Hazel Davis September 26, 2019
Lightning Talk: Promoting scientific communication opportunities for graduate students
www.smls-nrt.org
Soft Materials for Life Sciences (UMass Amherst)
• Two year traineeship program
• Emphasis on professional development opportunities, lab modules, core
curriculum, and individual development planning
• Students from chemical engineering, polymer science & engineering, chemistry,
physics, food science, and more!
https://blogs.nottingham.edu.my/postgraduate/2016/08/17/scientific-communication/
Importance of scientific communication in graduate school
Scientists vs. public
Scientist vs. public Scientist vs. scientist
Scientific communication with the public and other scientists is the
same and different!
Strategies to incorporate scientific communication in SMLS-NRT
Lightning Talks:
• Students present 3 minute research
updates to audience of other students in
NRT, receive feedback on research
questions
• 4 students/month during lunch
The Good:
• Attendance ~ 15-20 graduate students
The Bad:
• Coordinating speakers
• “rapid fire” presentations
Strategies to Work On:
• More time to discuss research
problems
• Having feedback reviews (on
presentation style and not just
research)
Strategies to incorporate scientific communication in Polymer Science
Lunch ‘n’ Learn events:
• Students present 15 or 30 minute
research presentations to audience of
other students in PSE, receive feedback
on research questions
• Monthly during lunch, BYOL
The Good:
• Attendance ~ 30 graduate
students/visiting scholars
• Relatively inexpensive (coffee and tea)
The Bad:
• Coordinating speakers
Strategies to Work On:
• Enabling students to practice
milestones (Oral Defenses, etc)
• Having feedback reviews (on
presentation style and not just
research)
https://www.umass.edu/graduate/professional-development
Strategies to incorporate scientific communication at UMass Amherst
https://www.umass.edu/graduate/professional-development
Summary:
Strategies to Work On:
• Enabling students to practice
milestones (Oral Defenses, etc)
• Having time for students to talk
about research problems, and not
just polished work
• Having system of feedback
reviews (on presentation style and
not just research)
What We’ve Found Effective:
• Having different styles of
presentations (not just classical 15
minute conference talk, also
elevator pitches, etc)
• Meetings during food! Even if BYOL
• Mix of meetings with faculty and
without
• Presenting outside your department
Questions
Questions?
Building communication skills for the 21st century
R2R: Ridge to Reef Graduate Training at UC IrvineSteven Allison | [email protected]
NRT
Wildfire
Endangered species
Climate change impacts
Urban ecology
Restoration
Urban water use
Air quality
Marine conservationCoastal water quality
Ridge to Reef Program: Session 1, Poster #117
Communication learning outcomes
Comm Skills classFall quarter
Communicate research to a broad audience
Craft messages appropriate for specific target audiences
Design and present visual media
Address issues from an interdisciplinary perspective
Prepare for job interviews and networking
Expert panels
• Public communication• Web and social media• Job interviews
Skills workshops
• Bri McWhorter: Activate To Captivate @ActToCap
• Interpersonal comm• Distilling messages• Reaching policymakers• Oral presentations
Poster symposium
Individual coaching
• Filming a pitch• Prepping a talk
Assessment
• Video presentations pre and post• Rubric with 12 criteria
• e.g. language choice is audience appropriate
• Analysis of submissions• Challenging/incomprehensible for
average listener• Jargon particular to your field• Compound words• Administrator words
P < 0.001
Questions?
Developing a Community Outreach
Program for Science Communication
Liz Anderson, PhD
NRT Program Coordinator
DGE-1734815: NRT-UtB: Graduate Training Program in Sensory Science: Optimizing the Information Available for
Mind and Brain
September 26, 2019
Our NRT Program: CogniSense• NRT Graduate Training Program in Sensory Science:
Optimizing the Information for Mind and Brain
• Interdisciplinary graduate training program at UMN
uniting basic sensory science (vision, audition, motor
control, speech and language) with engineering,
computer science, and other technical fields.
• Research focuses on the nature of sensory loss and the
development of effective assistive technologies for
people with sensory deficits that impact their quality of
life
Visit our poster: Session 3, #318
Why is
science communication
important?• Inform the public
• Build support for science
• Encourage informed decision-making
Outreach
• Educational outreach = activities that support informal education which occur outside the classroom
• Connect with the community -- particularly
communities of older adults and those with sensory
loss. We have much to learn from them about the
experience of living with sensory loss, and much to
offer them in terms of current information on devices,
rehabilitative options, and more.
• Our goal: to engage with the public in a give-and-take
way
Abiitan Community
• Two years ago, UMN’s College of Liberal Arts invited
faculty/staff to partner with Abiitan Mill City, a unique,
non-profit senior living community
• Ages 55+, both independent living and memory care
floors
NRT/Abiitan Science Outreach: v1
• Students presented on their research to residents
• Well-received; lots of questions
• But -- how to keep going, once students have
exhausted all their topics?
• Residents’ ad hoc questions caused students to come
up with the idea of a popular-science “journal club”
format
• For each meeting, an article from the popular press is
selected, relating to sensory science.
• Questions to stimulate discussion are developed by
students
v2 -- Abiitan Science Journal Club
• Response has been very positive
• Residents not only learn about an issue or topic, but
also learn how to determine
the validity of scientific articles
• Students benefit from
residents’ perspectives
Example
Questions?
Using frequent low risk communication opportunities to provide experience
communicating around science and software
David A. C. Beck, [email protected] Engineering & eScience Institute
University of Washington
Advancing data-intensive discovery in all fields
Knowledge and solutions for a changing world
Be boundless
Chemical Engineering eScience Institute
• 2016 NRT-DESE: Data Intensive Research Enabling Clean Technologies (DIRECT), #1633216– PI: Jim Pfaendtner (ChemE)
– Associate Director: David Beck (ChemE, eScience)
– ChemE, Chemistry, Materials Science & Eng., Molecular Science & Eng., Electrical Eng., Built Environment, MechE
– (Molecular) Data Science Methods
• Machine learning, Statistics, Visualization, Data Management
– Software Engineering
• Principles, design, testing, documentation, programming style
Data Science for Clean Tech
DIRECT course overview
• Three courses
– CHEME 546: Software Engineering for Molecular Data Scientists (SEMDS)
• Winter quarter (10 weeks)
– CHEME 545: Data Science Methods for Clean Energy Research (DSMCR)
• Winter quarter (10 weeks)
– CHEME 547: Molecular Data Science Capstone
• Spring quarter (10 weeks)
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Visual block syllabus
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10
SEMDS
DSMCER
AM
PMTwo courses × two 1.5 hr classes / week = 6 hrs / wk
Software Engineering for Molecular Data Scientists (SEMDS)
Data Science Methods for Clean Energy Research (DSMCR)
Visual block syllabus
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10
SEMDS
DSMCER
AM
PM
Software Engineering for Molecular Data Scientists (SEMDS)
Data Science Methods for Clean Energy Research (DSMCR)
Project team formation
• Project based classes, one project shared by both
• Taught in active learning classrooms to encourage communication
UW Active Learning Classrooms
Visual block syllabus
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10
SEMDS
DSMCER
AM
PM
Software Engineering for Molecular Data Scientists (SEMDS)
Data Science Methods for Clean Energy Research (DSMCR)
Project team formation
• Project based classes, one project shared by both
• Taught in active learning classrooms
• “Class participation category” is 15% of grade and students get credit for showing up (low risk)
Communication opportunities
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10
SEMDS
DSMCER
AM
PM
Software Engineering for Molecular Data Scientists (SEMDS)
Data Science Methods for Clean Energy Research (DSMCR)
Project team formation
• Project proposals
– Students self select to present their nascent project ideas
Project Proposal Template
• Why project proposals?– Share your project ideas and find like interested classmates
• Should be presented in 5 minutes with one slide
• Background• What is the science driver for the project• What are the broader impacts of the science
• Project proposal• Succinct description of the project idea• What specific data sets are available to use• What prior art exists
Communication opportunities
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10
SEMDS
DSMCER
AM
PM
Software Engineering for Molecular Data Scientists (SEMDS)
Data Science Methods for Clean Energy Research (DSMCR)
Project team formation
• Student peer code reviews
– Practices in class in week 6
– Use the communication method frequently in out of class project work settings
Code Review Template
• Why code review?– Improve code quality and find bugs
• Background– Describe what the application does
– Describe the role of the code being reviewed
• Comment on– Choice of variable and function names
– Readability of the code
– How improve reuse and efficiency
– How use existing python packages
Communication opportunities
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10
SEMDS
DSMCER
AM
PM
Software Engineering for Molecular Data Scientists (SEMDS)
Data Science Methods for Clean Energy Research (DSMCR)
Project team formation
• Team technology reviews
– Software tools are rarely written entirely from scratch
– Modern software is often built using other tools, e.g. for machine learning, visualization, …
Technology Review Template
• Why technology reviews?– Evaluate a package for deployment in a project
– 10 minutes, including questions
• Background– Requirements that indicate a need for the proposed
package
• Discuss– How the package works
– Appeal of using the package
– Drawbacks of using the package
Communication opportunities
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10
SEMDS
DSMCER
AM
PM
Software Engineering for Molecular Data Scientists (SEMDS)
Data Science Methods for Clean Energy Research (DSMCR)
Project team formation
• Student standups
– Collaborative software projects require frequent, rapid communication between team members
Standup Template
• Why standups?– Communicate status and actions within and between teams
• Should be presented in 1-2 minutes with no slides
• Progress this period– How it compares with the plan
– If behind plan, how compensate to make plan end date
• Deliverables for next period
• Challenges to making next deliverables such as:– Technology uncertainties and blockers
– Team issues
Capstone course timeline
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week9 Week 10
Standup Standup Standup Standup Standup
• Alternating
– Student standups
– Professional development enrichment sessions
Stakeholder engagement
Project management
Project pitching pt. 1
Project pitching pt. 2
Informational interviews and interview skills
Communication opportunities
• Frequent (~40% of classes)
• Low risk (show up & get credit)
• Mix of communication about software & science
• Is it working?
– Evaluation by data2insight
Want more info?
• The course materials are open source (BSD)
– On Github:
– https://github.com/UWDIRECT/UWDIRECT.github.io
– Lectures, homework assignments, some videos
https://uwdirect.github.io
Sharing Science: Communicating Your Research
NSF NRT
Communication Initiatives
• Summer Bootcamp• Elevator Speeches• Communication Styles
• Action, Process, Idea, People
• Conflict Communication • Competing,
Avoiding, Accommodating, Collaboration, Compromising
• Business Communication• Interviewing
Communication Initiatives
• Fall/Spring• Sharing Science Workshop• Group Problem Solving Presentations• Research Update Presentations• K-12 Outreach• Business Etiquette Luncheon
Workshop Agenda
• 30 Second Speeches• Pair with 3 different people• Remove fillers (um, uh)
• Sequential Memory Exercise• 20 Words• Incorporate visual, auditory,
repetitive and novel words
• Basic Presentation Development• Outlining• Introductions/Conclusions
Workshop Agenda
• Communicating to general audiences• Defining complex terms/concepts
• Visual Aids• Do’s/Don’ts• Draw a Slide
• Style & Delivery
• Write & Video 30 Second Speech
Speaking Center
• Peer to peer coaching, establish trust• Practice presenting to a general audience• Discovering broader impact of their research• Judgement free space to present• Feedback from speaking center coaches • Importance of non-verbal communication
Acknowledgements
National Science Foundation NRT programTraining Next-Generation Scientists with Experimental, Theoretical, and Computational Competencies for Complex Interfaces” (INTERFACE) http://www.interface-usm.org/NSF Award #1449999
The University of Southern MississippiSchool of Polymer Science & Engineering
Kim WingoDirector Education, Outreach & Student [email protected]
Questions
Theatrically Speaking: What Researchers Can Learn from
an Actor/Improv Teacher about
Engaging an Audience
Byron StewartAdjunct lecturer
Northwestern University
1
R C T P Research Communication Training ProgramTurning great researchers into great communicators.
S C O PScience Communication Online Programme
E
Engineering Improv I:
The Art of Allowing
Engineering Improv II:
The Art of Inspiration
Questions?