Poster – Storytelling by an exemplary scientist to engage high school students in scientific practice

This poster was presented at 2017 Campus Office of Undergraduate Research Initiatives (COURI) Symposium, El Paso, TX.

One of the principal challenges of the partnership of scientists and high school students are the existent barriers of language between them (Kim & Fortner, 2007). In other words, since scientists are usefully deemed as characters with higher power, status, and knowledge, students may feel nervous or intimidated, especially when scientists speak jargons and complex language. The best educators have a magical way of engaging their audiences with compelling stories. Even the talented few know that effective storytelling requires careful planning and practice and knowing the audience (Komoroske et al., 2015). Therefore, the purpose of this ethnographic study is to demonstrate how an exemplary scientist could communicate effectively with students through story telling.