NSF Award
1625316
There has been considerable press describing the poor understanding of science held by the general public, and extensive research into the misunderstandings of science held by college students. Attempts to turn science prose into general prose has often failed to hit the mark, and there is a need for science professionals to engage actively in informal communication with the public. Carthage College and the Alda Center for Communicating Science at SUNY-Stonybrook, are partnering with Dartmouth College, Smith College, and the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC), to create and disseminate tools, methods, and materials that can be utilized by colleges, universities, and informal science education organizations to develop the science communication skills of undergraduate STEM students. The program has been successful in training faculty and graduate students in science communication.<br/><br/>This project will utilize and adapt the existing science communication training programs for graduate students and professional researchers as the basis for creating new tools and training methodologies to prepare undergraduate STEM students in science communication. It is expected that as these students enter the workforce, they will be better at communicating and explaining technical concepts, especially to the lay public, and based on results from the current program will be more likely to pursue careers in science education. The tools and methods developed, when adopted by higher education institutions, will lead to a better-prepared technical workforce, and better understanding of science by the general public. The program will include a study of the effectiveness of the interventions through a longitudinal study of assessment and evaluation data from this effort compared with an expansive five-year data set from prior years of the outreach program.
