Lecturer in the Discipline of Biomedical Engineering Columbia University New York, New York, United States
Introduction:: At Columbia, 80% of biomedical engineering undergraduate and master’s students participate in academic research [1]. Furthermore, according to Columbia Center for Career Education surveys, many recent BME undergraduates pursued graduate degrees (Figure 1), most of which have required research components. Additionally, one of the goals of the required junior undergraduate-level laboratory courses in the Columbia BME program is to prepare students for Senior Design the following year—a course that stresses scientific communication via multiple media. Thus, the objective of this work was to expose junior undergraduate BME students to various forms of scientific communication to best prepare them for their future endeavors inside and outside of the classroom.
Materials and Methods:: In lieu of laboratory reports, a series of six (6) post-laboratory assignments highlighting various science communication skills were implemented in BMEN E3820: BME Lab II, the second in a series of two required laboratory courses for junior undergraduate BME students. The six science communication skills included: (1) making effective graphics, (2) conference-style abstracts, (3) three-minute poster videos, (4) conference-style posters, (5) conference-style podium presentations, and (6) communication with a non-scientific audience (e.g., K-12 outreach activity, pitch to a potential investor, a conversation with family & friends, etc.). Each skill was introduced via a short PowerPoint lesson, and examples were provided to the students. Google Docs/Slides templates were also provided for each skill to streamline formatting expectations and to promote real-time collaboration within the laboratory teams. Rubrics were distributed to ensure students knew how they would be evaluated for each post-laboratory assignment, except for the communication with a non-scientific audience assignment, which was more open-ended. An unpaired t-test was used to compare mean laboratory report grades from BME Lab I to mean post-lab scores from BME Lab II. Significance was determined where p< 0.05. Results are presented as mean ± standard deviation.
Results, Conclusions, and Discussions:: Students initially reported mixed feelings toward the post-laboratory assignments. On the one hand, they unanimously agreed these skills would likely help them regardless of their future career plans. However, having assignments with varying expectations after each lab was “uncomfortable,” making it hard to find a rhythm throughout the semester. They were apprehensive about how these post-laboratory assignments would impact their grades. However, no differences between mean scores earned on laboratory reports in BME Lab I versus post-laboratory assignments #1-5 in BME Lab II were observed (Figure 2; p=0.23). The final post-laboratory assignment has yet to be graded. Ultimately, students revealed they had already applied some of the skills in other courses and in their research labs. A group of junior undergraduates even won the grand prize in a graduate-level elective course for having the best overall presentation in their class of 50 students. Many students emphasized how pleasantly surprised they were that these science communication skills came in handy so immediately, which further validates the need to expose students early to these communication techniques.
Students benefit from exposure to various forms of scientific communication. While laboratory reports serve an important purpose, there are also opportunities to teach students other ways to communicate scientific findings. As so many students do research at various stages of their careers and many pursue graduate degrees, these skills are even more pertinent elements of their training as scientists and engineers. Early exposure to these scientific communication skills can also improve confidence and performance in other courses, reinforcing the importance of this pedagogical intervention.