Postdoctoral Fellowship: STEMEdIPRF: Improving science literacy and science communication skills in non-science majors' biology

Science communication is a key skill, not only for scientists to communicate with the broad public, but for non-scientists to discuss the applications of science in their lives. Since non-scientists regularly communicate about science topics and use scientific information for daily decision-making, it is crucial that they are both scientifically literate and able to effectively communicate. While the field of science communication has made great strides in identifying effective and ineffective communication strategies, additional tools to effectively train and evaluate students are needed. This project will develop an instrument to evaluate non-biology major student knowledge, value, and capacity to engage in science communication. Drawing on expectancy-value theory, established processes will be utilized to collect validity evidence, including conducting cognitive interviews and confirmatory factor analyses. The instrument will then be used to evaluate a new training in science communication, which will identify key concepts and priorities. Within this project, the training will be implemented in the context of an issues-based introductory biology course for non-majors, where key concepts will be taught in the context of real-world issues and examples. In this class, students will not only learn about biology, but will learn why biology is important in their lives. Student interviews will be conducted to identify any shifts in perception of covered topics and how students value the role of science and science communication in their lives. By helping students better connect to and understand science topics, while also helping them learn to communicate effectively about what they know, this project seeks to create a more informed and engaged society that is able to make decisions on scientific topics. This project is supported by NSF’s STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (STEM Ed PRF) Program. The STEM Ed PRF Program aims to enhance the research knowledge, skills, and practices of recent doctorates in STEM, STEM education, education, and related disciplines to advance their preparation to engage in fundamental and applied research that advances knowledge within the field. 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.