Filter by keyword: Science education

Awe-inspiring science events—from astronomical phenomena to scientific breakthroughs—are increasingly consumed through rich audio-visual formats that captivate global audiences. This study explores the psychological mechanisms through which the modality of science media events affects audience’s intention of science information-seeking. An online experiment (N = 356) reveals that experiencing a science event in a rich audio-visual format (vs. a lean textual-imagery format) evokes stronger awe which diminishes the sense of self. This awe-induced perception of small self, in turn, produces a paradoxical outcome: it simultaneously increases thought-provoking reflection, which boosts science information-seeking intention, while decreasing perceived self-efficacy, which suppresses the same intention. These opposing pathways cancel each other out, resulting in no net impact on science information-seeking intention. We discuss implications for science communicators seeking to leverage awe-inspiring media to foster public engagement with science.

This practice insight examines how science mediators facilitate students' appropriation of scientific knowledge. It focuses on the Science of Superheroes initiative, which is an informal education curriculum activity designed to engage middle school students in exploring environmental challenges through the creation of a superhero. Using Bruner's scaffolding framework, we analyze how mediators' interventions shift between scaffolding functions, depending on the task. While the appropriation of scientific knowledge is supported by questioning and information-sharing strategies, the creative phase sees an increase in proposal-based scaffolding, which struggles to counterbalance students' reliance on magical thinking. This cognitive tension highlights the challenges of integrating scientific knowledge into a fictional narrative. Our findings highlight the need for science mediators to refine their questioning techniques, foster greater self-regulation among students, and enhance their ability to meaningfully incorporate scientific concepts into their superhero designs. Our study contributes to ongoing discussions on the professionalization of science mediation and offers new insights for mediator training.

Involving school students in authentic research beyond their school learning means creating participatory, out-of-school opportunities related to research processes, giving them a voice in the applied format of science engagement. Important for such endeavours is a group of people we identify as “enablers”. Based on insights from two long-term and large-scale science engagement initiatives in Germany (the Darwin Day science outreach and the Plastic Pirates citizen science program), we identified four principal work tasks of enablers. They are described as (i) aligning the needs, expectations and goals of involved participants, (ii) translating differing conceptions about science into shared visions, (iii) guiding the design of the initiative through educational theory, and (iv) evaluating the success of the out-of-school science engagement initiative. We further suggest that self-awareness of being an enabler, working at the interface of the research and education sphere, is an important prerequisite to successfully collaborate with participants.

Visitors to public science events (PSEs) often report gains in scientific knowledge, improved attitudes toward science, and a greater awareness of science in everyday life (Jensen & Buckley, 2012; Adhikari et al., 2019; Boyette & Ramsey, 2019). However, these visitors disproportionately come from white, well-educated backgrounds (Bultitude, 2014; Kennedy et al., 2018; Adhikari et al., 2019; Nielsen et al., 2019). This paper utilizes a science capital framework to analyze the differential patterns of participation among PSE audiences. Quantitative analysis approaches are used to explore the kinds of science capital that visitors bring to PSEs, how the science capital of audiences differs between events, and how science capital might predict future participation in PSEs. Results reveal that PSE visitors typically have high pre-existing levels of science capital and that those with high levels of science capital are more likely to express interest in attending future PSEs. Directions for future research and practice are discussed.

The aim of this pilot study was to understand how the use of science comics, centred on complex scientific knowledge, can promote students' engagement with science, in order to discuss its potentialities as a tool to communicate science for the general public. The qualitative study involved 175 students and 7 teachers. The results revealed that the use of comics significantly increases students' motivation and commitment to the learning tasks. All participants highlighted that the narrative nature of comics, with a mixture of text and images, offering a story to follow, contributed to their engagement with the scientific topic, regardless of their complexity.

Videos featuring research results, laboratory tutorials, and online webinars are fundamental tools for disseminating science and boosting scientific impact. However, extended reality (XR) video technologies, which include virtual reality (VR), represent new challenges for scientists and science communicators. XR and VR can enhance, bend, or distort the reality surrounding scientific facts. The London Charter and Seville Principles are standards for computer-based visualization and reconstruction in a virtual reproduction of heritage sites and research in domains such as archaeology. Here, we develop a similar set of standards for the representation of scientific results in XR and VR and clarify the use of implicit XR and VR elements such as storytelling, setting, agency, interactivity, and other factors. Finally, the authors propose a framework XR/VR Model of Science Representation and Communication, derived from the context and other frameworks for representing information in virtual environments.

This study assessed educational goals and learning outcomes in 57 citizen science projects in South Africa. Emphasising data collection as the primary objective, the findings revealed a secondary focus on environmental awareness, protection, and management, as well as education and research advancement. Notably, educational goals were often not prioritised, and formal measures for assessing learning outcomes were infrequently employed by project leaders. The study underscores the necessity for systematic approaches to evaluate the educational impacts of citizen science projects in South Africa.

This essay describes and reflects on a collaboration between a university Science & Technology Studies (STS) educator and a community science café organizer. Our partnership was designed to address two challenges: how to encourage diversity and inclusion in science café audiences and how to create assessments for broader ‘science in society’ content delivered to adult café learners. We used focus groups to develop STS learning constructs and do community engagement needs assessments. We describe the resultant café series development and other outcomes of our cross-domain work in STS, science communication, and science education. We conclude with observations about the power of collaborative storytelling and make general recommendations for how practitioners and scholars can address the described challenges in ways that might ease future collaborations.

“Teaching Science Students to Communicate: A Practical Guide” is aimed at scientists who want to teach science students transferrable communication skills. It starts with a rallying cry and is filled with creative ideas for teaching sessions with top tips on how to run them effectively. Above all, this book should help scientists instil a disposition in their students that should underpin any act of communication — empathy.