Children's books for research-based outreach and science communication pedagogy

Abstract

Academics are encouraged to integrate scientific research with the public, but methods of doing so are often transient and insubstantial. Students and future scientists also require training and exposure to the importance of public outreach and science communication within STEM fields. Here, I describe two projects that provide a template for using children's books as an efficient and impactful means of science communication. The first part describes an international research project that culminates in the writing, illustration, and distribution of a children's book. Farzana's Journey is a children's book based on multidisciplinary research on the pairing of the physical and human systems in coastal Bangladesh. Written, illustrated, and freely distributed in the Bengali language, the book is a place-based tool to teach rural Bangladesh communities about the natural world and our scientific findings. Through the development and distribution of the book, we encouraged collaboration and public outreach with scientists, artists, and students concerned with enhancing educational and social opportunities in rural communities. We also ensure a physical tie to the community after the project's culmination. The book sparks children's curiosity in the local environment while also demonstrating a means for sustainable educational outreach with impoverished, remote communities. The second part of the paper provides an overview of how this type of science communication can be taught to early-career scientists. Students in an intensive learning undergraduate course produce children's books about a scientific concept or process. I describe the curricular context and layout of the course, the assessment of deliverables, and the impacts of the science storytelling process as a model for teaching communication literacy. Together, these efforts demonstrate the potential impact of children's books on science communication efforts among students, early-career scientists, and local communities.