Publications

Oct 14, 2019 Article

The power of storytelling and video: a visual rhetoric for science communication

This research develops a conceptual framework for telling visual stories about science using short-format videos, termed SciCommercial videos, that draw upon marketing communication. The framework is illustrated by an exemplar, the Good Whale Watching video, which is explained using a visual rhetoric keyframe analysis. Finally, the effectiveness of the video is evaluated as a science communication tool using an empirical online survey with 1698 respondents. The results highlight the benefits of using video for storytelling about science by using our framework formula, modified from marketing practices, to produce videos that are Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional, Science Storytelling (SUCCESS).

Volume 18Issue 052019Special Issue: Stories in Science Communication, 2019 (PCST Stories)

Oct 14, 2019 Article

Students as storytellers: mobile-filmmaking to improve student engagement in school science

by Kaitlyn Martin , Lloyd Davis , Susan Sandretto

Student engagement is an important predictor of choosing science-related careers and establishing a scientifically literate society: and, worryingly, it is on the decline internationally. Conceptions of science are strongly affected by school experience, so one strategy is to bring successful science communication strategies to the classroom. Through a project creating short science films on mobile devices, students' engagement greatly increased through collaborative learning and the storytelling process. Teachers were also able to achieve cross-curricular goals between science, technology, and literacy. We argue that empowering adolescents as storytellers, rather than storylisteners, is an effective method to increase engagement with science.

Volume 18Issue 052019Special Issue: Stories in Science Communication, 2019 (PCST Stories)

Oct 14, 2019 Editorial

Storytelling: the soul of science communication

by Marina Joubert , Lloyd Davis , Jenni Metcalfe

There is a renewed interest amongst science communication practitioners and scholars to explore the potential of storytelling in public communication of science, including to understand how science storytelling functions (or could fail) in different contexts. Drawing from storytelling as the core theme of the 2018 conference of the Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST) Network, we present a selection of papers, essays and practice insights that offer diverse perspectives. Some contributions focus on the cultural and structural qualities of science stories and its key success factors, while others explore new formats, platforms and collaborators in science storytelling activities.

Volume 18Issue 052019Special Issue: Stories in Science Communication, 2019 (PCST Stories)

Oct 14, 2019 Article

Telling it straight — a focus group study on narratives affecting public confidence in science

by Fredrik Brounéus , Maria Lindholm , Gustav Bohlin

Public confidence in research is important for scientific results to achieve societal impact. Swedish surveys suggest consistent but differing levels of confidence in different research areas. Thus, certain research-related factors can be assumed to have a decisive influence on confidence levels. This focus-group study explores the role of different narratives in shaping public confidence in research. Findings include four themes with potential to increase or decrease public confidence: Person, Process, Product and Presentation. The results offer insights as to how public confidence in research is formed and may give researchers agency in promoting confidence through their communication activities.

Volume 18Issue 052019Special Issue: Stories in Science Communication, 2019 (PCST Stories)

Sep 30, 2019 Commentary

The need for feminist approaches to science communication

by Bruce V Lewenstein

As science communication develops as a field of both practice and research, it needs to address issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion across a wide range, including race, power, class, gender. Doing so will require deeper understanding of conceptual work and practical activities that address those issues. This brief comment introduces a series of commentaries that provide one approach: feminist approaches to science communication.

Feminist standpoint theory and science communication

by Megan Halpern

Technoscience in the era of #MeToo and the science march

by Stephanie Steinhardt

Questioning the feminization in science communication

by Tania Pérez-Bustos

Catch 22 — improving visibility of women in science and engineering for both recruitment and retention

by Laura Fogg-Rogers and Laura Hobbs

What role can Athena SWAN play in gender equality and science communication?

by Clare Wilkinson

The seeming paradox of the need for a feminist agenda for science communication and the notion of science communication as a ‘ghetto’ of women's over-representation: perspectives, interrogations and nuances from the global south

by Elizabeth Rasekoala

Volume 18Issue 042019

Sep 23, 2019 Article

EPCOT theme park as a science communication space: the Test Track case

by Daniela Martin

Science and technology have become tools to legitimize messages that affect the world in terms of society, politics and economy. This paper presents part of the results of a study that analyzed the symbolic construction of the future in the scientific-technological discourse at EPCOT theme park in Orlando, Florida. The sociohistorical conditions and narrative strategies are analyzed based on the theoretical and methodological approach by John B. Thompson. The results highlighted that the construction of the notion of progress is strongly influenced by the commercial and political interests of the sponsors. In particular, the ‘Test Track’ ride totally lacks any discussion about the impact of cars on society and the environment. The future is presented as a utopian one without any possible disruption, a perception that permeated the development of the United States over the 20th century and is promoted even in the 21st century despite the evidence provided by multiple wars and crises.

Volume 18Issue 042019

Sep 16, 2019 Letter

Communicating science: lessons from a Twitterstorm

by Hannah Little

In early August 2019, the U.S.A. saw 2 significant mass shootings in just 48 hours. On Twitter, Neil deGrasse Tyson responded with a tweet to his millions of followers. He outlined the number of deaths in 48 hours from other causes, and seemed to disparage the human tendency to respond emotionally “more to spectacle than to data”. The tweet resulted in an uproar. This “twitterstorm” might provide important lessons for practicing science communicators. The first lesson outlined in this letter is about the use of analogy in science communication, and the second is about how emotion is addressed in science communication.

Volume 18Issue 042019

Sep 09, 2019 Practice Insight

Science live — articulating the aims and ethos of science event practitioners in the U.S.A. and U.K.

by Laura Fogg-Rogers , Ben Wiehe , Dane Comerford , Julie Fooshee , John Durant

Live science events engage publics with science in a social context. This article articulates the aims and ethos of this growing sector within a research context. Semi-structured interviews (N=13) and focus groups (N=77) were conducted with event practitioners (both professional and volunteers) in the U.S.A. and U.K.. Inductive thematic analysis indicated that event producers aim to raise awareness of and professionalism in the sector. In particular, they seek to develop research into long-term impacts of events for both audiences and practitioners.

Volume 18Issue 042019

Sep 02, 2019 Article

How does science fiction television shape fans' relationships to science? Results from a survey of 575 ‘Doctor Who’ viewers

by Lindy A. Orthia

Fiction is often credited with shaping public attitudes to science, but little science communication research has studied fans' deep engagement with a science-themed fiction text. This study used a survey to investigate the impacts of television series ‘Doctor Who’ (1963–89; 2005–present) on its viewers' attitudes to science, including their education and career choices and ideas about science ethics and the science-society relationship. The program's reported impacts ranged from causing participants to fact-check ‘Doctor Who’'s science to inspiring them to pursue a science career, or, more commonly, prompting viewers to think broadly and deeply about science's social position in diverse ways.

Volume 18Issue 042019

Aug 26, 2019 Article

Using humor to engage the public on climate change: the effect of exposure to one-sided vs. two-sided satire on message discounting, elaboration and counterarguing

by Amy Becker , Ashley A. Anderson

The research explores the differential impact of exposure to one-sided vs. two-sided satire about climate change on message processing. Analyzing experimental data (N =141) we find that one-sided satire offered by ‘The Onion’ ironically claiming that global warming is a hoax encourages viewers to engage in greater message elaboration and counterarguing. In contrast, two-sided satire offered by ‘The Weather Channel’ that makes jokes about those who believe in vs. reject human involvement in climate change is quickly discounted. We conclude by discussing the strategic value of incorporating one-sided satirical humor in communication efforts focused on climate change engagement.

Volume 18Issue 042019

Search results