Improving undergraduate astronomy students’ skills with research literature via accessible summaries: An exploratory case study with Astrobites-based reading assignments

Undergraduate physics and astronomy students are expected to engage with scientific literature as they begin their research careers, yet reading comprehension skills are rarely explicitly taught in major courses. We seek to determine the efficacy of a reading assignment designed to improve undergraduate astronomy (or related) majors’ perceived ability to engage with research literature by using accessible summaries of current research written by experts in the field. During the 2022–2023 academic year, faculty members from six institutions incorporated reading assignments using accessible summaries from Astrobites into their undergraduate astronomy major courses, surveyed their students before and after the activities, and participated in follow-up interviews with our research team. Quantitative and qualitative survey data from 52 students show that students’ perceptions of their abilities to understand jargon and identify the main takeaways of a paper significantly improved with the use of the tested assignment template. Additionally, students reported increased confidence in their abilities within astronomy after exposure to these assignments, and instructors having valued a ready-to-use resource for incorporating reading comprehension into their pedagogy. This exploratory case study, using Astrobites-based assignments, suggests that incorporating current research into the undergraduate classroom through accessible literature summaries may increase students’ confidence and ability to engage with research literature, thereby assisting in their preparation for participation in research careers.

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Publication Details

Journal
Physical Review Physics Education Research
Published
2025-03-25
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevphyseducres.21.010124
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Career Development and Diversity
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.37

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article

Improving undergraduate astronomy students’ skills with research literature via accessible summaries: An exploratory case study with Astrobites-based reading assignments

B. Lewis, Sahil Hegde, Sabina Sagynbayeva, Ishan Mishra et al.
1 citations
Physical Review Physics Education Research
Career Development and Diversity
2.37
article

Improving undergraduate astronomy students’ skills with research literature via accessible summaries: An exploratory case study with Astrobites-based reading assignments

B. Lewis, Sahil Hegde, Sabina Sagynbayeva, Ishan Mishra, Abygail R. Waggoner, Graham M. Doskoch, R. R. Lefever, Mark Popinchalk, Michael M. Foley, K. Supriya, Ryan Golant, Emma L. Clarke, Wei Yan, Charles J. Law, Mark Dodici, Skylar Grayson, S. L. Wong, Alison L. Crisp, Nathalie A. Korhonen Cuestas, Kaitlyn L. Ingraham Dixie
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Undergraduate physics and astronomy students are expected to engage with scientific literature as they begin their research careers, yet reading comprehension skills are rarely explicitly taught in major courses. We seek to determine the efficacy of a reading assignment designed to improve undergraduate astronomy (or related) majors’ perceived ability to engage with research literature by using accessible summaries of current research written by experts in the field. During the 2022–2023 academic year, faculty members from six institutions incorporated reading assignments using accessible summaries from Astrobites into their undergraduate astronomy major courses, surveyed their students before and after the activities, and participated in follow-up interviews with our research team. Quantitative and qualitative survey data from 52 students show that students’ perceptions of their abilities to understand jargon and identify the main takeaways of a paper significantly improved with the use of the tested assignment template. Additionally, students reported increased confidence in their abilities within astronomy after exposure to these assignments, and instructors having valued a ready-to-use resource for incorporating reading comprehension into their pedagogy. This exploratory case study, using Astrobites-based assignments, suggests that incorporating current research into the undergraduate classroom through accessible literature summaries may increase students’ confidence and ability to engage with research literature, thereby assisting in their preparation for participation in research careers.

Physical Review Physics Education ResearchVol. 21(1)
West Virginia University (US), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (US), American Museum of Natural History (US), University of Toronto (CA), Heidelberg University (DE), University of Massachusetts Amherst (US), Harvard University Press (US), University of California System (US), Wartburg College (US), Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian (US), Flatiron Health (United States) (US), Flatiron Institute (US), McGill University (CA), University of Virginia (US), The Ohio State University (US), Arizona State University (US), Stony Brook University (US), Carnegie Mellon University (US), Columbia University (US)
National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Virginia Space Grant Consortium, Space Telescope Science Institute, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Openalex Percentile: Top 13%
Career Development and Diversity
2.37
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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