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• Date of publication Apr 28, 2025 Category: Article

  National parks as vehicles for science communication: the science of signs

  by Lloyd Davis , Lei Zhu , Wiebke Finkler

  Signs used for science interpretation within national parks have been little studied. We analyzed the textual content of 129 signs in 11 US national parks. Science content was high, but readability was low overall and inversely related to the amount of science content. The amount of science varied by subject area and national park, as did the depth of information and its relevance to humans. Colorado’s Great Sand Dunes National Park, however, had signs containing high amounts of science with the highest readability scores, emphasizing the potential benefits for science communication that can come from understanding the science of signs.

  Volume 24 • Issue 03 • 2025

• Date of publication Oct 14, 2019 Category: 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 18 • Issue 05 • 2019 • Special Issue: Stories in Science Communication, 2019 (PCST Stories)

• Date of publication Oct 14, 2019 Category: 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 18 • Issue 05 • 2019 • Special Issue: Stories in Science Communication, 2019 (PCST Stories)