Digital information and communication technologies (ICTs) are novelty tools that can be used to facilitate broader involvement of citizens in the discussions about science. The same tools can be used to reinforce the traditional top-down model of science communication. Empirical investigations of particular technologies can help to understand how these tools are used in the dissemination of information and knowledge as well as stimulate a dialog about better models and practices of science communication. This study focuses on one of the ICTs that have already been adopted in science
This study examines the nature of peer-to-peer interactions in public online comment spaces. From a theoretical perspective of boundary-work and expertise, the comments posted in response to three health sciences news articles from a national newspaper are explored to determine whether both scientific and personal expertise are recognized and taken up in discussion. Posts were analysed for both explicit claims to expertise and implicit claims embedded in discourse. The analysis suggests that while both scientific and personal expertise are proffered by commenters, it is scientific expertise
This study examines the nature of peer-to-peer interactions in public online comment spaces. From a theoretical perspective of boundary-work and expertise, the comments posted in response to three health sciences news articles from a national newspaper are explored to determine whether both scientific and personal expertise are recognized and taken up in discussion. Posts were analysed for both explicit claims to expertise and implicit claims embedded in discourse. The analysis suggests that while both scientific and personal expertise are proffered by commenters, it is scientific expertise
Supported in major part by the National Science Foundation, The Human Spark (THS) project includes a three-part national PBS television series hosted by Alan Alda and a multifaceted outreach initiative to engage public television stations and their partner science museums nationwide in order to extend the utilization and impact of the project. As an independent evaluator, Multimedia Research was contracted by Thirteen to capture how the collaboration between television station and science museum outreach grantees and their respective outreach activities meet the stated goals of the outreach
Summative evaluation of the Worldviews Network, a NOAA-funded project comprised of institutions trying to create an innovative approach for engaging the public with topics of human induced global change. The project's approach sought to 1) leverage the power of immersive environments within informal science institutions (ISIs), such as planetariums and portable domes, by 2) incorporating visualizations of scientific data sets about relevant social-ecological issues as they relate to "planetary boundaries," framed by 3) a systems-based narrative approach that incorporated cosmic, global, and
Space Science Institute (SSI) is conducting an International Polar Year project in partnership with the Marine Advanced Technology Center (NSF-funded MATE, Monterey, CA) and the Challenger Learning Center of Colorado (CLCC) to produce and disseminate an online simulation of scientific explorations by the latest generation of Antarctic underwater remotely operated vehicles (ROV). The explorations are based on the ROV work of Dr. Stacey Kim of the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories and of Dr. Robert Pappalardo and Dr. Arthur Lane at the Jet Propulsion Lab. Products include the simulation, supporting materials and guides, a web site, and a CD Master. Targeted audiences include: (a) middle-school to college-aged students who participate in national annual underwater ROV competitions, (b) Challenger Learning Centers in Colorado and around the country, and (c) the "science attentive" public who will access the simulation via links to SSI and other web sites. Simulations will follow a game structure and feature Antarctic polar science. Estimated annual usage levels are: for MATE, 2000; for Challenger Centers, 300,000; for the general public, 100,000. The project is positioned to continue well beyond the official end of the International Polar Year
The Space Science Institute is developing an astronomy educational social game for the Facebook platform. The game uses the "sporadic play" model popular with many Facebook games, in which players take only a few actions at a time, then return to explore the results. Here players will create their own stars and planetary systems that evolve over time at a rate of a million years a minute. Players set systems in motion, revisiting the game over days or weeks to make new choices and alter strategies. The game is in effect an end-to-end solar system simulation, following a star from birth to death. As a result it encompasses a wide variety of core concepts in astronomy, including galactic structure, stellar evolution and lifecycles, planetary formation and evolution, and habitability and "habitable zones." The accompanying research program will examine the effectiveness of this type of game in informal education, and the effects of the social network on meeting the education goals, including viral spread, cooperative play, and discussions about the game and its underlying content in associated online forums.
National Geographic Television will develop a television series (tentatively titled "Aqua Kids") and transmedia program to introduce preschoolers and kindergarteners to the wonders and value of water. The goal is to empower young children's innate sense of inquiry and increase early environmental literacy by motivating young learners to make discoveries with water, inside and outside their homes. The grant would allow the National Geographic project team to: 1) research cutting-edge practices for teaching early learners environmental literacy and water principles; 2) convene content and creative advisors; 3) test one storybook and animatic (animated storyboard) with the target audience and their parents; 4) strategize best ways to create a transmedia project that capitalizes on emerging digital platforms, reaches audiences most in need, and takes advantage of National Geographic resources, including National Geographic's ongoing global water conservation outreach missions. Insight Research Group will conduct formative evaluation using the animatic and interviews with parents to help identify barriers to extend the television experience with their children to outdoor activities and beyond. The project partners include Project WET, a youth water education project, NOAA's Office of Marine Sanctuaries, USDA Forest Service, the National Park Service as well as a number of museums and Think It Ink It Publishing. This Pathways Project will allow the project team to complete the groundwork necessary to create an innovative new multiplatform educational media resource. The Water Show will inspire outdoor science play, build inquiry and social skills and create a vital foundation for caring and respecting the most valuable natural resource, water. Fostering early appreciation for how Earth's "green parts" are wholly dependent on its "blue parts" is foundational for subsequent scientific learning and instrumental in building lasting respect for living systems and natural resources.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Tara SorensenMichelle SullivanTierney ThysSara Zeglin
Sea Studios Foundation will extend the Strange Days on Planet Earth multimedia initiative to raise public science literacy on pressing environmental issues. Based on pioneering Earth System Science research, Phase Two will be a media and outreach project focused on the ocean and water issues. The goal of the project is to increase public awareness and understanding of the scope and scale of key issues affecting the ocean. At the core of the project is a four part television documentary series for PBS primetime entitled Strange Days, Ocean. The programs will concentrate on four content areas: overexploitation of ocean resources, pollution, coastal development, climate change and the role of the ocean in Earth's system. Each episode is structured around a compelling scientific questions designed to engage the audience in a search for answers based on the most current research from the varied Earth System Science disciplines. The series focuses on explaining how scientists come to know what they know. The series will be complemented by activity-based learning supported by a national consortium of informal learning institutions, a citizen science program, training sessions for informal educators, and a project website. Collaborators include the National Geographic and three new major partners: Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Program to expand citizen science programs around invasive species; Americans for Informed Democracy (AID), dedicated to organizing college campus educational events; The Ocean Project (TOP), a network of 600 organizations; plus the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum and eight other informal science institutions. Knight Williams Research Communications, and Public Knowledge and Cultural Logic will assess the impact of the series. The project will contribute to the field of informal science education by providing widely applicable communication lessons on ocean and water issues and a model methodology for creating science education media that is credible, informative, and relevant. The results of two unique adult learning case studies will be shared with the field through presentations at national meetings and workshops, and posted online.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Mark ShelleyDavid EliscoTierney Thys
Living Liquid will identify strategies for creating visualization tools that can actively engage the public with emerging research about the ocean's microbes and their impact on our planet. It addresses a critical issue for the ISE field: creating ways for visitors to ask and answer their own questions about emerging areas of science with visualizations. This Pathway project will provide important lessons learned for a future full-scale development project at the Exploratorium's new location over San Francisco Bay, and for informal science educators and other professionals working to create interactive visualization tools using the vast data sets now available. Living Liquid is a collaboration between developers, educators and learning researchers at the Exploratorium, computer scientists at the Visualization Interface and Design Innovation Group at UC Davis, and marine scientists at the Center for Microbial Oceanography Research and Education. The project's research and development process includes a front-end study of visitors' interests and prior knowledge related to ocean microbes, interviews with scientists to identify potential datasets and activities, a survey of candidate visualizations, and a series of prototypes to identify promising strategies to engage visitors with and allow visitors to explore large scientific datasets through visualization tools.
Quest, produced by KQED, is a multimedia initiative designed to raise the profile of STEM issues throughout the Northern California region and activate citizens to discuss and investigate them. Led by KQED, Quest is created and maintained by an active consortium of 16 participating informal science education organizations. Based on the successful Quest model, KQED will build on its prior collaborative work to develop regional partnerships with other public broadcasting stations and community-based organizations around the country, making possible a new and innovative partnership in science media production and informal science education. This grant will support a) a growing collaborative of science centers, museums, research institutes, and community-based organizations for editorial development, education outreach, and content creation; b) the production of at least 10 hours of television, weekly radio science news reports, and a dynamic online website that supports and extends the broadcast material; and c) educational resources and professional development workshops. STEM content will encompass research drawn from the physical sciences, life sciences, and earth sciences. Most of the stories will also incorporate content about the technology and engineering used to support scientific endeavors. The KQED Educational Network (EdNet) will administer the community and educational outreach initiatives, including creating viewer/listener guides, developing and delivering workshops, and providing information built around Quest media. Project collaborators include the Bay Institute, California Academy of Sciences, Chabot Space and Science Center, East Bay Regional Park District, Exploratorium, Girl Scouts, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Hall of Science, Museum of Paleontology, Oakland Zoo, and The Tech Museum of Innovation. In expanding the model to regional hubs, Quest will also involve the Coalition for Public Understanding of Science (COPUS), the Encyclopedia of Life, and an array of peer public broadcasting organizations. This project offers a useful and exciting model for public television and radio stations nationally in building community collaborations that advance informal science education. The detailed and informed ways in which the team works with its community partners via multiple platforms are innovative. This proposal builds on prior work in Northern California to explore additional regional partnerships with other public broadcasting stations and community-based organizations, making possible a unique partnership in science media production and informal science education. This project extends reach by developing up to ten regional "hubs" across the country. Evaluation will be conducted by Rockman et al.