This project addresses the problem of how and if scientists and engineers are able to understand each other when studying an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary phenomenon. If scientists and engineers from different disciplines have trouble communicating with each other around a specific topic of mutual interest, then cross-field collaborations of this nature will be problematic.
Specifically, this research project aims to empirically examine the role that disciplinary knowledge in chemistry and electrical engineering play in the way in which nanotechnology graphics are produced and comprehended by doctoral students. Students from each discipline will draw graphics of a particular, pre-specified topic in nanotechnology. Then the students will think aloud when interpreting graphics created from the other disciplinary perspective. Finally, the participants will take part in an eye tracking study designed to examine how students visually address graphics vis a vis text in natural scientific contexts (i.e., when reading journal articles).
The research may have implications for the approach that is taken in training doctoral students to work across disciplines. As interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research continues to become more commonplace, it is important that scientists and engineers be able to understand each other.
The project will work with a national center on nanotechnology research and several NSF supported Research Experiences for Teachers sites to disseminate the result. The team will also publish in peer reviewed research journals.
With the funding from this award we investigated how visuals are used to communicate information among scientists and engineers in the rapidly growing field of nanotechnology. Three main efforts were undertaken. The first effort was aimed at understanding the baseline level of visual literacy in nanotechnology students by searching for disciplinary -driven differences in representing nanotechnology concepts by cohort of selected graduate students from the University of Washington and from the 2010 Materials Research Society conference. We found out the overall students are very adept at crossing disciplinary boundaries with visuals and only at the detailed level disciplinary differences can be observed. This result is important to understand the growth of interdisciplinary fields. The second effort was aimed at understanding how learning to create visuals may help scientist and engineers better solidify their knowledge. To this end, we observed the interaction between scientist and engineers at the "Design Help Desk" and measured the outcomes. We obverted evidence that learning how to better visualize a specific science and engineering problem aids the student to create a clearer mental picture of what they are researching. The third effort was aimed at understanding what elements create an effective visual. This is important for optimizing communication of science and engineering concepts among researchers and the general public.
