Students as science communicators: using podcast creation and reflection via collaborative autoethnography to develop students’ science communication skills

Undergraduate science students will have opportunities, in their personal lives and future careers, to be science communicators. However, they must be trained in effective approaches to science communication. One medium by which students can engage in science communication is via podcasts, which are a tool for both science communication and science education. While there have been studies analyzing the impacts of podcasts on audiences, there is less examination in the literature of how the process of producing a science podcast influences the podcaster themselves, especially for student podcasters. Thus, in this article, we present a curriculum in which a group of student podcasters developed science podcasts about topics relevant to key concepts in biology and microbiology education, such as evolution as applied to antibiotic resistance. The students applied concepts of strategic and inclusive science communication to iteratively develop their podcasts. The second critical component of the curriculum is students engaging in collaborative autoethnography in order to reflexively consider how developing a podcast impacted them as developing science communicators. Thematic analysis of focus groups and student reflections revealed key themes about how students applied evidence from the science communication literature to their science podcasting process and about how students grew as scientists and science communicators during the process. This study provides insights for training of undergraduate science students in reflexive practice in science communication that is applicable to their future careers. Instructors can utilize the science podcast creation and/or collaborative autoethnography components of this curriculum in order to help develop their students as science communicators.