Applying Cognitive Theories of Learning to Improve Graduate Training in STEM Communication

为了成功应对全球社会面临的挑战，STEM研究人员必须具备将其工作传达给政策制定者、记者、商界领袖、公众和其他科学家的能力。然而，STEM研究生教育中的沟通培训仍然不足，特别是在公共、非旗舰或为少数群体服务的机构。虽然STEM学生毕业时在各自领域拥有高水平的专业知识，但他们往往缺乏以普通观众可以理解的有效，清晰和文化敏感的方式分享他们的工作的技能。这个国家科学基金会研究生教育创新（IGE）奖给夏洛特将通过创建和提供创新的STEM交流研究生培训课程来解决这个问题，该课程将测试认知科学理论的基础培训将提高学生交流STEM的能力的假设，并将导致开发一个尖端的STEM传播课程，该课程将公开提供给其他机构实施。该项目的参与者和由此产生的课程的学生将成为更好的合作者，对自己的沟通能力更有信心，在就业市场上更有竞争力，更有能力用他们工作的意义影响公众。这个项目将招募夏洛特夏洛特STEM研究生，他们将被随机分为两组，以测试在STEM交流课程中提供与不提供认知科学理论教育的有效性。第一组将参加一个基础性的短期课程，专门介绍与沟通有关的人类认知理论（例如，信息处理，选择框架，决策和文化对认知的影响），然后进入五个顺序交付的STEM通信短期课程。第二组将只参加五个STEM通信短期课程。这些课程将是非学分轴承和交付的混合格式，并将解决的主题，如非学术写作，发言奠定观众，并与不同的队友沟通。评分员对分组作业视而不见，会根据个别课程的顶点项目来评估学生对学习成果的掌握程度。学生还将参加与社区成员和行业专业人士的体验式学习活动，这将使他们能够在现场展示自己的知识和技能，并让公众参与STEM主题。与会者将接受调查，以评估学生的沟通技巧。盲评者和活动参与者提供的数据将用于回答我们的教育研究问题，该问题评估了接受基础认知科学培训的学生将比未接受认知科学培训的学生表现出更好的STEM沟通学习和技能的假设。项目课程、实施指南和成果将公开分享，以便STEM教育工作者和研究人员、学习科学家和公众可以访问研究结果并实施课程。传播这种创新的方法来STEM通信研究生培训将支持研究生STEM教育的变革性改进。研究生教育创新（IGE）计划专注于研究生教育研究。IGE的目标是试验、测试和验证研究生教育的创新方法，并产生将这些方法推广到更广泛的社区所需的知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得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来支持。

In order to successfully address the challenges facing the global community, STEM researchers must possess the ability to convey their work to policymakers, journalists, business leaders, the general public, and to other scientists. Yet communication training in graduate STEM education remains inadequate, particularly at public, non-flagship or minority-serving institutions. Though STEM students graduate with a high level of expertise in their field, they often lack the skills to share their work in an effective, clear, and culturally sensitive manner that a general audience can understand. This National Science Foundation Innovations of Graduate Education (IGE) award to UNC Charlotte will address this problem by creating and delivering an innovative STEM communication graduate training curriculum that will test the hypothesis that foundational training in cognitive science theories will improve students’ ability to communicate STEM, and will lead to the development of a cutting-edge STEM communication curriculum that will be made publicly available for other institutions’ implementation. Participants in the program and students of the resulting curriculum will become better collaborators, more confident in their communication abilities, more competitive on the job market, and better equipped to impact the general public with the significance of their work.This project will recruit UNC Charlotte STEM graduate students, who will be randomized into one of two groups in order to test the effectiveness of providing versus not providing education in cognitive science theories in a STEM communication curriculum. Group one will participate in a foundational short course devoted to theories of human cognition relevant to communication (e.g., information processing, choice framing, decision-making, and cultural impacts on cognition), before launching into five sequentially-delivered STEM communication short courses. Group two will participate only in the five STEM communication short courses. These courses will be non-credit bearing and delivered in a hybrid format, and will address topics such as non-scholarly writing, speaking to lay audiences, and communicating with diverse teammates. Raters blind to group assignment will assess students’ mastery of learning outcomes based on individual course capstone projects. Students will also participate in experiential learning events with community members and industry professionals, which will allow them to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in a field setting and to engage the public in STEM topics. Attendees will be surveyed to assess students’ communication skills. The data provided by the blind raters and the event attendees will be used to answer our educational research question, which evaluates the hypothesis that students undergoing the foundational cognitive science training will demonstrate better STEM communication learning and skills than students not receiving cognitive science training. The project curriculum, implementation guide, and results will be shared publicly so that STEM educators and researchers, learning scientists, and the public can access the findings and implement the curriculum. The dissemination of this innovative approach to STEM communication graduate training will support transformative improvements in graduate STEM education.The Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) program is focused on research in graduate education. The goals of IGE are to pilot, test and validate innovative approaches to graduate education and to generate the knowledge required to move these approaches into the broader community.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.