MAKING SCIENCE A PART OF EVERYONE’S STORY

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

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…

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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,…

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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…

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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…

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Training the next generation of physician-scientists: a cohort-based program for MD-only residents and fellows (Preprint)

Despite the importance of clinician-scientists in propelling biomedical advances, the proportion of physicians engaged in both hypothesis-driven research and clinical care continues to decline. Recently, multiple institutions have developed programs that promote MD-only physicians pursuing careers in science, but few reports on the impact of these are available. Objective: To assess if a cohort-based training…

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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…

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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.

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