University student-led public engagement event: increasing audience diversity and impact in a non-science space
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Lacey M
PROVIDER: S-EPMC10484318 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Anatomy Nights is an international public engagement event created to bring anatomy and anatomists back to public spaces with the goal of increasing the public's understanding of their own anatomy by comparison with non-human tissues. The event consists of a 30-minute mini-lecture on the anatomy of a specific anatomical organ followed by a dissection of animal tissues to demonstrate the same organ anatomy. Before and after the lecture and dissection, participants complete research surveys designed to assess prior knowledge and knowledge gained as a result of participation in the event, respectively. This study reports the results of Anatomy Nights brain events held at four different venues in the UK and USA in 2018 and 2019. Two general questions were asked of the data: 1) Do participant post-event test scores differ from pre-event scores; and 2) Are there differences in participant scores based on location, educational background, and career. We addressed these questions using a combination of generalized linear models (R's glm function; R version 4.1.0 [R Core Team, 2014]) that assumed a binomial distribution and implemented a logit link function, as well as likelihood estimates to compare models. Survey data from 91 participants indicate that scores improve on post-event tests compared to pre-event tests, and these results hold irrespective of location, educational background, and career. In the pre-event tests, participants performed well on naming structures with an English name (frontal lobe and brainstem), and showed signs of improvement on other anatomical names in the post-test. Despite this improvement in knowledge, we found no evidence that participation in Anatomy Nights improved participants' ability to apply this knowledge to neuroanatomical contexts (e.g., stroke).
| S-EPMC9182231 | biostudies-literature
Project description:"Bee the CURE" is a Power-of-Place course-based undergraduate research experience (PoP-CUREs; Jaeger et al., 2024) that combines place-based education (Demarest, 2014; Gruenewald, 2014) with CUREs, emphasizing student scientific civic engagement where research is relevant to the community where the research is taking place. PoP-CUREs have potential to build students' knowledge, skills, value, and self-efficacy when engaging with the public using science skills (i.e., scientific civic engagement). A mixed-methods sequential explanatory design utilizing surveys and semistructured interviews was used for this study (Warfa, 2016). Students made gains in science self-efficacy over the course of the semester and showed a trend of increasing science identity in both Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 semesters. Students' scientific civic knowledge, or a student's sense of how to use or apply knowledge and skills to help a community, increased significantly, while other predictors of scientific civic engagement started high and remained high throughout the course. Bee the CURE demonstrates psychosocial outcomes that are similar to previously studied CUREs and expands our understanding of how PoP-CUREs might influence outcomes with evidence that an important predictor of future scientific civic engagement increases. Implications for PoP-CURE instruction at Hispanic serving community colleges are discussed.
| S-EPMC11659871 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Recent years have seen increasing encouragement by research institutions and funding bodies for scientists to actively engage with the public, who ultimately finance their work. Animal behaviour as a discipline possesses several features, including its inherent accessibility and appeal to the public, that may help it occupy a particularly successful niche within these developments. It has also established a repertoire of quantitative behavioural methodologies that can be used to document the public's responses to engagement initiatives. This kind of assessment is becoming increasingly important considering the enormous effort now being put into public engagement projects, whose effects are more often assumed than demonstrated. Here we report our first attempts to quantify relevant aspects of the behaviour of a sample of the hundreds of thousands of visitors who pass through the 'Living Links to Human Evolution Research Centre' in Edinburgh Zoo. This University research centre actively encourages the public to view ongoing primate research and associated science engagement activities. Focal follows of visitors and scan sampling showed substantial 'dwell times' in the Centre by common zoo standards and the addition of new engagement elements in a second year was accompanied by significantly increased overall dwell times, tripling for the most committed two thirds of visitors. Larger groups of visitors were found to spend more time in the Centre than smaller ones. Viewing live, active science was the most effective activity, shown to be enhanced by novel presentations of carefully constructed explanatory materials. The findings emphasise the importance and potential of zoos as public engagement centres for the biological sciences.
| S-EPMC3319593 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Interest in public engagement with science activities has grown in recent decades, especially engagement through social media and among graduate students. Research on scientists' views of engagement, particularly two-way engagement and engagement through social media, is sparse, particularly research examining graduate students' views. We compare graduate students and faculty in biological and physical sciences at a land-grant, research-intensive university in their views on engagement. We find that both groups overwhelmingly believe that public input in decision-making around science issues is important, and hold largely pro-engagement attitudes. Graduate students, however, have somewhat more optimistic views of engagement through social media and on the appropriateness of discussing science controversy on social media. We discuss implications for graduate education and future engagement.
| S-EPMC6497290 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundLittle empirical evidence exists on the effectiveness of using Twitter as a two-way communication tool for public health practice, such as Twitter chats.ObjectiveWe analyzed whether Twitter chats facilitate engagement in two-way communications between public health entities and their audience. We also describe how to measure two-way communications, incoming and outgoing mentions, between users in a protocol using free and publicly available tools (Symplur, OpenRefine, and Gephi).MethodsWe used a mixed-methods approach, social network analysis, and content analysis. The study population comprised individuals and organizations participating or who were mentioned in the first #LiveFitNOLA chat, during a 75-min period on March 5, 2015, from 12:00 PM to 1:15 PM Central Time. We assessed audience engagement in two-way communications with two metrics: engagement ratio and return on engagement (ROE).ResultsThe #LiveFitNOLA chat had 744 tweets and 66 participants with an average of 11 tweets per participant. The resulting network had 134 network members and 474 engagements. The engagement ratios and ROEs for the #LiveFitNOLA organizers were 1:1, 40% (13/32) (@TulanePRC) and 2:1, -40% (-25/63) (@FitNOLA). Content analysis showed information sharing (63.9%, 314/491) and health information (27.9%, 137/491) as the most salient theme and sub-theme, respectively.ConclusionsOur findings suggest Twitter chats facilitate audience engagement in two-way communications between public health entities and their audience. The #LiveFitNOLA organizers' engagement ratios and ROEs indicated a moderate level of engagement with their audience. The practical significance of the engagement ratio and ROE depends on the audience, context, scope, scale, and goal of a Twitter chat or other organized hashtag-based communications on Twitter.
| S-EPMC5481664 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Notwithstanding that 'public engagement' is conceptualised differently internationally and in different academic disciplines, higher education institutions largely accept the importance of public engagement with research. However, there is limited evidence on how researchers conceptualise engagement, their views on what constitutes engagement and the communities they would (or would not) like to engage with. This paper presents the results of a survey of researchers in the Open University that sought to gather data to fill these gaps. This research was part of an action research project designed to embed engagement in the routine practices of researchers at all levels. The findings indicate that researchers have a relatively narrow view of public engagement with research and the communities with which they interact. It also identified that very few strategically evaluate their public engagement activities. We conclude by discussing some of the interventions we have introduced with the aim of broadening and deepening future researcher engagement.
| S-EPMC4383503 | biostudies-other
Project description:BackgroundGame-based learning is a successful strategy for teaching various concepts to students, from general orientations to more in-depth material. Pharmacy students in a first-year lab course were introduced to library and drug information resources through a lecture-style class in their first week of school, which was ineffective in terms of engagement. To combat this issue, the pharmacy liaison librarian advocated for moving this class session later in the semester and proposed a game-based activity to replace the lecture.Case presentation"The Amazing Race: Drug Information Edition" was inspired by a well-known TV competition that involves completing several stages (called "legs") of challenges to finish the race. The librarian developed questions designed to make students use various parts of the library website as well as two drug information databases. Students competed in teams, and the first three teams to complete the race were awarded small prizes. The race was first implemented in 2018, and modifications were made to the 2019 iteration based on student feedback.ConclusionsDespite several challenges, the race was well received by both the students and the course instructors and increased engagement with introductory library and drug information material. The activity has enhanced the librarian's relationship and collaboration with the course faculty and made a positive impression on the students.
| S-EPMC8485938 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Studies of tickborne illness have benefited from interactions between scientists and community members. Most participants in community science projects are well-educated adults, but there are anticipated benefits from engaging younger students in research. We evaluated whether an outreach experience for rural middle-school students promoted student interest in science and resulted in the generation of samples that could be used for tick testing to assess disease risk. Middle-school students from 78 Wisconsin communities developed interdisciplinary hypotheses about the spread of Lyme disease, identified ticks, and extracted DNA from ticks to assess the prevalence of pathogens Borrelia burgdorferi, Anaplasma phagocytophillium, and Babesia microti. As a result of this intervention, students were able to successfully complete the research protocol and explain the rationale for completing the experiment. Of student participants, 84.7% reported no difficulty completing the protocol, 66% of the student samples gave reliable PCR results, and 76% of students reported interest in participating in similar experiments. Our study shows that tick outreach programs that incorporate community-based science promote knowledge about Lyme disease, facilitate engagement between students and scientists, and generate samples that can be successfully utilized for pathogen testing.
| S-EPMC8708189 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The second largest outbreak of Ebolavirus is currently ongoing in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and is characterized by lack of compliance with recommended control measures. Trusted local health agents, including medical students, may be valuable social mobilizers in this challenging context. We report a student-led educational campaign to increase community awareness and engagement in EVD control efforts, with evaluation of student and community satisfaction. The outreach was conducted in November 2018, involving 600 students and reaching 5-10,000 community members. Key messages included: 'Ebola exists in Butembo' and 'Bring infected family members to the Ebola Treatment Unit.' Medical students (n = 355) and community participants (n = 319) evaluated the campaign. Satisfaction was high: 320 (90%) students agreed that medical students could contribute to the EVD response effort, and 233 (73%) community members agreed that the students had helped them understand Ebola in the area. Lower satisfaction scores were associated with intention to hide infected family member from authorities (ρ = -0.25, p < 0.0001), denial of the existence of Ebola (ρ = -0.17, p = 0.0018), and mistrust of the response team (ρ = -0.11, p = 0.042). Both students (77%) and community members (71%) agreed that they were more motivated to combat Ebola as a result of the outreach. In conclusion, medical students can lead to satisfactory community engagement and educational activities during an EVD epidemic. As trusted local health agents, medical students may be valuable allies in building public trust and cooperation in this epidemic.
| S-EPMC7448907 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Academic engagement describes students' involvement in academic learning and achievement. This paper reports the psychometric properties of the University Student Engagement Inventory (USEI) with a sample of 3992 university students from nine different countries and regions from Europe, North and South America, Africa, and Asia. The USEI operationalizes a trifactorial conceptualization of academic engagement (behavioral, emotional, and cognitive). Construct validity was assessed by means of confirmatory factor analysis and reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega coefficients. Weak measurement invariance was observed for country/region, while strong measurement invariance was observed for gender and area of graduation. The USEI scores showed predictive validity for dropout intention, self-rated academic performance, and course approval rate while divergent validity with student burnout scores was also evident. Overall, the results indicate that the USEI can produce reliable and valid data on academic engagement of university students across the world.
| S-EPMC6979258 | biostudies-literature