Module 3 CREATE
Learning outcomes
- Creatively read scientific literature.
- Hone your critical thinking.
- Develop a new set of tools for processing readings.
CREATE philosophy
Science is creative. Reading scientific literature can also be a creative process. Active reading includes highlights, annotation, and note taking. These approaches to reading and study can increase retention, comprehension, and engagement with scientific ideas. However, the teaching philosophy and pedagogy of CREATE is novel and relevant and takes this one step further. CREATE pedagogy stands for Consider, Read, Elucidate the hypothesis or purpose, Analyze and interpret data or evidence, and Think of the next Experiment. This reading process is creative, active, and phenomenal practice for all professional work.
If the process seems useful to you, please give it a try for this course. This work is optional, but it is literally only 5-10 minutes extra per week. Here are some proposed exercises for you to consider to test out the CREATE approach. If there is time in lectures, we will do them together. Use paper, Powerpoint, or any sketching digital tool you prefer to write or draw. If you elect to try them out and want to submit them as well, optional, there are spots provided in turnitin.com.
CREATE applications
| example | CREATE application | instructions |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | new title & abstract | write a catchy, compelling alternative title to the reading and a very short 250 word abstract in your own words |
| 2 | concept map | draw a Venn diagram, flowchart, or any type of visual that summarizes how the big ideas from the reading connect to one another |
| 3 | cartoon summary | draw a fun cartoon summarizing the reading, infographics are also powerful heuristics and synthesis summary tools of salient points |
| 4 | novel questions | a good reading or paper should generate as many new questions as the ones it answers, list a few for the reading |
| 5 | made-up data & predictive plotting | sketch a plot of data or relationship you would like to see supporting the main idea or hypothesis proposed in paper |
| 6 | experimental cartoon | sketch the experiment, schematic of methods described in paper |
| 7 | visual worflow | propose a next experiment to a paper as a simple workflow with logical steps connecting one another |
| 8 | pros-cons table | make a short table summarizing the strengths and weaknesses of a paper |
| 9 | figure-legend improv | provide a figure legend for a data visualization from a paper, redacted or provided |
| 10 | best-sentence competition | from a paper, select a single sentence that resonated with reader or was novel and profound as a next step for the discipline |
| 11 | shark tank | run a debate or shark tank of a published paper, use a weighted Likert Scale list of evidence from a paper |
| 12 | KISS principle | keep it simple scientists, propose a simple, one-factor, multi-level follow-up experiment to confirm or replicate a key finding from a paper |