Translating STEM, Integrating Values

Becky Bates, Minnesota State University-Mankato; Alexandra Bradner, Kenyon College

Part 1: What Would a STEM Communications Concentration Look Like at a Liberal Arts College?

Description

Translating across disciplines, which are often identified by their different styles of reasoning, is challenging, but responsible citizenship requires the use of multiple perspectives to solve problems. Our translation goal is to value what other disciplines already do and know, and find pathways to incorporate that knowledge both within and outside STEM. This team has considered these translational challenges from both a liberal arts perspective and an engineering/science perspective, and have connected both to the use of narrative and story. We present two credentials in STEM communications and in ethics that help students learn the skills of translation, while practicing integration.

1) Our first credential imagines what a STEM communications concentration would look like at a liberal arts college, an institution with no existing courses in technical writing, journalism, or graphics, and no faculty members dedicated exclusively to the concentration. We address the question of whether we can retain the liberal arts college focus on big ideas and fundamental skills, while attending to the student demand for more transactional credentials. The proposed concentration argues that we need not conceptualize such programs as moral compromises. A STEM communication concentration can be conceptualized as a response to an urgent social need, the need for broader STEM literacy, and the course of study need not focus solely upon skill development. The proposed concentration is both ideas- and imagination-based.

2) The second is a series of seminars and experiences in ethical learning that translates humanistic foundational knowledge into the STEM realm related to 1) conducting research responsibly, 2) the historical underpinnings of science and engineering in society, and 3) personal decision making for people with STEM careers to formally complement the experiences of STEM majors. Seminars will take advantage of existing resources and can be embedded in individual courses, in programs across years, or in a year or semester across disciplines. Experiences can be tailored for local resources. Credentialling activities and assessment guidelines are [will be] made publicly available through the Online Ethics Center. Program Details »

Overview

STEM communications departments at large institutions teach students how to clearly and accurately communicate STEM content to a general audience both verbally and visually. They offer courses in technical writing, public relations, and information graphics, among many other subjects. The curriculum is designed to shoulder the training burden that used to be supported by employers. Students complete their coursework and glide into careers in industry and hospital PR, academic grant writing, textbook publishing, political lobbying, consulting, textbook publishing, and science journalism. Many students pursue graduate degrees in technical communication, communication studies, public relations, and marketing. The academic course of study is backwards designed to support the market.

Small liberal arts colleges (SLACs) are devoted to a different ideal. They operate under the assumption that there is something intrinsically valuable about learning. At the college level, what someone learns should be driven by their own curiosity and wonder. There may be courses in English literature, but no courses in communications; courses in economics, but no courses in business; courses in math and logic, but no courses in computer programming; courses in psychometrics, but no courses in data science. Students leave school with foundational skills that are useful in any career—permanently relevant skills that can respond flexibly to technological and social change. Good writing, reading, critical thinking, discussion, research, observational, math, and statistical skills are never obsolete.

According to the popular press, however, as the job market becomes increasingly competitive, as student loan burdens increase, and as wages fall, students and their families are questioning whether it is worth the national-average, four-year SLAC layout of $100,000 to maintain this ideal. They are looking for assurances that their investment in intrinsic value will have some instrumental value. Will the kids get jobs?

To some extent, the difference between these two forms of higher education is a false dichotomy. Students at larger institutions manage to develop critical thinking skills, and SLAC students are very successful on the job market. These differences are further elided when, in curricular design, we attend to societal need. Instead of feeding the market or indulging the individual, institutions of higher ed should conceptualize their curricular shifts as responses to emergent social needs. SLACs might conceive of a new concentration in STEM communication not as a bow to the consumerist/transactional model of education, but as a form of national service—a response to the current crisis in science literacy.

What would a STEM communications concentration look like at a SLAC, where, at present, there are no journalism, technical writing, and communications courses? How might resource-strapped SLACs capitalize upon their *existing* courses and faculty to build such a program? Could the institution fulfill the societal need, while retaining its deep commitment to the self-determination of individual learners?

This proposal argues that when creating a new academic program at a SLAC, we should view the development of marketable skills not as unimportant, but as secondary to both the interrogation of ideas and the responsiveness to social need. The concentration below is designed to train students not only to write clearly, but to have something insightful, socially responsible, and artful to say. The program is ideas- and imagination-based, centered on the goal of helping students to develop good judgement.

Description

The undergraduate concentration in STEM communication (CSC) welcomes students from both within and outside of the STEM fields. There are two paths through the concentration: a Translations track, for students with political, journalistic, or academic aspirations, which requires a significant investment in one particular STEM discipline, and an Expressions track, for students with creative aspirations, which requires a minimum of two STEM courses (in addition to the college’s diversification requirement).

Throughout the course of this interdisciplinary concentration, students learn to consider STEM theories, models, results, and practices in conversation with other disciplines. In addition to completing the three-course core in STEM communication, students can take courses in three distribution areas:

Literature and science, where students analyze significant texts in the humanities that explore scientific themes
Science and technology studies (STS), where students learn the history, philosophy, and sociology of science
Creative arts, where students strive to develop a singular voice in the production of original creative work

In the senior year, students work closely with two faculty advisors, one from a STEM field and one from outside of STEM, to produce for publication a work of original STEM communication, i.e., a magazine article, fiction or non-fiction book, art exhibit, video, podcast, series of infographics, grant, press release, website, etc.

A more detailed account of the course of study can be found on the “Exemplar Page.”

Goals of the Program

The goals of the program are three-fold: (1) To create a defined learning space for students who find that their academic interests fall somewhere in between STEM, on the one hand, and the humanities, social sciences, and arts, on the other, but cannot double major. (2) To continue to articulate that novel translation space, in which different disciplines come together to theorize the natural world. (3) To send into the public sphere STEM-literate college graduates who can effectively communicate the significance of complex theories, models, and data sets to the general citizenry, which needs that knowledge in order to make good decisions.

Learning Goals

Learning Goal 1: Proficiency
To experiment with and develop advanced skills in a plurality of STEM communication modalities: writing, drawing, information graphics, filming, podcasting, etc. To produce STEM content that is clear, accurate, audience-appropriate, and socially responsible.
Learning Goal 2: Integration
To consider STEM content from within its various social-political, historical, and philosophical contexts. To see how STEM raises problems for its society, practitioners, and users to solve that cannot be fully addressed by its own internal practices of observation, experimental design, and testing. To view STEM content through an interdisciplinary lens.
Learning Goal 3: Creation
To formulate original responses to important canonical and non-canonical texts in and about STEM. To locate a distinctive creative voice. To say new things in new ways, and deliver new ideas into the world.
Learning Goal 4: Action
To recognize the ways in which the social and epistemic forms of power and privilege both within and outside of the STEM disciplines operate. To examine the effects such forms of power and privilege have both on the products, practitioners, and practices of STEM and on the broader social world. To imagine the ways in which STEM communicators might act to shift these forms of power and privilege, and to reflect upon on the potential impact of that action.

Assessing Program Outcomes

Assessment will take place after senior grades have been awarded and before graduation, and will focus on work completed within the concentration’s core courses. Students take CSC 200: Introduction to STEM Communications early in their college careers and then CSC 400: Senior Seminar in STEM Communications during their senior year. Students will load into a LMS portfolio their first paper from CSC 200 and the proposal for their final project from CSC 400, after which they will read their work and write a 1-2-page narrative that describes their perceived intellectual growth.

Faculty will begin their assessment by reading the two writing assignments and completing a rubric to assess the development of each student’s written work. After each individual faculty member completes their rubrics, the faculty will meet to discuss their rubrics, the narratives, and the results of an anonymous assessment survey in which students can report their experiences with the concentration over the course of their four years.

Program Details

See a detailed description of the concentration’s requirements and the course of study.

Part 2: Ethics Credential for Undergraduate STEM Majors

Description

A series of seminars and experiences in ethical learning that translates humanistic foundational knowledge into the STEM realm related to 1) conducting research responsibly, 2) the historical underpinnings of science and engineering in society, and 3) personal decision making for people with STEM careers will all formally complement the experiences of STEM majors. Seminars will take advantage of existing resources and can be embedded in individual courses, in programs across years, or in a year or semester across disciplines to support integration of the content with STEM knowledge. Experiences can be tailored for local resources. Credentialing content, activities and assessment guidelines are [will be] made publicly available through the Online Ethics Center.

Goals of the Program

A long term goal is for students to be able to manage ambiguity with sensitivity, thoughtfulness, and awareness (of self and other) and use this to make judgements about action when there is not a clear answer. This credential will provide content and experiences that support the development of these skills and practical integration of the concepts for students in STEM.

Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcome 1
Identify expectations for responsible conduct of STEM research as codified in United States laws, regulations, and policies and the historical motivation for ethical standards in research.
Learning Outcome 2
Recognize and differentiate ethical theories such as utilitarianism (Mill, Singer: maximize high quality happiness for the collective), deontology (Kant, Rawls: ensure that the maxims on which you act are universalizable), virtue ethics (Aristotle: develop good character traits within the constraints of community norms), standpoint theory (hooks, Harding: look to outsiders for meaningful critique), ethics of care (Gilligan, Noddings: fulfill the needs of your care group), evolutionary ethics (Ruse, Wilson: enhance reproductive fitness), divine command theory (Augustine: follow the dictates of a sacred text), and ethical egoism (moral skeptics: act in your own self-interest). This list of Western philosophies can and should be complemented by Eastern, African, and Indigenous American philosophies.
Learning Outcome 3
Describe processes for personal decision making related to STEM activities.
Learning Outcome 4
1) Discuss issues related to responsible conduct of research, historical motivation for ethical standards, and processes for personal decision making, 2) describe how practicing scientists and engineers are using ethical codes to guide behavior and actions, or 3) interact with community representatives through volunteer or learning activities such as participation on an institutional review board (IRB), shadowing a hospital chaplain, or interviewing a practicing engineer.
Learning Outcome 5
Integrate individual STEM knowledge with foundational knowledge about ethics and ethical decision making by addressing ethical issues associated with a current topic in student’s field.
Learning Outcome 6
Incorporate diverse perspectives and consider stakeholders that may be unrecognized or otherwise marginalized in an ethical decision making process.
Learning Outcome 7
Appreciate the gray areas of both ethical decision making and science and engineering in spaces where there are no single answers.
Learning Outcome 8
Imagine and describe alternative possibilities and explore avenues that will support and extend their work in both STEM and ethical decision making.

Assessing Program Outcomes

The outcomes and experiences try to address students knowing, acting and valuing of the content as well as identifying the challenging aspects of learning in this space. There is not always one right answer. Assessment of foundational knowledge in the realm of ethics and a STEM context (LO 1, LO 2) will be primarily based on completion of modules and knowledge/recognition quizzes, which could be done automatically. Most aspects of meta and humanistic knowledge incorporated in this context are better addressed through experiences, reflections, writing, observation of interactions/discussions, and presentations, all of which would need to be assessed by a human with the support of rubrics. Assessing abilities to interact with uncertainty can look at openness within constraints (how many pathways might be visualized) or openness to the future (how many possibilities might be described), ability to recognize missing information, and projecting consequences of projected actions. Rubrics related to student work would gauge knowledge of and comfort with the material as well as depth of questioning and connections beyond basic knowledge.

Audience

The details of this credential are aimed at supporting and assessing student development with strong support for faculty who may not be experts in this space or who could benefit from supporting curricular materials. Earning a credential may be motivated by individual desire to grapple with the content, but is most likely going to be motivated by academic program accreditation (particularly in engineering) or assessment. An institution could implement this credential across program years, across disciplines, within one or more courses, or as a stand alone course for either a single major or an interdisciplinary audience. All could have value and would provide different opportunities for integration with specific disciplines and use of local resources such as faculty from philosophy or history, community members, archives, members of local government, or industry partners.

Demonstrative Program Details

This page addresses content knowledge and types of learning experiences for this credential in ethics.

Translating STEM, Integrating Values

Becky Bates, Minnesota State University-Mankato; Alexandra Bradner, Kenyon College

Part 1: What Would a STEM Communications Concentration Look Like at a Liberal Arts College?

The undergraduate concentration in STEM communication (CSC) aims to teach students how to convey STEM content clearly in both verbal and visual forms to a general audience. More importantly, however, the concentration aims to develop in students the judgement required to make appropriate choices about which information to convey, and when, where, and how to convey it, and the intellectual imagination required to connect that STEM information to larger ideas and themes that are important to the human community.

Interdisciplinary three-course core

The CSC welcomes students from both within and outside of the STEM fields. STEM majors can add the concentration with four CSC courses beyond their major and the one-credit-hour CSC capstone seminar. Non-STEM majors can add the concentration with six additional courses (the four CSC courses and then two courses beyond the college’s diversification requirements in STEM) and the one-credit-hour capstone seminar.

The program requires all students to take a three-course core: an introductory survey, a topical seminar, and a one-credit senior capstone seminar. The core strengthens community among the students and affiliated faculty, while also giving students concentration-specific practical experience in producing the kind of STEM content valued by the concentration. Students begin with CSC 200, a gateway course in which they gain foundational knowledge through exposure to the many modes of STEM communication. Concentrators then move on to CSC 300, where they investigate one of those modes in depth with a visiting professor of practice. The core ends with CSC 400, the capstone seminar, in which students work closely with a faculty member on a project for publication.

The first course, CSC 200: “Introduction to STEM Communication” offers a survey of the field in its maximal plurality and is team-taught by a pair of faculty members, one inside and one outside STEM. This course is offered once every academic year and is open to all students, regardless of whether they plan to pursue the concentration. In this course, students gain experience in producing STEM content in several different forms: magazine articles, poems, information graphics, and podcasts, for example. This course is as close as the concentration gets to offering a practicum.
The second course: CSC 300: “Topics in STEM Communication,” is taught by a single professor, from either inside or outside STEM, and focuses on a special topic from within the faculty member’s area of expertise. Whenever possible, CSC 300 is taught by a visiting faculty member, a professor of practice, who works outside of academia in STEM communication, as an artist, poet, journalist, grant writer, etc. CSC 300 may be cross-listed in another department and is offered, minimally, once every two years. In this course, students explore a single topic in depth with a working professional. If there is no visiting professor of practice available, an affiliated professor can offer CSC 300 as cross-listed with a relevant special topics course that lives in that professor’s home department.
The third requirement, CSC 400: “Senior Capstone Seminar,” is a one-credit course taken during the senior fall, to assist in the conception and development of the capstone project, which is due just after the spring break. This course meets once a week for an hour and exists to offer some structure and community to what is essentially an independent research project. CSC 400 is offered every fall, guided by a faculty member on the CSC steering committee who has some expertise in the development of undergraduate research, taught as an overload, and generates a course release for the faculty member once every three installments.

Two tracks and three distribution areas for electives

There are two paths through the concentration: a Translations track, for students with political, journalistic, or academic aspirations, which requires a significant investment in one particular STEM discipline, and an Expressions track, for students with creative aspirations, which requires a minimum of two STEM courses (in addition to the college’s diversification requirement in STEM). Those two additional STEM courses can be a 100-level and a 200-level course in the same STEM department, or two 100-level courses in two different STEM departments. In both tracks, students must complete the above three-course core.

Both CSC tracks focus on the generation of ideas and on the development of good judgement through interdisciplinary study. Students are educated as mediators who have to make judicious decisions about which STEM content to convey and how to convey that content appropriately to different audiences.

Students on the Translations track must take two elective courses from two of the three thematic lists: either one literature course (I) and one STS course (II), or two STS courses (II). Though not explicitly required, it is highly recommended that students on the Translations track take a statistics, psychometrics, or data science course.

Students on the Expressions track also must take two distribution courses from two of the three thematic lists: either one literature course (I) and one creative arts course (III), or two creative arts courses (III). Though not explicitly required, it is highly recommended that students on the Expressions track take additional courses in the creative arts.

Many of the courses that count toward the completion of the CSC will count toward students’ primary majors as well.

(I) Fundamental themes: literature and science electives. The English literature courses in this distribution area ask students to analyze culturally significant texts that engage fundamental STEM-related themes in the humanities. Here are some sample courses in this distribution area. Exact offerings will vary by institution.

(II) The social context of science: history, philosophy, and sociology of science (science and technology studies/STS) electives. The courses in this distribution area ask students to critically assess the presuppositions of the scientific method and the historical and philosophical reasons why we extend so much epistemic and, thus, social power to the STEM disciplines. Here are some sample courses in this distribution area. Exact offerings will vary by institution.

(III) Personal expression: creative arts electives. The courses in this distribution area teach students how to produce their own, original STEM-related content. Here are some sample courses in this distribution area. Exact offerings will vary by institution.

The senior capstone

In the senior year, concentrators work closely with two faculty advisors, one from a STEM field and one from outside of STEM, to produce for publication a work of original STEM communication–a magazine article, fiction or non-fiction book, art exhibit, video, podcast, series of infographics, grant, press release, documentary, website, etc. If possible, the faculty advisors of the senior capstone will be the instructors of the cohort’s CSC 200.

Throughout the fall of the senior year, students work as a community in the one-credit CSC 400 seminar with a single faculty member from the CSC steering committee to define their projects. Each project must be ready to present in symposium to the campus CSC community by the end of the spring break.

After graduation

Graduates of the CSC pursue advanced degrees in creative writing, journalism, technical communication, communication studies, radio tv and film, public relations, and marketing. Graduates also pursue professional careers in science journalism, fiction and non-fiction creative writing, public relations for STEM foundations and corporations, academic grant writing, political and legal briefing, consulting, and textbook publishing.

Sample progression through the concentration for an English major on the “Expressions” track

First year:

CSC 200: Introduction to STEM Communication

BIOL 1xx: Energy and Information in Living Systems (This course is in addition to the college’s diversification requirements in STEM.)

Second year:

BIOL 2xx: Evolution (This course also is in addition to the college’s diversification requirements in STEM.)

ENGL 3xx: Science Fiction and Fantasy

Third year:

CSC 3xx: Topics in Science Communication

ENGL 2xx: Creative Writing

Fourth year:

CSC 400: Science Writing Capstone Seminar

Sample progression through the concentration for a biology major on the “Translations” track

First year:

STEM majors typically come with AP credits in their introductory sciences, so they can enroll in 200-level STEM courses during their first year. They often discover their interests in non-STEM disciplines only later on in their college careers.

Second year:

CSC 200: Introduction to STEM Communication

Third year:

CSC 300: Topics in Science Communication

PHIL 2xx: Philosophy of Science

Fourth year:

POSC 3xx: Global Environmental Politics

CSC 400: Science Writing Capstone Seminar

Part 2: Ethics Credential for Undergraduate STEM Majors

Program Design & Assessment

Overview

A series of seminars and experiences in ethical learning that translates humanistic foundational knowledge into the STEM realm related to 1) conducting research responsibly, 2) the historical underpinnings of science and engineering in society, and 3) personal decision making for people with STEM careers will formally complement the experiences of STEM majors. Seminars will take advantage of existing resources and can be embedded in individual courses, in programs across years, or in a year or semester across disciplines. Experiences can be tailored for local resources. Credentialling activities and assessment guidelines are [will be] made publicly available through the Online Ethics Center.

Design Philosophy

The program was developed to provide a clear training and learning option in ethics for STEM majors, that incorporates national resources with guidelines for local activities that can be provided by faculty with either extensive experience or little experience in the field. A goal is development of ethical thinking alongside STEM content knowledge. The credential could be offered within a gateway course, alongside senior project/research experiences, or as a 1-credit, interdisciplinary seminar course. Because one of the learning outcomes encourages students to address the gray areas within the fields, it may be a richer experience for more senior students. However, it could also be used to help lower-division students explore the challenges of working within a fields that are unlikely to always have one, single answer.

Assessing Program Outcomes

The outcomes and experiences try to address students knowing, acting and valuing of the content as well as identifying the challenging aspects of learning in this space. There is not always one right answer. Assessment of foundational knowledge (LO 1, LO 2) will be primarily based on completion of modules and knowledge/recognition quizzes, which could be done automatically. Most aspects of meta and humanistic knowledge incorporated in this context are better addressed through experiences, reflections, writing, observation of interactions/discussions, and presentations, all of which would need to be assessed by a human with the support of rubrics. Rubrics related to student work would gauge knowledge of and comfort with the material as well as depth of questioning and connections beyond basic knowledge.

Required Components

Content Knowledge

The three areas of content knowledge can be addressed through existing materials (typically recorded webinars or podcasts or written materials) or through locally developed lectures.

Conducting Research Ethically: Professional Conduct & Responsibility: Sample materials/training can come from the NSF’s RECR training: https://www.nsf.gov/od/recr.jsp, the home institution’s IRB, the Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science, https://onlineethics.org/, and CITI training modules.
The Philosophy, History, and Sociology of STEM: Content should address the proper role of scientific expertise within a democracy, ethical problem cases from the history of STEM, peer review and disagreement, scientific objectivity, external influences on scientific research, paradigm shifts, engineering design, modeling in STEM, observation, confirmation, explanation and prediction, etc. Local expertise can come from humanities and/or social science departments.
Living Ethically as a Scientist: Content should address personal decision-making and processes that can be used for personal decision making related to life, work, and citizenship. Local expertise can come from faculty and a wide range of community members.

Learning Experiences

The three areas of foundational content knowledge will be addressed through webinars and readings.

Students will gain meta knowledge through discourse, community observations, and/or volunteer activity, such as participation on an IRB, shadowing a hospital chaplain, or interviewing a practicing engineer.

Students will gain humanistic knowledge through story sharing, both fiction and non-fiction. This learning may influence person decisions such as whether to pursue an industrial, academic, or government career, how to balance life and work. Stories may come from individuals such as program alums, faculty and administrators, Career Services or counseling center staff, and practicing health professionals, scientists, or engineers, or they could come from literary works of fiction and non-fiction.

Content Knowledge Details

Conducting Research Ethically: Professional Conduct & Responsibility

Sample materials/training can come from the NSF’s RECR training: https://www.nsf.gov/od/recr.jsp, the home institution’s IRB, the Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science, https://onlineethics.org/, and CITI training modules.

The Philosophy, History, and Sociology of STEM

Content should address the proper role of scientific expertise within a democracy, ethical problem cases from the history of STEM, peer review and disagreement, scientific objectivity, external influences on scientific research, paradigm shifts, engineering design, modeling in STEM, observation, confirmation, explanation and prediction, etc.

Living Ethically as a Scientist

Content should address personal decision-making and processes that can be used for personal decision making related to life, work, and citizenship.

Learning Experiences

Foundational Knowledge

Webinars, documentaries, thought-provoking films (e.g., Dear Scientists…), videos of scientists and engineers discussing why and how they are a scientist/engineer.
Lectures, e.g., bioethics and the distribution of health care costs; scientists studying social phenomena (e.g., https://mappingprejudice.umn.edu/)
Readings, e.g., brief readings that define ethical frameworks or readings that support a specific topic (see A. Bradner’s module on incorporating bioethics into a STEM course QALY module for STEM Futures.pdf (Acrobat (PDF) 74kB Oct23 20).)

Meta Knowledge

All components are recommended. Modify for local context.

Conversations (online or face-to-face): Topics from the webinars, lectures and readings can be discussed in a variety of ways. Some examples include processing of case studies; following an ethical framework to make low-stakes or high-stakes personal decisions; discussion of a work of fiction with similar analysis of decision-making; reviewing redacted IRB applications, particularly for student-led research (would the group approve this project?).
Setting up observations: Institutional Review Board participation, shadowing of practitioners, interviewing of practitioners. Need guided questions for observations and for interviews. Incorporate perspectives and awareness of populations (whose voices are included?)
Setting up volunteer activity: Consider how to serve as a volunteer acknowledging expertise of both volunteer and members of the community being served. (Avoid pitfalls of setting up volunteers as “saviors”.) Pull materials from local service learning resources (e.g., https://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/service/index.html).

Humanistic Knowledge

Bringing in story tellers: Invited speakers from a range of perspectives (support connections to equity, social justice and inclusion). Address issues of both personal and professional decisions.
Assign readings/movies/ that focus on story or narrative and weave together personal and professional decisions (include links to work highlighting others’ use in these areas). (Suggested stories and discussion prompts can be found in these (and other) papers: https://peer.asee.org/35180, https://peer.asee.org/34586 and https://peer.asee.org/17433.)
Create an interview process: Modeled on pre-created interviews with scientists and engineers, have a class consider what questions they would ask to define a set of questions, have students interview practitioners, return to discuss a variety of answers, and then reflect (written) on how they would want to answer these questions in five years.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant #1935479: Workshop on the Substance of STEM Education. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.