Building Confidence in Scientific Competence: Impacts of an Introduction to Primary Literature Course on Undergraduate Students’ Science Identity and Interest in Research

Introduction to Primary Literature (IPL) courses can be early-career precursors to undergraduate research experiences, whereby students can become familiar with potential mentors and their research toward better alignment with student/faculty interests and goals. IPL courses have been shown to increase student science self-efficacy and understanding of the nature of science to levels congruent with students entering Course-based Undergraduate Experiences (CUREs) and Faculty-Led Research Experiences (FLREs), which may increase the number and diversity of students engaging in these high-impact activities. Further research is needed to understand how an IPL course can impact students’ science identity, defined as the extent to which one relates to science, which has been associated with student success and persistence in STEM degree programs. This study employed a quasi-experimental, mixed methods approach to explore the impacts of engaging with the products of research through reading primary research articles, communicating scientifically, and interacting with scientists of various levels on the science identities of undergraduate students enrolled in a seminar-style biology IPL course at a large, private, research-intensive institution in the Northeastern United States. Pre-and post-course surveys, as well as a focus group interview, were used to collect student information and measure the science identity of participants. Interpretation of the quantitative data and themes drawn from the qualitative responses are presented herein, notably that students became more confident in their abilities to understand science and scientific literature and in their competence as scientists in training.