The effects of a university/secondary school partnership on the communication skills of STEM graduate students

A postsecondary institution partnered with several high schools in a large, urban and highly diverse school district in the southeast U.S. through a GK-12 program funded by the National Science Foundation. The main goal of the project was to investigate the potential impact of the GK-12 program on the ability of graduate students to communicate their scientific research and expertise to a non-technical audience comprised of high school chemistry, biotechnology, and environmental science students and teachers. The graduate student presentations about their research were videotaped before, during, and after their participation in the program. Applying a standardized communications rubric, analysis of the video presentations indicated significant improvement in the graduate students' communication skills during their participation in the program. In addition, graduate student perception of their improvement in communication skills was demonstrated through a qualitative survey. Implications for the training of graduate students in communication skills are discussed.