Facebook: An Avenue to Reflective Discussions through Case Studies

Chapter 1

Facebook: An Avenue to Reflective Discussions through Case Studies Downloaded by 80.82.77.83 on November 12, 2017 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date (Web): November 8, 2017 | doi: 10.1021/bk-2017-1270.ch001

Andrea M. Geyer* Department of Chemistry, Computer Science, and Mathematics, University of Saint Francis, 2701 Spring Street, Fort Wayne, Indian 46808, United States *E-mail: [email protected]

Students were introduced to using Facebook as a platform for communicating science through case studies in a general chemistry course. They explored biased headlines centered on unresolved problems in science as they role played different characters. They developed a realization of the need for a baseline scientific literacy in the general public as they honed their own skills of assessing scientific sources for bias, sound arguments, and accuracy. Through the use of Facebook, my students showed a 62% increase in the number of resources they used to formulate decisions and debate science during the case study discussion.

Capturing the Case Study in Action It’s two minutes before class. I look around the room, and almost everyone is on Facebook. There’s laughter; students are sharing their Facebook comments with one another on their phones. There are looks of determination, students flipping back and forth between their social media thread and a journal article. Others are seriously critiquing their classmates’ scientific arguments. As the start of lecture nears, my students beg for a moment to finish presenting their arguments. With this buzz of excitement lingering, I delve into acids and bases, providing the students with a basis for their next discussion comments on Facebook. My students thrive in this electric atmosphere, seeking deeper understanding of chemistry and its ramifications in other disciplines. The material we are covering is no different than other general chemistry courses. Yet, the level of © 2017 American Chemical Society Christiansen and Weber; Teaching and the Internet: The Application of Web Apps, Networking, and Online Tech for ... ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.

anticipation and desire for content in a course composed of merely 5% chemistry majors is much stronger than I’ve experienced previously. In this predominantly first year course, the introduction of case studies through social media brought profound change to the classroom dynamic.

Downloaded by 80.82.77.83 on November 12, 2017 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date (Web): November 8, 2017 | doi: 10.1021/bk-2017-1270.ch001

Social Media and Science Simply put, social media is an online forum for communities to share a broad variety of information. Platforms include social networking, blogging, social bookmarking, and podcasting. Many chemists have turned to social media to engage their students and alumni outside of the classroom. For example, chemistry “thought problems” are processed between classes on Instagram (1). Alumni and student connections are built through networking in Facebook and LinkedIn (2). A foundation for identifying bias and scientific reliability is laid through social tagging (3) and collaborative editing on Wikipedia (4–6). Even office hours are conducted late into the evenings through Facebook and Twitter (7). Beyond academia, social media sites are beginning to serve as modes for scientists to communicate science to the general population. Unfortunately, scientists have been slow to embrace social media. Reasons for scientists’ reluctance vary. Some view that social media is an inappropriate mode of communication, while others perceive that it is difficult to use. Some scientists believe that there isn’t time to share out on social media (8). Despite this, in 2016 over 1,000 comments referring to one of the top 100 scientific journal articles were made on Twitter (9). In April 2017, posts and comments flooded Facebook as scientists sought to be heard and supported through the Marches for Science. As of July 2017, the Facebook group for the March for Science has just over 819,000 members and continues to have active discussions. Given that 48% of 18 to 29 year olds believe that Facebook is an important way to get news, this platform has the potential to serve as an excellent tool for sharing science with the younger generation (10). So, why use Facebook for implementing case studies? Facebook is used by 79% of online American adults and nearly 100% of my students. That is more than double the usage rate of all other social networking platforms (Table 1). With 3 out of 4 users engaging daily with Facebook, it only takes a quick review of my online course learning management system (LMS) statistics to realize that Facebook is the more frequented site by my students (11). This is consistent with Schroeder’s analysis of enhanced student engagement with Facebook relative to the LMS in his organic chemistry course (12). Ripe with opportunity, it became clear that I could exploit my students’ social networking habits, dare I say obsessions, to reach them more effectively in their class.

2 Christiansen and Weber; Teaching and the Internet: The Application of Web Apps, Networking, and Online Tech for ... ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.


Table 1. Social Media Usage by Online American Adults (11) Social Media

% Online American Adults

Facebook

79

Instagram

32

LinkedIn

29

Pinterest

31

Twitter

24

Case Study Philosophy and Pedagogical Methods For many of us, the phrase “case study” is loaded with preconceptions. Depending on your movie genre, you may envision Joe Pesci, the “Harvard Bum,” countering Gore Vidal’s question on presidential power through explaining the genius of the American Constitution in the movie, “With Honors” (13). Maybe you see Bob Gunton demanding medical student responses as they travel from bedside to bedside discussing treatments with “objectivity” in order to avoid “emotional transference” in “Patch Adams” (14). Each movie shows a classical, narrow portrayal of case study methodologies in an intimidating Socratic lecture style. In truth, there is no one way to design or implement case studies in any discipline. This reveals the power that case studies hold, for they can be molded and transformed to meet the needs of the chemistry classroom. Despite being used for decades by business and medical disciplines, case study methods have really only been embraced by chemists over the past decade (15). This recent surge of case study pedagogy interest was highlighted by the ConfChem Conference on Case-Based Studies in Chemical Education in 2011 (16). Today you can find a library of case studies for STEM courses that are completely keyed with instructor guides through the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science (17). Upon reviewing the case study library, you will notice a plethora of styles for implementing case study pedagogies (17). Students can explore scientific controversies in a public hearing or trial format, review recent journal articles as research teams in a discussion format, or use their phones to log their responses to questions posed within the context of a case study. These styles can be implemented at the individual level, in small groups, or even in large classes (18, 19). Each style requires commitment and preparation by the instructor in order for the case study methodology to be successful. Teaching science using case studies is an art that requires much practice, reflection, and adaptation (20). To assist with this process, annual workshops on using and developing case studies in the sciences are offered at the University at Buffalo (17).



Case Studies Overview I will discuss how to implement a case study through social media that allows students to explore unresolved scientific dilemmas that have received much attention in research journals. On the first day of class I present my students with a biased, controversial headline based on a journal review article that is framed to evoke an emotional response (21, 22). The headline opens an avenue that allows for not only scientific discussion, but also moral, ethical, and political discussions. In a class populated by a variety of disciplines this tactic has enhanced student engagement with the course content. Teaching at a Catholic, Franciscan university, with many pre-professional (pre-medical, pre-dental, pre-pharmaceutical, etc.) students and several students that are parents, I have used the following loaded headlines for my case studies: • •

“Oral contraceptive contamination of waters is playing a significant role in the recent increase in examples of intersex fish.” “Responses to ‘Toxic Toy Crisis’ have been reactive and piecemealinsufficient to ensure safety of toys and other children’s products.”

Like many faculty, I work with a synergy of case study methods, implementing an online appraisal-style interrupted case study method. An appraisal style focuses on analyzing an unresolved issue, often without a central character in the study (18). For instance, in my case study, each student is playing a different character that has vested interest in a specific headline. The interrupted method provides information in a piecewise fashion to the students. This allows course content to be scaffolded in a way that reduces the potential for overwhelming students, which is often a concern in a course primarily composed of first-year students (23). Traditionally, an interrupted case study is completed in one class session; however, I have chosen to conduct the case over several days as done in project-based learning curricula. This gives students time to develop their personas, fully process the case, and conduct additional research as the discussion unfolds on Facebook. If you are working with a topic that has the potential to stimulate student emotions, allowing the students time to fully process the case is helpful for creating a discussion that is driven by critical thinking and reflection (24).

Facebook Fundamentals In preparation for the case study, the instructor and students need to create a user account at www.facebook.com. Most students use their personal Facebook account, although some will create an account specifically for the study. Students who create a new account do this to either remain anonymous during the study, or to maintain personal profile privacy. The latter can be addressed with an existing Facebook account through the profile privacy settings, which indicate how much information is revealed and who has viewing privileges. With 60% of U.S. employers making hiring decisions using the professional social media site, LinkedIn, a class discussion on professional and personal social media presence 4 Christiansen and Weber; Teaching and the Internet: The Application of Web Apps, Networking, and Online Tech for ... ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.


is warranted (25). This is relevant because young adult opinions vary widely on the topic and online adults with a college degree are four times as likely to carry a LinkedIn account relative to adults with no education beyond high school (26). The case study is readily facilitated as a Facebook Group. A secret, closed, or public group can be instituted, with each style having advantages and disadvantages. The group is managed by at least one administrator, which in my case is me, but students could also be administrators as well. A secret group has the most restricted awareness from the public. In general, only current and former members of the group can find information about the group. In both closed and secret groups the discussion is only viewable by the group members and all group members are approved by the group administrator. I prefer a closed or private group for my Facebook case studies because my students are playing characters that may not represent their personal stance on the topic. In contrast, an open group allows the general public to view and participate in the discussion, which could result in the students’ roles being misconstrued as their own personal opinion. An open group could be a great tool if you want your students to engage in a public Facebook discussion. At any time the privacy of a group can be increased, but not decreased. Thus, a group can be changed from public to closed to private, but not the reverse (27). Facebook Groups allow all conversations to be isolated to a single web page. This ensures that all comments are viewable by the students in the group and makes it easy for the instructor to track discussion threads. I track student comment count nightly during the 10 day online discussion using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that I share either as a viewable Google Document or through the course LMS. I work with a spreadsheet that lists only student IDs in order to maintain anonymity during the feedback process. Alternatively, I could have directly commented on Facebook about the weight of the student posting, but this would result in my feedback being common knowledge to all students in the course. After recording the comment feedback in the Excel sheet I select the “like” button below the comment in Facebook to indicate to myself and the student that I have assessed the comment. As the discussion occurs on Facebook, the most recent comments are shifted to the top of the web page and a line is drawn indicating where content previously viewed by the reader begins. This allows me to readily identify what threads need to be assessed. If you are considering a public Facebook Group you may want to use a Facebook Page rather than a group. The Facebook Page offers similar features to the public group while giving you the advantage of a tool for tracking activity and audience demographics known as “Insights” (28). Data is tracked broadly and collectively, so it won’t indicate how many comments each individual user has made. You also have the ability to review new threads before they are posted on the Facebook Page; however, you cannot review comments on existing threads prior to the comments being posted (29). As you are preparing to implement online pedagogies, especially through social networking, I would recommend that you review your university’s policies on social media use with students. A broad range of restrictions and university recommendations exist as guidelines to both protect and support the student and instructor relationship. 5 Christiansen and Weber; Teaching and the Internet: The Application of Web Apps, Networking, and Online Tech for ... ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.


Case Study Learning Artifacts Although I previously emphasized the great potential that social media has for sharing science, it is also an avenue that is littered with inaccurate scientific claims (30). As tools like Facebook become primary news sources for our younger generations, it is becoming increasingly important to equip our students with a baseline scientific literacy that will allow them to separate informed scientific statements from biased or invalid claims (10). Each of the learning artifacts produced from this study are designed to reinforce the skill set needed to achieve science literacy. For me, science literacy includes the ability to identify, evaluate, interpret, and integrate scientific resources. This aligns with the definition given by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (31). After introducing the case studies through reading a biased news article in class, the students are provided with a brief description of potential characters they can play in the case study. The characters have a broad range of educational backgrounds and jobs, and each character has vested interest in the case study headline. Examples of characters from previous studies include: oral contraceptive CEO, Endocrine Society member, Planned Parenthood doctor, women’s rights activist, and a natural family planning supporter. Student proposals for characters, such as a conspiracy theorist, are also considered. Upon selecting a character identity, the students must: (1) Gather and synthesize data into a well-supported character statement. (2) Articulate a sound argument that aligns with their character during the online discussion. (3) Create a final statement on the headline, including recommendations for future scientific work that is independent of their character role. (4) Show evidence of the ability to assess resources and scientific statements through periodic tests and a final cumulative exam. A description of each learning artifact is provided below with additional details and example assignments available by Geyer (32).

Learning Artifact #1: Character Profile Research & Paper Creation The character profile essay is a persuasive presentation of the character’s perception of the news headline that uses a minimum of 5 resources that are appropriate to the character’s education level and area of expertise. The skills to complete the research and synthesize the material into a character profile essay are scaffolded into the first three weeks of class. The piece-wise introduction of materials serves two purposes: (1) to minimize overwhelming students by limiting the amount of content presented at one time; and (2) to continually engage students with case study materials so that they are less likely to procrastinate completing the learning artifacts. During this time, reference librarians introduce the students to tools they will need to create their character profile essays, including: library databases, search engines, library guides for citing in ACS 6 Christiansen and Weber; Teaching and the Internet: The Application of Web Apps, Networking, and Online Tech for ... ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.

format, and the Chemical Abstract Services source index. This is often the students’ first introduction to using the interlibrary loan process, which is an essential service at a small university with a minimal number of scientific journals available. The students learn and practice how to read and begin to evaluate journal articles during their laboratory discussions. I evaluate the character profile essays based on character depth, argument support, citation appropriateness, and citation format. A minimum of a week is available between the students receiving feedback on the essay and the actual case study discussion in order to allow them time to complete any follow up research in response to the essay evaluation.


Learning Artifact #2: Facebook Case Study Discussion After establishing a foundational knowledge on the character’s headline stance through the character profile essay, the students are well-prepared for the 10-day discussion on the headline using Facebook. The students are required to make at least 10 comments, including citations. I assess the comments daily based on depth, accuracy, appropriateness for character role, whether they are initiating or responding to discussion thread, and originality. In order to ensure an interactive discussion, at least half of the comments must be in response to a post. I recommend limiting the case study size to 40 students and running case studies sequentially for larger courses. This allows enough time for me to evaluate a minimum of 400 comments, and for the students to track the discussion. I encourage the students to comment earlier in the study because it becomes increasingly difficult to avoid being redundant as the discussion progresses. Generally, those students that are redundant have not been following the entirety of the case study over the 10-day period and thus are unaware of the previous comments. In order to avoid this, I require the students to make at least half of their comments by the study midpoint.

Learning Artifact #3: Reflection Paper In their reflection paper, the students now move from playing a character to expressing their own personal perception of the headline. The students are required to suggest actions to help further research and potentially resolve some of the issues at hand. All presented arguments require appropriate references and ACS citing formats.

Learning Artifact #4: Exams Scaffolded learning is reinforced throughout the term. During the first exam the students are required to evaluate citations to determine what type of sources were used and their potential validity (Figure 1). During subsequent exams and the cumulative final exam, the students show mastery of these skills by evaluating citations and scientific statements for potential bias. 7 Christiansen and Weber; Teaching and the Internet: The Application of Web Apps, Networking, and Online Tech for ... ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.


Figure 1. Example Exam Question

Case Study Results Overview Fourteen case studies have been administered in 7 classes of Principles of Chemistry II (275 students) at the University of Saint Francis between January 2011 and May 2016. Thirteen of the case studies were conducted and assessed by the same professor. The data reported herein is from subgroups of those case studies, indicated by the year that the case study was conducted. Successive offerings of the course have led to increased integration of the case study into the course by incorporating additional learning artifacts and discussion elements throughout the course term. Facebook Posting Analysis During these active discussions, the Facebook interface allows students to use a variety of resources to support their claims –such as videos, songs, and 8 Christiansen and Weber; Teaching and the Internet: The Application of Web Apps, Networking, and Online Tech for ... ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.


images. Without this interface, these resources would be unavailable for in-class discussions. As one example, students conducted a poll, shown in Figure 2, to help others understand the magnitude of a situation.

Figure 2. Example Case Study Poll on Facebook Conducted in 2016

An additional benefit of using Facebook is that students can provide direct links to articles (Figure 2). The ease of reference access increases the likelihood that students will review the reference supporting the post. This has led to dynamic Facebook discussions on the misuse of references that result from taking a scientific claim out of its original context. In order to help students understand the ease with which this can be achieved, I’ve used clips from a personal interview that have been truncated to show that a message can be altered by removing small amounts of content. Students also highlight the presence of bias or lack of peer review in articles during the Facebook discussions, building a conversation about what is an appropriate resource. Even the headlines I originally presented to the students become a discussion thread as they outline how message framing in headlines can polarize an audience. The students’ abilities to identify appropriate resources based on bias, resource quality, and many other standards were further assessed through final exam questions with a B average score earned (32). The citations associated with each Facebook post were analyzed to determine if the students engaged with resources beyond those used to support their character profile essay. Each student post was classified as either (1) using a citation from their character profile essay or (2) using a citation not from their character profile essay. In a 2016 study of 64 students making a total of 753 comments, an average of 67% (±28) of the comments used a resource that the students did not cite in their character profile paper. Furthermore, over 95% of students consulted with at least one resource beyond those used for their character profile paper. Citations that were used from new resources still had to meet the requirements for a quality citation in order to earn credit for the case study. A summary of the distribution of new citations used during the Facebook case study is shown in Figure 3. 9 Christiansen and Weber; Teaching and the Internet: The Application of Web Apps, Networking, and Online Tech for ... ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.


Figure 3. Distribution of Students Accessing New Resources during the Facebook Discussion in 2016

An analysis of the resource usage distribution tail groups, A and B, in Figure 3 reveals some shared characteristics of the students. In Group A, the students (1) used more than 5 resources to create their character profile essay, and/or (2) contributed to the discussion earlier in the 10 day study. Group B students demonstrated the following 4 characteristics: (1) (2) (3) (4)

didn’t complete the character profile essay, waited until the last minute to complete the study, commented well above the minimum 10 comments, presented data or arguments during the Facebook discussion that originally weren’t clearly part of their character profile.

Bullet number 4 is directly captured through a student’s realization of how selective exposure to content influences perception and judgment (33). “When I was researching my topic and writing the perspective paper all of the journal articles I found only talked about oral contraceptives being the cause so that is what I wrote about. Throughout the Facebook discussion I discovered other major sources of endocrine disruptors in the water.” – 2014 Reflection Paper In general, the well-prepared participants for the Facebook case study did not use one set range of citation habits. The less-prepared and later study participants used largely new resources during the discussion. For the later study participants, the discussion had moved much deeper than the student’s profile papers, so further research was required in order to make a substantial comment. Overall, the citation usage illustrates how an online case study allows students to readily explore additional resources (those beyond what they used to create their character profile essay) as they construct their responses to different Facebook postings. 10 Christiansen and Weber; Teaching and the Internet: The Application of Web Apps, Networking, and Online Tech for ... ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.

Thus an online case study encourages students to continually research background materials as they work through the discussion. This helps students understand that research is an evolving process that requires examining more than a small set of articles to gain a full understanding of the situation.


Assessment of Character Profile Essays and Reflections In the final reflection, the students described their personal perspective on what should be done to work through the issues discussed during the case studies. In response, the students repeatedly emphasized the need for scientists to help the general public gain basic scientific literacy. One student’s comment captures the essence of many of the essays: “It is difficult to say what will happen in the future, but we know that we cannot just sit back and wait for the future to arrive. Our actions now, whether they are conscious and intentional or complacent and negligent will determine what future we will have.” – 2015 Reflection Paper In both the character profile essay and the final reflections, I evaluated the references for citation style accuracy and appropriateness to character. In the 2016 case study, over half of the students (52%) who originally made errors in their citations on the character profile essay improved their performance on the final reflection.

Connecting to University Mission, Values, and Other Disciplines The use of character roles helps to reveal the cross-over of content between disciplines during the case study. This is shown through students quoting other professors and classes during the case study and their reflection papers. The close relationship of many scientific disciplines is highlighted through one student’s realization: “I had heard of epigenetics in biology class, but I had no idea that it could be applied to the endocrine disruptor situation.” – 2015 Reflection Paper This helps students to find value in a class that is “just a requirement.” Furthermore, a connection to the University of Saint Francis core values of (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

Respect creation Foster peace and justice Reverence the unique dignity of each person Encourage a trustful, prayerful community of learners; and Serve one another, society, and the Church.

can be seen through the following comment: 11 Christiansen and Weber; Teaching and the Internet: The Application of Web Apps, Networking, and Online Tech for ... ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.


“Consider that we are made of the same atoms as everything else in the environment and because of that common make-up we have a common place within the community of life. Before these atoms made up this body that I have, they may have very well been in another organism and other organisms before that. We depend on the environment for everything that pertains to physical life and so does every other organism. The environment can’t tell us what it wants or doesn’t want us to do to it—it can only reflect what’s been done. Likewise, neither can the organisms advocate for themselves. It is the responsibility of the stronger to advocate for the weaker or those who can’t speak for themselves. Unfortunately, who gets to draw the line or who is responsible for drawing it seems to be economically or politically driven many times. To me, it doesn’t really matter who we say is responsible for drawing the line—our nation has given that to entities like the EPA, local governments, etc. I think being effective citizens—citizens in the old sense with an emphasis of fulfilling responsibilities and duties for the betterment of the city or state, rather than an emphasis on rights or a more selfish view—is a good way of looking at it because there is room for everyone to contribute at the place where they live with the knowledge of what economic means are available. A good book about this is: Leopold, Aldo, A Sand County Almanac, New York: Ballantine Books, 1949.” − 2015 Reflection Paper

Student Case Study Perception A survey of 53 students participating in the 2012 case study revealed that 74% preferred case studies occurring on a social network relative to a face-toface format. An analysis of student comfort in case study pedagogy found that an additional 24% of students were comfortable with conducting a case study on Facebook relative to face-to-face as highlighted in Figure 4. Add in that 88% of students indicated that these case studies using Facebook should be repeated in the future, and it becomes clear that the students, as expressed below, are connecting with case studies using Facebook (34). “It was great being able to talk and converse with other students my age about an ongoing problem in the world. It was awesome to be able to do some research on a subject, to see what other students thought about the subject, but the greatest thing was the role that each of us had to fulfill. I loved being given the constraint of having to view things from a primary healthcare physician… I really did enjoy this study. I think it is a fantastic idea and that you should keep doing it!” – 2015 Reflection Paper



Figure 4. Class distribution of comfort (agreed or strongly agreed) in case study implementation. Adapted with permission from reference (32). Copyright 2014 ACS.

Conclusions and Future Work Facebook provided an avenue for me to connect with my students that stimulated excitement and interactions with an intensity that I hadn’t witnessed previously in my general chemistry course. In addition to being my students’ preferred format for a case study, Facebook greatly enhanced the number of resources that students read in order to support their stances in the scientific discussions. As reflected in the quote below, this created the realization that being prepared for a scientific discussion involves more than reading a handful of articles. It requires one to be able to analyze, articulate, reflect, and continually research materials from both sides of the situation in order to come out ahead. “I also found that you can’t just read one article and take it at face value, you really need to look into a multitude of aspects in order to try to understand what is really occurring.” – 2014 Reflection Paper Facebook has rapidly grown from an arena for updating friends and family on the latest life changes to a forum for communicating science to a multitude of audiences. Amid increased numbers of measles cases, the withdrawal of the US from the Paris Climate Agreement, and the growing prevalence of misinformed science, understanding the role that social media plays in communicating science is essential to the scientists of the future (34, 35). In response to this need, the California Institute of Technology has developed an entire course about using social media to engage scientists and the general public (36). These case studies are just one step in helping students to realize the need for scientists to excel at communicating in a broad range of forums (37, 38). Realizing that one semester will not allow students to fully understand and master the skills of communicating science through social media, I would like to integrate social media exposure throughout the chemistry curriculum. For instance, my 13 Christiansen and Weber; Teaching and the Internet: The Application of Web Apps, Networking, and Online Tech for ... ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.


environmental chemistry students have already begun designing a project that will involve future renditions of the course looking at the interplay of politics and science through Wikipedia. In senior capstone, the seniors could participate in the general chemistry case studies by providing feedback to the general chemistry students. The provided feedback would then be assessed by the professor. Even the current case studies are likely to take on a new dimension in the future as a result of the changing landscape of the interface of science and politics in the United States. Previous student reflection papers frequently emphasized that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) needed to take a greater lead in resolving the situations highlighted in the case study headlines. Now, with decreases in EPA funding, the students are going to have to take their reflection papers much deeper into the realms of politics, which presently the students have covered by just saying “government action needs to take place” (39). Intentionally introducing students to the relationship that exists between science and government in their academic career is quickly becoming a necessity in the United States. Facebook case studies are one route to approaching this challenge.

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