Students in Dr. Ana Estevez’s Fall 2024 Current Topics in Neuroscience course recently published article summaries in Sciworthy.com.
Current Topics in Neuroscience is a seminar course taught by Dr. Estevez on alternate Fall semesters. The course topics covered are selected by students based on their individual interests. One course learning goal is for students to develop their scientific communication skills. To that end, Dr. Estevez partnered with Sciworthy.com to give students experience in scientific communication aimed at non-scientists.
Sciworthy.com is a website that provides unbiased summaries of recent scientific research studies aimed at an audience of non-scientists. Their mission is to “give knowledge-seekers welcoming and transparent explanations of the scientific method in action.”
For their Sciworthy assignment, students were required to write an article (~700 words) summarizing and explaining, in an engaging way, a recently published neuroscience research article of their choice. Students’ goal was to write a synopsis that helped non-scientists understand the key findings from an original research article. Throughout the semester, students went through multiple rounds of editing, first with Dr. Estevez, then with the Sciworthy editors to arrive at the final version that was published in Sciworthy.com.
When asked to reflect on their experience writing a Sciworthy summary article, students reported it as a positive experience from which they gained a lot of skills.
“This assignment taught me that to have an effective paper, whether it be advanced or simple, you must choose the right style for your audience. Through the help of [Sciworthy editor] Aubrey and Dr. Estevez, I learned how to identify jargon, simplify complex topics to a level of a general audience, and triage takeaway points from a complex research paper” said Cameron Woods, a senior neuroscience major.
Whitney LaFave, junior neuroscience major expressed that the “consistent proofreading and reviewing of the editor’s suggestions have allowed me to improve my ability to pay close attention to details.”
Senior Cody Belden, a Biology-Physics major, said the experience “helped me grow as both a writer and a communicator, and I am glad to have had this opportunity to develop my academic skills.”
Dr. Estevez was also very pleased with the experience. “Students worked diligently to first understand the source article well enough to explain it and then to write up a concise summary accessible to an audience of non-scientists. Their excitement when they received the news that their summary article would be published in Sciworthy will be something I will never forget” she said.
This was the first time Dr. Estevez partnered with Sciworthy.com for such an assignment. Based on student feedback, she says it likely won’t be the last.
You can read the students’ summary articles here: https://sciworthy.com/category/ppp/stlawrence/