Encouraging Science Communication in the Wabash College Chemistry Department

为化学专业本科生提供有效的科学交流技能是21世纪科学教育的重要组成部分。科学家遇到了各种各样的受众，他们必须与之交流，包括同行学科专家、来自本学科以外学科的科学家和普通公众受众。目前在科学传播领域的研究确定了进行信息交流的几种方法，并表明扩大专家和公众之间的思想交流是一项有价值的工作。然而，本科生的理科课程很少包括有意义的机会，让学生学习如何与他人交流高科技信息，特别是与非科学公众交流。该项目将在瓦巴什学院的整个本科化学课程中纳入创新活动，从而提供强有力的科学交流教育。对于主修化学的学生，这些活动将包括以明确和有效的方式交流实验室结果，为普通观众翻译科学数据，并鼓励对与科学有关的新闻、创新和公共政策问题进行广泛讨论。对于非化学专业的学生，活动将旨在展示如何将科学证据纳入有关能源政策和转基因生物使用等问题的公共决策中。将有效的沟通技能整合到科学课程中，可能会影响教育者对科学教育的看法，让学生为毕业后面临的挑战做好准备。当他们进入劳动力市场时，无论他们的职业道路如何，理科毕业生将被要求向客户、患者、合作者团队成员、投资者和更多的受众传达科学原则、概念和结果。在公共领域，他们将面临无数次与非科学家的对话，讨论与科学技术有关的政策、健康和安全问题以及影响整个社会的行动。这个项目的跨学科科学交流方法跨越了整个化学课程，并将培养学生的宝贵技能，以培养全面发展的公民-科学家，他们能够胜任地为他们的社区和他们的政府担任未来的领导人。该项目的首要重点是培养学生和他们的教授的能力，以创造学习环境，最终使学生能够理解、解释和解释复杂的科学问题，这最终将促进与科学同行和普通公众的有效交流。该项目的主要目标是：(1)开发基于课程的创新模块，培养瓦巴什学院化学专业学生和未成年人的科学交流技能；(2)提高非科学专业学生理解科学研究和证据在个人和公共决策中的重要性的能力；以及(3)鼓励教师在科学交流教育方面的发展。项目活动将包括在课程初期为学生提供接触化学研究语言的机会。更多的高级本科生将从事翻译科学交流活动，公开介绍科学新闻，并将通过高级综合考试的口头交流评估接受指导。教师专业发展将通过为瓦巴什学院化学教员和来自包括两年制学院在内的不同机构的化学教员举办的一系列暑期研讨会来实现。此外，该项目产生的材料和成果将通过会议和讲习班传播，以鼓励和装备其他教员将科学传播纳入其课程。为了评估这些活动，该项目将使用前后调查，其中包括定量和定性措施，以评估自我报告的学习成果和学生和/或教师对科学交流的概念化方式等项目。

Providing undergraduate chemistry students with opportunities to acquire effective science communication skills is an important component of science education for the twenty-first century. Scientists encounter a variety of audiences with which they must communicate, including peer disciplinary experts, scientists from disciplines other than their own and the general public audience. Current research in the field of science communication identifies several types of methods by which the interchange of information occurs and suggests that broadening the exchange of ideas between experts and the public is a valuable pursuit. Yet undergraduate science programs rarely include meaningful opportunities for students to learn how to communicate highly technical information to others, especially to non-scientific members of the public. This project will provide robust education in science communication by incorporating innovative activities throughout the undergraduate chemistry curriculum at Wabash College. For students majoring in chemistry, the activities will include communicating laboratory results in a clear and effectual manner, translating scientific data for a general audience and encouraging broad discussion of science-related news items, innovations and public policy issues. For non-major chemistry students, activities will be designed to demonstrate how to incorporate scientific evidence into public decision-making about issues such as energy policy and the use of genetically modified organisms. Integrating effective communication skills into the science curriculum has the potential to impact how educators think about science education, preparing students for the challenges they will face after graduation. As they enter the workforce, regardless of their career path, science graduates will be required to communicate scientific principles, concepts and results to clients, patients, members of teams of collaborators, investors and many more audiences. In the public sphere, they will be faced with countless conversations with non-scientists about policies related to science and technology, issues of health and safety and actions that affect society as a whole. This interdisciplinary science communication approach of this project spans the entire chemistry curriculum and will develop valuable skills in students to create well-rounded citizen-scientists who can competently serve as leaders for their communities and their governments in the future.The overarching focus of the project is to build capacity in students and their professors to create learning environments that will ultimately empower students to understand, interpret and explain complex scientific matters competently, which will ultimately facilitate effective communication with both scientific peers and the general public. The primary goals of this project are: (1) to develop innovative curriculum-based modules that cultivate science communication skills in Wabash College Chemistry majors and minors; (2) to increase the abilities of non-science majors to understand the importance of scientific research and evidence in personal and public decision making; and (3) to encourage faculty development in science communication education. Project activities will include providing students early in the curriculum with exposure to the language of chemical research. More advanced undergraduates will engage in translational science communication activities, public presentations of scientific news items and will receive guidance via evaluation of oral communication through senior comprehensive examinations. Faculty professional development will be achieved through a series of summer workshops for Wabash College Chemistry faculty and chemistry faculty members from a diverse group of other institutions, including two-year colleges. Additionally, materials and outcomes generated by the project will be disseminated through conferences and workshops to encourage and equip other faculty to integrate science communication into their curricula. To evaluate the activities, the project will use pre- and post-surveys that incorporate quantitative and qualitative measures to assess items such as self-reported learning gains and the ways students and/or faculty conceptualize science communication.