Empowering Future Engineers by Integrating Science Communication Into Undergraduate Labs

This Innovative Practice full paper describes the introduction of science communication into design-based projects in undergraduate engineering laboratory education. In most engineering disciplines, experiential learning and laboratory courses are vital components of undergraduate instruction. Historically, student aptitude is assessed through protocoled experimentation followed by written assignments such as technical lab reports; however, this format does not usually allow students to demonstrate competence in openended engineering design or non-technical communication skills that can prepare them for future project-based courses, graduate school, product commercialization, or a myriad of careers. Effectively exchanging technical information is remarkably important as engineers are increasingly called upon to provide recommendations in many areas of society. The efficacy with which engineers can adequately convey scientific ideas in these exchanges has the potential to inform decisions that shape research funding, healthcare, laws, and more. The potential to address these issues is what makes science communication a critical part of general science education: it demystifies complex subjects and makes topics accessible to a wide range of audiences. Science communication is a highly important skill, but one with which very few scientists have practical experience. In this paper, we demonstrate resources to introduce the basics of science communication into two upper-level instructional laboratory courses (Quantitative Physiology Lab and Biofabrication Lab) during two consecutive semesters in a bioengineering department at a large public university. In both courses (which ranged in topic, scope, size, and general organization), a design-based project was incorporated. Through guest lectures from both a science communication and marketing professional as well as experts within the technical fields, student teams learned to apply these new concepts by performing an independent hands-on experiment, designing a bioengineering-related device, and writing a non-technical press release to disseminate their results. Here, we document the timeline and process of implementing this module in both courses, as well as examples of student work. Feedback was solicited at various stages of the project through qualitative and quantitative surveys. Students were assessed separately on technical content and writing assignments within the project. Results and survey responses indicate that this type of module could be incorporated into design-based projects or existing curricula within many undergraduate disciplines to broadly enhance engineering-related communication skills.