Date: November 18th 2021
Presenter: Dr. Jennifer Stamp, PhD
Description: Critical analysis of recent research findings is essential to become a well-informed science consumer. Unfortunately, the source literature can be intimidating and is usually completely inaccessible to the general public. People turn to news headlines or random websites for scientific information, which often provide oversimplified or erroneous explanations. This interactive workshop will demonstrate the science accessibility issue and propose some strategies to tackle it, including a database of difficulty-rated articles, guidelines about writing statistical results, and the effective use of images to convey complex ideas.
Biography: Jennifer Stamp received her BSc in Neuroscience from Dalhousie University and Ph.D. in Anatomy from Cambridge University. She trained as a neuroanatomist and neuroendocrinologist, and published articles on the topics of stress, hormones, addiction, and sleep and co-authored two editions of an introductory psychology textbook. Dr. Stamp currently holds a position as a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience at Dalhousie, where she has been since 2003.
She has played an active role in undergraduate teaching and research, concentrating in the areas of Integrated Science, Introductory Psychology, Neuroanatomy, Neuroendocrinology, Pharmacology, Addiction, and Social Psychology. Her work on innovative teaching strategies has culminated in the development of several online introductory courses and she has received numerous teaching awards. Dr. Stamp’s current work focuses on the development of online, active learning modules as well as tools to enhance science literacy. She has been invited to speak at local and national teaching and learning conferences.
