The goal of this course is to challenge students to improve their written and oral communication skills regarding their project and its outcomes to the scientific community. Students continue to work in their labs for approximately 5 hours per week to further their research project and in addition, they meet for 2 hours per week as a group to learn both written and oral scientific communication skills. Students work closely with an advisor to prepare a written scientific report of their project and subsequently submit it to national science competitions (e.g., Regeneron Science Talent Search) as well as prepare an oral presentation of this project.
In their final semester at the School for Science and Math, students utilize the research skills that they have learned to tackle local issues in the Nashville community. Students work on a number of community engaged research projects (CERPs) to build on our partnerships with local organizations, including the Tennessee Environmental Council, Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, The Adventure Science Center, and others, and to address research-driven problems and projects in Nashville and Middle Tennessee. Student projects have included teaching middle school students about the neuroscience of addiction, turning unused greenspace into pollinator habitats, and creating public awareness campaigns about pollution in local waterways. Students develop outputs that further the work of their community partners – presentations, lessons, online content, brochures, etc. and write professional executive summaries.