J. Chem. Educ. http://doi.org/vt9 (2014)

Successful science careers are based on more than just a foundation in the subject — they require effective communication, leadership and teamwork skills. To improve the ability of graduates to communicate complex topics to technical and non-technical audiences, writing and presentation courses, as well as workshops on communication skills, have been implemented in graduate and undergraduate programmes. In line with such efforts, Robert Hamers and colleagues now show that blogging can increase students' confidence in writing and improve their ability to communicate technical topics effectively to general audiences.

The researchers — who are based at the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology, a National Science Foundation Center for Chemical Innovation that involves five universities and a national lab — created a multi-author blog to enhance the communication skills of its students, and to increase the interest and improve the knowledge of the public on the science related to sustainability and nanotechnology. Students were free to write on sustainability or nanotechnology topics based on their own work or that of a collaborator. At the start of the project, students were given a seminar on content guidelines, editorial workflow and social networking promotion strategies. To address the students' concerns over the lack of ideas, experience and time, a Center staff member acted as a blog editor. Students proposed ideas to the editor, who then coached them and edited drafts of the blog posts before publication.

After nine months, surveys from focus groups found that students felt that the editorial and peer editing process was useful and that the experience boosted their confidence in writing.