Science and Me: A Student-Driven Science Outreach Program for Lay Adult Audiences

The increasing need for communicating science to the public suggests that future scientists and science educators should be educated in science outreach and trained to communicate with lay audiences. We present a recently developed novel graduate course, which trains students in outreach efforts aimed to increase the public's understanding of science and of the role of science in our daily lives. In this course, the students, with the help of expert faculty mentors, prepare lay-language presentations about science-related topics of their choice and take the presentations to adult venues in the community. This article provides a detailed description of the course and its impact on the students and the audiences, and it discusses challenges encountered and lessons learned that will support others interested in attempting such a program.