tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post164314755337449652..comments2024-03-25T02:33:41.590-05:00Comments on FemaleScienceProfessor: JargonautsFemale Science Professorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288567883197987690noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-86326374052400903172010-09-23T09:58:56.257-05:002010-09-23T09:58:56.257-05:00I've just spent most of my summer learning how...I've just spent most of my summer learning how to do this. You can read about it on my blog...Dr Spousehttp://evidence-based-parenting.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-89435008223328373762010-09-19T17:03:52.330-05:002010-09-19T17:03:52.330-05:00I have been facing this as I teach a "First Y...I have been facing this as I teach a "First Year Seminar" class. All of the students are, as the title suggests, first year students. It's a class that is mostly the biology of infectious disease, but also includes history, economics and policy worked. <br /><br />This is the second time I taught it. The first time I had what I now see was likely an extraordinary class, and we actually covered a lot of ground. This time, although the students almost all had a Biology class in high school, many did so as freshman or sophomores and they really seem to have erased everything. Fewer this time are going to be science majors.<br /><br />I started with some basic assumptions, and some have proven unfounded at least for a signficant minority of the students. For example, I guess I thought an educated person would know a bacterium and a virus were different, and would have at least a sketchy idea of the difference. I also realized I use LOTs of jargon that I don't even think about, both biological and other wise. e.g., pathogenic. I thought with all the CSI shows on TV they'd have a better idea what DNA was. In our history section, I realized many did not know what a military coup was. <br /><br />It's been an eye opener and I am trying to figure out exactly how to balance content with these moments of confusion. In addition to encouraging questions, I have been encouraging them them to try a DICTIONARY and also singing the praises of Wikipedia.<br /><br />Mark PAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-38215745254029113832010-09-16T22:28:52.786-05:002010-09-16T22:28:52.786-05:00We require all the grad students in our department...We require all the grad students in our department to give a 2-minute elevator talk every fall. We dedicate one of the weekly research seminar slots for this.<br /><br />Many lab group meetings the week before are dedicated to polishing the presentations of all the grad students in the lab.<br /><br />The elevator pitch is an important skill that takes practice. Grad school is the place to get that practice.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-40609464136015191232010-09-16T19:02:37.391-05:002010-09-16T19:02:37.391-05:00As another mathematician (math grad student really...As another mathematician (math grad student really) I find I can only explain what I do if I bend the rules a lot. For most conversations I basically stick to loosely conveying the intuition. Luckily there's always lots of intuition to be conveyed if you look carefully.<br /><br />For example, topological spaces are "things that have a floppy, beanbag sort of shape," surjective continuous functions are a "mashing together" of the shape in question, binary operations G x G -> G I describe by talking about "kneading" an object, and so on. Mathematics in general I describe in terms of learning to speak formal languages, and talk about the weird sorts of things they lend themselves to articulating.<br /><br />My track record has been inconsistent for reasons I haven't fully identified. I think part of it is that my explanations work best with a particular way of thinking that many laypeople (and many successful mathematicians) don't rely on. Perhaps also I'm not very good at it.Mordecainoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-23739445794006711182010-09-16T18:57:55.605-05:002010-09-16T18:57:55.605-05:00FSP, does your university offer media training cou...FSP, does your university offer media training courses? If they do, you should take them!<br /><br />My university has a public relations department with a few staff members who specialize in interacting with the media. I've spent some time with them on several past news stories, learning how to speak to reporters. Based upon that, they sent me to a half-day media training course that they offer once or twice a year. It was very informative. Really helped me learn how to talk to reporters about my work.<br /><br />The other thing I've been doing a lot recently has been working on govenrment advisory and standards committees. These committees tend to have a few scientists and then mostly administrators, bureaucrats, policymakers, government department heads, and perhaps a few public interest advocates. This has been a great experience, for teaching me more about how to talk fruitfully about the science to non-scientists.AnonEngineeringProfnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-78972276380483600152010-09-16T16:49:29.987-05:002010-09-16T16:49:29.987-05:00As a mathematician, I sadly have no way of explain...As a mathematician, I sadly have no way of explaining most of my research to anyone who hasn't had the first year graduate course in my (broad) subfield. (Okay, with an hour, I could do it for someone who is partway through the standard upper-level undergraduate course in my subfield.)quasihumanistnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-77979412442316971882010-09-16T15:44:33.147-05:002010-09-16T15:44:33.147-05:00As a postdoc I was up for an award which was judge...As a postdoc I was up for an award which was judged during a poster session which was held in the evening, with an open bar to encourage people to actually come to the thing (this mainly resulted in a lot of 1st year graduate students attending). Obviously, I set up my poster right next to the bar. During the course of the night, I alternately explained my poster to (a) the judges, who asked for intimate details of every aspect of the study, (b) the 1st year grad students in my same sub-field, who had general but not specific knowledge about my area of research, and (c) the bartender, a woman who - inexplicably - thought my poster was "really cool!" and peppered me with questions whenever business slowed down for the two of us. Constantly alternating between those three levels of depth was actually *a lot* of fun!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-28859474826721910382010-09-16T14:51:51.290-05:002010-09-16T14:51:51.290-05:00My PhD supervisor used to describe the types of co...My PhD supervisor used to describe the types of conversations you need to be able to have situationally. There's the "elevator" conversation in which you have the length of an elevator ride to give someone a general idea of what you do. There's the "party" conversation in which you're in a situation that allows a slightly longer conversation but still not too in depth. Then there's the "over beers" conversation in which you're talking one-on-one with someone who's interested in what you do. I try to really work on my one or two liners since I find most people are really just interested in an elevator response :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-32544517860100102752010-09-16T11:47:54.846-05:002010-09-16T11:47:54.846-05:00I've had a few deer-in-the-headlights moments ...I've had a few deer-in-the-headlights moments and I realized I need to be able to explain my work to:<br />- someone's elementary school age (grand)daughter<br />- the UPS guy<br />- a taxi driver<br /><br />What I hate most is the "and what are you trying to do with that?" question.Patchihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09097638657085263738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-9150371785591995822010-09-16T11:39:06.255-05:002010-09-16T11:39:06.255-05:00I like the idea of explaining mortgages to a 5 yea...I like the idea of explaining mortgages to a 5 year old.Female Science Professorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15288567883197987690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-52118862753116752292010-09-16T10:28:09.359-05:002010-09-16T10:28:09.359-05:00I make up jargon to sound smart.I make up jargon to sound smart.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-60685381505913323782010-09-16T07:08:09.513-05:002010-09-16T07:08:09.513-05:00Your story reminds me of a contest my husband and ...Your story reminds me of a contest my husband and I had. He's works in finance, which, like science, has plenty of its own jargon. We challenged each other to explain an important concept in our respective fields to our then 5-year-old daughter. This required a) using simple words she would understand, and zero jargon, b) being interesting enough to keep her attention, and c) being brief enough for a preschooler's attention span. My husband tried to explain how mortgages worked, and I tried to explain what a gene was. I don't think either one of us had much success. But since then, that's how I've approached science conversations with Aunt Millies -- the story must be (nearly) simple and non-jargony enough for a first grader.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com