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Students blogging science
- 1. Students Blogging Science: Inquiring minds want to know Case Study: Measuring the effectiveness of communicating science to public audiences ASC 2018, Sydney Presenter: Dr. Susan RauchASC Session #W5: Case Studies: Education
- 2. Q: How do we know whether any given effort in communicating science among public audiences is effective? Q: By which aims and objectives are those efforts measured? Source: Connecting to Your Audience by Nancy Duarte (cc) Nancy Duarte, www.duarte.com/ Dr. Susan Rauch s.rauch@massey.ac.nz
- 3. Blog Post #2 prompt: What is your position on the ethics of gene- editing healthcare technologies in NZ? What should the public know? 1. Ethical Considerations 2. Medical Considerations 3. Legal Considerations 4. Social Considerations e.g. Cultural`
- 5. WRITTEN ASSESSMENT 1. Engage public audiences. 2. Show evidence of reflective and critical thinking. 3. Apply key attributes of scientific writing: concision, clarity, and descriptive storytelling. 4. Writing & design style choices
- 6. Examples
- 7. How do we measure public audience engagement? Audience: Who is reading? Where?
- 8. What are audiences reading? STUDENT 1 STUDENT 2 Case scenario 3 Science Technology Case scenario 3 Science Technology STUDENT 3
- 9. Where are audiences located? What are audiences reading?
- 10. Are the view stats credible? Credible? Not 100% …but they can be with more sophisticated programs e.g. Google Analytics Are view stats useful? Useful? YES….as a starting point for inquiry about what scientific subjects audiences are interested in. Excites students about science writing for audiences.
- 11. The data is difficult to interpret. I could not find a way to isolate the statistics for an individual post, it does not appear to be an option in Blogger. Student 1 …in the process of checking these things, I accidentally clicked on the link to take me to the "Spelling out NZ genes..." post twice, and my post view count has since gone up by two (in the space of 5 minutes). It turns out there is a button you have to check so that it doesn't track your own viewings. Student 2 205 222 44 & 29 48 & 32
- 12. What’s trending and where?
- 13. Things to think about… • Blog Audience Stats: Who is the public audience? Experts or non-experts? • Are audience view stats useful as starting points to research trending topics in science communication, and to better understand what inquiring audiences want to know? • What can new media and app developers do to improve on the accuracy of view stats? e.g. Google Analytics? Wordpress? ArcGis? Blogger? • What can students in science communication learn about new media platforms that measure audience engagement?
- 14. Dr. Susan Rauch Lecturer, Professional Writing (Science & Technology) s.rauch@massey.ac.nz
Editor's Notes
- Connecting to your audience through social media
- These are the case scenarios you are considering this semester. Through BLOG POST #2 - it is your job to first inform the public about gene-editing healthcare technologies in NZ. What is gene-editing healthcare? Why should the public know? You will first develop a thesis statement that introduces your position on one of the case scenario topics. You will then use sources (evidence) from your APA referencing assignment to synthesize the sources in support of your stated thesis. (show the relationship between your references and how they relate to your thesis) Your position may be in support or against the case scenario topics. However, your references must support your thesis statement. You may include 2 additional sources from your APA search. You must also introduce and make a connection to the RSNZ discussion paper (this document does NOT count as one of your 3 references) You may use up to 2 additional references if you feel they are relevant e.g. a counter-argument. HOWEVER, you may NOT exceed the 1000 word limit (not include Reference Entry list You must include a Reference list at the end of your blog post AND in-text referencing within the document.
- Post Content: Student addressed the assignment prompt requirements for content e.g. questions, blog length, organized structure of content. Content must include Introduction and Conclusion paragraphs. Written for public audience: Evidence the student thought about rhetorical context e.g. considers the reader, inclusive language, and thoughtful use of pronouns. Storytelling is appropriate for the rhetorical context of the blog genre and topic. Reflective thinking: Depth of thinking. Post appropriately reflects on questions from the assignment prompt. Reflection includes a descriptive story. Style: Did the student use good writing and design techniques e.g. punctuation, grammar, and usage; coherent, deductive paragraphing; clarity; and concision. Student makes good reader-focused design choices e.g. headings, graphics, choice of font and background.
- Students from a 100 level science communication course at Massey University were tasked at creating a blog to communicate about gene-editing biotechnologies healthcare in New Zealand. The 2nd blog asked students to take a position on one of four topics: ________
- How do we measure public audience engagement? Why does it matter? Case Scenario Three: Gene editing the liver to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease Student 1: PCSK9 gene therapy Student 2: CRISPR technology for gene-editing liver to reduce risk of cardiovascular disease Technology discussions were high for student 1, while obviously lower for student 2
- Rhetorical Situation: How do we measure public audience engagement? Why does it matter? Case Scenario Three: Gene editing the liver to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease Student 1: PCSK9 gene therapy Student 2: CRISPR technology for gene-editing liver to reduce risk of cardiovascular disease Technology discussions were high for student 1, while obviously lower for student 2
- Credible? Well, not so much and not as accurate as say Google analytics. While the stats show a compelling number of hits, the page view does not provide enough information as to which blog posts specific global audiences were accessing. Useful? Yes, they reveal who is interested in science and where i.e. unlikely the instructor views the blog # of times, and quite frankly I don’t live in Russia! Excites Students – Shows them what they communicate and how is being seen by public audiences globally – attaches meaning to their work in public communication and writing Global Stats – good starting place for secondary research inquiries on topic. e.g. why are audiences in Russia interested in searching for this topic? What other resources are available on this topic? e.g. health surveillance tools, public health reports,
- These are views from Student 2’s audience stats. Notice the variations of views. According to the student, in just in a space of 5 minutes the numbers increased by 2. Student 2: Unfortunately I am not able to see where the page views come from. I am also unable to isolate the stats for each post. Also, in the process of checking these things, I accidentally clicked on the link to take me to the "Spelling out NZ genes..." post twice, and my post view count has since gone up by two (in the space of 5 minutes). It turns out there is a button you have to check so that it doesn't track your own viewings. When I was writing that post I would often republish it and view it to check the formatting, as well as encourage my friends and family to read it - so that could equally account for the high number of views for my post. Student 1: The data is difficult to interpret. I could not find a way to isolate the statistics for an individual post, it does not appear to be an option in Blogger.
- according to Inkwood Research, a market intelligence firm. The number of scientific papers published on CRISPR continues to soar, from below 200 papers in 2012 to more than 1,200 papers in 2015. According to the study, North America is the largest CRISPR market, but Asia Pacific is also a top region, especially given its applications in agriculture and animal breeding.
- For my students the stats were exciting. While it is understood that many of the views were family, friends, and the students themselves, they were excited to look at the international numbers – likely not family and friends. Many apps do not include sophisticated features that analyzes user data. Some are a bit more sophisticated such as Google Analytics and even Wordpress stats narrow down global views by post. Here are some questions to consider