STEMskiller: Skill Set Map for Mentors of Early Career Researchers
ENGAGEMENT, INVOLVEMENT, COLLABORATION, TRANSDISCIPLINARITY, AND INQUISITIVNESS:
Impact and public engagement
Effective online engagement (including research blogging, social media posting, podcasting, & hosting virtual events)
Definition:
Early career researchers should be made aware by mentors that, as they progress through academia and begin interacting with students and colleagues, that they become a form of “public figures” and that they must create a strategy for if and how they will engage online. Unless mandated or regulated by local institutional policies, which mentors should inform mentees of, mentees have a choice in determining the extent of their engagement in online public forums. They should also be made aware that their engagement with such forums may change over time, throughout their careers, and that the forums themselves may change, as different platforms and technologies develop.
Useful resources on Effective online engagement:
Social Media
Jensen, K. (2020). Social Media Strategies for Research Webinar. https://youtu.be/R11TwAaDK3E
Presentation addressing questions researchers have about promoting their work on social media and evaluating impact.
National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement & Research Councils UK. (2018). What Works: Engaging the public through social media. https://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/sites/default/files/publication/what_works_engaging_the_
public_through_social_media_november_2018.pdf
Detailed guide, including: Why use social media?, Getting started, Quality engagement: purpose and people, Choosing the right tools, What makes content shareable, Evaluation and impact, Risks and how to manage them, Resources, and Top Tips.
Virtual Events
National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement & Research Councils UK. (2020). Online Engagement: A guide to creating and running virtual meetings and events. https://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/sites/default/files/publication/creating_and_running_
virtual_events_-_april_2020_v1.pdf
Top tips for running online meetings (including planning and organizing, facilitating, what to do when things go wrong); ethics, privacy, and accessibility issues; and a useful chart (pp. 6-10) discussing the pros and cons of different online platforms.
Podcasting
National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement & Research Councils UK. (2017). How to… …start podcasting. https://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/sites/default/files/publication/how_to_start_podcasting.pdf
Getting started, What you will need, Making preparations, Writing the script, Recording/editing/publishing your podcast, Cost and time requirements, and Top tips.
Blogging
Hamilton University Writing Center. (2020). Writing Academic Blogs. https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/centers/writing/writing-resources/writing-academic-blogs#:~:text=Blogs%20are%20a%20great%20place,more%20formal%20papers%20later%20on.
Brief discussion of what makes an academic blog “academic,” differences between blog posts and formal academic papers, common traits of strong blog posts, types of blog posts (including clear chart).
University of Edinburgh. (2018). How to write an engaging blog. https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/learning-technology/blogging/introduction/blogging-guidelines
General best practices, guidance for specific kinds of blogging (professional development; teaching, learning, and assessment; research; community or student experience).
Tags: All IPS; all PSR; all IAL; CompQ
Peer Review: None
Table of contents:
- 4.2.8. Evaluating public engagement
Author: Stephanie Krueger
Peer Reviewer(s): None
Last Updated: October 28, 2021