Many of our readers will not have heard of Scitable before. Can you please give a brief history of the group and what you hope to accomplish.
Scitable is an open, high quality science teaching and learning site from Nature Publishing Group, publishers of Nature, Scientific American, and a number of other science journals and magazines. We launched Scitable because we feel strongly that inspiring and enabling today’s students to immerse themselves in science is crucial for the future of the planet. Without dedicated scientific researchers, or at least a science-literate population, we won’t be able to make the progress we need as a global community on sustainability, food security, diseases, and so on. Our goal is to make access to very high quality science education information and compelling scientific experiences a common denominator for students regardless of their socioeconomic or geographic background.
Can you please tell our readers who the sources are for the information on your site and how often information is updated? Do you see it as a more reliable source for people compared to what else is out there on the web (e.g. Wikipedia)?
We actively commission the pieces you see on the site from leading scientists, faculty, or science journalists, depending on the subject matter, and every piece is put through a formal review by other experts in the field. The result is that the information is high quality: current, carefully thought through, scientifically accurate, and designed explicitly for use by teachers and students. We update our pieces on average once a month . . . often when a member of the community points out a topic they think we should have covered but didn’t; we’ll route the opinion to our reviewers and if everyone agrees, we will update the article. Yes, our intention is very much for Scitable to be a marriage of the reliability and quality of information that we’re all familiar with from journals and formal publications with the ease of discovery of use that’s characteristic of sites like Wikipedia.
What is your favorite feature of Scitable? Why?
I sometimes use the search box in the People area of Scitable to figure out whether we have any student or faculty users from far-flung parts of the world . . . and usually find that we do. (Mauritius: yes. Swaziland: no. We’ll have to work on that.) We’re really trying to create a kind of global classroom – a place where students from any part of the world can collaborate with researchers, teachers, and fellow students who are interested in the same subject but potentially thousands of miles away.
Can you tell us a little bit about the resources that are available for the public, students, and/or teachers at your site? How easy is it for these people to access and use these resources?
The heart of Scitable is the extensive (and growing) content library. We have more than 600 readings in genetics, cell biology, and ecology right now, and we’re adding more across the life and physical sciences this year. We have mini-textbooks in the life sciences as well as on special topics like scientific communication and career planning. And our learning paths allow students to progress through “hot” issues like biotechnology at their own pace. We also have a strong set of classroom tools, which teachers can use to run private online research spaces for their students. In just five or ten minutes, a teacher can create a customized reading list (using content from Scitable or from anywhere on the web) and enroll students in discussions, news feeds, and so on. All of this is free. The bulk of the content doesn’t require registration; people do have to register to build or join a classroom or take a learning path. Overall, it’s really easy for people to learn through the site . . . our users are growing rapidly every month, and they come from all walks of life: students, teachers, researchers, parents, veterinarians (yes, I’ve noticed a lot of these!), genetic counselors, and more.
What do you see as the primary problem with science education today? If you had a magic wand and could fix science education, what would you do? Would it differ between K-12 and undergraduate education?
I don’t think there is a primary problem, I think that the overall quality of science education is driven by the convergence of a lot of factors: Do parents encourage kids to tinker with nature and science? Are there enough well trained science teachers, and are they incentivized to stay at tough schools? How widely available are good lab equipment and other learning materials? How successful are college instructors at reminding students of the “magic” behind the memorization? If I had a magic wand, I would wave it at all of these. If I had to pick one . . . that’s tough . . . I would probably work on ensuring that there are highly qualified teachers (which means not only understanding science but having a solid background in teaching methods) in all schools, including and particularly under resourced ones. But, really, the key point for me is that there isn’t just one thing to focus on, we must take a holistic approach.
Who is the primary audience for Scitable? K-12 students, K-12 educators, undergraduates, the general public, graduate students, etc.?
The audience in formal education ranges from advanced high school classes to junior/senior level undergraduate classes . . . we have a broad set of content in the site, so there is much there for everyone within that range. The audience among the general public seems to be encouragingly varied, there are so many different kinds of people whom I have seen find their way to the site. People really do instinctively get excited by science; when we provide a way for them to easily find good answers to their questions, they will take advantage of it.
Do you see Scitable as a resource for that day in the not too distant future when everyone knows their own DNA sequence? Are there any resources available and accessible for the average person at your site? Or is it mostly focused right now on aspiring or actual scientists?
There are many resources for the average person, and we plan to publish more. A good example is our growing collection of Spotlights, which are essentially “home pages” for topics like Alternative Energy and Acoustic Pollution, intended specifically to help general learners go beyond the newspaper headlines and learn the actual science behind hot-button issues. I don’t see us ever helping people to make medical judgments of any kind, but I do see us helping a broad set of citizens to understand something substantial about the fields of research that can lead to a vastly improved quality of life for all of us. And to vote in ways that help make this future a reality.
A previous blog on the difficulties of finding good scientific information on the web.
Finally a reliable scientific resource on the web.