Getting a big team on the same page
While admitting she was initially fazed by the size of her class, which averages 100 students, Gamberi has found strength in numbers. She splits the large class into groups of four or five students and assigns one article to each.
“Every student in the course learned how to perform an initial guided research of published literature,” Gamberi says.
Next, the students learned to compose a written contribution as a group. After the course was over, three students volunteered to assemble and edit the article under Gamberi’s direct mentorship and supervision.
Tarin Sultana is one of the study’s co-editors. “This initiative moved forward as a pedagogical approach that demonstrated the value of teamwork, collaboration and painstaking review of original research works,” she says.
“This undertaking has marked a milestone in many next-generation scientific careers.”
Susannah Selber, a fellow co-editor and the article’s first author, adds that opportunities to write scientific papers at the undergraduate level are scarce.
“This writing project was my second grand endeavour with Dr. Gamberi (Selber participated in Gamberi’s first co-published paper).
“Many assignments involve writing, yet few require the tools and skills necessitated in published works. Dr. Gamberi’s approach adds great value to the other regular skills students obtain from their university education.
“Dr. Gamberi brought a whole new meaning to the classroom experience, where a simple assignment may lead to a concrete contribution to the scientific community,’ says third co-editor W, adding they hope the project inspires others.
“This next-generation approach allows students involved in a course to create something that can be remembered.”