The Daily Microtheme was an in-class, writing-for-learning assignment during which students script brief (micro) responses to selected questions (themes) pertinent to the lecture topic. The assignment maximized studentthinking time, while minimizing instructor-grading time. The questions posed were designed to help develop cognitive skills, as well as to generate class discussion, summarize lecture highlights, and capture student questions, feedback, and opinions. We observed that the assignment actively engaged the students with the course content, captured their feedback, and encouraged student attendance. The students reported that they felt the assignment was an effective tool for helping them learn the course content and the points associated with the assignment were an incentive for attending class more regularly.
The Popular Press Critique was a 2-page, out of class writing-for-learning assignment. The purpose of the assignment was to help students learn how to analyze and critically evaluate the validity of published popular press articles in the context of accurate scientific research versus the demands of the mass media. The assignment included a peer evaluation component that provided feedback to the students and exposed them to the perspectives and writing styles of others. Overall, we observed that the assignment helped the students become more critical readers of popular press food science and nutrition news. The peer evaluation component encouraged the students to reflect on and improve their thinking and writing skills. The majority of students reported that they felt the assignment helped them learn how to appropriately interpret popular press articles.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.