Asee peer logo

Case-Based Learning Approach to Teach Students How to Read Academic Papers

Download Paper |

Conference

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Portland, Oregon

Publication Date

June 23, 2024

Start Date

June 23, 2024

End Date

June 26, 2024

Conference Session

Graduate Studies Division (GSD) Technical Session 5: Skill Development in Graduate Education

Tagged Division

Graduate Studies Division (GSD)

Page Count

12

DOI

10.18260/1-2--48447

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/48447

Download Count

56

Paper Authors

biography

Peter Jamieson Miami University

visit author page

Dr. Jamieson is an assistant professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at Miami University. His research focuses on Education, Games, and FPGAs.

visit author page

Download Paper |

Abstract

The typical approach to learning how to read academic papers in engineering follows an apprentice/experiential model. In this model, the learning of how to read a paper is achieved over time using ad-hoc methods to develop one’s skill in understanding the typical layout of papers, the expected structure of arguments, and evidence to inform others about discoveries including the needed background work, and the methodologies used to analyze and present new ideas in all of our varying fields. In graduate school, this skill is learned, as needed, via advisors and their suggestions, performing a background or literature survey in the field one expects to contribute to, and in some cases, by participating in active reading groups devoted to a particular topic area. This approach to learning how to read papers is not necessarily problematic, but the outcome and skill to read papers are dependent on the student and the random interactions. Instead, we have tested a modified case-based approach to teach graduate students and senior undergraduate students how to read papers. In our case, we implemented this case-based approach in a 400/500 level course focused on teaching the general ideas of Computer-Aided Design (CAD). Over 3 years we have implemented the case approach for approximately 12 papers. To test if students are learning to critically view an academic paper, over each of the years we progressively made a higher quality “Fake Paper” as part of the curated list of papers that the students would have to read and experience through our case methodology. Our results show that students can identify the fake paper in their group discussions until our most recent version of the “Fake Paper”. These results give us some confidence that the case-based approach to teaching and learning about reading academic papers has merit.

Jamieson, P. (2024, June), Case-Based Learning Approach to Teach Students How to Read Academic Papers Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--48447

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2024 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015