A science communication-focused summer project boosts first year bioscience students’ skill gains and supports placement year uptake

Abstract

Communication skills are an essential transferable skill for graduates and, for bioscience students, science communication skills are fundamental to achieving success. Increasingly, development of enhanced wider transferable skills, often outside of normal bioscience curricula, is required during university study for graduates to achieve positive outcomes amongst an increasingly competitive job market. Innovative approaches to improve student development, confidence and skill gain are therefore required to maintain positive graduate outcomes.

Using science communication as a focal point, a novel three-week summer project was developed to provide a platform for first year bioscience students’ skill gain, with a view to enhance participants’ employability particularly for attaining competitive industrial placement year positions. The project was delivered entirely remotely via Zoom and Microsoft Teams and required participants to complete three communication-focused assessments centred on recent papers highlighted by the University’s Press Office. The pedagogical impact of this summer project was evaluated through pre- and post-project surveys from four iterations of the project (2021–2024) focusing on participants’ self-evaluation of skills aligned to the University’s Graduate Framework.

To date, 89 Level 4 bioscience students at a research-intensive UK university (and its Malaysian sister campus, n = 8) have completed the project. Project participants primarily wanted to improve their Academic Writing (93 %), Communication (85 %) and Research (89 %) skills as well as their Critical Thinking (72 %), Teamwork (74 %), Collaboration (59 %) skills and Confidence (68 %). Post-project, significant increases in 16 of 18 skills were reported by participants (P < 0.05). Of 29 participants that wanted to secure a placement year, 21 (72 %) went on to do so and a longitudinal survey of these participants (n = 16 respondents) revealed they evidenced the project in their applications (100 %, n = 16) and 75 % (n = 12) were specifically asked about the project at the interview stage, using the project as evidence of transferable skill development.

The project has demonstrated strong potential to boost participants’ skill development and employability, while providing a platform for academic improvement and transnational engagement. With a simple focus on communication skills and an accessible, adaptable format, the project provides a framework for other institutions to utilise to enhance student outcomes in the biosciences and beyond.