Tonight I watched Laura E. Ott from UNC-Chapel Hill present a ten-minute recorded session for ASMCUE 2022. The title of the session is “TikTok Biology: Changes in students views about the importance of science communication.” Along with Eric Hastie, they designed a public science TikTok assignment for their introductory biology courses. Ott had students work in teams of four and create two TikTok public science products focusing on the contributions of underrepresented scientists. Hastie assigned one TikTok on biological concepts addressed during their course. They both carefully assessed public science communication using a validated instrument from Edmonston, et al., 2011). They used this and pre/post surveys to evaluate changes in student perceptions about the importance of science communication to a non-science audience as a result of making their TikTok video assignments. The pre-survey was rather high in the agreement with the importance of science communication to broad audiences. This, Ott explained, may be because of the timing corresponding with the experiences of the pandemic. Ott concluded that students saw the value of communicating science to non-science audiences through social media to promote awareness of discoveries and processes. They also concluded that more information is needed to address the question: could student exposure to student-generated TikToks promote learning of biology? Ott and Hastie will develop online modules about science communication. They have started a funded initiative to facilitate new studies. I’m excited to learn what Ott do next and find out, as I have always admired Laura’s carefully planned studies!
