Scientific ignorance can be a potential obstacle in the journey of India becoming a developed nation and a knowledge economy. Such ignorance can also be the cause of various myths, superstitions and blind faiths which can further hinder the development agenda of any nation. Science Communication can potentially dissipate scientific ignorance in the society. Science Communication is a rapidly growing area of expertise both academically and professionally around the globe. It is getting established as an academic discipline with several universities/institutions around the world starting
As part of a grant from the National Science Foundation, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) developed, implemented, and evaluated the National Center for Blind Youth in Science (NCBYS), a three-year full-scale development project to increase informal learning opportunities for blind youth in STEM. Through this grant, the NCBYS extended opportunities for informal science learning for the direct benefit of blind students by conducting six NFB STEM2U regional programs included programs for blind youth, their parents/caregivers, blind teen mentors (apprentices), and museum educators.
This paper reviews the purposes, definitions and criteria designed to embed ‘engaged research’ as a strategic priority with universities, and explores some of the challenges of implementation. Surveys of academics have shown various understandings of, and attitudes to, the practices of engaged research, but also impediments to realising the aspirations it expresses. Drawing on the experience as the academic lead for engaged research at the Open University, the author explores questions of professionalisation, for example, through training, support mechanisms and measures of recognition for
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Richard Holliman
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
Science communication research and education programmes worldwide exhibit notable differences as well as similarities. In this essay the authors claim that this diversity is not a problem. They argue that universities can contribute well to the science communication field, theoretically and in practice, if they invest in building collaborations and make use of the ‘networked pattern’ connecting various actors, contexts and contents. As critical nodes in the networks, universities can enable practitioners to deliver real-life cases, students to participate to find solutions and researchers to
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Caroline WehrmannMaarten van der Sanden
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
This essay examines several distinct roles universities play in science communication, with particular reference to professionalisation in the field. It identifies the ways in which universities have facilitated, even driven, that continuing process. But it also notes the potential and actual contradictions between some of the roles of universities, reflecting current developments in higher education across many different contexts.
This is an introduction to four essays in a Commentary that examine contributions of universities to science communication’s development but also challenges in
consolidating those efforts.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Brian Trench
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
EvaluATE is a national resource center dedicated to supporting and improving the evaluation practices of approximately 250 ATE grantees across the country. EvaluATE conducts webinars and workshops, publishes a quarterly newsletter, maintains a website with a digital resource library, develops materials to guide evaluation work, and conducts an annual survey of ATE grantees. EvaluATE's mission is to promote the goals of the ATE program by partnering with projects and centers to strengthen the program's evaluation knowledge base, expand the use of exemplary evaluation practices, and support the continuous improvement of technician education throughout the nation. EvaluATE's goals associated with this proposal are to: (1) Ensure that all ATE Principal Investigators and evaluators know the essential elements of a credible and useful evaluation; (2) Maintain a comprehensive collection of online resources for ATE evaluation; (3) Strengthen and expand the network of ATE evaluation stakeholders; and (4) Gather, synthesize, and disseminate data about the ATE program activities to advance knowledge about ATE/technician education. The Center plans to produce a comprehensive set of evaluation resources to complement other services, engaging several community college-based Principal Investigators and evaluators in that process.
EvaluATE's products are informed by current research on evaluation, the National Science Foundation's priorities for the evaluation of ATE grants, and the needs of ATE PIs and evaluators for sound guidance that is immediately relevant and usable in their contexts. The fundamental nature of EvaluATE's work is geared toward supporting ATE grantees to use evaluation regularly to improve their work and demonstrate their impacts. All of EvaluATE's products are available to the public. EvaluATE's findings from the annual survey of ATE grantees aid in advancing understanding of the status of technician education and illuminate areas for additional research. The new survey investigates ATE grantees' work to serve underrepresented and special populations, including women, people of color, and veterans. Survey data are available upon request for research and evaluation purposes.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Lori WingateArlen GullicksonEmma PerkKelly RobertsonLyssa Becho
Marked by the diversity of initiatives linking science and art and by new presentation formats, the 15th Congress of the Network for Popularisation of Science and Technology in Latin America and the Caribbean (RedPOP) saw heated debates on science, culture, politics and society. Between 21st and 25th August, it brought together in Buenos Aires (Argentina) about 400 participants from 14 countries in order to share new visions, initiatives and research work in science communication. During the event, which included a vast cultural programme, a series of challenges were raised for the future
This article aims to present a critical analysis of the book entitled “Creative Research Communication ― Theory and Practice”, written by Clare Wilkinson and Emma Weitkamp (Manchester University Press, 2016). We aim to present the structure of the book, highlighting its strengths and successes. Although some chapters focus on the UK, the book offers a wide range of examples of practical activities for the communication of research of global interest and provides very useful tips. Ethical issues and the importance of evaluation, of how to do carry out such evaluation and dissemination, are also
The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) is one of the world's single largest employers of science communicators, with over 350,000 students and 40,000 staff. Its science communication activities include five museums (Universum, Museo de la Luz, the Geology Museum, Museo de la Medicina Mexicana and Musem of Geophysics), botanical gardens, as well as a wide range of cultural and outreach activities. It has several programmes for training professional science communicators. The science communication staff are spread across the campuses in Mexico City and four other cities, including
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Ana Claudia NepoteElaine Reynoso-Haynes
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
As higher education institutions (HEIs) work to enhance Broader Impacts (BI) efforts, collaborations with informal science education institutions (ISEs) (e.g. science centers, aquaria, zoos) can help them strengthen their impact and reach broader audiences. This project builds on the successful Portal to the Public (PoP) framework, bringing together the expertise and resources of HEIs and ISEs around the shared mission of engaging public audiences in current STEM research. The project is designed to address several critical needs: (1) Public outreach BI activities are relatively uncommon compared to BI that is focused within the infrastructure of academia; (2) Because collaborations with ISEs are frequently tied to individual Principal Investigators (PIs), there is limited opportunity to build a body of knowledge around the practice of partnering for BI work; and (3) Collaborations are often transient, making it more difficult for universities to view BI on an institutional level in ways that leverage particular institutional assets or strategies and even link investigators from multiple projects. The specific areas of study are: a. Develop and test a structure for education/outreach BI experience design that addresses a public audience need and meets NSF's BI criterion: The project will create disseminatable tools around the activity design process (including evaluation of learning impacts). By convening cross-disciplinary teams, the project will ensure that experiences will reflect a wide range of expertise and will help meet the needs of multiple stakeholders. These established structures will lower the barrier to entry for PIs who want to do public outreach BI. b. Design, test, and study structures for long-term, mutually beneficial HEI-ISE partnerships: The project will build on the proven PoP model to create flexible, disseminatable tools around the development of institutional partnerships at three collaborating HEI-ISE site pairings that consider each institution's resources, constraints and strategic goals, including a cross-institutional and cross-disciplinary Broader Impacts Design (BID) Team structure. Sustained partnerships will support ongoing public engagement with current STEM research. c. Anchor the partnership at the HEI with a representative from an office of research support: Research support professionals will be a core part of the BID Team and will help support institutional strategies for aligning BI activities with broader goals around community engagement. d. Study the culture of HEI-ISE partnerships, building knowledge about how these institutions can form effective, sustained and mutually beneficial collaborations. Project partners include Pacific Science Center with the University of Washington, Bothell, WA; University of Wisconsin-Madison with the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery; and the Sciencenter with Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. In addition, the Center for Research in Lifelong Learning, Oregon State University will oversee the research aspects of the project. The project's primary benefit is the development of more effective mechanisms for HEIs and ISEs to collaborate, that will better enable them to engage their communities in experiences and conversations about current STEM research and innovation. This project is being funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments.
As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments. This includes providing multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences, advancing innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and developing understandings of deeper learning by participants. This project will develop and test intergenerational science media resources for parents that are participating in adult education programs and their young children. The materials will build on the research-based and successful children's television program, Fetch with Ruff Ruffman. The target audience includes parents enrolled in adult education programs who lack a high school diploma or are in English as a Second Language classes. These resources will support parents' engagement in science activities with their children both in the adult education settings as well as at home. Adult and family educators will receive professional development resources and training to support their integration of the parent/child activities. Project partners include the National Center for Families Learning, Kentucky Educational Television, and Alabama Public Television,
The goals of the Ruff Family Science project are to: (1) investigate adult education settings that feature an intergenerational learning model, in order to learn about the unique characteristics of adults and families who are enrolled in these programs; (2) examine the institutional circumstances and educator practices that support joint parent/child engagement in science; (3) iteratively develop new prototype resources meet the priorities and needs of families and educators involved in intergenerational education settings; and (4) develop the knowledge needed to create a fuller set of materials in the future that will motivate and support diverse, low-income parents to investigate science with their children. The research strategy is comprised of three main components: Phase 1: Needs Assessment: Determine key motivations and behaviors common to adult education students who are also parents; surface obstacles and assets inherent in these parents' current practices; and examine the needs and available resources for supplementing parents' current engagement in family science learning. Phase 2: Prototype Development: Iteratively develop two prototype Activity Sets, along with related educator supports and training materials, designed to promote joint parent-child engagement with English and Spanish-speaking families around physical science concepts. Phase 3: Prototype Field Test: Test how the two refined prototype Activity Sets work in different educational settings (adult education, parent education, and parent and child together time). Explore factors that support or impede effective implementation. Sources of data for the study include observations of adult and parent education classes using an expert interview protocol, focus groups, adult and family educator interviews, and parent surveys.