The last decade has highlighted the importance of teaching communication skills to scientists to foster greater public engagement on socio-scientific issues (SSIs) facing our society, from climate change to environmental contaminants to COVID-19. This symposium will highlight pedagogical innovations in the undergraduate classroom that use communication instruction to enhance collaborative and translational public engagement of science. Presentations could connect with themes relating to public engagement of science, such as oral lab reports, presenting scientific research to public audiences, and translational strategies of communication. Presentations on deliberative pedagogy should highlight classroom innovations using public dialogue and deliberation, small group communication processes that engage socio-scientific issues (SSIs). Deliberative pedagogy can be implemented as a course-level innovation (Rain-Griffith, Sheghewi, Shusterman, Barbera, & Shortlidge, 2020; Drury, Rush, Wilder, Wysocki, 2019; Komperda, Barbera, Shortlidge, & Shusterman, 2018). Participants in the symposium will gain understanding in a variety of pedagogical innovations to enhance science communication and public engagement.

The symposium welcomes submissions from individuals representing diverse institutions of higher education. Committed symposium speakers include Laura Wysocki (Wabash College), Sara Drury (Wabash College), Amanda Nienow (Gustavus Adolphus University), Jayalakshmi Sridhar (Xavier University), and Florastina Payton Stewart (Xavier University).