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Why is it so hard to give up on hoping that facts speak for themselves?

“Helvetica emerges in that period in 1957 where there’s felt to be a need for rational typefaces which can be applied to all kinds of contemporary information whether it’s sign systems or corporate identity and present those visual expressions of the modern world to the public in an intelligible way.”*

This is one of the opening descriptive passages of Gary Hustwit’s 2007 documentary Helvetica, which traces the meaning, history and importance of the near ubiquitous typeface. Think of a corporate brand that has a sleek minimal brand image? Chances are the typeface is Helvetica, from the AAs of American Airlines to the very recognizable G in the Gap, all Helvetica. Even the New York subway signs, designed by Massimo Vignelli, are Helvetica.  But what does that have to do with science communication and education? (more…)

3 Comments
by mcshanahan on October 9, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Science Communication, Science Education

Posted by mcshanahan on October 9, 2012

boundaryvision.com/2012/10/09/why-is-it-so-hard-to-give-up-on-hoping-the-facts-speak-for-themselves-unlikely-lessons-from-typefaces-and-modern-art/

Don’t worry so much about being the right type of science role model

What does it mean to be a good role? Am I a good role model? Playing around with kids at home or in the middle of a science classroom, adults often ask themselves these questions, especially when it come to girls and science. But despite having asked them many times myself, I don’t think they’re the right questions.

(more…)

7 Comments
by mcshanahan on May 28, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Gender and Science, Science Education

Posted by mcshanahan on May 28, 2012

boundaryvision.com/2012/05/28/dont-worry-so-much-about-being-the-right-type-of-science-role-model/

Learning about science education from the experts: Kids

By far the best panel on science education I’ve seen recently was given by a few of the most important people in the field: kids.

I met them at LogiCon, an Edmonton-based science and critical thinking outreach event held annually at The Telus World of Science. The two-day meeting, April 14-15 this year, was open to all science centre visitors, adults and kids, and featured talks by researchers, writers, educators and more. There were talks on scientific topics, from vaccines to particle physics, and scientific thinking, such as how to evaluate claims in the media. One section of the conference was devoted to sessions for families and kids, and of course that’s the part I couldn’t resist attending. (more…)

1 Comment
by mcshanahan on April 27, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Science Education

Posted by mcshanahan on April 27, 2012

boundaryvision.com/2012/04/27/learning-about-science-education-from-the-experts-kids/

#BoraZUofA Linkfest: A collection of the sites and posts referenced in Bora’s talks

Scientific American blog editor Bora Zivkovic‘s visit to the University of Alberta was a wonderful whirlwind of talks on science education, science communication, open science, peer review and the scientific publishing industry. I’ve summarized his talks in an overview of the week. If you’re interested in a more in-depth look, Bora has also shared a list of links to the sites, posts and people he mentioned or used in his talks (or intended to use in some cases). It’s a terrific guide to exploring these issues online. (more…)

1 Comment
by mcshanahan on April 3, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Science Communication, Science Education

Posted by mcshanahan on April 3, 2012

boundaryvision.com/2012/04/03/borazuofa-linkfest-a-further-collection-of-the-sites-and-posts-referenced-in-boras-talks/

#BoraZUofA: A thought-provoking week with Bora Zivkovic

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Enjoying some Tim Horton's treats while visiting Joel Dacks's lab

Just a few weeks ago I waved goodbye to Scientific American blogs editor Bora Zikovic and thanked him for a wonderful week of talks at the University of Alberta. Somehow in just a week we’d managed to chat about science teaching, science blogs, the history of academic publishing, open-access, post-publication peer review, science on Twitter and so much more. It was exciting and exhausting, and my ideas notebook is completely full.

As part of the University’s Distinguished Visitor program, a small group of faculty from cell biology (Joel Dacks), anthropology (Bora’s brother, Marko Zivkovic) and science education (me) brought Bora to town to speak with students and faculty. No matter what the topic, the theme seemed to be: keep an open mind. Be willing to consider new ways of doing things but also remember that they might not be as they first appear. (more…)

1 Comment
by mcshanahan on April 3, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Science Communication, Science Education

Posted by mcshanahan on April 3, 2012

boundaryvision.com/2012/04/03/borazuofa-a-thought-provoking-week-with-bora-zivkovic/

Role modeling through personal stories isn’t as easy as it sounds

I got very brave a few weeks ago and participated in a storytelling event as part of Science Online 2012, an annual science communication conference held in North Carolina. Instead of the usual guest speakers and awards ceremonies that haunt most conference banquets, this was a partnership with The Monti that brought members of our own online science community together to share intimate and often funny parts of their lives. It was a nod to the spirit of the conference, which encourages open sessions and audience contributions over slide presentations and lectures. That’s why it’s my favourite conference of the year, and it works because it’s a conference filled with fascinating people: science writers, researchers, bloggers, artists, programmers, physicians, teachers, and librarians all interested in science in the online world.

(more…)

4 Comments
by mcshanahan on February 8, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Gender and Science, Science Communication, Science Education

Posted by mcshanahan on February 8, 2012

boundaryvision.com/2012/02/08/role-modeling-through-personal-stories-isnt-as-easy-as-it-sounds-adding-my-bit-through-storytelling/

School kids outshine adult commenters in thinking critically about evidence. And so what?

“Science educators, here’s what you’re up against. A debate in the comments on this story over whether the movie “Mission to Mars” proves that ancient Martian life was used to seed life on Earth.”

There’s no way I could pass over a Facebook status like this one. My friend K.O. recently made the comment in reference to a Popular Science article called “A Significant Portion of Mars Could Be Friendly to Life, New Models Suggest.”  The article itself is a short summary of a paper published in the journal Astrobiology, which uses models to predict how deep a microbial biosphere might extend into Mars’s surface. And while I might quibble when the author uses the phrase “slam-dunk” to describe the evidence for water on Mars, the interesting story isn’t in the article. The real story, for me and for K.O., is in the comments.

(more…)

5 Comments
by mcshanahan on December 21, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Science Communication, Science Education

Posted by mcshanahan on December 21, 2011

boundaryvision.com/2011/12/21/school-kids-outshine-adult-commenters-in-thinking-critically-about-evidence-for-life-and-water-on-mars-so-what/

Mourning science on December 6 (Repost)

Originally posted December 10, 2010

“For 45 minutes on Dec. 6, 1989 an enraged gunman roamed the corridors of Montreal’s École Polytechnique and killed 14 women. Marc Lepine, 25, separated the men from the women and before opening fire on the classroom of female engineering students he screamed, “I hate feminists.” Almost immediately, the Montreal Massacre became a galvanizing moment in which mourning turned into outrage about all violence against women.”

This summary from the CBC news archivesdescribes well the horrifying incident of that day and the impact that it has had across Canada. At most Canadian universities the day is marked with candlelight gatherings and vigils for victims of violence against women. To this day, though, I’ve never been to one.

(more…)

Leave a Comment
by mcshanahan on December 6, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Gender and Science, Science Education

Posted by mcshanahan on December 6, 2011

boundaryvision.com/2011/12/06/mourning-science-on-december-6-repost/

Who is the traditional right type of person for science?

Traditions in science education? At first that might seem like a strange way to think about science in schools. The word ‘tradition’ often conjures images of formal traditions: holiday dinners, Christmas carols, festivus poles, and wedding ceremonies. But that’s not the only kind. As Greg Laden wrote recently, traditions are also those things that we take for granted, those practices and ways of thinking that we explain by saying “it’s just always been that way”.  Science education doesn’t really have formal traditions (there’s no commemorative long weekend as far as I know) but it definitely has this kind of more embedded tradition.

(more…)

16 Comments
by mcshanahan on November 20, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Science Education

Posted by mcshanahan on November 20, 2011

boundaryvision.com/2011/11/20/who-is-the-traditional-right-type-of-person-for-science/

WEPAN Webinar: Identity and persistence in STEM (with link to recording)

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In September, I had the pleasure of presenting an online seminar for the Women in Engineering ProActive Network (WEPAN). In the session, I spoke about the concept of science identity and how it can help researchers like me bring together studies on interest, encouragement, confidence, and competence in science. Thinking about science identity, rather than all of the those other outcomes separately, is really helpful for finding focused strategies that can help bring non-traditional students into science and help them stay. After describing science identity, I presented results from two studies that I’ve been involved in. One I’ve blogged about before that looked for high school teaching strategies and classroom practices that were related to strong science identities in first year physics students. The second is a study that asked students about the expectations they experience in their science classes and how those expectations affect their identification with science and their desire to study it in the future. You can listen to the recording and follow the slides on Vimeo. Please excuse how nervous I must sound. It was a new (but fun) experience to present a seminar for an audience that I couldn’t see!

Identity and Persistence in STEM: WEPAN Professional Development Webinar 09 22 11 from Women in Engr ProActive Network on Vimeo.

1 Comment
by mcshanahan on October 30, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Gender and Science, Science Education

Posted by mcshanahan on October 30, 2011

boundaryvision.com/2011/10/30/wepan-webinar-identity-persistence-in-stem-link-to-slides-and-audio/

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