Innovations - Emphasizing the Challenges of Scientific Communication Using an Icebreaker Activity

Oct 15, 2026

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Effectively communicating scientific information is essential for advancing research and building relationships between scientists and society. A course-based icebreaker is used to translate technical biological terminology into accessible concepts, addressing a common student underestimation of this difficulty. The multi-round game combines a party-game format with increasingly advanced cellular biology terms, requiring creative drawing and communication from limited information while encouraging early interaction and reducing classroom tension through humor.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryGeneral

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time11 min

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Innovations Emphasizing the challenges of scientific communication using an icebreaker activity Driver A. M. Department of Biology, University of Scranton, Scranton, PA, USA Abstract Effectively communicating scientific information is essential not only for advancing a specific field but also for building key relationships between researchers and society. One of the key challenges of this is the ability to translate highly technical terms into digestible concepts. Within my upper-level cellular biology course, students often underestimate this challenge. Therefore, I emphasize the importance of effectively translating biological terms early in the semester using a simple icebreaker activity. This activity combines the methodology of a party game with increasingly technical biological terms. In this multi-round activity students are challenged to draw and communicate using limited starting information. This in turn pushes students to not only think creatively about how to depict scientific terms but also realize the difficulty in doing so. Moreover, this game gets students interacting early in the semester and can result in humorous outcomes which helps break tension and promote an interactive learning environment. Keywords: Icebreaker, Biology, Cellular Biology, Communication Introduction Effective scientific communication is imperative for the dissemination of information within and across biological disciplines. Moreover, effective communication allows scientists to educate the general public in specific fields (Brownell et al., 2013; Leshner, 2003) . This is particularly important when addressing and interpreting topics that may be politically controversial (Walker et al., 2017) . Practicing proper scientific communication skills is also essential for successful collaboration across biological disciplines and fostering inclusion across diverse biological communities (AAAS, 2011) . Therefore, increasing attention has been raised to emphasize the importance of scientific communication skills within the undergraduate curriculum (Dahm et al., 2019; Lewenstein, 2015) One approach to raising awareness of the importance of scientific communication can be through an icebreaker activity. Icebreakers have been traditionally used within the college classroom to encourage student interaction at the beginning of a course. These activities have been shown to initiate community building, foster communication, and enhance student engagement (Holbert, 2015; Hoseini Shavoun et al., 2024) . The use of icebreakers also aids in building a positive learning environment (Richie Ynot Mepieza, 2023) . This is of particular importance as increasing a sense of belonging within biology courses has been associated with increased student retention (Wilton et al., 2019) . Moreover, icebreakers can be a valuable tool to introduce topics that are important to a course (Fitria, 2023) . While icebreakers have become a common tool at the beginning of a course, research on the undergraduate student perspective of icebreakersand their benefit can be conflicting. For example, undergraduate student surveys relate that students found less value if the icebreaker activity did not directly relate to the class (Kleinschmit et al., 2020) . Moreover, some students have reported that the ice breakers activities are boring or seem cliché (Eggleston & Smith, 2010) . In attempts to break away from the traditional mold of icebreakers, I have modified a common party game into a communication-based activity. The intention is to use a game that may be familiar to students to emphasize a topic that has a growing importance in biological disciplines: scientific communication. The icebreaker activity being presented was used in an upper-level cellular biology laboratory course. Undergraduate students in cellular biology often struggle to explain concepts in areas such as genetics and cellular communication (Flowers et al., 2023) . While students may at

FAQs

Why is scientific communication emphasized in biological education?

Scientific communication supports dissemination across biological disciplines and helps researchers educate the public. It also strengthens collaboration and inclusion within diverse scientific communities.

How does the icebreaker activity help students translate technical terms?

Students use limited starting information to draw and communicate increasingly technical biological terms. This pushes them to think creatively and highlights how difficult clear interpretation can be.

What are the main goals of the proposed activity?

The activity aims to be budget-friendly, challenge students to reflect on scientific communication challenges, and promote interaction through gamification.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Himbo