Goolsby Julia B, Cravens Amanda E, Rozance Mary Ann
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA.
U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
Environ Manage. 2023 Dec;72(6):1128-1145. doi: 10.1007/s00267-023-01863-4. Epub 2023 Aug 11.
Demand has grown for actionable science to support real-world decision-making around climate change and related environmental management challenges. Producing actionable science requires scientists to hold a distinct set of competencies, yet relatively little is known about what these competencies are or how to train scientists to develop them. We conducted interviews with mid- and late-career scientists to empirically identify competencies they used when producing actionable science and to understand how they developed those competencies. We describe expertise in terms of 18 competencies-categorised as cognitive, interpersonal, or intrapersonal-that scientists integrated and applied to address the challenges associated with actionable science. We argue that scientists must engage in the social process of producing actionable science (i.e., learning by doing) to become an expert. Expert actionable scientists discussed the importance of learning through different contexts, processes, interactions, and relationships. By naming the competencies that constitute expertise, as well as methods for expertise development, our findings facilitate greater conscious awareness of the process of becoming an actionable scientist, a gradual process that starts during graduate training and continues as a career proceeds. Our results can inform the development of formal learning opportunities as well as the informal learning process that occurs whereby scientists take charge of their own learning.
对于可付诸行动的科学的需求不断增长，以支持围绕气候变化及相关环境管理挑战的实际决策。产生可付诸行动的科学要求科学家具备一系列独特的能力，但对于这些能力是什么以及如何培养科学家以发展这些能力，人们所知甚少。我们对处于职业生涯中期和后期的科学家进行了访谈，以实证方式确定他们在产生可付诸行动的科学时所使用的能力，并了解他们是如何发展这些能力的。我们从18种能力的角度描述专业知识，这些能力分为认知、人际或个人能力，科学家将其整合并应用于应对与可付诸行动的科学相关的挑战。我们认为，科学家必须参与产生可付诸行动的科学的社会过程（即通过实践学习）才能成为专家。专业的可付诸行动的科学家讨论了通过不同背景、过程、互动和关系进行学习的重要性。通过确定构成专业知识的能力以及专业知识发展的方法，我们的研究结果有助于提高对成为一名可付诸行动的科学家这一过程的自觉意识，这是一个从研究生培训期间开始并在职业生涯中持续的渐进过程。我们的结果可为正式学习机会以及科学家自主学习的非正式学习过程的发展提供参考。
