Do Now U is a collaboration between KQED and NCSCE that engages college students in national conversations about current science issues. Each semester, a group of professors is selected to have their students create blog posts for KQED’s website. The posts are used to spark national conversations amongst other students and the public. Do Now U hones students’ science communication and media literacy skills as they engage in respectful and well-researched debates online. Every two weeks during the school year, a new Do Now U topic and question is posted. Students respond to the question, often times looking at a national issue through the lens of their local community. Do Now U can be used as an in-class warm-up, discussion topic, or homework assignment.
NCSCE and KQED are now accepting applications from professors interested in having their students create Do Now U posts for the Spring 2017 semester. Interested professors will be asked to engage their students in Fall 2016 online discussions in the post comment sections and on Twitter to learn more about the project and how to use posts in the classroom. A course-specific hashtag created by you (for example #Bio210) will be used to identify your students’ contributions.
If selected, professors participating in the Spring 2017 semester will be asked to take part in an online work session in Winter 2016 to receive training on how to implement the creation of posts in their course.
Applications are due September 30, 2016. The application form can be found here.
Browse the previous Do Now U posts, available on the KQED Education website, to find discussion materials for your courses and learn more about the project.
If you have any questions, please contact Andrea Aust at aaust@kqed.org and Hailey Chenevert at hailey.chenevert@ncsce.net for more information.