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1. Learning to prioritize the public good: Does training in classes, workplaces, and professional societies shape engineers' understanding of their public welfare responsibilities?

   https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20590  

   Cech, Erin A.; Finelli, Cynthia J. (March 2024, Journal of Engineering Education)

   Abstract BackgroundEngineers are professionally obligated to protect the safety and well‐being of the public impacted by the technologies they design and maintain. In an increasingly complex sociotechnical world, engineering educators and professional institutions have a duty to train engineers in these responsibilities. Purpose/HypothesisThis article asks, where are engineers trained in their public welfare responsibilities, and how effective is this training? We argue that engineers trained in public welfare responsibilities, especially within engineering education, will demonstrate greater understanding of their duty to recognize and respond to public welfare concerns. We expect training in formal engineering classes to be more broadly impactful than training in contexts like work or professional societies. Data/MethodsWe analyze unique survey data from a representative sample of US practicing engineers using descriptive and regression techniques. ResultsConsistent with expectations, engineers who received public welfare responsibility training in engineering classes are more likely than other engineers to understand their responsibilities to protect public health and safety and problem‐solve collectively, to recognize the importance of social consequences and ethical responsibilities in their own jobs, to have noticed ethical issues in their workplace, and to have taken action about an issue that concerned them. Training through other parts of college, workplaces, or professional societies has comparatively little impact. Concerningly, nearly a third of engineers reported never being trained in public welfare responsibilities. ConclusionThese results suggest that training in engineering education can shape engineers' long‐term understanding of their public welfare responsibilities. They underscore the need for these responsibilities to be taught as a core, non‐negotiable part of engineering education. 

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2. Beyond performance, competence, and recognition: forging a science researcher identity in the context of research training

   https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-024-00479-2  

   Pfeifer, Mariel A.; Zajic, C. J.; Isaacs, Jared M.; Erickson, Olivia A.; Dolan, Erin L. (March 2024, International Journal of STEM Education)

   Abstract BackgroundStudying science identity has been useful for understanding students’ continuation in science-related education and career paths. Yet knowledge and theory related to science identity among students on the path to becoming a professional science researcher, such as students engaged in research at the undergraduate, postbaccalaureate, and graduate level, is still developing. It is not yet clear from existing science identity theory how particular science contexts, such as research training experiences, influence students’ science identities. Here we leverage existing science identity and professional identity theories to investigate how research training shapes science identity. We conducted a qualitative investigation of 30 early career researchers—undergraduates, postbaccalaureates, and doctoral students in a variety of natural science fields—to characterize how they recognized themselves as science researchers. ResultsEarly career researchers (ECRs) recognized themselves as either science students or science researchers, which they distinguished from being a career researcher. ECRs made judgments, which we refer to as “science identity assessments”, in the context of interconnected work-learning and identity-learning cycles. Work-learning cycles referred to ECRs’ conceptions of the work they did in their research training experience. ECRs weighed the extent to which they perceived the work they did in their research training to show authenticity, offer room for autonomy, and afford opportunities for epistemic involvement. Identity-learning cycles encompassed ECRs’ conceptions of science researchers. ECRs considered the roles they fill in their research training experiences and if these roles aligned with their perceptions of the tasks and traits of perceived researchers. ECRs’ identity-learning cycles were further shaped by recognition from others. ECRs spoke of how recognition from others embedded within their research training experiences and from others removed from their research training experiences influenced how they see themselves as science researchers. ConclusionsWe synthesized our findings to form a revised conceptual model of science researcher identity, which offers enhanced theoretical precision to study science identity in the future. We hypothesize relationships among constructs related to science identity and professional identity development that can be tested in further research. Our results also offer practical implications to foster the science researcher identity of ECRs. 

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3. Advancing Workforce Development and Evidence-Based Practice in US Territories: An Evaluation of the Public Health Disaster Research Award Program

   https://doi.org/10.1097/phh.0000000000002156  

   Mordy, Meghan; Adams, Rachel M; Peek, Lori; Tobin, Jennifer; Thomas, Tracy N; Soler, Robin (July 2025, Journal of Public Health Management & Practice)

   Context:Many people living in the 5 inhabited US territories experience high rates of natural hazard exposure and social vulnerability to disaster impacts. Public health workforce development and evidence-based, culturally competent approaches to disaster preparedness, response, and recovery are needed in these regions. Program:In 2020, the Natural Hazards Center established thePublic Health Disaster Research Award Programwith funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The program’s goal is to advance public health disaster research and practice by funding, training, mentoring, and connecting researchers, students, and practitioners in historically underserved areas with high natural hazard risk. Between 2020 and 2022, 26 research teams received up to $50 000 each to investigate public health disasters in 1 or more US territories. The program also supported awardees by providing individual consultations, online trainings, feedback on report drafts, and a virtual group workshop on the public health implications of research. Awardees authored final reports and presented at a public webinar. Evaluation:In 2023, the Natural Hazards Center developed and distributed an online survey to all principal investigators. The survey evaluated how awardees advanced knowledge about public health disasters in the US territories; what skills, resources, and connections they acquired; and how they translated their research into public health applications and otherwise disseminated their findings. Discussion:Our evaluation showed that the program is advancing knowledge of understudied hazard contexts and socially vulnerable populations in the US territories and supports awardees in sharing their findings with academics, policymakers, and practitioners. Moreover, it expanded the public health disaster workforce by bringing professionals from a diverse range of disciplines and institutions into the field, and by investing in students, early career scholars, and investigators based in US territories. Researchers are working with local partners to apply their findings to practice. 

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4. Exploring science teachers’ self-selection attitudes into professional development programs: motivations, preferences, and implications for practice

   https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2025.1499444  

   Zafar, F; Alston, C; Nichol, C; Tu, S (April 2025, Frontiers in Education)

   Tzovla, Eirini (Ed.)

   IntroductionProfessional development is essential for science teachers so they can stay current with educational trends, address diverse student needs, and integrate emerging scientific phenomena into their teaching practices. This study explores factors that motivate science teachers to self-select into multi-year-long professional development programs. MethodsThe study’s sample included 14 exemplary science teachers enrolled in multi-year programs and 58 teachers in one-year professional development programs. Quantitative data were collected from all participants using the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction at Work Scale and qualitative data were gathered from the multi-year program participants through semi-structured interviews. ResultsGrounded in self-determination theory, the quantitative data revealed that exemplary science teachers reported low job satisfaction and significantly lower scores in therelatednessconstruct, indicating they felt undervalued in their workplaces compared to other participants. Qualitative findings supported these results, as teachers expressed their motivations for participating in multi-year professional development programs driven by a desire for personal growth, continuous learning, and a collaborative learning environment, as well as a lack of rigorous in-school professional development options. RecommendationsThe results inform recommendations for professional development organizers and educational leaders to prioritize offering sustained long-term professional development programs tailored for exemplary teachers so they can feel supported and valued. ConclusionThe study highlights the importance of tailoring professional development programs to the diverse needs of exemplary science teachers such that they feel they belong in the field of science education. 

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5. Differences in perceived sources of uncertainty in natural hazards science advice: lessons for cross-disciplinary communication

   https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1366995  

   Doyle, Emma_E H; Thompson, Jessica; Hill, Stephen R; Williams, Matt; Paton, Douglas; Harrison, Sara E; Bostrom, Ann; Becker, Julia S (April 2024, Frontiers in Communication)

   We conducted mental model interviews in Aotearoa NZ to understand perspectives of uncertainty associated with natural hazards science. Such science contains many layers of interacting uncertainties, and varied understandings about what these are and where they come from creates communication challenges, impacting the trust in, and use of, science. To improve effective communication, it is thus crucial to understand the many diverse perspectives of scientific uncertainty.Participants included hazard scientists (e.g., geophysical, social, and other sciences), professionals with some scientific training (e.g., planners, policy analysts, emergency managers), and lay public participants with no advanced training in science (e.g., journalism, history, administration, art, or other domains). We present a comparative analysis of the mental model maps produced by participants, considering individuals’ levels of training and expertise in, and experience of, science.A qualitative comparison identified increasing map organization with science literacy, suggesting greater science training in, experience with, or expertise in, science results in a more organized and structured mental model of uncertainty. There were also language differences, with lay public participants focused more on perceptions of control and safety, while scientists focused on formal models of risk and likelihood.These findings are presented to enhance hazard, risk, and science communication. It is important to also identify ways to understand the tacit knowledge individuals already hold which may influence their interpretation of a message. The interview methodology we present here could also be adapted to understand different perspectives in participatory and co-development research. 

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