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

CATALYST项目支持历史悠久的黑人学院和大学(HBCU)致力于建立教职员工的研究能力，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职员工的研究能力，改善学院的研究和教学，并让本科生参与研究经验。奥尔巴尼州立大学打算将科学交流整合到科学(生物和化学)学术项目中。拟议的课程改进旨在增强学生的科学交流技能，这可能会影响他们的STEM身份和在STEM劳动力中的长期保留。从技术上讲：建立科学交际自我效能计划的目的是提供基于经验的研究，从而提高本科STEM学生的口语交际学业能力和科学效能。具体目标包括：(1)建立以课程为基础的学习社区；(2)改善口头科学交流；(3)提高科学交流自我效能和科学认同感；(4)提高批判性思维能力。研究的目的是提高STEM领域的留存率和毕业率。该项目为期两年，将招收学生进入两个非住宅学习社区：ARC(欣赏化学的修辞学)将化学课与公共演讲课配对，并提高标准(生物学和修辞学)将生物学课程与公共演讲课程配对。与K12社区的接触将有助于该社区公民的科学素养的发展。该项目将通过反思、持续反馈和掌握经验的机会，提高学生向广泛受众口头交流他们的科学追求的能力。TSP具有改善STEM教育的潜力，并将有助于发展一支更具竞争力的STEM工作队伍。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.