This study investigates how different segments of the public, with varying degrees of interest in S&T, could formulate opinions on a broader vision and the role they think STI should play in Japanese society through 2020 (Tokyo's Olympic and Paralympic year) and toward 2030. We conducted nine inclusive public engagement activities. Results indicated that the broad public opinions did not completely overlap with officials' opinions, a value of “open and appropriate” was mainly found from the unengaged public, and the visions and values based on their opinions could well be incorporated into the
In this comment, we focus on the ways power impacts science communication collaborations. Following Fischhoff's suggestion of focusing on internal consultation within science communication activities, we examine the ways such consultation is complicated by existing power structures, which tend to prioritize scientific knowledge over other knowledge forms. This prioritization works in concert with funding structures and with existing cultural and social hierarchies to shape science communication in troubling ways. We discuss several strategies to address problematic power structures. These
We explore and discuss the diverse motives that drive science communication, pointing out that political motives are the major driving force behind most science communication programmes including so-called public engagement with science with the result that educational and promotional objectives are blurred and science communication activities are rarely evaluated meaningfully. Since this conflation of motives of science communication and the gap between political rhetoric and science communication practice could threaten the credibility of science, we argue for the restoration of a crucial
This report summarizes a Delphi study completed with 22 facilitators of climate adaptation workshops in the United States in 2020. The purpose of a Delphi study is to find areas of consensus around valued (or "best") practices in a particular field. In this case, the report focuses on valued practices for facilitating place-based climate adaptation workshops to maximize social learning and collective action outcomes associated with climate adaptation.
Over the past decade, science festival expos have emerged as popular opportunities for practicing scientists to engage in education outreach with public audiences. In this paper, a partial proportional odds model was used to analyze 5,498 surveys collected from attendees at 14 science expos around the United States. Respondents who report that they interacted with a scientist rated their experiences more positively than those who reported no such interaction on five categories: overall experience, learning, inspiration, fun, and awareness of STEM careers. The results indicate that scientists
The HMCS Yukon is a 366 ft. long former Canadian warship that was sunk in about 100 ft. of water off the coast of San Diego, California ( 32.7800, -117.2853) in 2000 to act as an artificial reef. The first scientific study of the marine life on the Yukon was done in 2005 by the San Diego Oceans Foundation and Dr. Ed Parnell of Scripps Institution of Oceanography. This study will document the current changes in the marine biodiversity that has colonized the shipwreck since the previous study. High resolution cameras and iNaturalist , a citizen science app which is maintained by the California
“Not a place for me” is often one of the main reasons people choose not to visit art museums.
Such perceptions of art museums call for institutions to create wider and more diverse entry points for visitors. At the Art Institute of Chicago—envisioned by our first president as a “museum of living thought”—we seek to continually expand art historical narratives by bringing together a plurality of perspectives and voices to processes of research, scientific and creative inquiry, and to increasingly varied modes of public engagement with art. To achieve these goals we developed a multifaceted
Historic art objects provide a collection of materials that have been naturally aged for decades or even centuries. In addition to the intrinsic archival value of these materials, they are also models for understanding property degradation over long periods of time. This project aims to develop computational and experimental tools needed to understand how these changes take place. To accomplish this task a research network has been established between Northwestern University and leaders in cultural heritage science from the Rijksmuseum and the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, the National Research Council in Italy, and the Synchrotron Soleil in France. This new infrastructure promises to deliver a significant enhancement of research and education resources (networks, partnership and increased access to facilities and instrumentation) to a diverse group of users. The art objects central to the project provide a series of well-defined case studies for investigating complex materials systems that are both applicable to materials education and push the limits of the existing analytical tools, thus inspiring instrumental innovations across broad sectors of the physical sciences. Further development of these tools will enable art conservators to more effectively make informed decisions about treatments of works of art, and to understand long-term materials degradation more generally. The project will also deliver a significant enhancement of research and education infrastructure by a diverse group of users and will provide meaningful, international research experience to 50 participants, with a strong emphasis on scientists at the beginning of their careers. In addition, the connections between science and art will illustrate the creative aspects of both disciplines to a very broad audience, attracting a more representative cross section of people into science.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Kenneth ShullFrancesca CasadioOliver CossairtAggelos KatsaggelosMarc Walton
The Space Science Institute’s (SSI) National Center for Interactive Learning (NCIL), in partnership with the American Society for Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the University of Virginia (UVA), was awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop and implement a 3-year program, Project BUILD (Building Using an Interactive Learning Design). Project BUILD aims to bring together public library staff from six libraries (three rural and three urban) and professional engineers from ASCE to engage youth in grades 2-5 and their families in age-appropriate, technology-rich
Meaningful science engagement beyond one-way outreach is needed to encourage science-based decision making. This pilot study aimed to instigate dialogue and deliberation concerning climate change and public health. Feedback from science café participants was used to design a panel-based museum exhibit that asked visitors to make action plans concerning such issues. Using intercept interviews and visitor comment card data, we found that visitors developed general or highly individualistic action plans to address these issues. Results suggest that employing participatory design methods when
Science Hunters is an outreach project which employs the computer game Minecraft to engage children with scientific learning and research through school visits, events, and extracurricular clubs. We principally target children who may experience barriers to accessing Higher Education, including low socioeconomic status, being the first in their family to attend university, and disability (including Special Educational Needs). The Minecraft platform encourages teamwork and makes science learning accessible and entertaining for children, irrespective of background. We employ a flexible approach
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Laura HobbsCarly StevensJackie HartleyCalum Hartley
Scholars continue to search for solutions to shift climate change skeptics’ views on climate science and policy. However, research has shown that certain audiences are resistant to change regarding environmental issues. To explore this issue further, we examine the presence of reactance among different audiences in response to simple, yet prominently used, climate change messages. Our results show that emphasizing the scientific consensus of climate change produces reactance, but only among people who question the existence of climate change. Moreover, adding political identification to the