Education of science communication for graduate students

1. Education of Science
Communication for Graduate
Students
5th, Nov., 2011
Gensei Ishimura, Naoyuki Mikami
Communicators in Science and Technology Education Program (CoSTEP)
Hokkaido University

2. Why do we teach graduate students
science communication?
1. To make them acquire practical communication
skills
– presentation, science writing, discussion, facilitation,
graphic design, making audio-visual materials, etc.
2. To make them acquire mindset for thinking
connectivity with others
– To reconsider their own specialty from the relativistic
point of view, and to think its relation to other
specialties
– To have imagination for others and to think their
connectivity with others

3. ■The Course Abstract
• Title
– “Science Communication”
• Schedule
• The Number of Students
– 6 (4)
– Day 1 10/9/2010 10：00～16：00
– Day 2 11/6/2010 10：00～16：00
– Day 3 11/20/2010 10：00～16：00
– Day 4 12/4/2010 10：00～16：00

4. ■Feature of the Course
(as a science communication course)
Presentation skill
training, etc.
Planning
“collaborative
research”
Usual courses This course
■ Purpose of this Paper
To examine the effectiveness of this type of course

5. ■ Purpose of the Course
• Graduate students who work based on their
specialty at universities or companies are
expected to collaborate with specialists in other
areas, in order to make creative outcomes.
• This course is designed to train such a skill by
making students of various specialties work
together to make plans for “collaborative
researches”.
• Students are expected to acquire skills to
communicate effectively with other specialists.
• What’s more, they are expected to reconsider
“their ways of thinking about research” and
“their research contexts”.

6. ■ Learning Goals of the Course
1. Understanding the difference of ways of
thinking, methods, ways of expression among
various specialties
→imagination for others
2. Improving skills about how to communicate
with ones with different specialties through
group work
→collaborative learning
3. Rethinking more deeply their own
understanding of the concept of “research”
and the relationship between their own
research and others’
→reflection, reflexivity

7. Why “Collaborative Research” in the
Science Communication Course?
• Usual communication training, for example, to explain
your own research plainly doesn’t work sometimes.
Because,
• it’s unclear to whom and for what purpose you should explain.
• So we set the goal of this course as planning “collaborative
research”. Because,
• you have to demonstrate connectivity of your research with others’.
• you have to find connectivity of others’ researches with yours.
• Thus you have to think more “seriously” about your research.
• By doing so, you become able to reconsider your way of
thinking about “research” and “collaborative research”.
And,
• you can more deeply understand the importance of your research
in the society and the relationship between your research and
others’ in broader context.

8. Diversity of Students Specialties
students specialties details
A brain science biological motion
perception of chicks
B molecular
genetics
gene expression control
and proteolysis
C condensed
matter
physics
under supercooling
condition
D evolutionary
biology
lampreys’ immune system
and evolution

9. ■ Structure of the Course
Inquiry of their
own research
contexts
Presentation for
the contexts
Planning for
collaborative
researches
Reflection
Reflection
Day 3
Reflection
Day 4
Reflection
①
②
③
Day 1
Day 2
Orientation
Instances shown by teachers
Work with the worksheet
for “research context”
Presentation in a small
group
Feedback comments →
Revision
Presentation to all
Work with the worksheet
for “collaborative research”
Mutual negotiation for
collaboration
Presentation for
collaborative research plan

10. ■ Schedule of the Course
Day 1
• Students reconsider their own researches from diversified point of
views (=inquiry of research context) by using a worksheet
Day 2
• Students give presentations about their “research context”.
•They give comments to improve their presentations each other.
Day 3
• Students give presentations about their “research context” again.
• Based on other students’ presentation, they look for others whom
they might be able to collaborate with, by using another worksheet.
• They make plans for collaborative researches where their researches
are in any way combined with others.
Day 4
• Students give presentations about their “collaborative research”
plans.
• They reflect the whole process of the program and reconsider their
ways of thinking about their researches and research contexts.

11. Worksheet for inquiring your research
context
1st worksheet
1. Your own research
2. Applicability of your research
3. What kind of researches, technologies,
and theories is your research based on?
4. Broader research area including your
own
5. What kind of researchers in other fields
do you want to collaborate with?

12. 1. Your own research
• Purpose, summary, target, methods, interest, the reason why you
choose the theme, problem, etc.
research of
your own
its application
researchers or research areas
which you want to associate
with your own
broader research
area including it
Researches, technologies, and theories
which support it

13. 2. Applicability of your research
research of
your own
• What kind of fields are there where your research might be
applicable?
• How applicable might they be?
• What kind of value might be created by the applications?
• What kind of supports from other researchers might be necessary if
you want to realize the applications?
its application
researchers or research areas
which you want to associate
with your own
broader research
area including it
Researches, technologies, and theories
which support it

14. 3. What kind of researches,
technologies, and theories is
your research based on?
research of
your own
• What kind of researches and findings enables your research?
• What kind of researches develop your research furthermore?
its application
researchers or research areas
which you want to associate
with your own
broader research
area including it
Researches, technologies, and theories
which support it

15. 4. Broader research area including
your own
• Which research area does your research belong to?
• What is the purpose and content of the broader research area?
research of
your own
its application
researchers or research areas
which you want to associate
with your own
broader research
area including it
Researches, technologies, and theories
which support it

16. 5. What kind of researchers in other fields
do you want to collaborate with?
research of
your own
• Are there any researches in other fields which might make your own
research better if they are connected, or are there any researchers
whom you want to collaborate with in other field?
• What kind of development or outcome of your research would be
expected by the connection?
• Why do you think those development or outcome are valuable?
its application
researchers or research areas
which you want to associate
with your own
broader research
area including it
Researches, technologies, and theories
which support it

17. Students tackled the worksheet to find connectivity of their
research with others’ through their “research context”.
other
research
broader research
area including it
other
research
other
research
other
research
other
research
other
research
other
research
other
research
other
research
other
research
research of
your own
researches, technologies, and theories
which support it
its application
other
research
other
research
other
research
other
research

18. Reflections of the Students (extracts)
• “I understand the deference of purposes between basic
and applied research. It is important for both sides of
researchers think of each other.”
• “ It was quite new for me to hear presentation of other
research fields because I had merely had such an
occasion since I entered university.”
• “I found the importance for researchers in the basic fields
to think of applied ones.”
• “I had been thinking that researchers should think
“WHY”. I got really impressed by researchers in the
engineering field who think “HOW””.
• I know well my research but I found I know little about
tools and techniques which enable it.
• “The words which I’d never considered as “jargons”
were considered as ones by other students.”

19. ■ Schedule of the Course
Day 1
• Students reconsider their own researches from diversified point of
views (=inquiry of research context) by using a worksheet.
Day 2
• Students give presentations about their “research context”.
•They give comments to improve their presentations each other.
Day 3
• Students give presentations about their “research context” again.
• Based on other students’ presentation, they look for others whom
they might be able to collaborate with, by using another worksheet.
• They make plans for collaborative researches where their researches
are ,in any way, combined with others.
Day 4
• Students give presentations about their “collaborative research”
plans.
• They reflect the whole process of the program and reconsider their
ways of thinking about their researches and research contexts.

20. ■ Schedule of the Course
Day 1
• Students reconsider their own researches from diversified point of
views (=inquiry of research context) by using a worksheet.
Day 2
• Students give presentations about their “research context”.
•They give comments to improve their presentations each other.
Day 3
• Students give presentations about their “research context” again.
• Based on other students’ presentations, they look for others whom
they might be able to collaborate with, by using another worksheet.
• They make plans for collaborative researches where their researches
are, in any way, combined with others.
Day 4
• Students give presentations about their “collaborative research”
plans.
• They reflect the whole process of the program and reconsider their
ways of thinking about their researches and research contexts.

21. Research context
1st worksheet
1. Your own research
2. Applicability of your research
3. What kind of researches and
technologies, theories is your research
based on?
4. Broader research area including your
own
5. What kind of researchers in other fields
do you want to collaborate with?

22. 3. Related
researches
which support
it
2.
Applicability
1. Research
content
5. Researchers in
other fields whom
you want to
collaborate with
4. Broader
research area
5. Researchers in
other fields whom
you want to
collaborate with
4. Broader
research area
3. Related
researches
which
support it
2.
Applicability
1. Research
content Find
connectivity
with other’s
Student A
Student B
His/her own
research context
Other’s
research context
2nd worksheet
(matrix)

23. 321 54
5
4
3
2
1
Student A
Find
con
with
nectivity
others
32
5
4
3
2
Student C 1 54
1 32Student B 1 54
4
5
3
2
1
Student A
Student A
Student D Each student
made 3
matrixes.
They look for others
who they might
collaborate with.

24. ■ Schedule of the Course
Day 1
• Students reconsider their own researches from diversified point of
views (=inquiry of research context) by using a worksheet.
Day 2
• Students give presentations about their “research context”.
•They give comments to improve their presentations each other.
Day 3
• Students give presentations about their “research context” again.
• Based on other students’ presentation, they look for others whom
they might be able to collaborate with, by using another worksheet.
• They make plans for collaborative researches where their researches
are ,in any way, combined with others.
Day 4
• Students give presentations about their “collaborative research”
plans.
• They reflect the whole process of the program and reconsider their
ways of thinking about their researches and research contexts.

25. An Example of “Collaborative Research”
Plans
students specialties details
A Brain science biological motion
perception of chicks
B Molecular
genetics
Gene expression control
and proteolysis
C Condensed
matter
physics
Under supercooling
condition
D Evolutionary
biology
Lampreys’ immune
system and evolution

26. An Example of “Collaborative Research”
Plans
• Student A’s plan
(collaboration with Student B)
– To identify a series of genes which express
during emergence of BM(biological motion)
preference in chicks
– To identify neural pathways in the brain
which gives basis for BM preference
– To measure change in neural dynamics
during the process

27. Reflections of the Students (extracts)
• “I found it is important to think beyond familiar thinking
frame of reference. I found I can think more flexibly
now.”
• “It’s the first time for me to hear presentations about
engineering, physics, and so on. I realized that my way of
thinking had become very narrow. “
• “I’d like to think how to design effective process for
collaborative research between different fields.”
• “My brain was trained a lot. The program gave me a
good chance to think what I’d never thought usually, and
it was fun!
• I want to organize a training program like this in some
academic meeting.”

28. ■Feature of the Course
(as a science communication course)
Presentation skill
training, etc.
Planning
“collaborative
research”
Usual courses This course
■ Purpose of this Paper
To examine the effectiveness of this type of course

29. ■ Conclusion
• According to students’ reflections,
– they made much effort to explain their own
research and research context and also made
much effort to understand other’s ones.
– they reconsidered much about their way of
thinking about “research” and “collaborative
research”.
– This type of course seems effective to train
science communication in the realistic
situation, at least, to some extent.