Effective Chemistry Communication in Informal Environments (2016) / Chapter Skim
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4 Evidence-Based Research on Learning and Communication
4 Evidence-Based Research on Learning and Communication
Pages 45-68
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report, Learning Science in Informal Environments, surveyed the research on informal science education and is an invaluable starting point for insights into communicating chemistry in informal settings. The report gathers research from the fields of developmental and cognitive science, science education, museum research 1 For a brief discussion of Faraday and the lectures, see Halsall (1998)
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, which translates the findings in the 2009 report into concrete examples of effective approaches for practitioners in informal science settings, such as media, libraries, after-school programs, museums, aquariums, and zoos. The 2009 NRC report characterizes informal science learning as predominantly "learnermotivated, guided by learner interests, voluntary, personal, ongoing, contextually relevant, collaborative, nonlinear, and open-ended" (NRC, 2009, p.
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. Thus, scientists who engage in informal learning activities should think about what people already know and their interests, concerns, and motivations for participating in an informal science learning event.
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The 2010 report provides detailed descriptions of activities that engage informal learners in many ways, highlighting the value of interactivity, opportunities for long-term relationships with science activities, and connecting scientific work to everyday life or to environmental and other social issues. Strand 2, for chemistry, would include fundamentals such as the structure of atoms and properties of matter, as well as areas of application, such as cycles of matter and energy transfer in ecosystems.
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Such events foster knowledge of the process of science, improve understanding of the relevance of science to everyday life and social issues, and develop relationships between scientists and the public (Grunwald Associates and Education Development Center, 2013)
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. Environments for Informal Learning The 2009 NRC report identified the three primary settings in which informal science learning takes place as a way to consider the characteristics that make it effective in different circumstances.
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Informal science learning is intended to be responsive to a learner's interests and capabilities, and thus the outcomes may be unexpected and surprising. Insights from Research on Communication Many social science disciplines contribute to understanding communication, including psychology, sociology, political science, risk communication, media studies, public relations, decision science, social marketing research, and the science of communication itself.
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Goals for Communication The academic field of communication has not identified a set of formalized strands for practitioners. Rather, science communication scholarship acknowledges the wide range of goals of practitioners, from science learning to providing science information to addressing societal challenges to building a stronger science-public interface.
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In addition, the range of goals of communicating science with the public, from sharing excitement about science to building trust to informing policy decisions, necessitates a range of communication tools and strategies. There are many communication technologies through which science content can be accessed -- science programming on television, newspaper and magazine articles, science fiction writing, and the Internet (e.g., Wikipedia)
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. LINKING INFORMAL SCIENCE LEARNING AND COMMUNICATION A Communication Model for Informal Learning Settings There are many models that describe objectives for communicators, many of which share features.
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Public Perceptions of Science and Scientists The challenge of conveying science in informal settings may be complicated by public perceptions of scientists and their research institutions. A 2012 survey conducted by the National Science Board (NSB)
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. Because of the breadth and complexity of factors that influence people's perceptions of science, building trust between chemists and participants is critical for science communication and learning in informal settings.
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Web-Based Communication A significant amount of informal science learning takes place through broadcast, print, and digital media, and the possibilities in this area are evolving quickly. Unfortunately, research on science communication in informal environments has not kept pace with the rapid rise of online and social media as a means of communication and learning about science, 57
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. Because Web-based platforms have become such a prevalent means of informal science communication, the committee asked Ayelet Baram-Tsabari, a professor of biology education and science communication at Technion–Israel Institute of Technology, to summarize the recent research.
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Finding this relevance for chemistry, however, is challenging because not much research targets public perceptions of chemists and chemistry or the effectiveness of chemistry communication events in informal settings. In a 2000 telephone survey commissioned by the American Chemical Society, approximately one-third of those surveyed had an unfavorable view of the chemical industry, which received the least favorable ratings of 10 science-related industries (NSB, 2002)
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. Thus, the use of multiple, linked representations to communicate a single concept may be more likely to help informal learners grasp it.
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. Animations and simulations can represent dynamic chemistry concepts, but experts evaluate these visual representations differently than novices do.
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PRINCIPLES FOR CHEMISTRY COMMUNICATION IN INFORMAL ENVIRONMENTS A few ideas manifested themselves repeatedly in the work we examined and form the basis of a set of principles that can guide the development of effective informal chemistry communication opportunities. These principles provide the basis on which the practical framework in Part B is built.
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The fact that people learn throughout their lives while participating in the activities of daily life, such as hobbies, outdoor excursions, or cooking, is especially useful with chemistry, because informal learning opportunities can build on the expertise that people naturally develop in areas import to them. REFERENCES Ackerman, R., and M
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2015. Bridging science education and science communication research.
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In Visualization in science education, edited by J Gilbert.
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Science Education 90:148-163. Mason, G.S., T.R.
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International Journal of Science Education 30(12)
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Science Education 88(3)
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