Improved Insights Newsletter for July 2022: Science Communication is Not Just for Scientists
Welcome to the July edition of the Improved Insights Newsletter: a newsletter for folks in informal STEM learning spaces who want to learn more about how to measure and communicate the impacts of their work.
I’m Sarah M. Dunifon - a long-time STEM educator, evaluator, and equity advocate. After spending time working in museums, nonprofits, and higher education, I now work on cutting-edge informal STEM learning research and evaluation with my team at Improved Insights. We specialize in informal STEM learning and youth programs.
This monthly newsletter includes tips, resources, and news on informal STEM learning evaluation. We hope you find it valuable! Now, let’s get started —
Science Communication is Not Just for Scientists
In this month's newsletter, we'll talk about science communication and its intersection with informal STEM education and evaluation. To read the full article, check it out in our Insights. In the meantime, here’s a taste:
Why is science communication important?
Science communication is hugely important in our current day and age. Says the International Science Council,
“While global polls suggest that in most countries, as an aggregate, trust in science has increased among the general public, there are still reasons to worry. First, these polls support the idea that trust varies greatly depending on the time of polling, the demographic polled and the scientific issue. Also, harassment of scientists has increased over the last two years. And there have been a number of high-profile examples through the COVID pandemic of major policy pronouncements that make a show of dismissing scientific expertise, for example in the U.S. or Brazil.”
In the past few years alone, we’ve had to interpret dozens of health and safety notifications from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the COVID-19 pandemic and the incoming monkeypox outbreak. For decades, we’ve heard about the dangers of climate change and extreme weather events. These things do not happen in isolation and it’s important for STEM personnel to be able to communicate their messages successfully to everyone, and for everyone to be able to understand and think critically about the information they are receiving.
And science communication (or STEM communication really), is increasingly important as we move into a more technologically advanced world. Students today need to be able to understand, interpret, and apply advanced STEM concepts in their coursework and everyday lives. STEM and non-STEM professionals need to engage with new technologies, make important decisions for their health, and do what they can to conserve our planet.
As you can see, everyone has a role in science communication.
Is it science communication or informal STEM education?
While some view science communication and informal STEM learning as totally different, there is significant overlap in the aims and processes of the two.
According to the Center for the Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE), “Informal STEM education (ISE) and science communication are two overlapping fields in which practitioners and researchers design and study activities to promote lifelong engagement with science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in a variety of settings.”
For more information about the similarities and differences between informal STEM education and science (or STEM) communication, check out this network analysis and this bibliometric study. One takeaway that was interesting to me is that the bibliometric study seemed to suggest that informal STEM education may be more focused on students, whereas science communication may be more focused on the general public.
These fields share more similarities than one might think.
60-Second Suggestions
Here are a few of my favorite things this month, usually pertaining to informal STEM education and evaluation, but occasionally some fun personal stuff, too.
The National Academies Press offers open source seminal works like A Framework for K-12 Science Education, How People Learn and How People Learn II, and Learning Science in Informal Environments. You can also set up alerts for similar works so that you get an email when something new comes out.
Coolors.co is a fantastic color palette generator that I often use in designing color schemes for deliverables and data visualizations. You can plug in specific colors you need to include (like your organization’s brand colors), and let Coolors figure out what would be complementary. Even cooler? You can check for accessibility with different variations of color blindness to ensure the tones show up differently enough to be distinguishable.
Planting milkweed. As you may know, monarch butterflies have recently landed on the endangered species list. Conservationists are encouraging everyone to plant native milkweed in their outdoor spaces and to lay off the pesticides to help them rebound. There are plenty of places to find milkweed native to your region, and many organizations offer free seeds. I’ve planted some milkweed and intend to plant more on my journey towards a native plant “no mow” yard.
Until next time - thanks!