Kan diplomstuderende læse en peer-reviewet artikel i den første uge?

Resumé

Peer-reviewede artikler er det akademiske guld inden for de empiriske videnskaber. På trods af deres specialiserede, fagspecifikke indhold har de undervisningsmæssigt potentiale til at indvie de studerende i universitetets etos. Hvornår kan studerende læse sådanne artikler? I den allerførste uge på universitetet? Dette har jeg undersøgt i et kursus for diplomstuderende, hvoraf 2/3 aldrig har taget et kursus på et universitet. De arbejder med en frivillig øvelse i første uge: de læser en peer-reviewet artikel (Monk et al., 2004), skriver et abstract af den og giver hinanden feedback. Artiklens emne er alment: Hvorfor mobiltelefoner er generende i det offentlige rum? Den er velskrevet og giver et godt billede af, hvordan forskere arbejder. Artiklen er ledsaget af stilladsering med forklaringer, spørgsmål og svar. Undersøgelsen omfattede 94 studerende. Resultatet viser, at 89 % skrev et abstract, 96% fandt brugen i første uge acceptabel og 100 % mente, at øvelsen skulle gentages i næste semester. De studerende værdsatte artiklens autenticitet; de fandt det nyttigt og udfordrende at skrive tidligt; skrivningen fik dem til at tænke. Alt i alt var det en succesoplevelse, som gav dem blod på tanden. Det er således klart, at diplomstuderende kan læse en peer-reviewet artikel i den første uge med udbytte.

Peer-reviewed papers are like academic gold in many disciplines. But when is it appropriate to introduce students to such papers? In their first week at university? To address this question diploma-students were asked to work with a peer-reviewed paper (Monk. et al 2004) during their first week. The students, two thirds of whom were new to university level education, were asked to write an abstract of the paper - voluntarily - and then give feedback to each other. The paper the students were given addressed the use of mobile phones in public spaces. It was selected for its readability and the exercise was supported with extensive scaffolding: explanation, questions, and answers. Over three terms, 94 students were asked to read the paper and 89 % of them wrote an abstract. All the students that took part in the study found the paper relevant and 86 % found the difficulty acceptable, 96 % felt that it was acceptable to be given the paper in the first week of their course, while 100 % said the paper should be used again next term. In conclusion, it seems that diploma students can benefit from working with a peer-reviewed paper in the first week of their first university course.