The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Science communication and outreach are essential for training the next generation of scientists and raising public awareness for science. Providing effective science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educational outreach to students in classrooms is challenging because of the need to form partnerships with teachers, the time commitment required for the presenting scientist, and the limited class time allotted for presentations. In our Present Your Ph.D. Thesis to a 12-Year Old outreach project, our novel solution to this problem is hosting a youth science workshop (YSW) on our university campus. The YSW is an interpersonal science communication and outreach experience in which graduate students from diverse scientific disciplines introduce middle and high school students to their cutting-edge research and mentor them to develop a white-board presentation to communicate the research to the workshop audience. Our assessment of the YSW indicated that participating young students expressed significantly more positive attitudes toward science and increased motivation to work in a STEM career after attending the workshop. Qualitative follow-up interviews with participating graduate students’ show that even with minimal time commitment, an impactful science communication training experience can be achieved. The YSW is a low-cost, high-reward educational outreach event amenable to all disciplines of science. It enhances interest and support of basic science research while providing opportunities for graduate students to engage with the public, improve their science communication skills, and enhance public understanding of science. This YSW model can be easily implemented at other higher education institutions to globally enhance science outreach initiatives.
This Community Page article describes Youth Science Workshops (YSWs) - a novel science education outreach event in which graduate students from different disciplines communicate their research to young students. Assessment of the outcomes suggest that this workshop benefits all the participants, increasing science interest for students and improving the science communication skills of the graduate student presenters.
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers are notable in that they tend to have higher than average growth, wages, and educational requirements than other career paths. Additionally, almost all STEM occupations were estimated to grow rapidly from 2014 to 2024, with mathematical science occupations expected to grow by 28% compared with the average growth for all other occupations of 6.5% [
Science outreach events, including active and hands-on learning approaches, can help to fill this gap by increasing interest in STEM and teaching relevant scientific concepts by involving professionals who work in STEM fields [
The Present Your Ph.D. Thesis to a 12-Year Old (abbreviated Present Your Ph.D. herein) outreach project provides graduate students with opportunities to communicate their research to nonexpert audiences and thereby improve young students’ understanding of basic science research [
In the pilot workshop, 26 middle school students and 6 graduate student mentors participated. A basic interview style survey revealed positive impact of the YSW on both the young students and their mentors, but we did not statistically assess the outcomes of the event. In 2018, we expanded the workshop, and 49 students between 4th and 10th grade from various backgrounds participated in the YSW (
A few weeks prior to the event, we invited Present Your Ph.D. outreach members to participate as YSW mentors, and nine graduate students from various backgrounds of natural sciences (e.g., biology, physics) and engineering (chemical and computer) with or without prior science communication experience participated. Seven out of nine graduate students had some previous experience in education outreach through visiting local area classrooms with the Present Your Ph.D. outreach project. With the purpose of guiding graduate student presenters to effectively communicate their research to the young students in this new workshop model, we designed a research project translation guide (
(A) A schematic to modify doctoral research projects for presentation to a nonscientific audience. (B) YSW time line. YSW, youth science workshop.
On the day of the event, five to six school students were grouped with each graduate student and given access to a white board and dry-erase markers. Graduate student mentors first explained their Ph.D. research work through an interactive chalk-talk type presentation on a white board, which was later erased. Then, each group of school students held a brainstorming session among themselves in order to come up with creative analogies and metaphors to explain the research topic at hand effectively. After a short snack break, the youth groups with guidance from their respective graduate student mentors, created a “white board poster” and explained the research topic to the entire forum (fellow school students, graduate students, and parents). An example of a “white board poster” created by students at the YSW is shown in
Assessment of the potential outcomes of science outreach activities is important in order to ensure successful science communication and gain feedback that can be used for long-term improvement of these skills [
In addition to the positive outcomes reported in the student survey and the graduate student focus group interview, YSW appeared to have other positive impacts on its participants: (1) provided an enriched learning environment and helped build a strong science-inquiry based relationship with the local community, (2) inspired creativity in young students and encouraged them to think and ask questions, (3) helped graduate students learn the importance of science outreach and provided them with a unique opportunity to communicate their research to a lay audience. The documented outcomes as well as the suggested impacts of this short-duration outreach event indicate that the YSW is an effective new model for public engagement by science graduate students.
For the “Interest in science” construct, we found that the YSW statistically significantly increased students’ interest in science. For example, before participating in the workshop, only 53% of students said that they “strongly agree” that science is interesting compared with 76% after the YSW (
Only students who responded to the construct questions were included in the analysis.
Construct | Survey item | pre/ post | mean | Strongly disagree | Disagree | Neutral | Agree | Strongly agree | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||||
Science is interesting. | Pre | 49 | 4.27 | 0.00361 |
2% | 6% | 8% | 31% | 53% | |
Post | 49 | 4.59 | 2% | 2% | 6% | 14% | 76% | |||
I like hearing science presentations. | Pre | 49 | 4.00 | 0.14180 | 4% | 10% | 24% | 37% | 24% | |
Post | 49 | 3.94 | 6% | 6% | 16% | 31% | 41% | |||
I like presenting science to others. | Pre | 49 | 3.57 | 0.00001 |
6% | 12% | 22% | 37% | 22% | |
Post | 49 | 4.04 | 6% | 4% | 16% | 27% | 47% | |||
I like asking questions. | Pre | 49 | 3.55 | 0.00114 |
4% | 20% | 20% | 27% | 29% | |
Post | 49 | 3.86 | 6% | 6% | 24% | 22% | 41% | |||
I want to take more classes in science. | Pre | 49 | 3.73 | 0.00016 |
4% | 10% | 29% | 22% | 35% | |
Post | 49 | 4.18 | 6% | 2% | 16% | 18% | 57% | |||
I want to be a research scientist when I grow up. | Pre | 49 | 3.24 | 0.00019 |
4% | 31% | 24% | 18% | 22% | |
Post | 49 | 3.61 | 4% | 16% | 24% | 24% | 31% | |||
I want to have a job in STEM. | Pre | 49 | 4.18 | 0.05853 | 2% | 6% | 14% | 27% | 51% | |
Post | 49 | 4.35 | 2% | 6% | 14% | 10% | 67% | |||
I want to have a job not related to STEM | Pre | 47 | 2.45 | 0.15952 | 32% | 28% | 17% | 11% | 13% | |
Post | 47 | 2.32 | 43% | 15% | 21% | 11% | 11% | |||
I can teach science to others. | Pre | 47 | 3.30 | 0.00010 |
11% | 13% | 30% | 30% | 17% | |
Post | 47 | 3.74 | 9% | 6% | 21% | 30% | 34% | |||
I understand science. | Pre | 49 | 4.08 | 0.08320 | 2% | 6% | 12% | 41% | 39% | |
Post | 49 | 4.27 | 2% | 4% | 14% | 24% | 55% | |||
I feel I will get a good grade in science. | Pre | 48 | 4.21 | 0.07325 | 2% | 4% | 13% | 33% | 48% | |
Post | 48 | 4.38 | 2% | 2% | 13% | 23% | 60% | |||
Scientists are cool. | Pre | 48 | 4.13 | 0.01789 |
2% | 8% | 13% | 29% | 48% | |
Post | 48 | 4.40 | 2% | 4% | 13% | 15% | 67% | |||
Anyone can be a scientist. | Pre | 47 | 3.81 | 0.29373 | 4% | 6% | 34% | 15% | 40% | |
Post | 47 | 3.94 | 6% | 2% | 30% | 15% | 47% | |||
Science is useful to the world. | Pre | 46 | 4.63 | 0.37149 | 0% | 4% | 2% | 20% | 74% | |
Post | 46 | 4.70 | 2% | 2% | 4% | 7% | 85% | |||
Science will affect me throughout my life. | Pre | 48 | 4.25 | 0.03988 |
0% | 6% | 17% | 23% | 54% | |
Post | 48 | 4.46 | 2% | 0% | 13% | 21% | 65% |
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Further, we designed one of the questions to test the validity of the students’ responses by asking an inverse question from within the survey. For example, “I would like to have a job in STEM” versus “I would like to not have a job in STEM”. On posing this control question, as expected, the responses dramatically shifted to the opposite direction, demonstrating the validity of the students’ responses (
Moreover, we observed a strong interest in science among many participating students before the event (“Science is interesting”, pre YSW average = 4.27 on a 5-point Likert scale,
To gain general insights into the effectiveness of the workshop and to make future improvements, we also polled for qualitative feedback by asking three short response questions: (a) How did YSW influence your academic/career plans? (b) What were the best part(s) of this workshop?, and (c) How can we improve YSW?, as well as a general overall rating for the event on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = very poor to 5 = excellent). A total of 51% of students rated the YSW “excellent,” and an additional 37% rated the workshop as “good.”
When the students were asked “How did the workshop influence your academic/career plans?,” 39% of students reported a significant impact, 26% reported some impact, and 22% reported no impact (
When asked “the best part(s) of this workshop was…,” the students reported Learning the Content, Teamwork & Interaction, and Presenting to be the best parts (
Lastly, when asked “This workshop could be improved by…,” suggestions were collected across four categories: Logistics, Other/Non-Academic, Workshop Length, and Content-Based (
We also interviewed the graduate students who participated in the YSW by holding a focus group with six participants (
There is generally a lack of formal training for graduate students in science communication, with only a few universities offering communication training courses, and quantitative evaluation of these courses is rare [
Moreover, short-duration science outreach often follows the “scientist in the classroom” model, and evaluation of the outcomes of this informal type of outreach has rarely been done and is difficult to assess [
Here, we present and evaluate a low-cost outreach activity, YSW, in which a graduate student mentor presents their research to a group of younger students and then trains them to communicate key concepts to a wider lay audience. For 9 out of 15 questions from the pre-post retrospective survey, we found that the students that participated in the YSW showed pre-post gains in their attitudes toward science, expanded their interest beyond the scope of the event, and their perception of scientists (
The graduate students expressed that this experience solidified their interest in academia and also proposed that future events should target schools with fewer funds and resources to enhance the effectiveness of the YSW. For most graduate students, the use and design of the pre-post retrospective survey of the participants and the inclusion of a post-workshop focus group aligns with recent research resulting in guidelines for evaluating and improving the efficacy of science communication [
In summary, YSW is an example of a low-cost and low-time investment outreach experience that can be easily replicated at other institutions. For example, Rice University adapted this very model to conduct its first YSW in August 2019. We found that this type of event, apart from substantially improving students’ attitudes toward science and scientists, can also improve the public’s perception of science and increase their trust in STEM professionals. Furthermore, the YSW gave both younger students and graduate students a valuable opportunity to practice science communication skills, which are immensely helpful for boosting both their interest and preparedness in STEM careers and engagement with the public.
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A total of 49 students from different ethnic backgrounds studying in 4th through 10th grades, either homeschooled or from 20 different schools in and around Austin area participated in YSW. DWA, do not wish to answer, YSW, youth science workshop.
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YSW, youth science workshop.
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A representative survey question from each evaluated construct is shown with the corresponding data (A–E). Each bar graph shows the change in the percentage of responses pre and post workshop. Inset graphs show change in percentage of responses for each question (red, Strongly Disagree; orange, Disagree; gray, Neutral; light green, Agree; dark green, Strongly Agree).
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A representative survey question from each evaluated construct is shown with the corresponding data (A–E). Each bar graph shows the change in the percentage of responses pre and post workshop. Inset graphs show change in percentage of responses for each question (red, Strongly Disagree; orange, Disagree; gray, Neutral; light green, Agree; dark green, Strongly Agree).
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Students’ open-ended responses to the following questions: (A) How did YSW influence your academic/career plans? (B) What were the best part(s) of this workshop? (C) How can we improve YSW? The responses were categorized using thematic coding to generate labels for assigning units of meaning to descriptive information. YSW, youth science workshop.
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The authors would like to thank all the volunteers (Ariel Rebekah Barr, Edwin Torres, Evan Schwartz, and Gabriella Sugerman), student participants from various schools in and around Austin, and their parents for their valuable contribution.
socioeconomic status
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
youth science workshop