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Research & Evaluation

Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Science Communication Workshops

Report date: December, 2009

 

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General Description: 

The Museum of Science collaborated with the Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing to develop a two-session science communication workshop program for REU students at Northeastern, UMass-Lowell, and the University of New Hampshire. This evaluation of the CHN REU program - conducted by the Donahue Institute- focused in great depth on the outcomes of the science communication workshops, from pp 12 - 27. One of the purposes of evalution was to determine whether there would be value in trying to disseminate the workshops to science museum and research center partners throughout the NISE Network.

Major Findings: 

- 100% of the students agreed or strongly agreed that the workshops had significantly increased their interest "in seeking out and understanding the broader impact of my own and others'research (p. 19)
- From pre to post, students agreeing that they had a good understanding of how to present their research to scientific audiences increased from 50% to 94%, and students agreeing that they had a good understanding of how to present their research to non-scientific audiences increased from 50% to 100%. (p. 22)
- The great majority of students rated the workshops among the most useful and enjoyable of their REU training activities. (p. 25)
- Stakeholder feedback overall was very positive. Respondents felt that the workshops were very valuable to students, and they wanted to offer similar workshops to their graduate students and even to the faculty in their departments. They felt that the museum staff had been very responsive and actively solicited feedback, and that the workshops were worth disseminating to other museum/university pairings such as those in the NISE network. (p. 14)

Type of product(s) studied: 

  • Professional development, meetings, workshops

Method(s) of data collection: 

  • audio recording
  • interviews
  • observations
  • surveys

Documents: 

application/msword iconreu_report_2009_final-feb810.doc

Author(s): 

UMass Donahue Institute Research and Evaluation Group

Associated product(s): 

NISE Network product

REU Science Communication Workshop

This is a two-session science communication workshop targeted to undergraduate students participating in university-based research programs such as NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program, which typically occur during the summer months. University faculty and science museum staff integrate the sessions into the research program curriculum to enhance the students’ science communication skills, with an emphasis on professional oral, powerpoint, and poster presentations. Each session takes a half-day, but they can be shortened.

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Questions?

Contact about evaluations in the catalog.