Tran, L. U., Randol, S., Halversen, C., & Strang, C. (2009). College science students learning to communicate science in informal settings. Poster presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting.

Increasingly scientists are urged to engage and communicate with the public about scientific issues more effectively. Some argue that science graduates need to know how to communicate their scientific knowledge with the public as science and technology advances arise at unprecedented rates (Leshner, 2007). Even though such a requirement adds “yet another element to overtaxed research training programs,” the knowledge and skills of communication are needed for future scientists (Leshner, 2007, p. 161). There are a limited number of university courses for science students that prepare them to communicate their research with the general public, media, and K-12 schoolchildren and teachers (Warren, Weiss, Wolfe, Friedlander, & Lewenstein, 2007; Lally, Brooks, Tax, & Dolan, 2007). We report on a course--Communicating Ocean Sciences to Informal Audiences--that is taught at six universities in the US, and uses informal science education institutions (ISEIs) as a means to connect science students with the public. For this investigation, we seek to understand how university-level science students engage with the public in hands-on activities in ISEIs and how visitors respond to these students.