Effectiveness of NSM Science Caravan as a science outreach for rural communities in Thailand

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Effectiveness of NSM Science Caravan as a science outreach for rural communities in Thailand

Author: Ekapong Sripaoraya – University of Otago, New Zealand

Co-authors:
Peter Dearden – Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago
Ian Griffin – Otago Museum, Dunedin, New Zealand
Nancy Longnecker – Centre for Science Communication, University of Otago

The present research examines outcomes of a science outreach program of the National Science Museum, Thailand (NSM), Science Caravan. The Science Caravan was established with the aim of promoting awareness of science and technology, and especially broadening and enhancing the attention and engagement of school students in Thai rural communities with science. The specific aims of this research include investigating participant attitudes and motivation toward science and technology, particularly regarding the principles of science in everyday life. The study examined school children 12 – 18 years old in an attempt to understand whether participation in the Science Caravan activity affects attitudes and motivation toward science.

In this study, attitude measurements are focused on three scales: (1) Personal interest in science, (2) Perspective about the value of science and (3) Intention of future participation. Motivation measurements are focused on three scales: (1) Intrinsic motivation, (2) Self-efficacy and (3) Self-determination. Students were randomly selected to complete surveys before and after participating in Science Caravan activities. Analysis of preliminary data from a pilot study of 107 students shows that there is a difference in the attitude measurement scale that reflects Personal interest in science between pre-test and post-test. Even though there is no difference in scales of motivation for learning science overall, there were differences between males and females in junior and senior levels. Furthermore, there is a strong positive relationship between the attitudinal scale Perspective about the value of science and the motivational scale Intrinsic motivation. The full data set will be accumulated by sampling the 1,500 participants of the Science Caravan, which reaches 12 locations in all five regions of Thailand. The results from the full data set will be presented.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Visual talk
Theme: Science
Area of interest: Investigating science communication practices

Analysis of the scientific dissemination project – Children’s University – based on the theoretical-methodological framework of the Theory-Actor Network.

Author: Ludmila Souza – Universidade de Minas Gerais, Brazil

Co-authors:
Francisco Coutinho – Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Débora Reis – Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

Analysis of the scientific dissemination project – Children’s University – based on the theoretical-methodological framework of the Theory-Actor Network.

Starting from the latouran ideas and using the theoretical-methodological framework of the Theory-Actor Network, it is intended to understand the modes of participation and the experiences lived in the practices developed by the project of scientific divulgation entitled University of the Children, that exists since 2006 as Project of Extension of the Institute of Biological Sciences and the Nucleus of Scientific Divulgation of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) – Brazil. The project begins with visits from researchers to schools, where children are encouraged to make and write down questions about the human body. Questions are placed in a sealed box. Later, when they open the box, the researchers and the students look for the answers to the questions and return to the schools for a workshop, where they discuss the issues presented, taking with them games, books, dough, microscopes, giant dolls, variety of materials that may be useful in creating a relaxed environment in which the presented questions can be discussed. In this context, categories of analysis will be created in the light of actor-network theory, in an attempt to describe and understand the relationships between humans and objects that can be traced in practices with children. We hope to generate analyzes and critiques that can contribute to the discussion of models of scientific dissemination with the children’s audience that meet the contemporary demands of the area.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Idea in progress
Theme: Science
Area of interest: Investigating science communication practices

Looking into the misunderstanding of science on mass media

Author: Yiran Song – University of Science and Technology of China, China

Co-authors:
Rongting Zhou – University of Science and Technology of China

Mass media, which bridge the gap between scientists and public, plays an irreplaceable role in science communication. With the growing popularity of the internet, internet media have become one of the significant avenues to science communication. Nevertheless, errors are frequently found in science news reports today. The misreading of science by mass media has existed for a long time, and this problem has not been solved in the age of internet. Science channels and science news from several influential comprehensive portals are chosen as the sample. The misreading of science among them is subsumed under two broad categories: one is the first order science communication, which includes incorrect science and technology facts and information; the other is the second order science communication, which includes the improper interpretation of scientific conceptions such as scientific spirit and scientific method. The analysis in this paper is based upon the observation of the above-mentioned phenomenon and the interview of some practitioners working for comprehensive portals, and aims at finding out the reasons for the misreading of science by comprehensive portals, including general factors that result in the misinterpretation of science by mass media and the idiographic features of comprehensive portals as one form of internet media.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Show, tell and talk
Theme: Science
Area of interest: Investigating science communication practices

Perspectives towards a science centre’s redevelopment

Author: Daniel Solis – University of Otago, New Zealand

Co-authors:
David A. W. Hutchinson – The Dodd-Walls Centre, Department of Physics, University of Otago
Nancy Longnecker – Centre for Science Communication, University of Otago

Otago Museum’s Discovery World was a science centre that received 65,000 visitors annually. With over 20 years of existence, it was completely revamped in 2017. This research gives voice to three groups in relation to Discovery World and its redevelopment: 227 visitors were asked open questions to describe Discovery World; 18 children, chosen for their interest in science and outreach, participated in focus groups and created collaborative Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) Analyses about the Light Zone, a space dedicated to light and electromagnetism; 10 museum staff, representative of decision makers and floor staff, provided input via a semi-structured interview about Discovery World and its redevelopment. Visitors stated they arrived expecting to have fun and left liking more topics on animals, biology and earth. Tropical Forest, a warm venue with live butterflies, was the favourite site. In the exhibits zone, science engagement and learning had a strong presence, mainly through the Light Zone, the Mind Game exhibit and the Science Shows. Complementing the visitor surveys, the Focus Groups stated that successful exhibits at the Light Zone were visually attractive, allowed audience participation and interaction among visitors. They also suggested having better links between exhibits and using challenges to increase interactivity. The latter matches other visitors’ perspectives, since the only non-Light Zone exhibit that was often mentioned (Mind Game) was probably the most challenging one. The Museum Staff showed a variety of thoughts about the redevelopment and characteristics of good exhibits; however, the Plasma Room (a subsection of the Light Zone) was mentioned as a favourite by all. Good exhibits are characterised by staff as those that do not break easily and are engaging while being more than a game.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Visual talk
Theme: Science
Area of interest: Applying science communication research to practice

Public perceptions of genetic engineering in New Zealand

Author: Amy Smith, New Zealand

Co-authors:
Jesse Bering – University of Otago

The first commercially available biotech crop available to consumers was the “Flavr Savr” tomato in 1994, a crop that could be ripened whilst still on the vine, unlike conventional tomatoes which must be harvested whilst still green and treated with ethylene to encourage ripening. Canned and paste tomato products derived from Flavr Savr cost 20% less to produce, thus costing the consumer less. The product was discontinued in 1998 due erroneous public health concerns, despite promising early sales. The success of genetically engineered crops depends on how well genetic engineering is perceived by prospective consumers.

This report describes an empirical study of the perceptions of genetically engineered crops, which agricultural application is most acceptable, and how perceptions change when prestented with new information. We assessed three key factors: trust, familiarity, and concern

Participants began by answering questions to establish their familiarity with genetic engineering and asked how they felt about it. They were randomly assigned to one of three conditions – each representing viable applications of genetic engineering (increased nutritional value, insect pest resistance, and herbicide resistance); after reading a short vignette about the purpose of their designated application, their opinion of the technology was then reassessed to determine if their perception genetic engineering had changed.

Early trends suggest that most New Zealanders possess some level of understanding of what genetic engineering is and expressed some reservation about its use. However, their level of concern appears to vary by the utilitarian purpose of this technology, being more accepting of biotech applications that directly benefit themselves or the environment.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Visual talk
Theme: Society
Area of interest: Building a theoretical basis for science communication

Systemic support for scientists’ communication and engagement

Author: Brooke Smith – The Kavli Foundation, United States

Co-authors:
John Besley – Michigan State University
Marina Joubert – Stellenbosch University
Joan Leach – Australian National University
Bruce Lewenstein – Cornell University
Eric Marshall – The Kavli Foundation

Many scientists want to connect with the public, but their efforts to do so are not always easy or effective. Visionary programs and institutions are leading the way identifying the support needed to enable scientists’ connections with the public. However, the current appetite by — and demand for — scientists to do this exceeds the capacity of those who facilitate quality communication and engagement efforts. More can be done to ensure that those who support scientists are networked, sharing best practices, and supported by a reliable infrastructure.

Between December 2017 and May 2018, U.S. based philanthropic foundations will convene a series of small workshops to explore the entire system of people who support scientists’ engagement and communication efforts in order to explore how this system can be most effective and sustainable. Four workshops will focus on the following communities and institutions of support: communication trainers, universities, scientific societies, and facilitators of public engagement. The discussions will examine where each system is thriving, the limits people within the system face and what can be done to ensure their efforts are commensurate with the demand for quality communication and engagement support.

This roundtable aims to connect the ideas and findings from these U.S. focused workshops with international perspectives and experiences. Speakers will include both workshop participants and international leaders. Discussion is intended to share ideas, highlight strategies that have worked across continents, and spark cross cultural collaborations to collectively support scientists – all across the research enterprise – to engage and communicate.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Roundtable discussion
Theme: Science
Area of interest: Comparing science communication across cultures

Lying with numbers

Author: Ionica Smeets – Leiden University, Netherlands

Numbers do not lie, but they are quite good at concealing the truth. In this abridged version of her interactive theatre lecture Ionica Smeets shows the audience how easily they can be fooled by numbers with surprising real life examples, weird mathematical paradoxes, irrefutable logic, counterintuitive experiments and specially made animations. Her goal is to permanently change the way people view numbers.

The theatre lecture ends in a group discussion where we talk about mathematical questions from audience members and the issues they think mathematicians should work on.

Ionica Smeets has given many sold-out theatre lectures on mathematics in The Netherlands. She is a professor of science communication with a PhD in pure mathematics. She writes a weekly column on mathematics for national newspaper De Volkskrant since 2009, has presented various tv-shows and published several popular-scientific bestsellers.

Reviews described her theatre lecture as both very funny and very insightful. Many audience members keep sending in great examples of lying numbers years after they saw this theatre lecture.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Perfomance
Theme: Society
Area of interest: Applying science communication research to practice

Assessment on the science communication effect of S&T contest – A case study of 31st China Adolescents Science &Technology and Innovation Contest(CASTIC)

Author: Lei Shi, China

Co-authors:
Lei SHI – National Academy of Innovation Strategy, China Association for Science and Technology

Science & technology and innovation contest is a popular form to conduct science communication because it can constantly attract media and audience’ attention, and mobilize more resources among institutes, universities, schools, science centers and museums in the long run. How to assess the science communication effect of the contest is an interesting question with value of theoretical exploration and practical implication. Based on the relevant theory and the purpose of the contest, the assessment of science communication effect is undertaken, It concludes 3 aspects including education, engagement and entertainment.

During the contest, a survey was conducted from August to September in 2016. Online questionnaires were distributed to the attendees of the 31st CASTIC(n=622), 326 was responded. The survey consists of questions concerning the effect of science communication on its function of education, engagement and entertainment. With the questionnaire survey and interviews, the paper aims to answer how the participants educated about science, how they engaged in the science project and how they entertain during the contest, finally generalizing the assessment of the science communication effect.

The findings are that on the metrics of education, over 70% participants reported their skills and interest of science are strengthened and their knowledge of science is enlarged. On the metrics of engagement, participants who took less than 3 months and 3-6 moth to prepare for the project are 42.9% and 25% respectively. 32.1% participants received trainings over 3 times. On the metrics of entertainment, practical experience activities are the most popular content during the contest.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Visual talk
Theme: Science
Area of interest: Applying science communication research to practice

Rojak science – A gastronomical path to science communication in Singapore

Author: Linda Sellou – National University of Singapore, Singapore

Co-authors:
Kim Yong Lim – National University of Singapore

The city-state of Singapore may be described as a nation of high achievers, be it in economics, technology or even education. Singapore is also a profoundly multicultural and multilingual society that has four official languages (English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil). The communication of science, in this Rojak (a Malay term for “eclectic mix”) society, brings its own challenges. However, one thing connects everyone and makes everything simpler: food!

We organised a series of outreach events that focused on the science of cooking. The targeted audiences were school children, families and professionals. The programme was developed and conducted with science and engineering undergraduates. Our primary goal was to reinvent local delights to emphasise science. Another was to engage the different social communities. The initiative allowed the undergraduates to infuse their respective cultural backgrounds into the task of science communication. This lead to the development of culturally informed strategies to reach and engage diverse audiences.

This talk discusses the development of this programme, the various interactions with the different audiences and the impact on all the stakeholders.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Individual paper
Theme: Science
Area of interest: Comparing science communication across cultures

Cultural pre-conceptions and their Implications on earth science education

Author: Simon Schneider – University of Potsdam, Germany

Over the last decades the public debate about climate change, sustainability, and other global environmental issues was focused solely on perspectives from the Earth sciences, on economic demands and societal challenges. Some scholars see the working programme for climate research of the EU as an example, which seems to be “characterized by its exclusion of human (cultural, ethical and spiritual) dimensions and is simply interested in monitoring and technical and socioeconomic engineering of solution policy” (Bergmann, 2010:17). Only recently cultural studies and theology have been introduced into relevant research, but a deeper understanding of “how human environmental attitudes get shaped and what causes those attitudes to change through time” (Kareiva; 2008: 2757) is still missing. While scientists agree, that there “… is also ample evidence that distinct cultural and religious values of individuals and whole societies influence their perception and tolerance of risk as well as their capacity to cope with environmental hazard” (Gerten, 2010:39f), education and communication research have not yet focused on how these risks and hazards are transported into the public in respect to various socio-political environments. Within this session, we want to discuss ways to gain a better understanding of how cultural preconceptions influence science education and science communication.

Presentation type: Idea in progress
Theme: Society
Area of interest: Comparing science communication across cultures

How to innovate in science communication in complex societies

Author: Bernard Schiele – UQAM Montreal, Canada

If social complexity is proportional to the number of interactions within a given society, ours is undoubtedly complex. In our complex societies, traditional modes of science diffusion are not as effective as we would like them to be as a result of at least two self-reinforcing factors: first, circulating information, true or false, validated or not, is always susceptible of emerging in public discourse, which we call the mirror effect; second, the sciences continue to develop, giving birth to new fields of specialty, further widening the gap, not only between scientists and laypersons, but also between researchers themselves, which we call the archipelago effect. Therefore, we must invent new modes of knowledge diffusion, in line with the redistribution of interrelations between actors and social groups, the development of means of communication, and the progress of knowledge. This talk will present some of the new modes of science communication, or knowledge diffusion, that are being developed and experimented today to meet the challenges of our modernity.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Individual paper
Theme: Science
Area of interest: Applying science communication research to practice

Science/pseudoscience TV series, a comparison

Author: Alexandre Schiele – University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM), Canada

Since the end of World War 2, science education, science mediation and science communication has been the order of the day. With the growing importance of science and technology within our societies, in all fields, it was posited that reason, science and a scientific mind were among the major conditions for continuously growing economies and continuously rising living condition. Science and scientists had a powerful voice, while everything and everyone that was deemed outside the mainstream, including pseudoscience and cranks, were confined to the fringe. Alternative values and ideas existed and strived, but they were mainly relegated to escapist fiction, and, for their most part, depreciated. However, in the past two decades or so, pseudoscience and cranks have gained a foothold in the mainstream and have now become a staple of mass media, even on historically science-orientated networks. For sure debunking still exists, but it is increasingly confined to the fringe: pseudoscience and cranks have not only become established fixtures of primetime television, they are less and less denounced, criticized or even confronted. Simply put, cranks now present their ideas without contradiction while the success of these shows bring in a steady flow of revenues if they secure a contract with a major. The result has been the marginalization of shows that even simply draw on science as a mean of entertainment.

In order to better understand this puzzle, which is unfortunately too often avoided by science communication, the object of this talk will be the comparison of the structure of a highly successful pseudoscience TV series on a mainstream network, Ancient Aliens, running continuously since 2009, to that of recent and more traditionally science-oriented TV series also playing on mainstream networks. Understanding their success may contribute to the improvement of science communication and to the counteracting of mainstream pseudoscience.

Presentation type: Individual paper
Theme: Society
Area of interest: Investigating science communication practices

“We Know those Code Words” – The Impact of Wording When Talking about Suicide

Author: Bonnie Scarth – Department of Science Communication, University of Otago, New Zealand

This presentation centres on an ongoing discussion in suicide prevention circles: what nomenclature is most appropriate when communicating about suicide. Despite the importance of the topic, there is actually a lack of empirical evidence to support some claims regarding stigmatising language. The first part of this title comes from a quote by a participant bereaved by suicide deaths. Like others I have interviewed during my PhD research into people’s perceptions of suicide, “Kayla” noted some of the difficulties surrounding the language used by the media to cover a suicide death. On the one hand, the terms used by the media to discuss suicide are often critiqued by the public for being cryptic due to suicide’s “taboo” status. On the other hand, the colloquial language, surrounding suicide is frequently critiqued by suicide prevention experts for “sensationalizing” or “glamourizing” the act. Moreover, outmoded phraseology, such as “committed suicide” (which implies a sinful crime) is also criticised for promoting prejudice against the mentally ill, thereby maintaining a harmful taboo status that stigmatizes bereaved family members and keeps vulnerable people from seeking help. Although the negative consequences (i.e., copycat suicides) of using sensationalist or glamourizing language in the reporting of suicide are well established, there is a surprising lack of evidence involving the presumed deleterious effects of other problematic terminology, such as “committed” suicide. Given the widespread policing of these loaded terms by suicide prevention groups, this is a surprising empirical omission. This presentation showcases data from my qualitative interviews and controlled studies to examine the role of language on people’s perceptions of suicide, their openness to discussing the topic, and how motivated they would be to assist in suicide prevention efforts, depending on the language used.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Visual talk
Theme: Society
Area of interest: Applying science communication research to practice

The role of citizen science in engaging publics in science and technology – Citizen Inquiry

Author: Eileen Scanlon – Open University, United Kingdom

Co-authors:
Maria Aristeidou – Open University
Christothea Herodotou – Open University
Mike Sharples – Open University

Citizen science is a developing field of interest for many researchers. Projects range from those where the public are invited to take part and assist the research scientists in an endeavour, to those where citizens themselves initiate and engage in investigations. Categorisations of citizen science activity have been offered (see e.g. Curtis , 2015) where distinctions are made about the purpose and motivations of both scientists or the public, and the nature of the activities in which citizens are engaged, or the influence of digital technologies (Allan and Redden, 2016). Lewenstein (2016) notes this complexity and points out that ‘ they [citizen scientists] are learning science at the same time as they are challenging scientific orthodoxies and making claims on the governance of science’ (Lewenstein, 2016, p2). Also there have been concerns expressed about various ethical implications of citizen science projects (Medvecky and Leach, 2017).

This paper will present our concept of citizen inquiry, where we have synthesised citizen science with features of inquiry learning (Herodotou et al., 2017). It involves a proposal which supports the active engagement of the public in citizen science activities such as collecting or analysing data but also their engagement in the process of initiation, implementation, and completion of personally meaningful scientific projects.

References

Allan, S. and Redden, J. (2017). Making citizen science newsworthy in the era of big data, JCOM 16 (02), C O5

Curtis, V. (2015). Online citizen science projects: an exploration of motivation, contribution and participation, PhD thesis, Open University

Herodotou, C., Sharples, M. and Scanlon, E. eds. (2017). Citizen Inquiry: Synthesising Science and Inquiry Learning. Abingdon: Routledge

Lewenstein, B. (2016) Can we understand citizen science? JCOM, 15(1),E,1-5

Medvecky, F. and Leach, J. (2017). The ethics of science communication. JCOM, 16(04), 1-5, https://jcom.sissa.it/archive/16/04/JCOM_1604_2017_E.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Individual paper
Theme: Society
Area of interest: Investigating science communication practices

Pulling out prematurely – Donald Trump and the Paris Agreement – a cross-country comparison of climate change narratives in legacy media

Author: Geraldine Satre Buisson – Imperial College London, United Kingdom

Climate change is one policy arena where science and cultural beliefs are deeply intertwined. In some countries (the United States especially, and the United Kingdom to a lesser extent), this intersection is expressed sharply along political partisan lines. Drawing on narrative policy theory, this paper looks at the way in which we make sense of this entanglement in the form of stories that we tell as social groups, relayed by the media and influential public figures. Tracing how these different narratives emerge and influence policy is of key importance to climate science communicators.

Using the case study of President Trump’s announcement in June 2017 that the United States would be leaving the Paris Agreement, I analyse the narratives that were deployed by the governments of three countries (the United Kingdom, France and Germany) to react to the same policy event, as well as assess the extent to which these stories were adopted or contested in legacy media.

I first conduct a narrative analysis of the speeches made by respective heads of states to identify the range of characters, types of plots, and narrative themes employed to react to President Trump’s announcement. I then compare these official narratives to those disseminated in the media, through the analysis of 150 press articles published in 18 daily newspapers in the weeks following the announcement. I find that, in spite of the united front presented by France, Germany, and the United Kingdom in their determination to pursue coordinated climate policies at the international level, the very relevance of nation states as the main actors of climate change mitigation is challenged in the press through the emergence of alternate stories about the role of cities, communities, or businesses as translators of scientific knowledge into political action.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Individual paper
Theme: Stories
Area of interest: Influencing policies through science communication

Turning undergraduates into science storytellers. What are the best practices?

Author: Mark Sarvary – Cornell University, United States

Co-authors:
Kathleen Gifford – Science Cabaret/Cornell University
Bruce Lewenstein – Cornell University

What is the role of science communication in the undergraduate science curriculum? This international panel will discuss key issues in teaching science communication at the undergraduate level, and how to bring public communication of science into science education.

Join this roundtable discussion with Merryn McKinnon and Will Grant from the Australian National University, Fabien Medvecky from the University of Otago, NZ, Kitty Gifford and Mark Sarvary from Cornell University, USA. Bruce Lewenstein from Cornell University will moderate the discussion.

Dr. Sarvary and Ms. Gifford organized this roundtable after they developed a course at Cornell University (USA) for science undergraduates covering how to build a science communication strategy plan. Their goal was to understand how undergraduates consume and produce scientific information, and to develop methods to teach communication skills to the next generation of science scholars.

Roundtable participants will discuss how scientific storytelling can be taught at an undergraduate level, and exchange ideas about how digital natives use technologies for science communication. Panelists will also discuss student involvement in public science events outside of the university walls. Instructors who teach science communication are especially encouraged to join this discussion, and bring ideas what has worked and what has failed in their classrooms. We look forward to discussing this topic with fellow science communication instructors, researchers and experts in this field.

Presentation type: Roundtable discussion
Theme: Stories
Area of interest: Teaching science communication

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