An Empirical Cohort Analysis of the Relationship between National Science Curriculum and Public Understanding of Science and Technology

2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 365-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kinya Shimizu
Keyword(s):  
Science Curriculum ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Cohort Analysis ◽  
Public Understanding Of Science ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
National Science ◽  
Understanding Of Science ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between knowledge and attitudes in the public understanding of science in Britain

1995 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Evans ◽  
John Durant
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Research ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Public Understanding Of Science ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
The Public ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Attitudes Towards Science ◽  
Understanding Of Science ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Human Embryology

The belief that greater understanding leads to more positive attitudes informs many practical initiatives in the public understanding of science. However, there has been comparatively little empirical study of the justification for this belief. This paper explores the relationship between understanding of science and levels of support for science using a national sample of over 2000 British respondents. The analysis indicates that the internal consistency of attitudes towards science is poor, and that the links between attitudes towards science in general and attitudes towards specific areas of scientific research are weak. Understanding of science is weakly related to more positive attitudes in general: but, more significantly, it is also associated with more coherent and more discriminating attitudes. Of particular importance is the finding that while knowledgeable members of the public are more favourably disposed towards science in general, they are less supportive of morally contentious areas of research than are those who are less knowledgeable. Although an informed public opinion is likely to provide a slightly more supportive popular basis for some areas of scientific research, it could serve to constrain research in controversial areas such as human embryology.

Public Science Day and the public understanding of science in America

2000 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shane M. Daley
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Context ◽  
American Association ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Public Understanding Of Science ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Public Science ◽  
The Public ◽  
The World ◽  
Understanding Of Science

Many countries around the world have instituted day-long or week-long events celebrating science and technology. This article describes the “Public Science Day” sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of science, focusing especially on organizational context, goals, and activities.

Destroying iPhones: Feral science and the antithetical citizen

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 731-744 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Michael
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Public Understanding Of Science ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Destructive Testing ◽  
Public Engagement With Science ◽  
Youtube Videos ◽  
Understanding Of Science

This exploratory article considers the implications of a particular genre – YouTube videos of iPhone destruction – for the Citizen Science and Public Understanding of Science/Public Engagement with Science and Technology. Situating this genre within a broader TV tradition of ‘destructive testing’ programmes, there is a description of the forms of destruction visited upon the iPhone, and an analysis of the features shared by the videos (e.g. mode of address, enactments of the experiment). Drawing on the notion of the ‘idiotic’, there is a discussion of the genre that aims to treat its evident lack of scientific and citizenly ‘seriousness’ productively. In the process of this discussion, the notions of ‘feral science’ and ‘antithetical citizenship’ are proposed, and some of their ramifications for Citizen Science and Public Understanding of Science/Public Engagement with Science and Technology presented.

scholarly journals How to take non-knowledge seriously, or “the unexpected virtue of ignorance”

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 385-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristian H. Nielsen ◽  
Mads P. Sørensen
Keyword(s):  
Science Communication ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Public Understanding Of Science ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Democratic Deliberation ◽  
Understanding Of Science

This commentary argues that we need to take ignorance and non-knowledge seriously in the fields of science communication and public understanding of science. As much as we want ignorance to disappear, it seems that it is here to stay—in the sciences and in the rest of society. Drawing on the vast but scattered literature on ignorance and non-knowledge, we suggest that paying closer attention to these phenomena could be beneficial for science communicators. Despite the fact that ignorance and non-knowledge, just like knowledge, today are highly politicized fields, they may also open up for new lines of inquiry and may be key to more pluralistic and equal democratic deliberation about science and technology.

scholarly journals Communicating Science and Technology. Gradiva’s Books of Popularization of Science and Technology and the Portuguese Public

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-118
Author(s):  
Inês N. Navalhas
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Scientific Literacy ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
The Other ◽  
Public Understanding Of Science ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Portuguese Population ◽  
Popularization Of Science ◽  
Understanding Of Science ◽  
The One

Abstract By focusing on the books of popularization of science and technology published by Gradiva this research aims at understanding the mechanisms and strategies to bring science and technology to a broader audience in Portugal, after 1974, the year of the Carnation Revolution that put an end to a long half century dictatorship. I use a mix conceptual framework: on the one hand, I use the scientific literacy and public understanding of science and technology main references to explore the public’s behavior and opinion concerning scientific and technological knowledge; on the other hand, I analyze Gradiva’s choices concerning the collections aimed at popularizing science and technology. So, I hope to contribute to map the perception of the Portuguese public about techno-scientific themes that influence their life and decisions, to understand how scientists relate to scientific and technological popularization literature and to assess scientific literacy in the Portuguese population.

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