Impact of Different Popular Science Models and Other Factors on Satisfaction of Community Health Popular Science Activities in Shanghai Community Residents

Objective To explore and analyze the impact of different popular science models, include traditional and innovative models, and other factors on satisfaction of community health popular science activities in Shanghai community residents. Method Four communities were selected in Minhang District, Shanghai, and divided into four groups with simple random sampling method: foreign volunteer medical science talk show group (A), Chinese volunteer medical science talk show group (B), traditional lecture group (C), and control group (D). Using the rules of convenience sampling, 150 residents were randomly selected from each community to participate in 6-month popular science activities, and completed three questionnaires during the 6-month popular science intervention. Data including the sociodemographic data and the satisfaction on community health popular science activities was collected and analyzed. Results Compared with those in baseline, the satisfactions of community health popular science activities in three popular science models have all significantly improved with 3 and 6 months popular science intervention (A: χ2 = 47.1, p < 0.001; B: χ2 = 62.0, p < 0.001; C: χ2 = 31.7, p < 0.001) except for in control group (D: χ2 = 0.3, p = 0.9). The factors including gender, education, marital status, popular science model and popular science intervention time all have significant impact on satisfaction. Among these factors, married (Exp (B) = 2.715, 95% CI (1.163-6.336), p = 0.021)), popular science models (foreign volunteer medical science talk show model: Exp (B) = 8.796, 95% CI (5.907-13.100), p < 0.001; Chinese volunteer medical science talk show model: Exp (B) = 5.106, 95% CI (3.564-7.314), p < 0.001 and traditional lecture model: Exp (B) = 13.033, 95% CI (8.374-20.283), p < 0.001), popular science intervention time (3-month: Exp (B) = 3.988, 95% CI (2.827-5.626), p < 0.001; 6-month: Exp (B) = 4.132, 95% CI (2.924-5.840), p < 0.001) have positive impact on satisfaction. While female (Exp (B) = 0.598, 95% CI (0.440-0.813), p = 0.001), and junior college (Exp (B) = 0.295, 95% CI (0.168-0.519), p < 0.001) have negative impact. Conclusion Both the innovative and traditional popular science models have positive effect on the satisfaction on Chinese community health popular science activities in Shanghai community residents. In the future, special consideration should be given to the impact of different popular science models and other factors on the popular science effects including the satisfaction, and more tailor-design health popular science activities will be suitable for community residents.

Please Let Science Talk: Presidential Sentiment and the Public’s Risk Perception in the Era of COVID-19

We examine whether and to what extent the presidential COVID-19 sentiment (PCS), constructed based on the former President Trump’s tweets, has influenced the public’s risk perception regarding COVID-19. We find that during the COVID-19 pandemic, PCS is negatively associated with social distancing behaviour in the Republican counties but is positively associated with social distancing behaviour in the Democratic counties. Our finding supports the view that individuals’ risk perception is influenced by the information they receive from politicians through social media, with the impact exhibiting as variations with respect to the individuals’ position on the political spectrum.

A Systematic Review of Science Discourse in K–12 Urban Classrooms in the United States: Accounting for Individual, Collective, and Contextual Factors

The literature on science discourse in K–12 classrooms in the United States has proliferated over the past couple of decades, crossing geographical, disciplinary, theoretical, and methodological boundaries. There is general consensus that science talk is at the core of students’ learning; however, a synthesis of key findings from the expansive literature base is needed. This systematic literature review is guided by a complex systems framework to organize and synthesize empirical studies of science talk in urban classrooms across individual (student or teacher), collective (interpersonal), and contextual (sociocultural, historical) planes. Findings are discussed in relation to contemporary approaches that integrate theories and methodologies to account for the complex phenomena of science discourse, including interacting elements across levels as well as stable and changing patterns that influence students’ access to, and nature of, science talk in urban classrooms. Unresolved questions related to high-leverage, equitable, and sustainable discourse practices; future lines of inquiry that can benefit by drawing from diverse theoretical traditions and mixed methodological approaches; and practical implications for classroom-based strategies to support science discourse are also discussed.

“He Fell in and That's How He Became a Fossil!”: Engagement With a Storytelling Exhibit Predicts Families' Explanatory Science Talk During a Museum Visit

Parent-child conversations in everyday interactions may set the stage for children's interest and understanding about science. Studies of family conversations in museums have found links to children's engagement and learning. Stories and narratives about science may spark children's interest in science topics. This study asks whether a museum exhibit that provides opportunities for families to create narratives might encourage families' explanatory science talk throughout the rest of the exhibit. The project focused on the potential impact of a hands-on story-telling exhibit, the “spin browser” embedded within a larger exhibition focused on fossilized mammoth bones—Mammoth Discovery! at Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose. Participants were 83 families with children between 3 and 11 years (mean age 7 years). We coded families' narrative talk (telling stories about the living mammoth or the fossil discovery) and connecting talk (linking the story to other nearby exhibits) while families visited the spin browser, and we also coded families' explanatory science talk at the exhibits that contained authentic fossil bones and replica bones. The parents in families who visited the spin browser (n = 37) were more likely to engage in science talk at the fossil exhibits than those in families who did not visit the spin browser (n = 46). Further, a regression analysis showed that family science talk at the fossil exhibits was predicted by parents' connections talk and children's narrative talk at the spin browser. These findings suggest that families' narratives and stories may provide an entry point for science-related talk, and encourage future study about specific links between storytelling and science understanding.

Mess in Science and Wicked Problems

This paper discusses the claim that science is “messy.” Part I argues first, that a good portion of today’s discussions about messy science is just a portrayal of familiar features of science in new terms. In the paper, I refer to this as “messy science talk.” Second, Part I draws out rhetorical functions of messy science talk, namely the denigration of science in the popular media and the celebration of the maverick. Part II identifies one way in which it is enlightening to think about mess in current science, namely in reference to the problems that scientists need to address. It also shows that we do not need an entirely new conceptual inventory to analyze these problems. “Mess” and “wicked problems” were a theme in operations research and theories of social planning in the 1970s. These older analyses can illuminate important characteristics of today’s scientific problems. Wicked problems cut across different disciplines, engage different stakeholders (including non-scientists), are fluid, and cannot even be clearly formulated. They are urgent and need to be addressed before sufficient evidence is in.