Communicating research more effectively

January 21, 2011

Students and faculty who plan to attend the AERA Annual Meeting this year may be interested in a communications professional development course.

A half-day workshop, Communicating research through effective presentations, social media, and writing, will focus on these sometimes neglected skills.

Instructors will be Ron Dietel, assistant director for research use and communications at UCLA’s National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST);  Barbara McKenna, Communications Director for the School Redesign Network at Stanford University and for the Leadership for Equity and Accountability in Districts and Schools (LEADS); and Paul Baker, senior communicator at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER).

The syllabus is here

The course blog is here

The course Ning is here

Registration information is here

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Posted by paul baker

Communicating education research

December 28, 2010

Over the years I’ve fielded calls from Frank Schultz, an education reporter for the Janesville (Wis.) Gazette. “Paul, I’m working on a story about (_____). What does education research say about it?”  Frank is good at providing feedback on articles I publish in a quarterly newsletter too. He recently reacted to a story about assessment practices in Wisconsin schools, and ended with this observation:

“. . . In any case, the article makes some sense to me because I have heard similar talk from some edu-doctors around here. Maybe someone should research how to communicate education concepts with the public.”

Frank makes a very good point. There is a lot of room for improvement.  Researchers often seem to live on a different planet from classroom teachers, not to mention the man in the street.

Speaking as a communicator, I can report on a few efforts to bridge the gap, both continuing and sporadic.

Members of the American Educational Research Assn. have two interest groups to address communication issues:  Communication of Research and Research Use.

AERA’s Communication and Outreach Committee presents panels at each year’s annual meeting on communicating education research to the public. I have helped organize this panel for the past 2 or 3 years. We gather newspaper reporters, bloggers, and researchers to speak about communication from their perspective.

In my own work I take cues from my friends in science, including the Natl. Assn. of Science Writers and the AAAS and the NSF.  Last year I attended their joint conference on science research communication and can recommend it.

The Education Writers Association, which serves reporters, editors, and higher ed communicators, holds workshops throughout the year and an annual conference. I’ve benefited from getting to know reporters and other higher ed people and look forward to the next conference in April.

In our own state, WCER hosts leaders of Wisconsin’s Cooperative Educational Service Agencies (CESAs) annually for a one-day conference. Researchers share their recent work with CESA staff and productive conversation ensues; sometimes new partnerships form.

So what I describe is a mix of research and practice. Frank’s original point remains, though:  The field of education communication is ripe for more research on what’s effective.

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Communicating research through mass media

May 4, 2010

Here’s a gold mine of ideas how researchers can communicate more effectively with the public, via print, broadcast, and online media.

At the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association in Denver we heard from two researchers and two media people. The topic of the panel session was “Crafting your work for a general audience: Researchers and the mass media.”

scott jaschik

scott jaschik

Scott Jaschik, InsideHigherEd.com  “You guys are losing the battle for ideas and you are largely ignored.”
Watch video

holly yettick

holly yettick

Holly Yettick, formerly with Rocky Mountain News.  “How education journalists and bloggers decide which topics to cover.”
(Holly is author of the report “The Research that Reaches the Public: Who Produces the Educational Research Mentioned in the News Media?”)  Watch video

marc lamont hill

marc lamont hill

Marc Lamont Hill, Teachers College, Columbia. “Operating in these public spheres is legitimate work and necessary work.”
Watch video

jonathan zimmerman

jonathan zimmerman

Jonathan Zimmerman, NYU Steinhardt. “Being an Op-Ed writer has made me a much better historian and a much better academic”
Watch video

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Adding value to a conference session via tweeting

May 1, 2010
colorado convention center, denver
Colorado convention center, Denver

I contend that tweeting from conference sessions adds value to any presentation or panel by bringing others into the conversation and by creating an online record for future reference.

I have been tweeting from the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) here in Denver. Today in particular I was gratified not only by the number of retweets but also by the number of original replies and added information.  After the session I told the organizers that the presentations were reaching more people than those who happened to be in the room.  They were delighted.

The session was titled “Barriers to equilibrium: Research supply and demand” and was organized by the AERA Research Use Special Interest Group. The audience consisted of researchers, practitioners, and communicators.

We used the hashtag #AERA and some of us were using the Tweetchat room  www.tweetchat.com/room/aera

I reproduce below my 18 tweets from the session and then the 19 retweets and comments that those tweets received in real time and afterward. Notice that some tweets were retweeted 3 times, greatly expanding their reach to all followers of each person tweeting.

First my tweets, then the responses.

How when & why teachers use research: 31.065 Learning Point Assocs. #Aera

http://www.curee.co.uk/ #Aera

How to empower Ts who access & use research? #Aera

What are some possibilities for engaging practitioners in data gathering? Some already do, and feel overwhelmed. #Aera

Research supporting practice in education www.oise.utoronto.ca/rspe #Aera

Knowledge brokers operate in the ‘white space’ of the broader ed system #Aera

Important to have a skilled facilitator, coach, cheerleader, who can span boundaries bet. worlds of practice & resch #Aera

In BC (Canada) professional learning communities are suspect & considered a threat to T autonomy. #Aera

Practitioners need help implementing research. Govt (in BC) not a trusted source of info. #Aera

Practitioners either still unaware of relevant resch or lack time to find and use it. #Aera

Best way to facilitate resch use: time for practitioners to collaborate w colleagues. #Aera

Scholarly reward system does not emphasize dissem to practitioners. Need for more open access. #Aera

Schools & districts shd create a library of ed resch. Ts will use resch under the right conditions. #Aera

Districts shd filter high quality for Ts, give structured time for using resch, #Aera

Teacher prep programs shd bring researchers and preservice Ts together, encourage Ts’ use of resch on the job. #Aera

Be clear abt context of study & applicability to other settings #Aera

Researchers shd promote work, use synopses, show applicability, give illustrations, write in accessible manner. #Aera

Barriers to Ts using resch: lack of time, articles overwhelming, controlled rsch settings not ‘real life’, may lack practical examples #Aera

Retweets and comments

Bonita DeAmicis bonitadee  @DrGarcia @doug_holton @pabaker55 Ed pract. tired of research promoted by $$-makers, too. Question bias in purpose + feels slimy. #aera

Doug Holton doug_holton @bonitadee @pabaker55 teachers value ideas that make sense-unfortunately sometimes they are not research based #aera

Greg McVerry jgmac1106  @bonitadee @pabaker55 #aera yes I hear it all the time from teachers “show me one study that says x and I will find one that says opposite.”

Bonita DeAmicis bonitadee  @pabaker55 + Ed practitioners don’t value research. They hear contradiction from yr to yr. Need ways to weed out junk quickly. #aera

Bonita DeAmicis bonitadee @pabaker55 + Ed practitioners don’t value research. They hear contradiction from yr to yr. Need ways to weed out junk quickly.

Bonita DeAmicis bonitadee  RT @jgmac1106: @pabaker55  I think any grant funded by IES should have to be published in open access journals.

Greg McVerry jgmac1106 @pabaker55 #Aera I think any grant funded by IES should have to be published in open access journals.

Rey Junco reyjunco  @jerridkruse @pabaker55 Thats why it’s incumbent on ed researchers to translate some of their findings to practice

Seann Dikkers sdikkers  @pabaker55 http://bit.ly/cbkQHo #Aera

Jerrid Kruse jerridkruse   @pabaker55 web 2.0 provides opportunity to connect research to practice. Ie: http://researchtopractice.wordpress.com

Jerrid Kruse jerridkruse  @pabaker55 that is not a dig against teachers, but against researchers who have lost sight of the goal #AERA

Jerrid Kruse jerridkruse  @pabaker55 in many ways research has become so esoteric, that practitioners can’t make use of it #AERA

Jerrid Kruse jerridkruse  @pabaker55 I don’t think is enough. Need to change higher ed expectations. Part of tenure should be demonstrates work with real schools.

Jerrid Kruse jerridkruse   @pabaker55 because of “publish or perish” philosophy, education researchers can only pay lip service to affecting real classrooms #AERA

Jerrid Kruse jerridkruse  @pabaker55 do we really wonder why there is disconnect b/w research & practice? Higher ed doesn’t value connecting the two. #AERA

Jerrid Kruse jerridkruse  YES!!! RT: Scholarly reward system does not emphasize dissem to practitioners. Need for more open access. #Aera /via @pabaker55

Jonathan Becker jonbecker @pabaker55 a-freakin-men. #AERA

Greg McVerry jgmac1106  @pabaker55 there are many barriers to schools accessing research. Cost and bad writing high list. #Aera

Dr. David D. Timony DrTimony YES! RT @pabaker55: Teacher prep programs shd bring researchers and preservice Ts together, encourage Ts’ use of resch on the job. #Aera

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Science communicators and researchers talk shop

April 30, 2010

About 45 communicators and as many scientists gathered yesterday in Boulder to participate in a communication workshop jointly sponsored by the National Science Foundation, Academy for the Advancement of Science, National Center for Atmospheric Research, and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. We discussed social media, science journalism, and best uses of video. I met some fellow Tweeters face to face for the first time, and came away very enthusiastic about the opportunities for me to incorporate new practices into my work. I reproduce here a slightly edited collection of Tweets from those attending the conference. You’ll find some potentially useful links here too.

It was great to see confirmation that our conversation was being observed in real time from the outside world:  @tiffanylohwater chimed in: “Reading live tweets from Communicating Science workshop at in Boulder since I’m missing this one!”

My notes first, then the perhaps more informed ones from my Tweeting colleagues.

Communicators can help researchers strengthen proposals RE impact of work

Jeff Nesbit, NSF: the science media landscape changing rapidly gatekeepers going away, need to engage public directly

Karen Sandberg, NSF: America Competes Act strengthening reqs for ‘broader impact’

Molly McElroy: Communicating science as imp as doing the research

Nesbit: CNN has no staffer to cover science More need to engage public directly

Nesbit: crucial to show public support in order to get $$ for science communication. NSF creating

reply

Nesbit: crucial to show public support in order to get $$ for science communication. #aaas #ucar NSF creating & syndicating its own sci content.

Nesbit: national media betting on iPad as delivery platform

Nesbit: nearly impossible to reach mass audiences. Advertisers know it. Importance of engaging niche audiences

NSF helps fund science coverage w/ media science partners US news, PBS news hour, NBC, others & transparency is very imp.

www.aaas.org/communicatingscience

And these posts from Kristen E. Asmus, Managing Editor, Geological Society America, aka @Colo_kea

“Regional network of science communicators” -can we really form this/support each other? Let’s find out! (quarterly mtgs?)

introducing myself -tweeting for Geological Society of America as Managing Editor GSA Today & CHIEF tweeter  )

media advisory 09-032 Online Deception http //bit.ly/dvS4MQ

Awesome! Do you get to post it online? (the video)

At a meeting on communicating science, only 6 ppl tweeting – has it not caught on, or is it thought to be rude?

Burning through the notepad paper here — gonna have lots of AI (action items) to go through!

check out “metal foam” http //bit.ly/aVNkJl video http //bit.ly/au2QSr & women role models http //bit.ly/a1zkF2

Digital science A-Z for science communicators –yes! Let’s get that workshop going!

Free podcast/audio editing software http //audacity.sourceforge.net/

If most science agencies are short-staffed on comm officers, how will generating more coverage be handled? Overwhelm or growth?

Interested in Web 2.0 to get your msg across? I recommend http //bit.ly/aiUJSY

National Science Digital Library http //bit.ly/vjrzg “always interested in contributions”

Worked w/nervous scientist who had never talked to reporters…”What do I say? How should I act?” I said, just be yourself.

YOU can get something on NSF’s Web site “We will do our best to get it up” on the site. Acc to Josh Chamot, NSF

And these posts from The Geological Society of America aka @geosociety

“Regional network of science communicators” -can we really form this/support each other? Let’s find out! (quarterly mtgs?)

– send us anything that is TRUE with URL and a picture (for Science 360)

@NSF_GEO @NSF @AAAS_News @AtmosNews Thanks for hosting today’s communicating science workshop! Many ideas sparked!

Check out Science Nation http //www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/science_nation/

demo of Science Education Engineering & Innovation site http //bit.ly/cIgMhc (expand)

Fired up by seminar/workshop on communicating science Lots of ideas coming my way!

Good question -how do we get images to “preserve for future research”? Will you share your images of geologic interest?

Here’s a link to NEON (mentioned in ) http //www.neoninc.org/

Here’s one digital library http //www.dlese.org/library/index.jsp

Link to Science 360 http //news.science360.gov/files/

Lots of people here have only one person or too few persons in their communications departments – significance? OK, not OK?

National Science Digital Library http //bit.ly/vjrzg “always interested in contributions”

We need to learn how to add videos to our outreach to encourage interest and understanding of science & engineering

And these posts from Stephanie Chasteen aka @sciencegeekgirl

Many people don’t realize the power of audio — info on the go. But I’m a radio geek & podcaster, so biased.

keep tweeting, some of us went to PIO session but are interested in what’s going on over in that room.

Currently in the AAAS Communicating Science workshop in Boulder. Not sure of the best hashtags…

ISE grants R major grants, & hard 2 get, sadly. Usually need partnerships. RT @ ISE grants http //bit.ly/ctIJl9

Overworked AP science news reporter Seth Hornstein tells PIOs not to contact him, instead go to Science360.

Project Tomorrow SpeakUp survey — kids do NOT trust .gov domains anymore! Gov is no longer trusted source.

Reuters doesn’t cover any science and AP barely covers any. NSF ScienceLive tries to fill gap.

SciCom workshop – many PIO’s are particularly interested in video & social media. Video’s great, but what about audio?

Science360 – NSF funded site gathers tidbits from various sources (blogs, PIO’s). Doesn’t need to be NSF funded.

And these from Sophia Bliu aka @sophiabliu

Ask for audience questions near the beginning of talk then go back to their questions at end to create engagement earlyon

At a workshop on Communicating Science at http //twitpic.com/1jepwj

Avoid saying “intuitive” or “as we all know” – We can’t make assumptions about our audience

Be careful about playing games w/ the audience, an inherent test in the message may not be liked by most, i’m not in school

Don’t over simplify but balance it w/ specificity, determine what detail is necessary, sometimes the detail makes the story

Good messages are miniature, memorable, and meaningful (alliteration helps -) and 3 points help

I volunteered to be videoed and share my message about my research, a nerve-wracking but valuable experience

It is rewarding to see your work is relevant to society and is of interest to society at large.

Most scientists are introverted and need some quiet time before and after their talks

The golden moment for audience attention is the first 3 minutes and at your conclusions, make them memorable with a msg

The more you can get a picture in my head of your message the better

The public uses the word “theory” and “models” different than scientists do, avoid using these words

Think about how you react to audience questions and be comfortable just saying “I don’t know”

To not get misquoted or misinterpreted, ask the reporter to repeat your response and just repeat you main message

Use your body as a prop to direct attention in strategic ways

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Posted by paul baker

Who Produces the Educational Research Mentioned in the News Media?

July 27, 2009

In an analysis of education articles published in The New York Times, Washington Post, and Education Week, Holly Yettick of the University of Colorado at Boulder finds that any given think tank report was substantially more likely to be cited than any given study studies produced by a university.

Her study of 864 articles shows that

1. Education Week most often cited university-based research, while The New York Times and The Washington Post most often cited research produced by governmental entities.

2. Although university and government sources were cited more often, a higher percentage of reports produced by advocacy-oriented think tanks were cited by both types of publications. Universities produce 14 to 16 times more research than think tanks, but the three publications only mentioned their studies twice as often as think tank reports.

Given these findings, Yettick recommends that education reporters and editors adopt the following guidelines when writing about educational research:

• Expand your source list. The findings of this study suggest that think tank research is over-represented in media coverage. Unlike think tank employees, university professors generally lack the incentives and resources to conduct public relations campaigns involving outreach to journalists. However, many would like their research to reach the public. Like their science- or medical reporting peers, education reporters should consult peer-reviewed research and cultivate university researchers, who should be able to recommend major, peer-reviewed studies in their fields.

• If you do decide that a think tank study merits recognition, do your own quality control. Vet reports before publishing. Most research reports will not lose news value during the time taken to verify their soundness. A good method of conducting such verification is to consult with a trustworthy person with expertise in research design and statistics. … In addition, consult subject matter specialists, ideally those who have read the report. If the reporter is only able to consult subject-matter experts who have not read the report, note this in the article, helping readers understand that the study’s findings should be taken with caution until experts have had time to fully review the results.

• Include full disclosure. Regardless of who produced the study, the article should link to the full report so readers can judge for themselves. Non-peer reviewed research should also be labeled as such.

Update: Read Kevin Carey’s response in The Chronicle

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Education researchers seek to collaborate via new media

May 1, 2009

aero

The Ontario Educational Research Organization (AERO) is working with a government group (Ontario Educational Research Panel) to coordinate resources and build virtual spaces for education researchers to collaborate. The hope is to use new communication tools, including Twitter, to facilitate networking.

Chris Conley has set up @ResearchChat to “support educational researchers by posting events and resources and networking,” and asks whether any similar groups would like to coordinate resources.

Chris envisions educational research discussions akin to #educhat and #journchat and would like to hear from interested researchers or organizations. (For example, many people contributed to the #AERA Twitter stream at the recent annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association).

Chris says, “the possibility for international discussions are pretty exciting and could lead to some interesting collaborations in educational research.” I agree.

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Communicating about education research

October 22, 2008

Jeffrey Henig

Education has gotten short shrift during the debates in this election cycle.
Am I surprised?   Nope.
But communicating about education research with media outlets, bloggers, educators, and policymakers will form an important topic at a series of meetings in D.C. this week sponsored by the American Educational Research Association (AERA).
With other members of the Communications & Outreach committee, I will meet with members of the AERA Technology Committee and the Professional Development committee to talk about long range communication plans.
And I’m really looking forward to hearing a presentation Friday by ‘Spin Cycle’  author Jeffrey Henig, whose scheduled talk is titled, “Must research used be research abused?  Why cool research gets into hot waters.”

From Spin Cycle:
“I’ve argued that the demands and dictates of politics make it problematic whether good research will trump weaker studies…. Researchers have some responsibility in remedying this. Ironically, they need to do so by framing their claims about the importance of research more realistically, which means more modestly. At the same time we sound the call for improved research designs and investment in the infrastructure of data, we need to be educating the media, funders, policy makers, and public more about the limitations of research…. When funders or the media say they need a sharp and definitive and broadly stated lesson, we sometimes need to hold our ground and say that available evidence permits only tentative, contingent, and qualified conclusions.” pp. 243-244

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Book review: Evaluating Research Centers

August 18, 2008

Evaluating Research Centers and Institutes for Success: A Manual and Guide with Case Studies
William R. Tash
WT & Associates, 2006. 229 pages

There are more than 14,000 research centers in the US.
University research centers, non-profit institutes, government and corporate laboratories, and multi-unit research organizations perform over half of all applied research, says William R. Tash. He offers “Evaluating Research Centers and Institutes for Success” as “a guidebook for research unit directors, vice presidents for research, sponsored projects managers, funding officers, government officials, policy analysts, research administrators, graduate and professional educators.”

The book outlines how to evaluate center-sponsored science, including medical, educational, economic, engineering, agricultural, and interdisciplinary research.

Tash, also author of 2008′s Strategic Planning for Success and 2007′s Planning, Funding, and Evaluating Nanotechnology Research Centers and Initiatives, presents a systematic way for research directors, laboratory operators, and senior managers to apply a comprehensive and strategic evaluation model to their research units, and to educate stakeholders about the importance of evaluation from a number of perspectives and measures.

Tash says that it’s essential to determine the focus of the evaluation. A center might be assessed on its ability to attain short-term and long-range goals, time spent on preparing proposals, award ratios, the ability to adapt to changes in science, contributions to regional and national needs, balance between direct or latent outputs, and efficiency of center organization in achieving multidisciplinary outcomes.

The manual includes explanations, questionnaires, templates, and forms that a center director can use to measure things like ratios of expenditures to income, efficiencies of operation, attaining research objectives, technological impacts, social and economic change, client satisfaction, staff-to-faculty ratios, extent of applied-to-basic research, and proportion of time devoted to educational activities and other mandated activities.

Illustrative case studies include Wayne State University’s review of its Automotive Research Center and a recent Temple University self-evaluation intended to decrease the size of some centers.

Tash discusses politics as well: Issues that have pitted a University Provost against a center director, how an unusually large grant turned one center upside-down and led to dismissals, and how research faculty do or don’t align their own research priorities with those of the center.

Above all, Tash says, the audience of the evaluation report should know why your center is unique and essential to the growth of your research university, state, and region.

My only quibble with this rich resource is the surprising lack of attention given to proofreading, copy editing, and consistency of page formatting.

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