Introducing First and Second Year Biology Majors to Primary Literature

A group of students were introduced to two hallmark papers in an experimental Cell Biology course module. The course was designed to present a paradigm for sifting through and interpreting the data presented by scientific literature. For each paper students were given the necessary information needed to interpret a paper\u27s results. Tables and figures were then discussed in class. Following this, groups of several students were asked to complete an assignment which related to several or all of the figures and tables. Strong emphasis was placed on understanding each table or figure\u27s role in the logical progression of the article. This paper reports the successes and failures of such a class