Addressing the Importance of STEM to Public Science Communication in Engineering Formation

An Analysis of An Educational Innovation for an Upper-Level Chemical Engineering Health and Safety Course

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18260/2-1-370.660-135642

Abstract

STEM-to-public science communication is recognized as an important skill, but a pedagogical framework for teaching these skills is lacking. Collaborating with safety and science communication experts, an intervention was developed in a health and safety course for chemical engineering students. Students attended three science communication workshops and conducted a mock town hall based on briefs from historical chemical incidents. Initial and follow-up surveys show that students’ self-efficacy around these skills improved following the intervention.

Author Biographies

Lance M. Simpson, University Libraries, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa AL 35487, United States

Lance Michael Simpson, MLIS, is an Assistant Professor and Assessment Librarian with University Libraries at The University of Alabama. He has provided research and instruction support to the engineering and biological sciences disciplines, including coding and systematic review workshops. Previously, as a public librarian, he developed STEM-focused learning labs for teens, and facilitated trainings for national cohorts of youth-serving librarians. His research focuses on learning ecosystems, and assessing learning related to information and data literacy.

Matthew S. VanDyke, Department of Advertising and Public Relations, College of Communication & Information Sciences, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa AL 35487, United States

Matthew S. VanDyke, PhD, is faculty lead of the Alabama Science Communication Initiative, faculty fellow with the Alabama Water Institute, and associate professor of public relations at The University of Alabama. His research focuses on processes, effects, and problems associated with the public communication of science and environmental risk information; he has explored primarily how organizations communicate about science and environmental risks and the consequences of science and environmental risk communication strategies for public engagement.

Amanda S. Koh, Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa AL 35487, United States

Amanda S. Koh, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa, AL, USA). She was an ORAU Postdoctoral Fellow with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory in Aberdeen, MD, after receiving her PhD in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2016 and her BS in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2011. Dr. Koh’s lab focuses on harnessing polymer composites for improved functional, responsive materials.

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Published

2024-10-29

Issue

Ahead of Print (Articles ASAP)

Section

Manuscripts