NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS CURRICULUM SUPPORT Biology Scientific Communication Additional Teacher’s Notes [HIGHER] The Scottish Qualifications Authority regularly reviews the arrangements for National Qualifications. Users of all NQ support materials, whether published by Learning and Teaching Scotland or others, are reminded that it is their responsibility to check that the support materials correspond to the requirements of the current arrangements. Acknowledgement Learning and Teaching Scotland gratefully acknowledges this contribution to the National Qualifications support programme for Biology. The publisher gratefully acknowledges permission to use the following source: Text Place memory in Crickets by Jan Wessnitzer, Michal Mangan, Barbara Webb, p. 9915-921, 2008 http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/275/1637/915.full.pdf © Text Place memory in Crickets by Jan Wessnitzer, Michal Mangan, Barbara Webb, p. 9915-921, 2008. The Royal Society Every effort has been made to trace all the copyright holders but if any have been inadvertently overlooked, the publishers will be pleased to make the necessary arrangements at the first opportunity. © Learning and Teaching Scotland 2011 This resource may be reproduced in whole or in part for educational purposes by educational establishments in Scotland provided that no profit accrues at any stage. 2 SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION (H, BIOLOGY) © Learning and Teaching Scotland 2011 Contents Activity 1: The scientific research paper 4 Activity 2: The scientific poster 6 Activity 3: The oral presentation 7 Activity 4: Data sharing and the web 10 Activity 5: Summary section 12 SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION (H, BIOLOGY) © Learning and Teaching Scotland 2011 3 ADDITIONAL TEACHER’S NOTES Additional Teacher’s Notes: Science Communication Activity 1: The scientific research paper Activity 1a: The structure of a scientific research paper Ideally students should have some data from a recent lab oratory project to apply to this case study. This can be in any area of the syllabus. The aim here is to create the sections of a poster in stages so that the final poster can be compiled in a later activity. Two short research papers are provided to demonstrate how a paper is written. It is not expected that the students fully understand them but they should try to read the cricket paper if they can and at least understand the gist of it. Both papers are freely available for download via Google Scholar or PubMed. If there is time (and internet connection) students could be asked to download the papers themselves. The main paper used in this activity is the recently published cricket paper from Edinburgh University. In addition to this paper, an annotated version of the first page is provided explaining what each section is. This should be distributed to the students with the paper. The second paper provided (from Harvard) is a fun study on fruit fly aggression and is provided merely as a second example of a paper. A modified version of the abstract is used in a later activity. Approximate duration of activity: 40 minutes. 4 SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION (H, BIOLOGY) © Learning and Teaching Scotland 2011 ADDITIONAL TEACHER’S NOTES Activity 1b: Presenting results Answers 1. 2. To present and describe all observations clearly in text and graphics. This should ideally be from the same data used in Activity 1a . Approximate duration of activity: 30 minutes . Optional A further analysis of Figure 2 is provided below in case teachers and students are interested in exploring the data further. (Approximate duration of activity: 30 minutes.) Figure 2 explanation Each cricket was given 10 ‘trials’ (attempts) in succession to find the cool spot (x-axis). Several crickets were tested under the same conditions. Each graph represents a different test condition (different visual cues) and 10 trials: (i) The first test condition includes a visible target on the cool spot so the cricket can associate the target with the cool spot easily. (ii) The second test condition has no visual cues so there is nothing to help the cricket find the cool spot (this is a control experiment). (iii) The third condition has cues (three symbols) on the arena wall so that the cricket can relate the cool spot relative to the symbols. This type of graph is called a boxplot. It consists of a box that is split by a black line and has two dotted lines reaching to further lower and higher points: The The The The top of the box shows the 75th percentile of the data. black line is the median point of the data . bottom of the box shows the 25th percentile of the data. dotted lines stop at the maximum and minimum points of the data. Terminology Median: a value separating the higher half of the data from the lower half. Not to be confused with the mean. 25th percentile: the score below which 25% of observations can be found. SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION (H, BIOLOGY) © Learning and Teaching Scotland 2011 5 ADDITIONAL TEACHER’S NOTES In graph (a)(i), the results of the 10 trials for six different crickets have been pooled into a group, therefore each box represents a group of crickets that have been tested under the same conditions and exposed to the same number of trials. For example, in the first plot in (a)(i) the maximum time taken by a cricket in that group to find the cool spot is 195 seconds and the minimum time taken by a different cricket under the same conditions is 20 seconds. The median time taken by all of the crickets represented by this box is 110 seconds. Boxplots are a popular way to display data because they summ arise the spread of the data accurately. The results in this figure show that the cricket can find the cool spot more quickly after sucessive trials (attempts) with or without visual cues (see the first paragraph of the discussion). The subsequent experiments in the paper show that visual cues help the cricket. The data in the first three graphs in Figure 2(a) ha ve been summarised as one graph below in Figure 2(b) but using the mean instead of the median. In this line graph each line represents the mean t ime taken to locate the cool spot for each group of crickets per trial. The three lines represent the three visual conditions (i, ii, iii) and these conditions are represented by three different graphs. Activity 2: The scientific poster This section leads on from the previous activity. The abstract and graph the students have already created can be included in the poster. An example poster is provided as a demonstration. This activity can be performed individually or as groups (of up to four). The important part of this exercise is to encourage students to look at their own data from a laboratory project and present it in the standard scientific way (ie broken down into sections and using graphs). Students can do this either individually or in groups. Ideally different students/groups should be assigned different laboratory projects so that there will be a range of different posters. Posters are often printed to A0 size. It might be more feasible to print out A4 size pieces of the poster and stick them on to one A0 piece of paper or board. At the end of the exercise students should put their posters up on the wall. If there is time students should be encouraged to stand in front of their poster and give a short (5-minute) presentation and then answer questions (on future work, improvement on methodology) from the teacher or students. Approximate duration of activity: 90 minutes + homework . 6 SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION (H, BIOLOGY) © Learning and Teaching Scotland 2011 ADDITIONAL TEACHER’S NOTES Activity 3: The oral presentation Activity 3a: Comparing different presentation scenarios in science This task is designed to get students thinking about what factors should be considered when preparing a talk for a particular scenario. The table of answers is provided only as a guideline and/or a starting point. Students will have their own ideas about what makes an effective talk. Students could work in small groups to complete the task, perhaps followed by a class discussion. Answers Target audience Purpose Audience background and motivation Style and content of talk Relatively formal Specific material must be covered but in a way that is interesting Humour can be a good way to keep students’ attention Providing a list of references is a must for further reading around the subject Informal Content should be pitched to the nonspecialist May include fun examples to help get the message across, e.g. video and audio aids or some interactivity with the audience Formal High data content – graphs, charts, numbers Specific content and ideas being explored are often rather complex University lecture Students (mainly undergraduate) To present information and teach people about a particular subject A basic foundation is assumed across the audience Motivation to learn about a particular subject (and, of course, to gather information to pass exams) Public engagement talk Quite general – anyone with an interest in the subject To inform people about science in a way that is engaging and interesting Background knowledge is limited and variable across audience members Sometimes these events are ticketed so an interest in the subject is enough motivation to attend Conference seminar Scientists working on a specific field To update colleagues on recent findings and developments within a particular field Much more specialised – research scientists are experts in their field Motivation to share ideas and meet people working on similar things – collaborations between different research groups and universities can often arise from attending a conference Approximate duration of activity: 30 minutes . SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION (H, BIOLOGY) © Learning and Teaching Scotland 2011 7 ADDITIONAL TEACHER’S NOTES Activity 3b: How to prepare an effective presentation Ideally you should prepare a short presentation covering the introduction part of this activity (describing how to plan, prepare and present a talk) to act as a reference point for students for when they prepare their own presentations. Answers 1. What are the advantages and disadvantage of using Microsoft PowerPoint for presentations? Advantages Accessible and widely used. Easy to use – no experience necessary. Can easily input images, photos, graphs and hyperlinks and annotate them. Built-in templates for easy layout. Can add presenter notes at the bottom of slide . More exciting and professional than a simple word document or hand-written overheads – animation effects can make a presentation more entertaining. Disadvantages Too much animation or a lot of background features can distract an audience from actual presentation content . It can be quite time-consuming to create a complete presentation and using more than the basic feature can require some getting used to. Proper viewing requires a computer capable of linking to an overhead projector – is this technology available? Limited flexible to change and modify slides during the presentation, e.g. a question may prompt digression away form the original sequence. Approximate duration of activity: 20 minutes. 2. Prepare your own 5–10-minute presentation. Oral presentations are a great way for students to gain experience in public speaking and the pressure of knowing they are going to be in front of the classroom presenting to their peers provides students with motivation for staying on task. A suitable theme for student presentations might be a laboratory report completed in class or a specific topic from the syllabus where students would benefit from further reading/resear ch (eg a case study from the 8 SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION (H, BIOLOGY) © Learning and Teaching Scotland 2011 ADDITIONAL TEACHER’S NOTES learning activities outlined in the Higher Biology syllabus could easily form the basis of a student presentation). A group presentation is a great way of making the task seem less daunting, but specify that everyone must be involved in preparing and presenting the talk. In terms of time, a 5–10-minute presentation, including time for questions, is a good start. Approximate duration of activity: 90 minutes + homework . Activity 4: Science, data sharing and the web Activity 4a: Defining new media in the context of science communication This activity is intended to highlight the importance of science communication using internet applications students are familiar with (ie Facebook, Twitter, etc), and considering the advantages and disadvantages of using new media as a communication tool from the perspective of the scientist. A list of useful links is provided at the end and students should be encouraged to access them to broaden their understanding. 1. How would you describe the University of Edinburgh’s Neuroscience Department Facebook page? In small groups, produce a list of key words explaining its purpose and how it might be useful. Answers It provides a community by bringing together scientists and the general public who share a common interest. It is of specialised interest but accessible to anyone. It promotes research and events within the department to a wider audience. It provides an informal conversational environment for discussions. It is engaging and interactive, allowing instant updates and feedback. Approximate duration of activity: 20 minutes . SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION (H, BIOLOGY) © Learning and Teaching Scotland 2011 9 ADDITIONAL TEACHER’S NOTES 2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using new media, such as Facebook, to communicate science? Answers Advantages Teaches accessible writing style – most scientists are used to writing research proposals and scientific papers, which are very structured, complex and inaccessible to the public. Broadens contacts and builds networks on a local, national and global scale – important for building relationships between scientists and setting up potential research collaborations. Encourages participation from a wide audience, allowing fast, instant and direct communication that is automatically recorded . Promotes learning by engaging with people in the comfort of their own environment – individuals can browse photos, watch videos, listen to podcasts and read tweets in their free time and not even realise the y are learning about science! It is free and easy to use. Disadvantages Time-consuming – Facebook and Twitter constantly need updating and monitoring to remain active and followed, and this equals time away from the laboratory as a research scientist. Everything published is public – posts could easily end up in a newspaper as a quote without your knowledge. Anyone is free to respond to posts and comments – what is the impact of a negative comment? The scientist is made a public figure – is this going to impact on their research? Could it compromise advancement in their field? Outdated and controversial posts persist as an electronic record, leading to a misinformed public. Approximate duration of activity: 20 minutes . 10 SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION (H, BIOLOGY) © Learning and Teaching Scotland 2011 ADDITIONAL TEACHER’S NOTES Activity 4b: Tweeting a piece of science Read the following abstract modified from a real scientific research paper and have a go at writing an accompanying tweet. This activity is just a bit of fun – there are no right or wrong answers. Students should consider what they think the main message of the research is and how they can summarise it using a couple of lines. Approximate duration of activity: 15 minutes Activity 5: Summary section 1. Make a table of the common sections that can be found in these three different scientific communication formats: a research paper, a poster and a presentation. Compare the three formats and include a section detailing the advantages and disadvantages of each (eg time, detail, references) Answers Sections Paper Poster Presentation Abstract Yes Yes No Introduction Yes Yes Yes Methods Yes Yes Yes Results Yes Yes Yes Discussion Yes Sometimes Sometimes Reference list Yes Rare Rare Advantages Detailed analysis, many authors input, further references, can take time to read/understand Short, concise, easy to understand, visually attractive, easy for conference discussion, good for early or mid way through a project, good for feedback Good way to communicate to a large audience, relatively concise and short, very visual, allows for questions and feedback Disadvantages Long time to read/write, not ideal format for quick discussion at conference, must be completed work, not much initial feedback Not much detail, often not completed project Sometimes not enough time, nerves about public speaking, not enough detail Approximate duration of activity: 30 minutes SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION (H, BIOLOGY) © Learning and Teaching Scotland 2011 11 ADDITIONAL TEACHER’S NOTES 2. In a group, imagine that you have just published a paper on the same topic as the poster that you designed earlier. Make a list outlining a strategy that you would use to publicise this paper. Would you use social media, make a video, write an article for local/national newspapers, set up a personal website/blog, go to a conference….? This is entirely up to the students and can involve any of these methods. Approximate duration of activity: 30 minutes . 3. Name two officially recognised sources of scientific information and two unofficial ones. For each discuss who the audience could be. Students should be encouraged to look up paper databases , GenBank (internet connection required) and scientific stories by journalists. They should then discuss different sources on the internet to m ake them aware of poorly sourced reporting. Official: scientific journal papers, scientists themselves and official databases. Not official: newspapers, Wikipedia, Twitter, blogs, etc Approximate duration of activity: 40 minutes , including research time. 12 SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION (H, BIOLOGY) © Learning and Teaching Scotland 2011