On our presentations..........

MY PRESENTATION NOTES

I really appreciate the comments and critiques from my classmates about my presentation on Arrangement. Finding contemporary applications for Classical Rhetoric in the sciences continues to challenge and interest me. My research focus is in scientific storytelling and how those stories have utilized visualizations to develop plots, introduce characters and leave a lasting impression. But so many of the communication studies in science have been related to how scientists tell stories to other scientists and I think in contemporary society, the real challenge is how those scientific stories get told to the general public. 

The idea of 'arrangement' in many ways, reminds me of storytelling. There must be a beginning, middle and an end. In applying classical rhetoric to the scientific article, this translates into the Introduction, Results/Methods, and then Conclusion. When scientific information is relayed to the general public via mass media, the Results/Methods are often left out. Besides my HFCS example, another one that comes to mind is the report on a study that showed that drinking diet soda causes Diabetes. When I first heard this, as a scientist, I wondered what component of the diet soda actually caused Diabetes. The mass media (i.e.-news stations, general public websites) included just the Introduction and Conclusion. Introduction: There was a study done that followed people who drank diet soda and over time, this group had an increased incidence of Diabetes. Conclusion: Drinking diet soda causes Diabetes. Still curious, I pulled up the study to view the Results/Methods on my own. It turns out that the act of drinking diet soda as well as the components of the drink were not at the core of the increased incidence of Diabetes, it was in fact the behaviors that accompanied those individuals that were drinking diet soda which included eating more foods that contained sugar and fat and a resulting increased incidence of obesity. This is a very different, and extremely important, distinction in the conclusion.

The mass media may be motivated by a variety of reasons to make these leaps. But for me, as a science communicator, I think there is a way to keep the Results/Methods sections as part of the story to present a more complete arrangement of scientific data and results to the general public. And I believe that the way to do this is through audience appropriate visualizations. In the scientific article, this might mean graphs and tables that show comparisons. But for the general public, this might mean creating information graphics to help contextualize the data. Imagine, for example, a Venn diagram to represent the Results/Methods for the diet soda study. One circle could list factors that are associated with Diabetes (specifically Type II Diabetes) and one could list lifestyle behaviors that were linked to individuals in the diet soda study mentioned above. The overlap of the circles would then clearly show that the behaviors, at least in this study, were associated Diabetes. There may be many reasons why drinking diet soda should be avoided, but if someone stopped drinking diet soda, but continued to practice the other lifestyle behaviors, they would still have an increased possibility of developing Diabetes.

There are many other examples like this. From new medical treatments and breakthroughs to issues related to the environment or space studies, the general public is constantly being presented with new scientific information. In some cases, they are asked to make decisions or take action based on this information. I believe that there is a way to provide more complete scientific information to the general public that is engaging and enhances their understanding.  Namely, by including all elements of arrangement compartmentalized into information graphics.

CLASSMATES PRESENTATION NOTES

I learned something from each presentation we've seen so far. For example, Joy's eloquent discussion of Dr. Suess' political cartoons and the visual rhetoric associated with them struck a particular cord with me because of my direct interest in visual rhetoric. Font choices and 'negative space' can be critical in setting a tone or sending a message with the visualization. Mark's courage to be so bold in his presentation and choice of format was something to be admired for sure. I appreciated how Maryn created unexpected connections for the terministic screens and Hilary provided a very direct approach with contemporary examples we can likely all relate to. Angela demonstrated the depth of persuasion that is associated with regulatory filings and the direct connection of rhetorical approaches to a project she is currently working on. If I took a piece of each of these presentations to revise my own, I would include more visualizations and elaborate on how visualizations can be used to enhance the arrangement and presentation of scientific communication to the general public. I would jazz up my presentation with some music. I might incorporate a connection unrelated to science as well to show how arrangement can be applied to a variety of contemporary topics. I would consider including an example of scientific communication to the general public that directly affected a legislative decision. I look forward to learning from the rest of the class this coming week.