Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Science Communication Workshops

Report date: December, 2009

Overview

Evaluation Title:

Date of report:

12/2009

Contact:

Carol Lynn Alpert [1]

Permissions

[2]
Creative Commons
Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike

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)

Categorize