Science communications proficiency is an important skill for STEM graduate students but is not a typical part of STEM graduate education nationally. At the institutions that do offer such science communications training, instructional approaches are highly variable, reflecting an absence of standards and evaluation metrics. The workshop will 1) inventory science communications training for STEM graduate students nationally, (2) identify high effective practices in science communications training with attention to curriculum, approaches, and evaluation, and (3) define a roadmap that gives concrete recommendations to university administrators and funding agencies for national implementation and scale-up of science communications training. The workshop will involve IGERT PIs, science communications trainers, science communications researchers, and individuals from national agencies and organizations with a high interest in STEM graduate student communications training. Products of the workshop will include a white paper to NSF that identifies best practices for science communications training and specifies a roadmap for national scale-up of effective practices; publications in the peer-reviewed literature and other media; and briefings of officials at organizations with capacity to foster changes in graduate education (e.g., NSF, Council of Graduate Schools, and AAAS).
In May 2014, Latin America was the stage for the 13th International Public Communication of Science and Technology Conference (PCST 2014). It was the first time that this important international conference had reached the region since its launch in 1989, and it provides a good opportunity to discuss science communication in Latin America. The region is huge and extraordinarily diverse. As such, this article is only the starting point of a conversation on the subject: here the author presents an overview of the field in the region, highlighting some of the landmarks and discussing some
Successful scientists must be effective communicators within their professions. Without those skills, they could not write papers and funding proposals, give talks and field questions, or teach classes and mentor students. However, communicating with audiences outside their profession - people who may not share scientists' interests, technical background, cultural assumptions, and modes of expression - presents different challenges and requires additional skills. Communication about science in political or social settings differs from discourse within a scientific discipline. Not only are
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National Research Council
resourceevaluationProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
In February 2012, the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) convened the Twenty-first Century Learning in Natural History Settings Conference with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The Conference initiated a national, collaborative effort to understand what, how and why diverse publics learn natural history and what role natural history museums can play in their pursuits, as well as to discuss how these findings can translate into widespread practice. Education, exhibits and science staff from natural history settings, as well as researchers and innovators from the
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National Museum of Natural HistoryKirsten Buchner