Catalyst Project: Technically Speaking-Building Scientific Communication Self-efficacy

Catalyst项目为历史上的黑人学院和大学（HBCU）提供支持，以建立教师的研究能力，以加强科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）本科教育和研究。预计该奖项将进一步提高教师的研究能力，提高学院的研究和教学水平，并让本科生参与研究经验。奥尔巴尼州立大学打算将科学传播整合到科学（生物和化学）学术课程中。拟议的课程改进旨在提高学生的科学沟通技能，这有可能影响他们的STEM身份和在STEM劳动力中的长期保留。技术上讲：建立科学交流自我效能计划（TSP）的目的是提供基于实证的研究，这可能会导致本科STEM学生口头交流的学术能力的提高，以及他们的科学效能。具体目标包括：(1)建立以课程为基础的学习社区；(2)提高口头科学交流；(3)增强科学交流自我效能感和科学认同感；(4)提高批判性思维能力。研究旨在提高STEM领域的保留率和毕业率。该项目为期两年，将招收学生参加两个非住宅学习社区：ARC（欣赏化学修辞）和raise The BAR（生物和修辞），前者将化学课程与公开演讲课程结合起来，后者将生物课程与公开演讲课程结合起来。扩展到K12社区将有助于发展社区公民的科学素养。该项目将通过反思、持续反馈和掌握经验的机会，提高学生向广大听众口头表达他们的科学追求的能力。TSP有可能改善STEM教育，并有助于培养更具竞争力的STEM劳动力。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Catalyst Projects provide support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) to work towards establishing research capacity of faculty to strengthen science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduate education and research. It is expected that the award will further the faculty member's research capability, improve research and teaching at the institution, and involve undergraduate students in research experiences. Albany State University intends to integrate science communication into the science (biology and chemistry) academic programs. The proposed curricular enhancements aim to bolster student scientific communication skills, which has the potential to impact their STEM identity and long-term retention in the STEM workforce. The purpose of the Technically Speaking: Building Scientific Communication Self-Efficacy Program (TSP) is to offer empirically based research, which may lead to an improvement of undergraduate STEM students’ academic competency in oral communication, as well as their scientific efficacy. Specific objectives include: (1) establishing course-based learning communities, (2) improve oral scientific communication (3) enhance scientific communication self-efficacy and scientific identity and (4) improve critical-thinking skills. Research is intended to lead to higher retention and graduation within STEM fields. The project, over the span of 2 years, will enroll students into two non-residential learning communities: ARC (Appreciating the Rhetoric of Chemistry) which pairs a chemistry class with a public speaking class and Raising the BAR (Biology and Rhetoric) which pairs a biology course with a public speaking course. The outreach to the K12 community will contribute to the development of scientific literacy among citizens of the community. The project will improve students’ ability to orally communicate their scientific pursuits to a broad audience through opportunities for reflection, sustained feedback, and mastery experiences. The TSP has the potential to result in improved STEM education and will help to develop a more competitive STEM workforce.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.