Science-edu-communication: Trends reveal in 20 years of science communication research
Author: Leon Yufeng Wu – Chung Yuan Christian University, Taiwan
Co-authors:
- Chun-Yen Chang – National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan
- Hsin-Yen Lu – National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan
- Nathan M. Truong – National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan
- Yuen-Hsian Tseng – National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan
By investigating scholarly output in science communication from 1997 to 2018, this research sought evidence that science education has been increasingly focusing on communication methods to reach the public, while it has increasingly emphasized the learning effects in informal approaches for learners rather than formal school settings. Through an automatic scientometric method, namely, Content Analysis Toolkit for Academic Research (CATAR), this study analyzed 1300 articles published in two leading journals in the field of science communication, Science Communication and Public Understanding of Science. As a result, seven trends were revealed and categorized into three themes: Public engagement with science (PES); Media and science (MS); and Issues in science (IS). Furthermore, PES and MS scholarly output were found increased significantly. The findings confirmed the goal of this research. It was confirmed in this research that scholarly output of science communication has trended toward a sharing goal of science education: promoting public understanding of science via ways of public engagement of science and media representation of science. However, it then suggested a research area of bridging science education and science communication that is currently less explored. Given increased focus towards PES and MS, these fields are primed for further collaboration to more engage the public in science learning.
The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.
Presentation type: Insight talk
Theme: Time