Progress 01/01/23 to 12/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:In the first period of this project, our primary target audience includesgraduate students who are inagricultural, food, and environmental sciences programs at the University of Minnesota and at the University of Florida. We also havereached out to faculty who have indicated interest in piloting our modulesin their courses. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project has supported several professional development opportunities: Our team shared information about this project at the annual North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) conference and participated in workshops and seminars that strengthened our expertise incurriculum development and teaching. Our team participated in professional developmentsite visits to exchange science communication curriculum ideas with different universities. During these visits, we shared information about this project and learned about best practices at other universities forsupporting graduate student development in this area.The universities visited include: University of California-Davis University of Leiden (Leiden, Netherlands) Utrecht University (Utrecht, Netherlands) Erasmus University (Rotterdam, Netherlands) The University of the West of England University of Bristol Our team participated in workshops and a symposium on science communication training as part of the Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST) conference in Venice, Italy. This activity connected an international audience of science communication academics and practitioners to share ideas and best practices for advancing science communication competencies andtraining. We discussed this project during the symposium and gathered insights on how other instiutions and funding agenciesapproach science communication training, which will strengthen our work on this project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Fischer, L. M., Roberts-Hill, L.,Steede, G. M.,Miller, J., & Harlan, K. (2023).Creating collaborative multistate partnerships.Panelist on the monthly webinar for the Society of Agricultural Communications Scholars. November 27. Virtual. [Information about this project was shared with agricultural communication faculty at multiple institutions during a webinar for the Society of Agricultural Communications Scholars (SACS) that focused on collaboration and multi-state partnerships.] Baker, L. M., Swenson, R. D., Hundemer, S., Kent, K., McKay, T. D., McLeod-Morin, A., Peterson, H. H., Steede, G. M. (2023). Growing Graduate Studies in Science Communication with Shareable Modules. Oral Presentation, North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA). Las Cruces, NM. [Information about this project was shared with faculty members at two-year and four-year colleges who teach agriculture-related topics at the post-secondary level]. Information about our project modules and updates onproject status were sent toindividual faculty members who might be early adopters of our modules andinterested in integratingthem into their courses. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? During the next reporting period, our team will focus on finishing a draft of the remaining modules (10 of 18). The modules that will be completed during the next reporting period include Issues-based Science Communication, Audience Analysis, Communication Evaluation, Web Analytics & Data Analysis, Data Visualization, New Media, Media Skills, Visual Design, Audio Storytelling, and Photography & Video Skills. We will share all modules with faculty members who have agreed to pilot them in their courses. New courses in science communication will be proposed at the University of Minnesota, whichwill use the modules to structure lessons, course activities, and assigments.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We need scientific experts to share credible information that can expand general knowledge and serve as the base fordecisions made by voters, policymakers, funders, and the general public. Unfortunately, science communication training is rarely a key part of most graduate programs in the agricultural, food, and environmental sciences. Our project is designed to help graduate students learn how to translate their work for a variety of audiences and confidently approach science communication practice. To help reachthis goal, our team completed the following major activities: Our team developeda new survey instrument and collected data from graduate students at the University of Minnesota and the University of Florida on the science communication skills they desired, their self-assessment of their current science communication skills, and perceptions of valuable professional development opportunities. The data collected wasused to direct curricula development and planning for project outreach. We completed development of 8 of the 18 proposed modules. The following modules are completed, reviewed, and ready to be piloted by faculty members: Introduction to Science Communication, Communication Theory for Science Communicators, Concepts of Strategic Science Communication, Ethics in Science Communication, Research for Science Communication, Methods in Science Communication Research, Written Communication, and Oral Communication.
Publications
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