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ABSTRACT The complexity of modern biology poses challenges in fostering interdisciplinary understanding, particularly between practicing scientists and the public. Furthermore, scientists often lack formal training in science communication, despite various motivations to engage the public. The science literacy of the public in the biological sciences can also vary across socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. Leveraging popular culture and informal learning practices to promote active learning offers promising avenues to enhance public understanding of biological systems. Organized sports hold collective recognition across various communities and cultures, serving as a means to bring people together. Notably, the NCAA March Madness event holds widespread national and international popularity, presenting an opportunity to laterally apply this concept to promote science communication within STEM and biology education. An educational social media and web-based contest tool was developed integrating NCAA-inspired brackets with animal biological systems concepts. The tool featured tournament-style matchups based on animal biological systems, interesting animal facts, and a voting system, all housed within a user-friendly interface. To encourage regular user access to the tool, graphic designs were developed for all social media posts to aid in visual recruitment to the voting website. Based on online metrics, the use of social media garnered repeat users across both the public and educators. The latter noted the tool’s simplicity and informative content. Application of this social media and web-based bracket contest tool, which leverages informal settings for active learning for use in biology education, can foster science communication to engage audiences, improve comprehension, and promote interdisciplinary biology education.

Studying abroad in agricultural biosciences can develop students’ cultural, academic, and communication skills and enhance employability. However, in the United States, discussions of study abroad are limited to either one-way directionality (U.S. students to other countries) or to the experiences of international students who come to the United States for degree programs. We analyzed the perspectives and experiences of studying abroad by Zamorano University (Honduras) students who completed an agricultural bioscience pasantía (four-month internship) during the final year of their undergraduate program. We used mixed methods to collect data via focus group discussions and a survey with Zamorano students who had completed a pasantía in 2017, as well as key informant interviews with Zamorano pasantía coordinators. Study-abroad experiences were compared between students who completed their pasantía in the United States (37%) and those who completed their pasantía in any of 17 other countries worldwide. Significant relationships were identified (p < 0.05) between: doing a pasantía in the United States (compared with going elsewhere) and improving science and theoretical knowledge; having a hands-on experience and science and theory improvement; improving communication and confidence in using scientific methods. The Zamorano pasantía model lends insights into the value of study abroad for agricultural bioscience education.

The interconnection of microbiology, biology, and agriculture poses unique challenges for dissemination of basic science research data in an applied format. Further, audiences including the general public, stakeholders, agricultural commodity producers, and students to which information is directed often possess various backgrounds and educational training. In response to technological advances, and the benefits of web-based learning tools to deliver complex information, an integrative approach to deliver microbial content information was developed. Through the constructed web-based interface, an interactive format to highlight the microbe of interest consisted of a main image with strategically placed hotspots to illuminate the location/environment/organ where the microbe can be found. As each hotspot is accessed, an additional image and description of the role and function of the microbe at the location is presented. To encourage regular user access with the learning tool, monthly features were created to focus on various concepts in nutritional microbiology. Monthly themes were selected by the educator to cover a specific microbe, environment, and physiological or nutritional function. Facilitation of educator operation of the interface was achieved through development of an easy-to-use dashboard, allowing for uploading of main, monthly, and hotspot images, along with information on the overview of microbe function and with details contained within the hotspot descriptions. Additionally, an archive feature was created to allow access to information that was previously covered within the learning tool. Application of this web-based interface can span across classroom settings, outreach educational events, adult and youth learning within Extension, student recruitment, and many other non-traditional learning settings to impact production agriculture with research-driven microbiological and biological concepts.