Catalyst Project: Technically Speaking-Building Scientific Communication Self-efficacy

Catalyst Projects provide support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) to work towards establishing research capacity of faculty to strengthen science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduate education and research. It is expected that the award will further the faculty member's research capability, improve research and teaching at the institution, and involve undergraduate students in research experiences.

Albany State University intends to integrate science communication into the science (biology and chemistry) academic programs. The proposed curricular enhancements aim to bolster student scientific communication skills, which has the potential to impact their STEM identity and long-term retention in the STEM workforce.

The purpose of the Technically Speaking: Building Scientific Communication Self-Efficacy Program (TSP) is to offer empirically based research, which may lead to an improvement of undergraduate STEM students’ academic competency in oral communication, as well as their scientific efficacy. Specific objectives include: (1) establishing course-based learning communities, (2) improve oral scientific communication (3) enhance scientific communication self-efficacy and scientific identity and (4) improve critical-thinking skills.

Research is intended to lead to higher retention and graduation within STEM fields. The project, over the span of 2-years, will enroll students into two non-residential learning communities: ARC (Appreciating the Rhetoric of Chemistry) which pairs a chemistry class with a public speaking class and Raising the BAR (Biology and Rhetoric) which pairs a biology course with a public speaking course.

The outreach to the K12 community will contribute to the development of scientific literacy among citizens of the community. The project will improve students’ ability to orally communicate their scientific pursuits to a broad audience through opportunities for reflection, sustained feedback, and mastery experiences. The TSP has the potential to result in improved STEM education and will help to develop a more competitive STEM workforce.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.