IMPROVING STUDENT CONFIDENCE, COMPREHENSION, AND COMMUNICATION OF PRIMARY LITERATURE WITH REAL-WORLD, AUTHENTIC SCIENCE COMMUNICATION STAKES

New approaches are needed to counter science misinformation and enable productive discourse among scientists and non-scientist citizens and policymakers. Teaching science communication in higher education STEM classes can provide students with the tools to communicate complex scientific concepts to these stakeholders. Here, we describe the design, implementation, and evaluation of a real-world science communication activity that was integrated into undergraduate- and graduate-level geology and biology coursework at three institutions. Students selected a recent scientific paper and wrote summaries that were targeted to high school-educated adult readers. The assignment was required for all students; those that produced high quality summaries were given the option to submit their pieces for possible publication on the science communication website Sciworthy (https://sciworthy.com). Students completed a short online training course followed by one or more rounds of feedback on content accuracy and submission readiness from their instructor. Those who submitted their pieces received one or more rounds of editing from professional editors at Sciworthy to ensure that the style, tone, and language were appropriate for the site’s target audience. Some courses offered additional incentives, such as the option to skip the final exam if accepted for publication.

Out of 50 students in courses offered at New Mexico Tech, 60% had their articles accepted for publication on Sciworthy (77% of graduate students, 46% of undergraduates). In surveys conducted before and after the activity, students reported slight decreases in stress and frustration associated with reading primary literature, and slight increases in confidence in their ability to explain complex topics. In post-class surveys, most students reported that their understanding of their final paper topics increased somewhat or substantially, and students also consistently stated that they enjoyed the assignment much more or slightly more than most assignments. The survey data and high rate of publication on Sciworthy suggest that the intrinsic and/or extrinsic motivations of the assignment, including the possibility of online publication, were successful at both improving students’ ability and interest in science communication as well as their comfort with primary literature.