Talking with Students  |  Talking with Adult Audiences  |  Talking Points

Talking with Students*

The following tips are provided to help you communicate your research and your support for the biosciences in a cogent, articulate manner. If you are not comfortable speaking before a group, there are other ways you can get involved in promoting bioscience research. See NCABR’s online Media Relations and Government Relations resources for more information.

How to Get Started:
Offer to go to your children’s classroom, or call a local school and offer to be a guest speaker for a science class or other classes. Possible topics include A Day in the Life of a Researcher, The Importance of Research and Career Planning Tips. Keep in mind that students will look to you as a role model, and they will want to be involved in the discussion. Finally, make sure you explain how research — yours in particular — relates to them directly and to other humans and/or animals. Include references to the care and use of animals in research as appropriate.

Classroom Presentations: Sharing Science with Students
Speaking to student audiences about biomedical research can be one of the most personally rewarding activities you will do. The experience is enriching for everyone involved — the speaker, students and the teacher. (You probably also will find that you get heartwarming — and sometimes funny — thank-you letters from appreciative students.) Most teachers are eager to invite you into their classrooms and most students are eager to learn more about what scientists do and how their research contributes to medical advances. By sharing your knowledge in the classroom, you can help students to:

• Understand the importance of the humane use of animals in biomedical research;
  
• Understand the positive and vital role of science and technology in today’s world;
  
• Gain an understanding of the work scientists do;
  
• See scientists as real people;
  
• Lay the foundation for careers in science and technology.

There is another very important reason for people working in the field of biomedical research to share information with students about what they do: it is an opportunity to correct misinformation students may have already received about animal research and other controversial scientific topics.

Animal rights groups like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are actively engaged in recruiting students via newsletters, after-school animal rights clubs, classroom presentations, and now, more than ever, through the Internet. Your classroom presentation is an effective way to balance this animal rights misinformation, because you can:

• Provide another point of view and share knowledge that will enable students to understand the value of biomedical research;
  
• Correct misinformation students may have received about animal research and encourage discussion and informed debate on the issue of the use of animals in medical, health and veterinary research;
  
• Inform students about the training and strict regulations required to care for animals in a research setting.
  

Gearing Your Presentation to the Appropriate Grade Level
While speaking in the classroom can be rewarding and fun, it can also be a challenge if you aren’t tuned into the needs of your student audience. The following age-specific learning characteristics are good guidance when preparing materials for classroom presentations:

Kindergarten - 3rd Grade (6-9 years old)

• Curious about the world around them
  
• Eager to learn
  
• Very literal
  
• 10-minute attention span
  
• "Me" centered
  
• May not understand what a question is
  
• Can remember and follow only one or two directions at a time
  
• Likes "concrete" things
  
• Can’t understand abstract concepts or ideas
  

4th - 6th Grade (10-12 years old)

• Interested in "concrete" things
  
• Interested in things they know
  
• Likes puzzles, challenges
  
• Can classify items
  
• Attention span 20 minutes
  
• Will work in groups
  
• Can formulate ideas
  

7th - 8th Grade (13-14 years old)

• Attempts to be "cool" and may appear aloof
  
• Emotional
  
• Sensitive about self, easily embarrassed
  
• Will challenge authority
  
• Can understand some abstract concepts
  
• Still likes to see and touch "concrete" things
  
• Makes jokes or "put downs" to save face
  
• Keep presentations to 20 minutes
  

9th - 12th Grade (15-18 years old)

• Able to think in abstract terms
  
• Able to carry on discussions
  
• Appreciates hearing about what you do at your job, classes you took to become qualified, etc.
  
• Important to have others think well of them (self-conscious)
  
• May not really respond to requests for input or questions, may need some prodding
  
• Keep presentations to 20 minutes
  

Going into the Classroom
Before going into the classroom, also consider these suggestions:

• Decide on your approach. For example, focusing on what you do is a more personalized approach than talking generally about what scientists do in a research setting.
  
• Prepare your presentation and activity based on the students’ needs and abilities. Ask the teacher what the students already know. Check the above learning characteristics to help you determine how simple or complex your material should be.
  
• Assemble classroom resources to take into the classroom — hands-on teaching materials, which can be as simple as a plastic petri dish that you pass around, are excellent teaching tools. Short films, live animals, a brief slide show, and activity kits are other materials you can take into the classroom. See "Classroom Resources" below for some ideas.
  
• If you have children, ask them what they would like to know about what you do.
  
• Prepare to use terminology that is appropriate for the students — if there are many words or concepts that students should know in advance, give them to the teacher and she/he can help students learn them.
  

Tips for Presenting to Students

• Bring lots of props. Keep in mind that your goal is to arouse curiosity, excitement, eagerness and the desire to know more. The tools of your profession may be commonplace to you, but they are fascinating to most students.
• When possible, let students handle models, equipment (plastic, not glass), samples, stethoscopes or other items. Young children especially learn the best from real objects, pictures, or stories. It can be challenging for them to pay attention to descriptions or explanations of things they have never seen, touched, tasted or experienced. Speakers have taken diverse materials into the classroom, including:

• Plastic labware and other research equipment
• Anatomical models

• Involve students in the process of science. For example, do a simple experiment in which the students (or even just one or two) can participate. The process skills of science — observing, classifying, measuring — are skills that enable students to apply science to everyday problems.
• Stimulate thinking by asking questions. Questions that ask students to make a guess, to give an explanation, to state an opinion, or to draw a conclusion are especially valuable. Ask clear, single questions rather than multiple questions. It’s a good rule of thumb to wait 10 seconds for an answer. It’s OK to give clues. Also, call on many different members of the class because everyone wants to be involved.
• Wait to give handouts to students until it is time to read or use them. If students have handouts while you are speaking, they will be distracted.
• Use language the students will understand. Be conscious of vocabulary and try not to use a technical word when a simple one will do. Define words that students may not know. Young children especially aren’t used to lectures, detailed definitions and principles. Tell them a story, ideally involving a child of the same age that demonstrates the information you want to share. For example, most children have been vaccinated against polio. You can compare this common experience to what might happen to another girl or boy who hasn’t been vaccinated. This could be an effective way to show young students how people benefit from research using animals. You can make the same point about companion animals, since many children also have pets that receive vaccinations.
  
• Don’t be offended if youngsters are loud, spontaneous and excited. Involved students are enthusiastic.
  
• Leave something behind. Help to set up an experiment that students can continue after you leave. Hand out an assignment for the students to complete alone or with their families. Invite them to write to you with questions — then answer them promptly! You also can leave behind resource materials from NCABR.
  
• Ask for an evaluation of your efforts. Ask the students what they did or didn’t like about your visit. Have the teacher critique your presentation and help you improve your in-class skills.
  
• Consider giving your e-mail address to the teacher for follow-up questions from students.
  

A Word About Classroom Management
In many states, teachers are required to remain with the classes while there is a guest speaker. While a teacher should always be there to maintain order and attention, you might find the following suggestions helpful for establishing and maintaining your own rapport with students.

• Make eye contact with the students because they love the personal attention.
  
• Organize all materials in advance because students (especially younger ones) sometimes have a hard time waiting.
  
• Use student volunteers to help you set up and distribute materials, samples, pictures and handouts because students love to feel important.
  
• Require that students raise their hands to participate because they will probably all want to talk at once.
  
• Model good safety practices because children learn by following role models.
  
• Before distributing specimens, give specific directions about how long each student may look at it before passing it on. This will help to ensure that everyone gets to see display items.
  
• Use a prearranged signal to get students’ attention during activities (clapping, flipping a light switch, etc.) because it is too hard to give good directions unless students are quiet.
  
• Stop and wait for students to let you continue speaking if they get too noisy; they probably have heard the "cold silence" before and know that it means they need to be less noisy.
  
• Praise attentive or helpful behavior since this is the behavior you want to encourage.
  

Discussion Questions
Sometimes instead of a lot of noise in the classroom, speakers have the opposite kind of challenge: a lack of student response. The Foundation for Biomedical Research (FBR) provides a good list of possible questions for generating classroom discussion about the use of animals in research, which can be adapted for students of all ages. FBR suggests the following:

• What are some of the benefits of animal research?
  
• Why are animals used for research? This could include a discussion of the types of animals used and how they have contributed to specific medical advances (dogs/insulin).
  
• How are research animals protected and cared for?
  
• How are animals like humans? This is a way to provide a simple explanation of the animal model.
  
• What is an animal facility like?
  
• How does a person prepare for a career in laboratory animal science?
  

Classroom Resources
NCABR provides a range of free brochures, posters, buttons and other educational materials suitable to distribute in classrooms. For more information, contact NCABR at 919-785-1304 or e-mail Suzanne Wood Wilkison at swilkison@ncabr.org.

* Source: "Communications Manual," Washington Association for Biomedical Research, 1996.

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