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An Undergraduate Elective Course That Introduces Topics of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into Discussions of Science.

ABSTRACT: In this Science, Ethics, and Society elective undergraduate course at the St. Louis College of Pharmacy, students consider topics that scientists face continuously, including human and animal subjects, science denial, treatment of scientists, who owns and funds science, personalized medicine and genetics, health disparities, and scientific integrity, all through lenses of inclusion and equity. Students read primary and secondary literature pertaining to each day's topic, upload reflections to a course management system, and engage in structured dialogue in a facilitated classroom environment. Overarching themes address how women and men and their scientific work have been treated or received differently, as well as particular challenges faced by people of color, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and those with disabilities. This course helps students see how the culture of science has been created and sustained, how it has not encouraged equal participation, and how it could be shaped differently. Student responses to the course recognize that this approach to the scientific material is valuable and that it does not appear elsewhere in their curriculum.

SUBMITTER: Reese AJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7148155 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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An Undergraduate Elective Course That Introduces Topics of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into Discussions of Science.

Reese Amy J AJ

Journal of microbiology & biology education 20200410 1

In this <i>Science, Ethics, and Society</i> elective undergraduate course at the St. Louis College of Pharmacy, students consider topics that scientists face continuously, including human and animal subjects, science denial, treatment of scientists, who owns and funds science, personalized medicine and genetics, health disparities, and scientific integrity, all through lenses of inclusion and equity. Students read primary and secondary literature pertaining to each day's topic, upload reflection ...[more]

PMID: 32313603

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Project description:BackgroundSeminal reports, based on recommendations by educators, scientists, and in collaboration with students, have called for undergraduate curricula to engage students in some of the same practices as scientists-one of which is communicating science with a general, non-scientific audience (SciComm). Unfortunately, very little research has focused on helping students develop these skills. An important early step in creating effective and efficient curricula is understanding what baseline skills students have prior to instruction. Here, we used the Essential Elements for Effective Science Communication (EEES) framework to survey the SciComm skills of students in an environmental science course in which they had little SciComm training.ResultsOur analyses revealed that, despite not being given the framework, students included several of the 13 elements, especially those which were explicitly asked for in the assignment instructions. Students commonly targeted broad audiences composed of interested adults, aimed to increase the knowledge and awareness of their audience, and planned and executed remote projects using print on social media. Additionally, students demonstrated flexibility in their skills by slightly differing their choices depending on the context of the assignment, such as creating more engaging content than they had planned for.ConclusionsThe students exhibited several key baseline skills, even though they had minimal training on the best practices of SciComm; however, more support is required to help students become better communicators, and more work in different contexts may be beneficial to acquire additional perspectives on SciComm skills among a variety of science students. The few elements that were not well highlighted in the students' projects may not have been as intuitive to novice communicators. Thus, we provide recommendations for how educators can help their undergraduate science students develop valuable, prescribed SciComm skills. Some of these recommendations include helping students determine the right audience for their communication project, providing opportunities for students to try multiple media types, determining the type of language that is appropriate for the audience, and encouraging students to aim for a mix of communication objectives. With this guidance, educators can better prepare their students to become a more open and communicative generation of scientists and citizens.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40594-021-00304-0.

Dataset Information

An Undergraduate Elective Course That Introduces Topics of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into Discussions of Science.

Publications

An Undergraduate Elective Course That Introduces Topics of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into Discussions of Science.

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