TY - BOOK AU - National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine A2 - Erin Hammers Forstag A2 - Holly G. Rhodes TI - Effective Health Communication Within the Current Information Environment and the Role of the Federal Government: Proceedings of a Workshop SN - DO - 10.17226/27210 PY - 2023 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/27210/effective-health-communication-within-the-current-information-environment-and-the-role-of-the-federal-government PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Education AB - On March 20 and 21, 2023, the Board on Science Education at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine hosted a workshop titled Effective Health Communication within the Current Information Environment and the Role of the Federal Government. Workshop speakers and participants, a majority of whom were working in government agencies in federal health communication or leadership positions, joined both in person in Washington, D.C. as well as virtually to explore the current health information environment as it pertains to public trust and behavior change, explore how federal health agencies can communicate effectively within the current information environment and what is needed to support effective health communication moving forward. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussion of the workshop. ER - TY - BOOK TI - The Science of Science Communication II: Summary of a Colloquium SN - DO - 10.17226/18478 PY - 2014 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/18478/the-science-of-science-communication-ii-summary-of-a-colloquium PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Policy for Science and Technology AB - Successful scientists must be effective communicators within their professions. Without those skills, they could not write papers and funding proposals, give talks and field questions, or teach classes and mentor students. However, communicating with audiences outside their profession - people who may not share scientists' interests, technical background, cultural assumptions, and modes of expression - presents different challenges and requires additional skills. Communication about science in political or social settings differs from discourse within a scientific discipline. Not only are scientists just one of many stakeholders vying for access to the public agenda, but the political debates surrounding science and its applications may sometimes confront scientists with unfamiliar and uncomfortable discussions involving religious values, partisan interests, and even the trustworthiness of science. The Science of Science Communication II is the summary of a Sackler Colloquium convened in September 2013 At this event, leading social, behavioral, and decision scientists, other scientists, and communication practitioners shared current research that can improve the communication of science to lay audiences. In the Sackler Colloquia tradition, the meeting also allowed social and natural scientists to identify new opportunities to collaborate and advance their own research, while improving public engagement with science. Speakers provided evidence-based guidance on how to listen to others so as to identify their information needs, ways of thinking about the world, and the cultural stereotypes regarding scientists. They delved deeply into the incentive systems that shape what scientists study and how they report their work, the subtle changes in framing that can influence how messages are interpreted, the complex channels that determine how messages flow, and the potential politicization of scientific evidence. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine A2 - Catherine E. Snow A2 - Kenne A. Dibner TI - Science Literacy: Concepts, Contexts, and Consequences SN - DO - 10.17226/23595 PY - 2016 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/23595/science-literacy-concepts-contexts-and-consequences PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Education AB - Science is a way of knowing about the world. At once a process, a product, and an institution, science enables people to both engage in the construction of new knowledge as well as use information to achieve desired ends. Access to science—whether using knowledge or creating it—necessitates some level of familiarity with the enterprise and practice of science: we refer to this as science literacy. Science literacy is desirable not only for individuals, but also for the health and well- being of communities and society. More than just basic knowledge of science facts, contemporary definitions of science literacy have expanded to include understandings of scientific processes and practices, familiarity with how science and scientists work, a capacity to weigh and evaluate the products of science, and an ability to engage in civic decisions about the value of science. Although science literacy has traditionally been seen as the responsibility of individuals, individuals are nested within communities that are nested within societies—and, as a result, individual science literacy is limited or enhanced by the circumstances of that nesting. Science Literacy studies the role of science literacy in public support of science. This report synthesizes the available research literature on science literacy, makes recommendations on the need to improve the understanding of science and scientific research in the United States, and considers the relationship between scientific literacy and support for and use of science and research. ER -