Foreign travels

Entering a new millennium the state of the public understanding of science is, and will continue to be, a key to the human condition; stories of the past may help to deepen it. In that hope we intend to mark the end of the present millennium in September 2000 or the start of the new one in January 2001 by an issue with millennial contributions, the choice of date depending on how rapidly potential authors respond to these hints.

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Science and journalism: friend or foe?

Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union ◽

10.1017/s1743921311003334 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 5 (S260) ◽

Author(s):

Cătălin Mosoia

Keyword(s):

Personal Experience ◽

Public Understanding Of Science ◽

Public Understanding ◽

The Public ◽

The Past ◽

Understanding Of Science

AbstractA journalist's view on science and journalism. The presentation is based on personal experience gained over the past few years as editor of the minute of science broadcasted at Radio Europa FM, Bucharest, Romania, and as editor and writer for the Romanian electronic science newspaper Ziarul stiintelor. Is it possible to have science with or without journalism? Who is waiting for whom, science or journalism? Is astronomy more attractive to the public than other disciplines? Can it be used as a growing factor for the public understanding of science?

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Understanding understanding: a model for the public learning of radioactivity

Public Understanding of Science ◽

10.1088/0963-6625/8/4/301 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 267-284 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Steve Alsop

Keyword(s):

Informal Learning ◽

Background Radiation ◽

Public Understanding Of Science ◽

Public Understanding ◽

Change Model ◽

Potential Health ◽

The Public ◽

Understanding Of Science ◽

Conceptual Change Model

While much of the work in the public understanding of science has focused on the public's appreciation of science and their familiarity with key scientific concepts, understanding the processes involved in learning science has largely been ignored. This article documents a study of how particular members of the public learn about radiation and radioactivity, and proposes a model to describe their learning—the Informal Conceptual Change Model [ICCM]. ICCM is a multidimensional framework that incorporates three theoretical dimensions—the cognitive, conative, and affective. The paper documents each of these dimensions, and then illustrates the model by drawing upon data collected in a case study. The emphasis of the analysis is on understanding how the members of the public living in an area with high levels of background radiation learn about the science of this potential health threat. The summarizing comments examine the need for a greater awareness of the complexities of informal learning.

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The roles of rhetoric in the public understanding of science

Public Understanding of Science ◽

10.1088/0963-6625/3/1/001 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 3-23 ◽

Cited By ~ 109

Author(s):

Alan G. Gross

Keyword(s):

Rhetorical Analysis ◽

Public Understanding Of Science ◽

Public Understanding ◽

Minor Role ◽

Contextual Model ◽

Deficit Model ◽

The Public ◽

Science Rhetoric ◽

Understanding Of Science ◽

Social Scientific

In the public understanding of science, rhetoric has two distinct roles: it is both a theory capable of analysing public understanding and an activity capable of creating it. In its analytical role, rhetoric reveals two dominant models of public understanding: the deficit model and the contextual model. In the deficit model, rhetoric acts in the minor role of creating public understanding by accommodating the facts and methods of science to public needs and limitations. In the contextual model, rhetoric and rhetorical analysis play major roles. Rhetorical analysis provides an independent source of evidence to secure social scientific claims; in addition, it supplies the grounds for a rhetoric of reconstruction, one that reconstitutes the fact and facts of science in the public interest.

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