Many undergraduate students receive little guidance on how to critically read, interpret data within, or present information from the primary scientific literature before they begin senior independent research experiences or enter professional or graduate school. To provide guidance on reading and formally presenting scientific information, I incorporated a two-part Journal Club Project into my 400-level developmental neurobiology class. In this project, students worked in teams throughout the semester to present primary scientific literature to the rest of the class and incorporate peer and instructor feedback into their work. Student work was facilitated by different grading rubrics for the two parts of the Journal Club Project. Each of these grading rubrics contained elements to guide the process of delivering and the presentation of scientific content within student talks. Here, I will provide a detailed description of and share my instructions and grading rubrics for the Journal Club Project.

Primary Image: Students delivering a journal club presentation. Two students incorporating peer evaluation feedback from a past talk into their final Journal Club Project presentation.