Critical Reading

There have been many Instructional methods for CR, but three of most successfully implemented and documented variations include: 

• Activities and Modules developed as  introductory guides to CR for students 
• POGIL - Student-led  discussions as a way to enhance course material 
• Semester-long courses revolving around the CREATE framework allowing students to immerse themselves in scientific methodology 

Each of these instructional methods can be used to provide different benefits to students, and are varying in effectiveness based on the setting it is implemented in. These methods will be discussed in further detail in this section.
 

“Activities and Modules” represents singular assignments or lectures revolving around critical reading. They are useful primarily as an introduction to critical reading, providing students with a baseline that can be further expanded upon later in education. 

Some activities include: 

• Guided discussion focused on encouraging students to question author’s intent and methodology (Wilson)
• Lectures followed by tests to appraise student understanding (Kulkarni)
• Guided worksheets to practice critical reading skills (Letchford

Activities and modules function well as introductory methods, but lack the depth needed to provide students with full critical reading ability. They are well used in courses with little room for scheduling changes due to pre-existing heavy content requirements. Students have shown short term benefits as a result of short modules and individual activities throughout a semester. 
 

Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) is a pedagogy concept that employs similar practices mentioned under Activities and Modules, but tailors the activities to coursework that students work through using critical reading skills. It is also well used as an alternative to lectures in undergraduate coursework, allowing professors to build student understanding of a topic through group work over introduction of new material. This method has been found to be effective in STEM courses because of its adaptability.

Pogil has seen unique benefits such as:

• Reduction in Student frustration 
• Increase student understanding and abilities with difficult topics 
• Increase the lower-percentile of grades, increasing pass-rates of undergraduate STEM courses

CREATE framework (Consider, Read, Elucidate hypotheses, Analyze and interpret data, Think of the next Experiment).
 

The C.R.E.A.T.E framework  is largely a stand-alone course focused solely around the instruction of critical reading and the importance of academic writing. Benefits of the CREATE coursework can be attributed largely to the duration and attention to detail of methodology and scientific academia that a full semester allows for. Some benefits include: 

• Exposes students to scientific processes and methodology via recreating an author’s scientific process.
• Improved knowledge and understanding of scientific literature content
• Greater understanding of scientific methodology 
• Improved student understanding of scientific identity