Abstract Detail

Teaching Section

Schenk, John [1], Steppan, Scott [2].

Too Long to Read:  Assessing the Motivation Behind Graduate Student Attendance in Reading Groups.

Graduate-level reading-groups serve as a primary forum for students to learn current and complex concepts in their field.  Because graduate students lament that reading "abnormally long" articles discourage them from attending particular reading group sessions, we tested the hypothesis that attendance will decrease proportionally with page number.  We examined the relationship of attendance to semester chronology, the presenter, paper type, and time allowed to read the paper.  We found no significant relationship between page number and attendance, and that students were not selecting shorter papers on average; however, a significant relationship was found between the attendee number and semester chronology, with attendance decreasing as the semester progressed.  No significant relationships existed between attendance and who led the discussion, paper type, or time allowed to read the paper.  We discuss how these results can be used to maximize student attendance, and how to maximize student involvement in general.

1 - Tulane University, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 400 Lindy Boggs Center, New Orleans, LA, 70118-5698, USA
2 - Florida State University, Department of Biological Science, Tallahassee, FL, 32306, USA

Keywords:
Graduate students
Reading groups
journal clubs
Pedagogy
science education
cooperative learning.

Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Sections
Session: P
Location: Eyrie/Boise Centre
Date: Monday, July 28th, 2014
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PTE001
Abstract ID:58
Candidate for Awards:None