With funding from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Association of Children’s Museums and the University of Washington’s Museology Graduate Program are leading a two phased project focused on developing a collective, evidence-based body of knowledge in order to better define the learning value of children’s museums. The first phase of the project titled, Building a Field-Wide Research Agenda, began in the fall of 2012. The goal was to generate a field-wide research agenda for children’s museums. In the fall of 2013 researchers, evaluators, educators, administrators, academics, contractors, and other affiliate professionals from the children’s museum field gathered in Washington D.C. for a two-day symposium which was followed by a series of webinars intended to invite broader participation from the whole children’s museum field. As a result the Learning Value of Children’s Museums Research Agenda was developed. The second phase of the project titled, Building a Practicing Research Network in the Children’s Museum Field, started in October 2014. The goal is to develop a sustainable infrastructure for cross-institutional research activities guided by the recently developed Learning Value of Children’s Museums Research Agenda. In the winter of 2015 a cohort of ten children’s museums was selected to form a network working to identify collaborative research projects that respond to the priorities in the research agenda, conduct research projects across multiple institutions in the research network, and aggregate data to share with the broader children's museum field. The work of the network is ongoing and new information will be made available to the field as we progress.
Creating science content for cultural contexts in which the audience are not primarily motivated by an interest in science, can provide exciting opportunities for experimenting with new approaches to science engagement. This article explores some of the learning gained, and practical methodologies developed by Einstein’s Garden, the science, nature and environment area of the Green Man Festival.
For the past thirty years, The National Institute of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (NIHERST), Trinidad and Tobago, has been a pioneering force in science popularization both locally and regionally. The biennial NIHERST Sci-TechKnoFest is the Caribbean’s premier science festival, having hosted seven large-scale events catering to tens of thousands of patrons each. This article provides an overview of the role of NIHERST at the national development level, an in-depth look at the content of Sci-TechKnoFest 2013, its impacts on visitors and the way forward for the festival.
Thailand’s National Science Fair is an annual two-week event held to promote science, encourage learning and prove that science is for everyone. Derived from the first ‘Thai National Science Day’ in 1982, the fair now hosts over 1 million visitors, with exhibits from over 50 national and international companies and institutions from governmental, educational and commercial sectors. Whilst the fair is normally held in Bangkok the outreach program holds mini fairs for 32 Universities and numerous schools across the nation for local participation in science week. This paper discusses the past
Public understanding of science has been replaced by engagement and participation, and science events, like festivals and science days, have become significant actors by offering direct contacts between scientists, public and policy-makers, as opportunities to engage and participate. After more than 20 years of festivals and events, the need for impact evidence is strong, although it is acknowledged that it will have to be based on complex data and observations. Many science events look for collaboration within the cultural sector. Social inclusion and participation in local and regional
Science festivals (or just “festivals”) are currently ascendant in the United States with more than 40 new initiatives emerging in just the past 5 years, but their story is not so easily told. The schedule of any one individual festival may contain a staggering array of events, and each festival is different both from year to year, and from other festivals. One multi-festival evaluation points to potential strengths of the format, as well as the importance of the participation of STEM practitioners. Collaboration and social identity formation are considered as powerful festival impacts, and
The cultural phenomenon of ‘science festivals’ is ever expanding throughout the world, as universities, city and regional governments, and science engagement professionals alike embrace the concept of a focused ‘celebration’ of science. In the past however science festivals have been criticized for neglecting underrepresented audiences. This special issue explores the extent to which current science festivals have managed to engage with diverse publics, and identifies the key challenges facing the future of science festivals, most notably the need for deeper research into the impacts of
This essay intends to present and reflect on the production and reception of sound language styles in a radio programme discussing science called Universidade das Criancas UFMG (UFMG Children’s University). This programme, aimed at children, is broadcast on the UFMG (Federal University of Minas Gerais) Educational Radio Station, located in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
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Josemir Almeida BarrosDebora d'Avila Reis
Scientists often cite discrepancy between scientific values and news values as a primary factor in poor quality science reporting. The goal of this study was to understand how news values including conflict and controversy affect science communicators’ evaluation of press releases containing quotes from outside expert sources. Results of an online survey experiment suggest science communicators find a climate science press release with an outside expert quote that introduces controversy to be more newsworthy. However, when a science communicator attributes relatively high importance to
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Paige Brown Jarreau
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The 13th International Public Communication of Science and Technology Conference (PCST) conference offered a valuable opportunity for over 500 science communicators to congregate and network with the international community. While the sheer size of the event made fostering debate somewhat of a challenge, the pertinent theme of ‘science communication for social inclusion and political engagement’, inspired some thought-provoking talks. Certainly, it was an appropriate time for this topic to be explored in Brazil, a developing country with a national government actively working towards greater
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Astrid Treffry-Goatley
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
Attendance at any large conference is highly personal and every registrant has a unique experience. The value to the individual depends on which sessions they attend, whom they connect with and what outcomes eventuate from what they learn and the networking they do. The networking and feedback can be life changing as it was for me when I attended PCST in 1996 in Melbourne. PCST2014 was a successful conference that provided many options for delegates. This was my fifth PCST and I was glad to have made the long trip to Brazil. One of the most successful aspects of PCST2014 was the opportunity to
The PCST conference attracts a substantial number of science communication academics and practitioners from all over the world. The conference is stimulating and refreshing but the size of it means that quality control is challenging for the organisers. This review highlights areas of both strengths and weaknesses whilst also making recommendations to the PCST committee for PCST 2016. The committee are encouraged to further strengthen the academic/practitioner combination and the international nature of the event. However, they are also recommended to ensure that work presented is of high