scholarly journals Collaboration for chemistry communication: Insights from a research-practice partnership

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (04) ◽  
pp. N01
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Kunz Kollmann ◽  
Marta Beyer ◽  
Emily Howell ◽  
Allison Anderson ◽  
Owen Weitzman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Informal Education ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Research Practice ◽  
Science Museums ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The Public ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Perceived Relevance ◽  
Data Collections

As several recent National Academies of Sciences reports have highlighted, greater science communication research is needed on 1) communicating chemistry, and 2) building research-practice partnerships to advance communication across science issues. Here we report our insights in both areas, gathered from a multi-year collaboration to advance our understanding of how to communicate about chemistry with the public. Researchers and practitioners from science museums across the U.S. partnered with academic social scientists in science communication to develop and conduct multi-strand data collections on chemistry communication and informal education. Our focus was on increasing interest in, the perceived relevance of, and self-efficacy concerning chemistry through hands-on activities and connecting chemistry to broader themes concerning everyday life and societal impacts. We outline challenges and benefits of the project that future collaborations can gain from and illustrate how our strands of work complemented each other to create a more complete picture of public perceptions of chemistry.

scholarly journals What does the UK public want from academic science communication?

F1000Research ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 1261 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Redfern ◽  
Sam Illingworth ◽  
Joanna Verran
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Academic Science ◽  
Open Door ◽  
Intended Audience ◽  
The Public ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Hands On ◽  
The Uk

The overall aim of public academic science communication is to engage a non-scientist with a particular field of science and/or research topic, often driven by the expertise of the academic. An e-survey was designed to provide insight into respondent’s current and future engagement with science communication activities. Respondents provided a wide range of ideas and concerns as to the ‘common practice’ of academic science communication, and whilst they support some of these popular approaches (such as open-door events and science festivals), there are alternatives that may enable wider engagement. Suggestions of internet-based approaches and digital media were strongly encouraged, and although respondents found merits in methods such as science festivals, limitations such as geography, time and topic of interest were a barrier to engagement for some. Academics and scientists need to think carefully about how they plan their science communication activities and carry out evaluations, including considering the point of view of the public, as although defaulting to hands-on open door events at their university may seem like the expected standard, it may not be the best way to reach the intended audience.

scholarly journals Science museums as political places. Representing nanotechnology in European science museums

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (04) ◽  
pp. C02 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brice Laurent
Keyword(s):  
Science Communication ◽  
Public Understanding Of Science ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
The Political ◽  
Science Museums ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Role ◽  
European Science ◽  
Understanding Of Science ◽  
Global Public Policy

Science museums perform representations of science and that of its publics. They have been called to intervene in nanotechnology within global public policy programs expected to develop the field. This paper discusses the case of European science museums. It starts by examining the case of a European project that involved science museums working on nanotechnology. This example illustrates a "democratic imperative" that European science museums face, and which implies a transformation of their public role. It offers a path for the analysis of the current evolution of European science communication perspective – from "public understanding of science" to "scientific understanding of the public" – and of the political construction this evolution enacts.

scholarly journals Science is not for me. Visitors’ attitudes to learning in an Italian science centre

2006 ◽  
Vol 05 (02) ◽  
pp. A02
Author(s):  
Monia Cardella
Keyword(s):  
San Francisco ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Science Museums ◽  
Complex Issue ◽  
Scientific Exploration ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Master Thesis ◽  
Science Centre ◽  
Italian Science

Following the example of the Exploratorium in San Francisco, interactive science museums are meant to be informal and enjoyable places where visitors, regardless of their age and background, are stimulated to practice their abilities to explore the world from a scientific point of view or to reacquire it in the case of adults who are far from science for professional reasons. Our study, which belongs to a relatively recent, but increasingly richer and complex tradition of researches on this topic, aims at contributing to answering the question whether, within the context of hands-on museums, this desired reacquisition of scientific exploration actually occurs for all visitors; more precisely, it aims at contributing to the discussion resulting from this question with reference to both possible answers and methods to find them. The study described below was carried out for a Science Communication Master thesis in Trieste (student: Monia Cardella, supervisor: Paola Rodari) and, therefore, it is inevitably limited: in fact, in order to deal with such a complex issue and to perform more detailed investigations on the field longer time and more resources would have been necessary. However, both methods used and results obtained from it, although provisional, are significant enough to deserve our attention.

Student Identity and Aversions to Science

2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine F. Brooks
Keyword(s):  
Physical Environment ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Science Identity ◽  
Student Identity ◽  
Biodiversity Informatics ◽  
The Public ◽  
Student Talk ◽  
Language Interventions ◽  
Data Collections

Biodiversity informatics (BDI) is a science focused on biodiversity data management, and BDI courses cast students’ attention to matters related to the physical environment, global change, translating data collections across multiple sciences, and also to the translation needed to bring BDI findings from the scholarly community to the public. Even as students learn about science communication in BDI courses, they struggle to translate their studies into their own identities and lives. Based on an examination of student talk in a course on BDI and Science Communication, this research illustrates how students linguistically frame science and their science identity. The data show that obstacles barring the taking up of a science identity are plentiful, and that those barriers often relate to issues of identity and language. Interventions for addressing this translational problem, the disruptions to sharing scientific information, are discussed.

scholarly journals Characterizing public perceptions of social and cultural impacts in policy decisions

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (24) ◽  
pp. e2020491118
Author(s):  
Nathan F. Dieckmann ◽  
Robin Gregory ◽  
Terre Satterfield ◽  
Marcus Mayorga ◽  
Paul Slovic
Keyword(s):  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Public ◽  
Cultural Impacts ◽  
Single Category ◽  
Economic Considerations

Social scientists and community advocates have expressed concerns that many social and cultural impacts important to citizens are given insufficient weight by decision makers in public policy decision-making. In two large cross-sectional surveys, we examined public perceptions of a range of social, cultural, health, economic, and environmental impacts. Findings suggest that valued impacts are perceived through an initial lens that highlights both tangibility (how difficult it is to understand, observe, and make changes to an impact) and scope (how broadly an impact applies). Valued impacts thought to be less tangible and narrower in scope were perceived to have less support by both decision makers and the public. Nearly every valued impact was perceived to have more support from the public than from decision makers, with the exception of three economic considerations (revenues, profits, and costs). The results also demonstrate that many valued impacts do not fit neatly into the single-category distinctions typically used as part of impact assessments and cost–benefit analyses. We provide recommendations for practitioners and suggest ways that these results can foster improvements to the quality and defensibility of risk and impact assessments.

HANDS-ON GEODESY: ENGAGING THE PUBLIC AND FOSTERING INTERN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel W. Zietlow ◽  
◽  
Beth Bartel ◽  
Shelley E. Olds
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
The Public ◽  
Hands On

Living machines in our cultural imagination

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Szollosy
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Science Fiction ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
Cultural Imagination ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
The Future ◽  
Public Imagination ◽  
The Human Condition

Public perceptions of robots and artificial intelligence (AI)—both positive and negative—are hopelessly misinformed, based far too much on science fiction rather than science fact. However, these fictions can be instructive, and reveal to us important anxieties that exist in the public imagination, both towards robots and AI and about the human condition more generally. These anxieties are based on little-understood processes (such as anthropomorphization and projection), but cannot be dismissed merely as inaccuracies in need of correction. Our demonization of robots and AI illustrate two-hundred-year-old fears about the consequences of the Enlightenment and industrialization. Idealistic hopes projected onto robots and AI, in contrast, reveal other anxieties, about our mortality—and the transhumanist desire to transcend the limitations of our physical bodies—and about the future of our species. This chapter reviews these issues and considers some of their broader implications for our future lives with living machines.

scholarly journals Examining Australian public perceptions and behaviors towards a future COVID-19 vaccine

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly Seale ◽  
Anita E. Heywood ◽  
Julie Leask ◽  
Meru Sheel ◽  
David N. Durrheim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Private Health Insurance ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Multivariable Logistic Regression Model ◽  
Careful Planning ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Public ◽  
Individual Perceptions ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Early Indication

Abstract Background As immunisation program launches have previously demonstrated, it is essential that careful planning occurs now to ensure the readiness of the public for a COVID-19 vaccine. As part of that process, this study aimed to understand the public perceptions regarding a future COVID-19 vaccine in Australia. Methods A national cross-sectional online survey of 1420 Australian adults (18 years and older) was undertaken between 18 and 24 March 2020. The statistical analysis of the data included univariate and multivariable logistic regression model analysis. Results Respondents generally held positive views towards vaccination. Eighty percent (n = 1143) agreed with the statement that getting myself vaccinated for COVID-19 would be a good way to protect myself against infection. Females (n = 614, 83%) were more likely to agree with the statement than males (n = 529, 78%) (aOR = 1.4 (95% CI: 1.1–1.8); P = 0.03), while 91% of those aged 70 years and above agreed compared to 76% of 18–29-year-olds (aOR = 2.3 (95% CI:1.2–4.1); P = 0.008). Agreement was also higher for those with a self-reported chronic disease (aOR = 1.4 (95% CI: 1.1–2.0); P = 0.04) and among those who held private health insurance (aOR = 1.7 (95% CI: 1.3–2.3); P < 0.001). Beyond individual perceptions, 78% stated that their decision to vaccinate would be supported by family and friends. Conclusion This study presents an early indication of public perceptions towards a future COVID-19 vaccine and represents a starting point for mapping vaccine perceptions. To support an effective launch of these new vaccines, governments need to use this time to understand the communities concerns and to identify the strategies that will support engagement.

Public perceptions of who counts as a scientist for controversial science

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 797-811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brianne Suldovsky ◽  
Asheley Landrum ◽  
Natalie Jomini Stroud
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Genetically Modified Organisms ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Us ◽  
Science Media

In an era where expertise is increasingly critiqued, this study draws from the research on expertise and scientist stereotyping to explore who the public considers to be a scientist in the context of media coverage about climate change and genetically modified organisms. Using survey data from the United States, we find that political ideology and science knowledge affect who the US public believes is a scientist in these domains. Our results suggest important differences in the role of science media attention and science media selection in the publics “scientist” labeling. In addition, we replicate previous work and find that compared to other people who work in science, those with PhDs in Biology and Chemistry are most commonly seen as scientists.

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