Creating Critical Consumers of Health and Science News: Teaching Science to the Non-Scientist Using Newsworthy Topics in the Life Sciences †
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Authors:
Raymond W. Coderre1,
Kristen A. Uekermann1,
Youngeun Choi1,
William J. Anderson1,*
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Published 01 March 2016
- ©2016 Author(s). Published by the American Society for Microbiology.
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[open-access] This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode), which grants the public the nonexclusive right to copy, distribute, or display the published work.
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†Supplemental materials available at http://jmbe.asm.org
- *Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Harvard University, 7 Divinity Avenue, Bauer 204, Cambridge, MA 02138. Phone: 617-495-0950. Fax: 617-496-9679. E-mail: [email protected].
Abstract:
Scientists constantly make groundbreaking discoveries, some of which receive attention from the press. We designed a course intended for a lay audience that provides the scientific background to appreciate these reports more fully. We discuss three topics in the life sciences: stem cells, cancer, and infectious disease. The course is structured to blend relevant scientific background and evaluation of primary literature with the coverage of these advances by the media and popular press. In short, lectures emphasize exposure to basic biological concepts and tools as a means of informing understanding of prominent biological questions of public interest. The overall goal of the course is not only to expose students to the media’s coverage of scientific progress, but also to hone their critical thinking skills to distinguish hope from hype.
References & Citations
Supplemental Material
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Appendix 1: Course reading list (primary papers, media articles, popular science books)
Appendix 2: Table of course assignments
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MyBook is a cheap paperback edition of the original book and will be sold at uniform, low price.
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Abstract:
Scientists constantly make groundbreaking discoveries, some of which receive attention from the press. We designed a course intended for a lay audience that provides the scientific background to appreciate these reports more fully. We discuss three topics in the life sciences: stem cells, cancer, and infectious disease. The course is structured to blend relevant scientific background and evaluation of primary literature with the coverage of these advances by the media and popular press. In short, lectures emphasize exposure to basic biological concepts and tools as a means of informing understanding of prominent biological questions of public interest. The overall goal of the course is not only to expose students to the media’s coverage of scientific progress, but also to hone their critical thinking skills to distinguish hope from hype.

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Author and Article Information
-
Published 01 March 2016
- ©2016 Author(s). Published by the American Society for Microbiology.
-
[open-access] This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode), which grants the public the nonexclusive right to copy, distribute, or display the published work.
-
†Supplemental materials available at http://jmbe.asm.org
- *Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Harvard University, 7 Divinity Avenue, Bauer 204, Cambridge, MA 02138. Phone: 617-495-0950. Fax: 617-496-9679. E-mail: [email protected].
Figures
Overall organization of the course.

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FIGURE 1
Overall organization of the course.