike:
You might check regional natural history journals. I have had good luck
finding papers reporting studies that have simple experimental designs
and analyses and are of local or regional interest in journals such as
Southwestern Naturalist and Great Basin Naturalist. I would imagine
that similar journals exist for Ontario and surrounding region. These
journals would be of little use if you seek papers on molecular/cell
biology.
BTY, you mentioned you wanted to also have your students locate
articles. Up until two years ago we had our freshman students visit the
library and receive bibliographic training including search strategies
and periodical databases. I'm uncertain why we did this for so many
years. The students saw little immediate use of the technology and were
uninterested. The librarians and biology faculty got together and
strongly agreed that paper structure and scientific writing style, like
what you're covering, may be best introduced in the introductory course,
but searching the primary literature is best taught when it is needed
and after they have a background in biology. Searches do take some
backgound, for example alternative search terms for white spruce such
as gymnosperm, conifer, Pinaceae, or Picea glauca are not going to be
in the minds of the typical first-term freshman. We now wait and
include BI (bibliographic instruction) in upper-division courses,
tailoring the library training to the specific discipline and the course
requirements (such as references needed for a specific report). Our new
approach is much better. The librarians in particular see a marked
improvement in the student's desire and ability to learn.
On a similar note, I routinely assign students to go to the library,
browse the periodicals, pick a paper of interest, and write a one or two
page summary. I give them a list of pertinent journals, and the article
they choose must report work appropriate for the course (e.g. plant
ecology or plant physiology). This works well. They choose a paper
they can understand but during their searching they see a lot of papers
and get a good idea of current reseach. The paper must have been
published in the last year. Also, the two-page summary must be written
in lay person's terms. I tell them to assume they are writing for the NY
Times or to their grandmother so make it interesting and relevant. This
approach prevents them from simply paraphrasing the abstract. Guided
questions might do the same thing.
I'm always looking for new ideas and would appreciate hearing what has
worked for others.
John Sowell jsowell at western.edu
Biology Department
Western State College
Gunnison, CO 81231
