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Scientists often encounter challenges when communicating complex scientific concepts to nonexpert audiences. Effective communication plays a critical role in shaping public understanding of scientific issues and perceptions of scientific experts. Establishing students’ baseline knowledge of the field and scientific communication skills can help identify areas where undergraduate curricula may better support associated scientific communication. The research question for this study is: What are the baseline knowledge and scientific communication skills of students in a general microbiology course? This study evaluated undergraduate students’ ability to interpret and communicate microbiological information to a nonexpert audience while comparing their self-assessments with instructor evaluations of their performance. Participants read and interpreted a microbiology case study, then communicated their findings as if addressing a non-scientific audience. While participants communicated, an instructor evaluated their conceptual understanding and communication ability, after which participants completed a self-assessment survey. Overall, participants performed better at interpreting case study results and proposing scientific reasoning than at explaining the major findings to a non-scientific audience. Participants achieved modes of 3 for interpretation and scientific reasoning, but a mode of 1 for explanations to non-scientists, where 3 was the highest score and 1 the lowest. In self-evaluation, participants rated their own performance higher than the instructor evaluation for understanding assigned tasks (assessor mean = 3.24, participant mean = 4.57) and successfully completing them (assessor mean = 3.29, participant mean = 4.67). Participants frequently assumed their audience possessed baseline microbiological knowledge, omitting explanations of key concepts, methodological significance, and broader scientific connections. Consequently, translating technical knowledge into accessible language was the only category in which participants’ scores had an overall mode of 1. These findings identify a gap in students’ scientific communication skills and suggest that undergraduate curricula should provide targeted opportunities to practice audience-focused communication, receive clarity-focused feedback, and communicate scientific information without relying on discipline-specific jargon.
