MCTS Student Voices goes online
Explaining study subjects in a blog
The MCTS is an integrative research institute of TUM in which teachers and students address the interface between science, technology, and society from the perspective of interdisciplinary research and teaching. Two of the Master's courses there are Science and Technology Studies (STS) and Responsibility in Science, Engineering and Technology (RESET).
As part of their studies, students often write papers that are of practical relevance or of public interest. Thus, RESET students maintain a blog that is supposed to be understandable for the general public – ensuring that the contents could be published by a newspaper, for example.
How is this organized?
So far, the texts had not been published. "So we thought we'd just publish the content ourselves," stated Carol Grzych and Sophia Knopf, who coordinate the blog. Said… and done: A group of seven students came together. At first, there were many questions: How to go about such a project? How should the content be published? What possible formats or categories are there, and how should the quality of the work be checked? Who will take on the technical responsibility?
A procedure similar to professional editing
Now, the group is well organized. It has established a collaborative process to receive content from students and to edit it internally. This process is almost as elaborate as in a professional editorial office.
In the coming semesters, the team will be looking for new members to continue the blog, to ensure that the MCTS students will also have an adequate answer to the question "What are you studying?" in the future.
(Author: Annika Eßmann)
More information:
MCTS Student Voices