Science Communication Skills

Science Communication Skills A resource for the School of Life and Environmental Sciences Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment (SEBE) Deakin University

Idaho National Laboratory. 2010. Data Represented in an Interactive 3-D Form. Photo. https://www.flickr.com/photos/inl/5097547405/. CC - BY

Science Communication Skills - Deakin University - 2015

Science Communication Skills A resource for the School of Life and Environmental Sciences in the faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment (SEBE), Deakin University

The resource is for educators who desire to incorporate communication skill development into their units/courses as (formative and summative) assessment task/s. It is most useful when treated as a “conversation starter” around enhancing curriculum for developing students’ science communication skills. The resource provides educators with ideas for learning activities for science communication skill development. The resource has been collaboratively planned and developed by the faculty’s Learning Support Team, science educators and teaching and learning experts. It can be used as part of the faculty’s Course Enhancement Process such as during course team meetings when discussing curriculum renewal strategies.

Not all students studying science will become research active. Students often take a number of pathways. Therefore, it is important to keep this in mind when re-imagining assessment for science communication skill development. Ideally, assessment and activities incorporating communication skill development should support students’ learning for a number of purposes (Graduate Careers Australia, 2011). Please note: future guides are forthcoming and will focus on the various teaching techniques and marking strategies (such as rubrics for oral presentations) for science communication skill development. These particular points will not be covered in this guide.


Before making alterations to your assessment items, it is useful to confirm with the Course Director and/or course team members that these changes will not affect the Unit Learning Outcomes, Course Learning Outcomes and/or the course’s graduate attributes. One of the main focuses of the Course Enhancement Process at Deakin is to carefully map each graduate attribute across a course at the appropriate year level. In addition, it is a good idea to weigh up the benefits and challenges when implementing a variety of assessment task/s for science communications skill development. Some of the benefits are: • Skill development for work readiness; • Creativity and imagination; • Student-led assessment task focus; • Peer-assisted learning; • Group work opportunities, and; • Industry connections. Some of the challenges are: • Workload increase due to educational design planning that is required prior to the start of teaching; • The balance between acquisition of science knowledge and developing self-directed learning skills; so that students learn how to: 1. gather the best type of knowledge from the best sources, and 2. to communicate data that is not necessarily presented in the written form; • Creating effective Rubrics for assessments; • Providing formative learning activities to support skill development and for improvement; • Providing timely and effective feedback that can support students’ communication skill development; • Personal “teaching” skill development for educators around how to teach students’ communication skills effectively.

Tann, John. 2013. Eucalyptus Sieberi Leaf. Photo. https://www.flickr.com/photos/31031835@N08/8730373254/. CC-BY


The Science Threshold Learning states that upon completion of a Bachelor Degree in Science, graduates will: • 4. be effective communicators of science; • 4.1 communicate scientific results, information, or arguments to a range of audiences, for a range of purposes, and using a variety of modes (Jones, Yates, & Kelder, 2011 cited in Colthorpe, Rowland & Leach, OLT Good Practice Guide (Science): Threshold Learning Outcome 4 communication, 2013); • Be members of a skilled and dynamic Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) workforce and lay the foundations for lifelong Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) literacy in the community (Office of the Chief Scientist 2014, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics: Australia’s Future. Australian Government, Canberra). Using oral, written, visual and interpersonal communication to advise, inspire and influence change is one of Deakin University’s eight Graduate Learning Outcomes. It is important for all Deakin graduates to be given the opportunity to have mastered the generic skill of communication in order to attain employment. Students will often need to show employers that they can communicate concisely, clearly and in an appropriate format such as during oral presentations. It is also clear that students learn communication skills most successfully when the learning is appropriately scaffolded across a course, embedded within the general curriculum and presented in a discipline-specific context (Bowden, Hart, King, Trigwell and Watts 2000). The following image (see Figure 1) demonstrates some of the complexities around the different communication decisions students might face as they build skills in this area. For example, students and graduates will be expected to communicate within the science community, with the public and with external and internal science groups. At other times, they will need to be able to communicate effectively with managers, team members and/or funding organisations in an appropriate and timely manner.

Wiertz, Sebastien. 2014. Communication Is the Key. Photo. https://www.flickr.com/photos/wiertz/13195153284/. CC-BY


within the science community

posters papers presentations social media blogs

within the public and science groups

organisation communication manager, finance, funding etc.,

news articles radio public speaking social media blogs

AUDIENCE Figure 1. A communication activity flowchart. When planning what is to be communicated, to whom and which platform to use, there are four questions that can help determine your approach. These are: 1. Who is the audience? 2. What is the best way to present the information? 3. What types of technology, media, and communication platforms are available to communicate for a range of science data outcomes? 4. What strategies and fundamental principles do students need in order to: 1. develop communication skills that will assist them to present data to a variety of audiences and 2. to use multiple communication platforms? The following page lists some assessment ideas that you may want to consider as you further think about supporting science communication skill development in your unit/course. The majority of the examples can be used as either face-to-face, online and/or as blended learning activities (formative and/or summative).


Assessment ideas portfolios scientific report wikis blogs

Written

LIVE memes concept or mind maps (see Figure 2)

Drawing

media presentations live or online discussion forums written/oral/performative face-to-face and/or online

Visual

video memes

Speaking podcasts

scientific reports:

When students are asked to submit a scientific report (formative) there is a wealth of shared knowledge on the WWW to support students in this process. See for example a student-focused resource on how to complete scientific reports as an assessment item at Deakin University: http://www.deakin.edu.au/students/study-support/ academic-resources/report-writing podcasts: A podcast is a digital audio recording, typically produced using a digital voice recorder, a smartphone, or a laptop or desktop computer, and uploaded to a specified online location such as CloudDeakin or a platform like iTunes. Audio software like Audacity can be used to edit the podcast before uploading, though this is not always necessary. You could have groups of three students create a podcast explaining an assigned topic, before evaluating classmates’ podcasts. For example, the task gives students an opportunity to explore a chemical concept in depth and/or to explore different applications of that concept relevant to their chosen discipline(s) and degree(s). media presentations: You could consider students creating a multimedia resource on their science research interest/s and for non-science audiences as an outreach focus. The task could be designed using an online program such as Video note in CloudDeakin (see https://documentation. desire2learn.com/en/Video%20Note) or as part of face-to-face presentation using Prezi (see https:// prezi.com/). There are plenty of open source software programs that students can use such as Voice Thread (see http://voicethread.com/about/ features/), which allows you to record your voice over an image/s.

live or online discussion forums:

Students could lead a discussion forum (as part of an assessment task which might include seminar facilitation, seminar presentation materials, and summary and transcript analysis of discussion discourse). This could be conducted online or during face-to-face contact time. When students engage in a group discussion in which they share results, work through problems, and reflect on what they have learned enhances the learning experiences. Videos: Students could create their own video that illustrates a difficult scientific concept for a non-science audience/experts. See for example: http://www. rsc.org/learn-chemistry/resource/res00001341/ chemistry-vignettes-electrochemistry science blogs: Students could create a group blog that deconstructs and critiques others’ science communication strategies and content from broadcasts, blogs, twitter, Facebook, webpages, other texts, post important clips/images and information from the science community. You may request that they explain its value, use a visual app such as Sketch note (see http://sketchnotearmy.com/about/) to visually represent information for others, post strategically pro-active RIPs (Really Important Points) in order to attract debate from other students. Memes: You could have students create scientific memes where certain phrases are matched to images to create a shared understanding (see http://gizmodo.com/what-exactly-is-a-meme-512058258 or see http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=science)

wikis:

You could have student groups create an instructional Wiki for a particular type of science audience. For example, a group might use a Wiki to document intentionally “messy” case studies and problems where the findings (solutions and processes) are collaboratively constructed as a digital record/resource for a particular audience, including the miss-steps, dead ends, and misunderstandings. concept or mind maps: Mind maps are a very useful way to problem solve and to critically think about a topic/s. They can be used in group work and/or individually (see Figure 2 for an example of a student’s mind map). portfolios: Allowing students to consistently create and curate artefacts over their course such as a graduate portfolio presentation is a good way to scaffold communications skills via reflective practice and evidencing learning over a period of time. written/oral/performative: You could invite students to present a one minute paper or student groups could be rostered to do a one minute paper at the end of a seminar/class (see for example http:// homepages.math.uic.edu/~bshipley/MinutePaper. pdf

eLearning tools:

A community of practice are contributing “live” to an online spreadsheet regarding assessment ideas that are aligned to Bloom’s taxonomy. This is a great open resource for discovering ideas for student communication skill development (see https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ar0FfDINz1W_dGdwRTFUQlJYbGE0VWNXSUZCMWRjaVE&usp=sharing#gid=0


Teaching & Learning in Science: A concept map “There is a difference between learning for memorization and learning for understanding.”

Why do we teach science?

(Goodrum, 2008, p110)

(Goodrum, 2008, p109)

How do we teach it effectively?

Student involvement

Capture children’s natural curiousity about nature and the whole world of science

How do we use science in our everyday lives?

“Our role as teachers is to promote curiousity and our students’ intrinsic interest in science.”

Questions & Questioning Explanation follows experience

(Goodrum, 2008, p109)

STRUCTURING AN ACTIVITY/LESSON

TEACHING MODELS Developing conceptual understanding

How do students learn?

Scientific literacy

“All students have the right to a science education that enables them to feel confident about and able to deal with scientific issues that impact on their lives.”

Student discussion

Recognising prior experience

Cooperative learning & group work

Benefits include:  More effective learning  Improved self confidence  Better class management

 5E Model  The Generative Learning Model  The Interactive Model

 Introduction  Activity  Conclusion

TEACHING STRATEGIES “Teachers must relate learning to a real-world context that is meaningful for the student.” (Goodrum, 2008, p109)

 Concept Mapping Brainstorming Envoy Gallery Walk Jigsaw POE

    

Reference List Goodrum, D (2007) ‘Chapter 6 Teaching Strategies for Classroom Learning’ in The Art of Teaching Primary Science, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW, pp. 108-126

Figure 2. A student’s concept map (Deakin University, 2014)


On the WWW there is a vast amount of knowledge sharing occuring especially amongst science educators who are focusing on science communication development for students. The following list highlights some of these activities. Inspiring Australia:

This website shares ideas and stories of success from the Australian science community – which includes researchers, science communicators and educators – as well as events and prize opportunities from around the country. http://inspiringaustralia.net.au/about-us/

Videos:

This is an annual video competition for National Science Foundation graduates. A great resource to view excellent examples of three-minute videos that explain scientific research. http://posterhall.org/igert2013/posters#/default

Blogging:

This is a good example of blogging (students of the MIT graduate program in Masters in Science Writing) and especially for what students can achieve. http://blogs.plos.org/mitsciwrite/

Teaching and Learning resources:

A comprehensive online resource (OLT project, UNSW and University of Sydney). This site has guides for students and staff. It uses video, images and has examples of reports for Science and Engineering subjects by year level. http://learningcentre.usyd.edu.au/wrise/.

Other universities:

We can also investigate what other universities are using as a benchmarking exercise. For example Monash University and the University of New South Wales have some great resources on report writing. http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/writing/engineering/lab-report/index.xml or https://student.unsw.edu.au/support-writing-laboratory-reports

Where to now? If you would like to speak to a curriculum designer about how you can implement science communication skill development for students in your unit/course please do not hesitate to contact SEBE CloudDeakin support: email us to organize an individual and/or group appointment (face-to-face, telephone and/or online). We also welcome feedback about this resource and at your convenience. Acknowledgements We would like to thank Dr Julia Savage for her support with early drafts of this guide and to Miriam Ercole for the use of her mind map. References

> Bowden, J., Hart, G., King, B., Trigwell, K. and Watts, O.

2000, Generic capabilities of ATN university graduates, [Online] Available: http://www.gradskills.anu.edu.au/generic-capabilities-framework [accessed 20 November 2014]. > Graduate Careers Australia. (2011). University of Sydney, Australia. > Jones, Yates, & Kelder, 2011 cited in Colthorpe, Rowland & Leach, OLT Good Practice Guide (Science): Threshold Learning Outcome 4 communication, 2013). > Koehler, N., & Hains-Wesson, R. (2012). Communication skills, Deakin University, Melbourne Victoria. > Office of the Chief Scientist 2014, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics: Australia’s Future. Australian Government, Canberra.
