Publications

Jan 15, 2024 Editorial

Welcome to 2024: issues and trends occupying JCOM this year

As we usher in 2024, we highlight some of the issues and trends that are occupying JCOM, and the fields of science communication and academic publishing more generally.

Volume 23Issue 012024

Dec 11, 2023 Editorial

Science communication in higher education: global perspectives on the teaching of science communication

by Joseph Roche , Anne M. Land-Zandstra , Bruce V. Lewenstein , Luisa Massarani

This special issue focuses on the global landscape of teaching science communication in higher education. Following an open call, we selected seven papers with topics including the geographical distribution of science communication programmes, indicators of quality, programme analysis, self-reporting tools, interdisciplinarity, sustainability, and competencies. Collectively, these contributions highlight how the field has grown and increased in complexity, and highlights challenges faced by educators and the significance of addressing them within local and global contexts.

Volume 22Issue 062023Special Issue: Science communication in higher education: global perspectives on the teaching of science communication (Teaching Science Communication)

Dec 11, 2023 Article

The distribution of science communication teaching around the globe

by Luisa Massarani , Heather Bray , Marina Joubert , Andy Ridgway , Joseph Roche , Fiona Smyth , Elizabeth Stevenson , Frans van Dam , Willian Vieira de Abreu

In the context of a special issue of this journal focused on teaching science communication, we present a map of the geographical distribution of 122 science communication teaching programmes from 31 countries around the world. This mapping study resulted from a collaboration between members of the PCST Teaching Forum and the research team at GlobalSCAPE, a research project funded by the European Commission to explore the global state of science communication. Our findings highlight the concentration of these programmes in the U.S.A. and Europe, and the dominance of English as the language of instruction. We ponder the causes and implications of the disparities in opportunities for studying science communication in other world regions and languages. The dearth of science communication educational pathways in developing countries may limit the professionalisation of the field, as well as research and evidence-based practice that is locally needed and relevant.

Volume 22Issue 062023Special Issue: Science communication in higher education: global perspectives on the teaching of science communication (Teaching Science Communication)

Dec 11, 2023 Article

Training researchers and planning science communication and dissemination activities: testing the QUEST model in practice and theory

by Ebe Pilt , Marju Himma-Kadakas

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.

Volume 22Issue 062023Special Issue: Science communication in higher education: global perspectives on the teaching of science communication (Teaching Science Communication)

Dec 11, 2023 Article

Is training in science communication useful to find and practice a specialised job?

by Nuria Saladie , Carolina Llorente , Gema Revuelta

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.

Volume 22Issue 062023Special Issue: Science communication in higher education: global perspectives on the teaching of science communication (Teaching Science Communication)

Dec 11, 2023 Article

The teaching of science communication in higher medical education in Peru in the context of the COVID-19 post-pandemic

by Alessandro Strobbe , Michelle C. Chirinos-Arias , Joe Lucero , Enrique Rojas

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.

Volume 22Issue 062023Special Issue: Science communication in higher education: global perspectives on the teaching of science communication (Teaching Science Communication)

Dec 11, 2023 Essay

Strengthening interdisciplinarity in science communication education: promise, pleasures and problems

by Brian Trench

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.

Volume 22Issue 062023Special Issue: Science communication in higher education: global perspectives on the teaching of science communication (Teaching Science Communication)

Dec 11, 2023 Article

Integrating sustainability into a higher education science communication course

by Sabrina Vitting-Seerup , Marianne Achiam

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.

Volume 22Issue 062023Special Issue: Science communication in higher education: global perspectives on the teaching of science communication (Teaching Science Communication)

Dec 11, 2023 Essay

Science communication as interdisciplinary training

by Matthew Wood

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.

Volume 22Issue 062023Special Issue: Science communication in higher education: global perspectives on the teaching of science communication (Teaching Science Communication)

Dec 06, 2023 Article

Which scientist are you? Creating self-outgroup overlap with a scientist through a personality matching game

by Alexandra L. Beauchamp , Su-Jen Roberts , Craig Piper

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.

Volume 22Issue 052023

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