Contextual Research-Empirical: Improving Visual Communication in Nanotechnology

这个项目解决了科学家和工程师在研究跨学科或多学科现象时如何以及是否能够相互理解的问题。如果来自不同学科的科学家和工程师在共同感兴趣的特定主题上相互沟通有困难，那么这种性质的跨领域合作将是有问题的。具体地说，本研究项目旨在经验性地检验化学和电气工程领域的学科知识在博士生制作和理解纳米技术图形的方式中所起的作用。来自每个学科的学生将画出特定的、预先指定的纳米技术主题的图表。然后，学生们在解读从其他学科角度创作的图形时，会大声思考。最后，参与者将参加一项眼球跟踪研究，旨在检查学生在自然科学背景下(即阅读期刊文章时)如何在视觉上处理图形和文本。这项研究可能对培养博士生跨学科工作的方法有所启示。随着跨学科和多学科研究继续变得越来越普遍，科学家和工程师能够相互理解是很重要的。该项目将与一个国家纳米技术研究中心和几个NSF支持的研究经验合作，让教师网站传播结果。该团队还将在同行评议的研究期刊上发表文章。

This project addresses the problem of how and if scientists and engineers are able to understand each other when studying an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary phenomenon. If scientists and engineers from different disciplines have trouble communicating with each other around a specific topic of mutual interest, then cross-field collaborations of this nature will be problematic.Specifically, this research project aims to empirically examine the role that disciplinary knowledge in chemistry and electrical engineering play in the way in which nanotechnology graphics are produced and comprehended by doctoral students. Students from each discipline will draw graphics of a particular, pre-specified topic in nanotechnology. Then the students will think aloud when interpreting graphics created from the other disciplinary perspective. Finally, the participants will take part in an eye tracking study designed to examine how students visually address graphics vis a vis text in natural scientific contexts (i.e., when reading journal articles).The research may have implications for the approach that is taken in training doctoral students to work across disciplines. As interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research continues to become more commonplace, it is important that scientists and engineers be able to understand each other.The project will work with a national center on nanotechnology research and several NSF supported Research Experiences for Teachers sites to disseminate the result. The team will also publish in peer reviewed research journals.