The art of talking about science: beginning to teach physiology students how to communicate with nonscientists

Promoting Science Literacy and Awareness across the Globe: the Role of Scientists as Science Ambassadors

Science literacy has many personal and societal benefits that allows for better informed decision-making. Although the importance of science literacy is recognized globally, there are many challenges associated with its promotion. Scientists are more frequently engaging with nonscientific audiences through public outreach activities and with increasing support from institutions and professional societies. This is especially true regarding microbiologists and other related professionals since the start of the global 2019 coronavirus disease pandemic heightened the need to convey novel and rapidly evolving scientific information to lay audiences. The means by which professionals engage with these audiences affect the efficacy of the relay of scientific information. One method of engagement is the "ambassador approach," which aims to establish dialogue among different groups of people and scientists. In this perspective article, we discuss this approach, highlighting activities for the promotion of science literacy organized by the American Society for Microbiology Ambassador Program and similar programs of other scientific societies. We discuss the benefits and challenges of implementing an ambassador approach, propose potential improvements that could be made to existing programs promoting science literacy, and ultimately advocate for increased implementation of science ambassador programs.

Analysis of Inclusivity of Published Science Communication Curricula for Scientists and STEM Students

There has been an increased push for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students and scientists to be trained in science communication. Science communication researchers have outlined various models of how scientists interact with nonscientists-including deficit, dialogue, and inclusive approaches. We wanted to analyze whether published science communication curricula for STEM students and scientists exhibit features of inclusive science communication. We analyzed n = 81 published science communication trainings. We found an increase in such publications over the past two decades. We coded the trainings according to the science communication model they most closely follow, finding 40.7% deficit, 39.5% dialogue, and 19.8% inclusive. Trainings for STEM undergraduates were the least likely to provide training in the inclusive model. Finally, only 27.2% of publications included evaluation of the efficacy of the curriculum using an external scale or framework. These findings present opportunities: while it is positive that there are more published science communication curricula, science education and communication researchers should develop and publish more-inclusive science communication trainings for STEM students. Additionally, undergraduate students can and should begin their training in science communication with a focus on inclusivity not deficits. Finally, science education researchers should develop more standards for evaluating the efficacy of inclusive science communication training.

Teaching students to explain the pathophysiology of diseases to lay audiences with a scaffold that supports student choice

Expert educators in science argue that science graduates are often lacking skills in effectively communicating scientific information to lay audiences. To address this, we designed a project, Communicating Disease, for final-year undergraduate human pathophysiology students. Students chose a disease, a relevant nonscientific target audience, and a mode of communication and produced a communiqué designed to educate the audience on the pathophysiology of the disease. Separately, students justified their choice of disease and target audience. Upon completion of the project, students completed an anonymous questionnaire, and their submitted work was analyzed. Our study demonstrated that students thought it was important to learn how to effectively communicate science to a lay audience and felt that the project had supported them in developing knowledge and skills that enabled them to do so. Students were adequately challenged, and most students gave their best effort to the project, indicating a high level of engagement. Evaluation of student performance was consistent with the students' own perceptions and showed that most students communicated the pathophysiology effectively to the target audience and appropriately justified their choice of disease and target audience. Nevertheless, opportunities for improvement with some aspects of communication, production quality, and creativity were evident. This model is suitable for a range of scientific disciplines to engage students in developing their ability to communicate scientific information to lay audiences-a skill that it can be argued is vital for improving the scientific literacy of our community at large.

Flipped Science Fair: Engaging Middle-School Students in STEM while Training Researchers in Science Communication

The Flipped Science Fair (FSF) transforms the traditional science fair format by having middle-school students judge the research of early career scientists. At the FSF, students learn about cutting-edge research in a small group setting, with opportunities to ask questions and participate in hands-on demonstrations. By placing the students in the role of the "judge," the event gives students the opportunity to engage with scientists interactively and with authority. The FSF also provides science communication training for the presenting scientists. Leading up to the event, the presenters attend three workshops focused on distilling their research message to a middle-school level. The FSF effectively promoted science engagement by middle school students who expressed increased interest in science after the event. Moreover, presenters reported an improvement in their science communication skills to a broad audience and increased confidence during public speaking. Our partnership with Pathways to Science, Yale's coordinated STEM outreach infrastructure, enables us to measure the FSF's effectiveness long term, since the Pathways program tracks student trajectories through their college education. The success of the FSF led to the organization of satellite and virtual events, which provided more opportunities for public engagement and gave presenters additional chances to share their research.