A Service-Learning Chemistry Course as a Model To Improve Undergraduate Scientific Communication Skills

Abstract

Improving communication between people in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and the public is critical to the future of STEM. Partnerships between institutions of higher education with K–12 schools are identified as one effective strategy to support community engagement. We have employed a service-learning model to develop a chemistry course (Chemistry 010) that engages undergraduate students in developing and teaching chemistry experiments for a secondary school audience. This service-learning course design provided us with the consistency and flexibility to sustain substantive learning experiences for both the undergraduates and secondary students. In addition to describing the model of this course in detail, we evaluate this course’s impact on undergraduate scientific communication skills. Analysis of reflections written by the undergraduates reveals that Chemistry 010 is an effective course structure for them to explore and assess their competencies to teach and communicate scientific concepts. The course’s influence on the secondary students, teacher partners, and university instructors will be the focus of future studies to ensure the mutual benefit of all involved parties.

Assessment Methods for Service-Learning Projects in Engineering in Higher Education: A Systematic Review

“…The remaining 52 results were part of the Project category. They included the implementation, development, and experiences in specific projects such as projects for school students (Wang et al, 2012;Ansari et al, 2013) or in local historical society (Douglas, 2017); engineering projects (Duffy et al, 2008;Birdsong, 2012;Najmr et al, 2018); and outreach projects (Ocif and Marshall-Goodell, 1996). Several projects were developed related to sustainability or environmental protection, for the community, or to improve the quality of life in several different contexts and countries (Christensen and Yurttas, 2009;Hayden et al, 2010).…”

“…Apart from these, there were other engineering courses where SL was used and is being used. Some of them are Civil Engineering, Materials Science and Industrial Engineering(Ansari et al, 2013), Environmental (Bielefeldt, 2006a, Chemistry(Najmr et al, 2018), Renewable Energy Engineering(Gleixner et al, 2011), or Studio and Laboratory courses(Cowan et al, 2013).…”

Using a College Curriculum to Integrate Informal Science Learning Opportunities for University and Middle School Students

“…Service-learning has been successfully incorporated into higher education courses across fields such as Psychology (Bringle et al, 2016), Human Development and Family Studies (Weiler et al, 2013), Public Health (Mackenzie et al, 2019), Engineering (Mclean et al, 2019), Ecology (Mc-Ginley, 2018), and Chemistry (Najmr et al, 2018;Sewry and Paphitis, 2018), among others. Although the goals of each service-learning course or project may differ, they often share the common purpose of reaching beyond the university 'walls' to involve community members in learning or in project work.…”

Post-Normal Concerns in Science Communication Pedagogies

“…None of the syllabi in the corpus stated outright that outside audiences ever saw student work or that students ever engaged in ongoing real-life situations as part of course work, though a few syllabi gave hints that service-learning may be incorporated. Therefore, these activities are not included in the instructional design thematic codes, even though service-learning approaches are often espoused and explored in science communication pedagogical literature as a way to combat deficit model thinking (Namir, et al, 2018). I also coded for whether or not I saw any hint of post-normal rhetorical concerns, such as credibility or trust, present.…”