Assessing the current landscape of science communication opportunities for undergraduate science students at Canadian public and private universities
Mary-Louise Sturman (1), Adam Oliver Brown (2)
(1) Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Ottawa
(2) Department of Biology, University of Ottawa
Mary-Louise Sturman (1), Adam Oliver Brown (2)
(1) Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Ottawa
(2) Department of Biology, University of Ottawa
The public must be able to understand the basics of science to make evidence-based decisions on many important topics, such as the environment and personal or public health. Unfortunately, science can often appear inaccessible to the public due to its complex nature and specialized form of scientific communication. The ability of scientists to communicate science to non-specialist audiences is known as science communication (SciComm), an increasingly valued skill sought by academic institutions and employers in science-related fields in the media-driven modern society. Until recently, there have been few SciComm learning opportunities for undergraduate students of science at Canadian universities, but this trend is slowly reversing with the creation of more and more SciComm skill-development courses and programs across the country. As a result of the disparities in the goals and missions between private and public universities offering undergraduate science degrees (i.e., curriculum, student population, and pedagogical approaches), this study has attempted to assess the attitudes towards values related to SciComm and has mapped the existing SciComm curriculum currently being offered to undergraduate students of science at 18 public and private Canadian Universities. To quantify the extent to which Canadian Universities promote SciComm skills as learning outcomes of their institutions’ undergraduate science programs, data was gathered by conducting analyses of department websites within Faculties of Science. Further, to map existing SciComm courses or other learning modules that exist at each university, surveys were sent to undergraduate science teaching personnel and professors. The results from both the website analyses and the surveys highlight that while both types of institutions provide some degree of Sci Comm training opportunities to their undergraduate science students, public institutions seem to value and promote Sci Comm skills to a higher standard than private institutions. Nevertheless, the SciComm curriculum and training in Canada is still in the early stages of development and it appears that even more work will need to be done to integrate these skill sets into learning experiences at both private and public institutions. By training young scientists to communicate their science to non-specialist audiences, science students, science itself, and society will benefit from increased education, public awareness, and support.