This study tests the potential of using the QUEST model in science communication teaching and applying the model in planning communication and dissemination (C&D) activities for research applications. Based on the training analysis, we reason that the QUEST model provides relevant criteria for understanding the function of science communication. We argue that the QUEST indicators create a theoretical foundation that can be applied in science communication courses at different levels of higher education. However, the model functions better as a supportive tool for reasoning and perceiving communication activities. The qualitative analysis of research applications' C&D activities indicates the applicability of the QUEST model for analysing C&D activities, and single indicators of the model are evident in most of the conducted activities. In the theoretical framework, we look at the dependence of the quality of science communication on general trends: the functioning of deficit and dialogical or deliberative communication models in contemporary society and in the context of mediatisation.
This study investigates how knowledge, skills and competences obtained during science communication postgraduate programmes impact alumni's experience in entering the workforce and in practicing their roles. Spanish programmes have been analysed with a double methodology: semi-structured interviews with programme directors (12 out of a total of 13) and a survey for programme alumni (134 answers). Results show that programmes are useful for alumni to find and practice a job. Teachings that are the most useful for alumni to find and practice a job, as well as programme shortcomings, are identified.
The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of effective science communication skills among medical students. Developing countries, in particular, face unique challenges in assessing the adequacy of such training. To bridge this knowledge gap, we designed and administered a survey in Spanish to evaluate science communication skills among Peruvian medical students (n=69). Our preliminary study demonstrates the statistical robustness of the survey and provides valuable insights into self-reported science communication proficiency. By identifying the strengths and areas for improvement in science communication, this research represents a crucial step in addressing the communication challenges within the Peruvian healthcare system.
Science communication education is fundamentally concerned with relations between and within communities, cultures and institutions. Through exploration of these relations, it develops understanding of how knowledge is produced, shared and validated. Science communication operates at the boundaries and intersections of disciplines in its professional practice and it analyses them in research and education. At its interdisciplinary best, science communication is a continuing exercise in reflexivity on science and its place in wider intellectual and public culture. From this “premise”, this essay reflects on the “promise” of bringing perspectives from humanities, social sciences and natural sciences to bear on science, the “pleasures” of science communication as “joyously interdisciplinary”, but also on the “problems” in fulfilling the promise and realising the pleasures. It closes with a “proposition” for giving interdisciplinarity a more prominent place in science communication education.
The global problems we face call for universities to prioritise science communication education and training. Here, we describe how we integrated sustainability into a master-level course in science communication through three iterations. By retrospectively analysing our actions and reflections, we demonstrate how and why we progressed from education about sustainability to education for sustainability, and finally education as sustainability. We conclude by discussing our findings, and offering our implications for the teaching and learning of sustainability science communication and of science communication.
Science communication education has come a long way thanks in part to broad recognition of the importance of communication skills and the capacity for science communication courses to address that need. Similarly, the current rise in demand for interdisciplinary competencies offers new opportunities for the advancement of science communication education, and for greater contribution to preparing graduates for a rapidly changing world.
Based in intergroup contact theory, we investigated how messaging about shared characteristics affects perceived closeness with scientists (i.e., self-outgroup overlap). In an online study, participants ($N=486$) played a personality matching game that matched them with a real scientist, then they responded to a survey. We replicated the study at a zoo ($N=63$) to examine implementation as a facilitated game. Self-scientist overlap improved in the online setting; in the in situ setting, trust increased, but not self-scientist overlap. Findings suggest that learning about how one scientist is similar to one's self can increase perceived closeness to scientists overall.
In this study, we aim to analyse human emotional responses towards animals, specifically birds, in the context of a visit to a zoo. The study was carried out with seven families in Parque das Aves. The visits were recorded using the point-of-view-camera method, and the data was analysed using qualitative software to identify emotion descriptors. The findings from our study reveal that the physical characteristics of birds, such as their patterns and colours, as well as their behaviours and abilities, triggered emotional responses that were associated with admiration for the species, concern for their well-being and awareness of conservation issues, enabling these families to construct meaning.
Relatively few studies have explored the communication practices of researchers and journalists working in African contexts. We set out to explore the communication activities undertaken by Nigerian health researchers and journalists, their motivations and the barriers they face in communicating about health topics with lay audiences, as well as their trust in a range of sources of scientific information. The study adopted a survey methodology, recruiting 69 participants at a communications training workshop for both health researchers and journalists. We found high levels of participation in research communication amongst health researchers compared with previous work. While many barriers are similar to those faced by researchers in other contexts, our respondents highlighted that lack of support from managers is a significant hurdle, which has not been highlighted in other studies. Both journalists and researchers primarily communicate science with the aim of educating, informing, entertaining or inspiring their audiences. Regarding trust, both researchers and journalists broadly trust sources linked to science, such as academic journals. However, trust in industry, NGOs and other media was higher amongst journalists than health researchers. Least trust was invested in social media sources, with the exception of material posted on accounts linked to universities.
Public science events are valued primarily as sites of individual learning. We explored the individual and collective value of university-based science events discussing climate change and motivations to attend. While events were most commonly valued as opportunities for learning, their social context created collective value associated with the physical gathering of like-minded people. Participants despairing at inaction on climate change were given agency through learning, participation, interpersonal discussions and normalising new behaviours. Post-event interpersonal discussions increase the reach of events beyond “the choir”. These discussions increase the diversity of messengers, creating opportunities for new framings and understandings of climate change.