This case study describes the development of a climate change information system for New York State, one of the physically largest states in the United States. Agriculture (including dairy production and vineyards) and water-related tourism are large parts of the state economy, and both are expected to be affected dramatically by climate change. The highly politicized nature of the climate change debate in America makes the delivery of science-based information even more urgent and challenging. The United States does not have top-down science communication policies, as many countries do; this
Improving communications between scientists and policy makers have being received more and more attention in China. Based on negotiation-boundary work theory (Jasanoff, 1990), this paper presents an analysis of the interface between scientists and policy makers by drawing on the Strategic High-tech Research and Development Program of China (863 Program). The analysis indicates, first, that it is very important of science advice in China, the negotiation and the consensus between scientists and policy makers is vital for policy making; second, that it is dangerous to rely on Technocracy in
The current work aims to present and discuss some results of our studies on the communication between those responsible for setting up public, environmental policies and the Brazilian scientific community. These researches focus on the use of knowledge, mostly scientific knowledge, related to two environmental issues: the conservation of biodiversity and climate change. We have observed that there is a difficult dialogue between the various parties involved in the environmental governance. In addition, most strategies are not institutionalised and are implemented in an attempt to facilitate
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Teresa da Silva RosaMaria José Teixeira Carneiro
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
Despite an initial tendency to disregard Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) contributions, NGOs have now entered the fishery world, where debates should be carried out on the basis of different interpretations of sound scientific data. Such an approach is expected to be obvious, but this does not prove to be always true. NGOs and the research body that produced the scientific data are confused by other stakeholders and understanding scientific publications is regarded as not necessary. Further, there is a gap between the progress of scientific knowledge and the scientific approach adopted
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Marco Costantini
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
Around the world there are widespread efforts to ensure that policy decisions are based upon a sound evidence base, and in particular to facilitate closer integration between the research and policy communities. This commentary provides an overview of the current situation in different parts of the world relating to the opportunities that exist for policy makers to assimilate scientific findings, as well as the existing barriers perceived by both the policy and research communities. Mutual trust and respect between the relevant parties emerge as crucial factors in successful collaboration
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Karen BultitudePaola RodariEmma Weitkamp
Danish agriculture and seed science have a history of successful collaboration spanning more than a hundred years. In this study, we interviewed 26 growers, consultants, and scientists from the Danish seed community focusing on their current knowledge status and on their views on improving scientific knowledge communication. Theoretically, we consider these actors participants in different communities of practice relating to the production of seeds (Seed-CoP), and we conclude that strong network collaboration is present among Danish seed-CoP effectuated by the valuable work undertaken by the
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Svend Tveden-NyborgMorten MisfeldtBirte Boelt
Science communication processes are complex and uncertain. Designing and managing these processes using a step-by-step approach, allows those with science communication responsibility to manoeuvre between moral or normative issues, practical experiences, empirical data and theoretical foundations. The tool described in this study is an evidence-based questionnaire, tested in practice for feasibility. The key element of this decision aid is a challenge to the science communication practitioners to reflect on their attitudes, knowledge, reasoning and decision-making in a step-by-step manner to
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Maarten C.A. van der SandenFrans J. Meijman
Astronomy from the Ground Up (AFGU) was a five year project directed by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) and funded by the NSF Informal Science Education (ISE) division (DRL- 0451933). The primary partner institutions were the National Optical AstronomyObservatory (NOAO) and the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC). Between 2006 and 2008, the AFGU project hosted 6 onsite and 6 online workshops. The project provided professional development for informal science educators in the area of astronomy educational
programming. The project’s primary goal was to encourage more
The Complex Adaptive Systems as a Model for Network Evaluations (CASNET) study was a four-year research project investigating evaluation capacity building (ECB) within a network using a complexity theory lens. The study used a case study approach to examine and understand evaluation capacity building within the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net). NISE Net is a national community of researchers and informal science educators dedicated to fostering public awareness, engagement, and understanding of nanoscale science, engineering, and technology. Instituted in 2005 through NSF funding (DRL-0532536 and 0940143), NISE Net has continuously expanded and is currently comprised of close to 600 science museum and university partners. The intent of the CASNET project was to provide insights on (1) the implications of complexity theory for promoting widespread and systemic use of evaluation within a network, and (2) complex system conditions that foster or impede ECB within a network, i.e., in this case, within the NISE Net.
The following QuarkNet evaluation data were collected between September 2011 and September 2012. Questions from an Evaluation Matrix developed by QuarkNet program director and NSF program director are addressed, preceded by a summary of data collection and analysis. This is the fourth year using the Matrix. Collection strategies were updated based on findings from last year and included in this year’s evaluation
section. This is the last annual report under the 2008-2012 grant from The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Energy (DOE).
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Mitchell Wayne
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
QuarkNet is a national program that partners high school science teachers and students with particle physicists working in experiments at the scientific frontier. These experiments are searching for answers to fundamental questions about the origin of mass, the dimensionality of spacetime and the nature of symmetries that govern physical processes. Among the experimental projects at the energy frontier with which QuarkNet is affiliated is the Large Hadron Collider, which is poised at the horizon of discovery. The LHC will come on line during the 5-years of this program. QuarkNet is led by a group of teachers, educators and physicists with many years of experience in professional development workshops and institutes, materials development and teacher research programs. The project consists of 52 centers at universities and research labs in 25 states and Puerto Rico. It is proposed that Quarknet be funded as a partnership among the ESIE program of EHR; the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities and the Elementary Particle Physics Program (Division of Physics), both within MPS; as well as the Division of High Energy Physics at DOE.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Mitchell WayneRandal RuchtiDaniel Karmgard
This research oriented project integrates the informal and formal science education sectors, bringing their combined resources to bear on the critical need for well-prepared and diverse urban science teachers. It represents a partnership among The City College of New York (CCNY), the New York Hall of Science (NYHOS), and the City University of New York Center for Advanced Study in Education (CUNY-CASE). It integrates the Science Career Ladder, a sustained program of informal science teaching training and employment at the NYHOS, with the CCNY science teacher preparation program. The longitudinal and comparative research study being conducted is designed to examine and document the effect of this integrated program on the production of urban science teachers. Outcomes from this study include a new body of research related to the impact of internships in science centers on improving classroom science teaching in urban high schools. Results are being disseminated to both the informal science education community (through the Association for Science and Technology Centers and the Center for Informal Learning in Schools, an NSF supported Center for Learning and Teaching situated at the San Francisco Exploratorium) and the formal education community (through the National Science Teachers Association and the American Educational Research Association).
The Science Career Ladder program engages undergraduates as inquiry-based interpreters (Explainers) for visitors to the NY Hall of Science. Integrating this experience with a formal teacher certification program enables participants to coordinate experiences in the science center, college science and education classes, and K-12 classrooms. Participants receive a license to teach science upon graduating. The approach has its theoretical underpinnings in the concept of situated learning as noted by Kirshner and Whitson (1997, Situated Cognition: Social, Semiotic and Psychological Perspectives, Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum). Through apprenticeship experiences, situated learning recreates the complexity and ambiguity of situations that learners will face in the real world. Science centers provide a potentially ideal setting for situational learning by future teachers, allowing them to develop, exercise and refine their science teaching and learning skills as noted by Gardner (1991, The Unschooled Mind, New York: Basic Books).
There is a well-documented shortage of science teachers in urban school districts. The causes of this shortage relate to all phases of the teacher professional continuum, from recruitment through training and retention. At the same time, the demographic composition of American teachers is increasingly out of synch with the demographics of the student population, raising concerns that a critical shortage of role models may be at hand, contributing to a worsening situation in urban schools. In the face of these challenges many innovative teacher recruitment and teacher preparation programs have been developed to augment traditional pathways to teaching. These programs range from high school academies for students expressing an interest in teaching to the recruitment and training of individuals making mid-life career changes. The CLUSTER program described above represents a new alternative. There are more than 250 science centers in the United States. Many of these have extensive youth internship programs and collaborative relationships with local colleges. Therefore, the proposed model is widely applicable.