Students will be able to prepare and present, orally and in writing, to scientists in other disciplines and audiences outside the sciences.
I have given a number of poster presentations throughout my time here at Longwood, and I always enjoy them. I think posters are a good way to present information orally and in writing. Posters have a broad range of applications as you can make a poster on any topic for just about any type of audience. I have had to make scientific posters geared towards my peers and mentors, as well as general audience posters geared towards those outside of my major. One of the most recent posters I have had to present was for a class called Immunology and it was on phytoestrogens as both pro-cancer and anticancer agents.
I have also written a number of papers geared towards all audiences. I have written more professionally styled research papers, review papers, general audience papers, proposals, and more. I feel like this is really exemplified in a paper I had to write for Immunology. This paper was not only geared towards a general audience but was intended for children. I found this assignment to be a bit tricky at first, but I am still proud of the result.
Another general audience paper I have had to write was for Senior Capstone in Biology. The assignment was to write a (white paper) to propose an idea to either the Virginia state senate or the Farmville town council. Even though this was a general audience paper, it still had to have a level of professionalism to it, which I have not had to do for other general audience writing assignments. It was definitely a challenge trying to find a balance without overcomplicating things, but it was rewarding for the experience I gained throughout the process.
Being able to communicate your work to those who may not have much background knowledge on the topic is very important. Research is meant to benefit everyone and everyone benefits from understanding research. I am glad to have had so much experience presenting often complicated topics or concepts to those from other backgrounds as I believe it benefits not only myself but those who might not have exposure to such information otherwise.