Communicating Ocean Sciences to Informal Audiences: A Scientist-Educator Partnership to Prepare the Next Generation of Scientists

Abstract

Communicating Ocean Sciences to Informal Audiences (COSIA) is a college course that creates and develops partnerships between science educators in informal science education institutions, such as museums, science centers and aquariums, and ocean scientists in colleges and universities. For the course, a scientist and educator team-teach inquiry-based science pedagogy and communication strategies to graduate and undergraduate students in marine science-related majors. In addition, students participate in practicum experiences in informal science education institutions. COSIA aims to engage the next generation of scientists (college students) in learning to communicate their scientific knowledge with the general public. This paper describes how this course and the resulting partnership address some major issues in scientific literacy, as well as how they benefit all the stakeholders (scientists, science educators, college students, and visitors to informal science institutions). Three central challenges to creating partnerships and how they were addressed are outlined, and several underlying principles for initiating and growing partnerships between individuals and institutions are presented. Through the process of engagement in this effort and the development of partnerships between educators' and scientists' communities of practice, it is argued that a new hybrid community of practice may be emerging.