Communication is a key skill for scientists to develop. However, most instruction in the sciences focuses on content and does not provide opportunities for students to practice communicating science to their peers and community.

Course design can be used to create opportunities for students to practice communication skills. For example, working in collaborative teams on team worthy projects helps students communicate ideas. Students can also develop communication skills through projects that ask them to share results through Wikipedia, videos, comic books, or something creative.

Further Resources

Related Work

“Busting science myths” A news article about the Living Learning Community and Discovery Core (Feb 2016)

“Building Scientific Communication Skills through MythBusters Videos and Community Engagement” a book chapter for Communication in Chemistry with Charity Flener-Lovitt, Avery Cook Shinneman, and Kara Adams (Sept 2019)

“Improving Information Literacy through Wikipedia Editing in the Chemistry Classroom: Lessons Learned” a book chapter for Integrating Information Literacy into the Chemistry Curriculum with Ye Li, Charity Flener Lovitt, Anne McNeil, and Kristen Shuyler (Sept 2015)

“Using the Socioscientific Context of Climate Change To Teach Chemical Content and the Nature of Science” in Journal of Chemical Education

Using Poster Presentations as a Practical in General Chemistry Labs – Poster from the 2015 Gordon Research Conference on Chemistry Education