Incorporating Primary Literature Summary Projects into a First-Year Chemistry Curriculum

In our focus on material that must be covered in a content-rich course such as first-year chemistry, we often neglect the development of other essential skills such as reading, writing, and critical thinking. The primary research literature summary assignment described attempts to address this issue. The purpose of the assignment is to introduce first-year students to the primary scientific literature, including the ability to search and access hard-copy and electronic library resources. In addition, the assignment engages students towards more broadly contextualizing chemical theory covered during lectures. In our experience, we found the curriculum addition is neither a time burden to students in its preparation, nor to instructors in its assessment. These factors allow the exercise to be implemented in courses of any size.