Scientific Literacy: Teaching Biology Majors to Read, Paraphrase and Cite Scientific Literature Melissa Zwick and Karen P. York, Stockton University, Galloway, NJ 08205 [email protected]; [email protected] Presented at ASMCUE 2016, July 22, 2016 The ability to properly paraphrase and cite scientific research is a vital and valuable skill all science students need to master. Students often struggle to understand complex and detailed scientific literature and communicate it in their own words. Proper paraphrasing demonstrates understanding and comprehension to both the learner and the instructor. Despite its importance, there is often a lack of formal instruction on proper paraphrasing technique and citation style and students are left to develop these skills on their own. As a result, unintentional plagiarism often occurs. Here we present three short interrelated activities to explicitly teach students how to avoid plagiarism, by learning how to cite and properly paraphrase scientific literature in their writing. The three interrelated activities are: 1) Recognizing plagiarism (4 slides using ATPase example from Knisely 2013) 2) Paraphrasing (coral reef example from Baker 2001 and Goucher College) 3) Goucher College plagiarism risk quiz (http://faculty.goucher.edu/writingprogram/sgarrett/plags1.asp) These activities can be incorporated into any course with some introductory information about plagiarism. In order for students to avoid unintentional plagiarism, they need to learn when and how to cite a source, and how to put the information into their own words (paraphrase). Please email the presenters for copies of the slides. ACTIVITY 1: Recognizing plagiarism * Slides are animated to allow unfolding of the activity. Slide 1: Text about membrane ATPase (Knisely 2013) Allow students to read the source text (red box). Instructor: “What does this passage refer to?”  Some students will recognize that the text describes the detailed protein structure of the membrane bound ATPase enzyme and how it functions. Many will have no idea.  I usually point out that the challenge to paraphrasing scientific writing is that specialized language can make it difficult to understand exactly what is being described. The first step is to understand what they are reading. Slide 2: Same source text, followed by sample report text. Instructor: “Now consider this same source text (pause) and corresponding report text (unveil report text (green box)), is the report text plagiarized? (hold up one finger) or not? (hold up two fingers).  This allows students to indicate what they think, using a low‐tech student response activity, that is not obvious to their peers, but visible to the instructor. I encourage everyone to participate. ASMCUE 2016 Zwick, M and KP York Instructor: “What do you think? There are good reasons for both answers.”  Once the majority of students have voted, I ask someone who thinks it is not plagiarism to explain why. They will usually explain that it is not plagiarized because it contains an in‐text citation. I will call on a student if no one volunteers. I will take more than one answer if other students want to support the response that the report text is not plagiarized.
 Students who believe the report text is plagiarized are usually eager to jump in and explain why it is plagiarism. I then ask these students to explain why they chose plagiarism. They usually explain that the report text is highly similar to the source text and only a few words are changed. This is described as “patchwork plagiarism” (Holt 2012).  The class often gets very quiet at this point as they take this in. Many students realize they have done this and thought it was OK. I have even had students argue with me about whether that was really plagiarism. Some students believe that as long as a certain proportion of words are changed, then it is not plagiarized. This misconception may come from use of plagiarism recognition programs.
 At some point during this discussion, I unveil the description of the problem (blue box). Both students’ discussion points are included.
 Discussion of this example concludes.
Instructor: “Let’s try again.” Slide 3: Same source text, followed by different sample report text. Instructor: “Same source text (pause) (unveil report text (green box), is the report text plagiarized? (hold up one finger) or not?” (hold up two fingers).  Once the majority of students have voted, I ask someone who thinks it is not plagiarism to explain why. They will usually explain that it is paraphrased, it presents the same information in a different way.
 Someone who has voted for plagiarism will usually chime in to point out there is no citation.  I then unveil the description of the problem (blue box). Both students’ points are included.
 Discussion of the example concludes.
Instructor: “Let’s try one more.”
Slide 4: Same source text, followed by different sample report text. Instructor: “Same source text (pause) (unveil report text (green box)), is the report text plagiarized? (hold up one finger) or not?” (hold up two fingers).  Students are usually on to me at this point and most vote plagiarism. I ask them to explain why it is plagiarism and unveil the problem (blue box).  At this point, someone will suggest that it would be OK if it were in quotations. I use this opportunity to discuss the fact that direct quotes are rarely used in science writing, therefore a scientist must learn to paraphrase. ASMCUE 2016 Zwick, M and KP York 
In discussing plagiarism with one of my writing colleagues, she told me that she tells her students “if you have to choose between plagiarism and bad writing, choose bad writing.” Sometimes I share this with my students to reinforce the seriousness of plagiarism, even unintentional plagiarism, as academic dishonesty. They have often gotten away with patchwork plagiarism and improper citations without being formally charged with academic dishonesty, so they have an impression that it is OK. After this activity, there is a shift in their thinking. ACTIVITY 2: Paraphrasing Slide 1: Source text describing coral reef bleaching (Baker 2001).  I show the source text and also give each student an activity handout that contains the same source text.  Students are given time to read the text and paraphrase the text in the box on the handout. I walk around to room to make sure students are writing.
 When all students have completed the activity, I ask them to exchange their paper with a neighbor and compare. Usually a few students will ask for their paper back to add an in‐text citation that was missing!
 I ask for three volunteers to read their paraphrased text and use these examples to demonstrate proper paraphrasing technique. If done correctly, each students’ paraphrase will sound a little different but convey the same information.
 I also suggest that one way to successfully paraphrase, is to express the ideas in fewer sentences. This moves them away from the patchwork paraphrasing habit.
ACTIVITY 3: Goucher College plagiarism risk quiz This website allows students to practice recognizing plagiarized text, further developing their skills at recognizing plagiarism to reduce the risk of unintentional plagiarism. Main quiz page: http://faculty.goucher.edu/writingprogram/sgarrett/Default.html Science/biology quiz page: http://faculty.goucher.edu/writingprogram/sgarrett/plags1.asp References Baker AC. 2001. Ecosystems: reef corals bleach to survive change. Nature. 411(6839):765‐766. Holt EA. 2012. Education improves plagiarism detection by biology undergraduates. BioScience. 62(6):585‐ 592. Knisely K. 2013. A student handbook for writing in biology. W.H. Freeman 224p. Plagiarism‐by‐Paraphrase Risk Quiz [Internet]. 2002. Baltimore (MD): Goucher College, [cited 2016 July 10]. Available from http://faculty.goucher.edu/writingprogram/sgarrett/Default.html ASMCUE 2016 Zwick, M and KP York Paraphrasing Worksheet Name: ______________________________________ Original Text: The bleaching of coral reefs, in which symbiotic algae are lost from reef‐building invertebrates, is usually considered to be a drastic and damaging response to adverse environmental conditions. Here I report results from transplant experiments involving different combinations of coral host and algal symbiont that support an alternative view, in which bleaching offers a high‐risk ecological opportunity for reef corals to rid themselves rapidly of suboptimal algae and to acquire new partners. This strategy could be an advantage to coral reefs that face increasingly frequent and severe episodes of mass bleaching as a result of projected climate change. Baker AC. 2001. Reef corals bleach to survive change. Nature 411: 765‐766. Write Paraphrase Here: Paraphrasing Worksheet Name: ______________________________________ Original Text: The bleaching of coral reefs, in which symbiotic algae are lost from reef‐building invertebrates, is usually considered to be a drastic and damaging response to adverse environmental conditions. Here I report results from transplant experiments involving different combinations of coral host and algal symbiont that support an alternative view, in which bleaching offers a high‐risk ecological opportunity for reef corals to rid themselves rapidly of suboptimal algae and to acquire new partners. This strategy could be an advantage to coral reefs that face increasingly frequent and severe episodes of mass bleaching as a result of projected climate change. Baker AC. 2001. Reef corals bleach to survive change. Nature 411: 765‐766. Write Paraphrase Here: