STORIES, CONNECTION, LEARNING

Shannon Behrman, PhD

Senior Director, Education

Shannon Behrman leads the education initiative of the Science Communication Lab. She collaborates with educators and the SCL team to produce, test, and distribute short science films that engage students in learning.

Publications

Build Your Research Community: Evaluation of an Online Course to Build Strong Mentoring Relationships and Networks

Build Your Research Community (BYRC) is an asynchronous, free online course that guides research students to build effective relationships with their primary research advisors as well as build mentoring networks that provide holistic support as they navigate their research training experiences and careers. Preliminary evaluation evidence of the effectiveness of BYRC was collected from undergraduate,…

View Publication
Use of personal storytelling in educational videos promotes student engagement and science identity in undergraduate biology courses

In this era of information abundance and digital connectivity, educational videos are a transformative and widely used resource in STEM higher education. Much of what is known about the effective use of educational videos comes from analyzing videos used for content delivery and the impacts on knowledge gains or behavioral engagement with videos. Less is…

View Publication
Engaging short film activity that supports learning, science identity, and nature of science comprehension

Improving perceptions of students' science identities and their understanding of the nature of science (NOS) are important learning goals for undergraduate biology students. Previous research has observed that students who reflect on personal histories and research narratives of diverse scientists experience positive changes in their own science identities and understanding of the nature of science,…

View Publication
Storytelling in Science Film: Narrative Engagement Relates to Greater Knowledge, Interest, and Identification With Science

To explore narrative engagement’s impacts on science communication, we examine a representative sample of U.S. adults randomly assigned to watch one of the four short documentary science films. Our results indicate that narrative engagement—feeling connected to the story world and identifying with characters—predicts a wide range of outcomes relevant to engagement and learning: greater knowledge…

View Publication
Framework for advancing rigorous research

There is a pressing need to increase the rigor of research in the life and biomedical sciences. To address this issue, we propose that communities of 'rigor champions' be established to campaign for reforms of the research culture that has led to shortcomings in rigor. These communities of rigor champions would also assist in the…

View Publication
A Pilot Program to Engage, Retain, and Train Physicians as Scientists: Creating and Sustaining a Discovery-Driven Community

Over the past 100 years, physician-scientists have created important new knowledge across the entire spectrum of biomedical inquiry. Increasingly, successful development and application of novel therapies require the engagement of expert investigators from multiple disciplines.1,2 Creation of durable knowledge that enhances human health demands testing at the bedside and in the laboratory. Well-trained physician-scientists are…

View Publication
Bridging gaps in traditional research training with iBiology Courses

Published: January 11, 2024 Academic research training relies on a combination of traditional and experiential education to instruct early career researchers in technical and professional skills. The depth, breadth, and quality of graduate education depends on the graduate program and a trainee’s individual mentoring relationships. This variation means that many trainees will need additional training…

View Publication
Sign Up for Updates
Topics
Featured Lessons
Featured Films
Connect with SCICOMMLAB
Moore
NSF
NIH
SFF
National Geographic
Sandbox Films
Rita Allen

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences under Grant No. 2122350 and 1 R25 GM139147. Any opinion, finding, conclusion, or recommendation expressed in these videos are solely those of the speakers and do not necessarily represent the views of the Science Communication Lab/iBiology, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, or other Science Communication Lab funders.

  • Website Credits: Design by Cidney Hue, Development by SeddCo