How can we make reading complex articles, writing about them, and doing science more approachable for undergraduates? Here are some thoughts in a new essay for Political Science Educator (first paragraph, lightly trimmed):

The Article Hunt (AH) is a tool for teaching students how to read academic articles quickly and research their own interests. It also can be used to cultivate scientific thinking, scaffold literature reviews, reinforce course concepts, show students how writing quality affects its usability, and provide other opportunities for active learning, including about methods. I have used it to these ends since Fall 2018. This essay describes the AH, how it evolved, the classroom teaching that supports it, some common challenges, and some potential uses. A template/worksheet is available on my website.

To see if the assignment might be doing what I’d hoped, I asked the following question on survey last semester: “To what extent do you agree with the following statement? The article hunt helped me focus on what is important in a reading.” 21 of 23 students agreed, and one left a suggestion that it be assigned before papers in future courses.

Have a look, and let me know what you think.