Public science

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Public science is a term for research that is conducted amongst, or includes, the public. Two traditions of public science have emerged, one based on participatory action research and another based on science outreach.

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Participatory action research

Participatory action research in Ghana CARE-CCAFS in Gender & Participatory Research in Ghana (14416219450).jpg
Participatory action research in Ghana

The participatory action research approach seeks to develop a critical framework for making systematic inquiry and analysis a public enterprise. It is committed to valuing knowledges that have been historically marginalized and delegitimized (i.e., youth, prisoner, immigrant, farmer) alongside traditionally recognized knowledges (i.e., scholarly). Through the formation of research collectives, it aims to share the various knowledges and resources held by its individual members so members can participate as equally as possible. The choice of appropriate research questions, design, methods and analysis as well as useful research products are decided collectively. Institutions for this form of public science include the Public Science Project. [1] Examples of public science projects in the participatory action research tradition include the Morris Justice Project. [2]

Science outreach

Man in Brooklyn's Prospect Park inviting passersby to use his telescope and talk about an astronomical phenomenon Man with a telescope in Prospect Park (92556).jpg
Man in Brooklyn's Prospect Park inviting passersby to use his telescope and talk about an astronomical phenomenon

The science outreach approach has some similarities to citizen science but typically describes projects that are conducted outdoors or in another type of public or accessible space such as a public park, metro stop, library, university campus, etc. [3] Similar to public art, it includes aspects of collaboration, community support and involvement, and site specificity. [4]

Public science efforts in the science outreach tradition include Science on the Buses, in which city buses in many major European Union cities were decorated with large informational science posters in November 2002. Likewise, a project in Toronto placed "advertisements" with science facts on buses in Toronto during July 2009. [5]

Science City was a public science initiative that ran from June 1994 through May 1995. Created by staff and consultants from the New York Hall of Science, Science City was an outdoor exhibition that utilized the street, fences, buildings and other public structures in New York City to attract the "non-museum-going" public to the science in everyday life. [6] The exhibition asked questions such as "Why is it warmer in the city?", "What pulses under the street?" and "What's under the sidewalk?" to help increase public awareness about the science and technology that runs invisibly underneath modern urban life.

Science Cafés, founded by the public science pioneer Duncan Dallas, [7] are public science events that initiate a discussion on a science topic in pubs or cafes, usually with a local researcher in attendance to answer questions and present information.

Science festivals can also be grouped into this category of public science efforts, with modern incarnations of festivals including a range of learner-centered activities and events conducted in public spaces.

Public science initiatives often attempt to reach new audiences (particularly, non-experts who might not actively seek out science), in addition to existing science outreach audiences, by hosting events in alternative informal learning environments. [8] By definition, such public science projects are outside the walls of the science centre or science museum, where the main focus of the particular space is not typically science outreach. [9]

An example of a specific public science initiative in astronomy is From Earth to the Universe (FETTU), [10] a project of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009). [11] FETTU displayed large-scale images of astronomical objects with contextual information and supplementary materials and activities in non-traditional and mostly public locations such as parks, airports, art festivals, and shopping malls. By 2011, FETTU had been exhibited at about 1000 sites worldwide, with 50 sites in the United States. [12] One result from FETTU demonstrated a trend towards more non-self-selective audiences for science communications in these public spaces. [13]

Related Research Articles

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The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is the science operations center for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), science operations and mission operations center for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and science operations center for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. STScI was established in 1981 as a community-based science center that is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA). STScI's offices are located on the Johns Hopkins University Homewood Campus and in the Rotunda building in Baltimore, Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SETI Institute</span> Not-for-profit research organization

The SETI Institute is a not-for-profit research organization incorporated in 1984 whose mission is to explore, understand, and explain the origin and nature of life in the universe, and to use this knowledge to inspire and guide present and future generations, sharing knowledge with the public, the press, and the government. SETI stands for the "search for extraterrestrial intelligence".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astronomical Society of the Pacific</span> American scientific and educational organization

The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) is an American scientific and educational organization, founded in San Francisco on February 7, 1889. Its name derives from its origins on the Pacific Coast, but today it has members all over the country and the world. It has the legal status of a nonprofit organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armagh Planetarium</span> Armagh Astropark

Armagh Planetarium is a planetarium located in Armagh, Northern Ireland close to the city centre and neighbouring Armagh Observatory in approximately fourteen acres of landscaped grounds known as the Armagh Astropark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Year of Astronomy</span> 2009 UN theme year

The International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) was a year-long celebration of astronomy that took place in 2009 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the first recorded astronomical observations with a telescope by Galileo Galilei and the publication of Johannes Kepler's Astronomia nova in the 17th century. The Year was declared by the 62nd General Assembly of the United Nations. A global scheme, laid out by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), was also endorsed by UNESCO, the UN body responsible for educational, scientific, and cultural matters.

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Science outreach, also called Education and Public Outreach or simply public outreach, is an umbrella term for a variety of activities by research institutes, universities, and institutions such as science museums, aimed at promoting public awareness of science and making informal contributions to science education.

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Pamela L. Gay is an American astronomer, educator, podcaster, and writer, best known for her work in astronomical podcasting and citizen science astronomy projects. She is a senior education and communication specialist and senior scientist for the Planetary Science Institute. Her research interests include analysis of astronomy data, as well as examination of the impact of citizen science initiatives. Gay has also appeared as herself in various television documentary series.

<i>IRrelevant Astronomy</i>

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National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand or NARIT is a research institute under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation. Its main missions are to carry out, support, and promote the development of astronomy and astrophysics in Thailand through research, public outreach, and educational activities.

A mobile museum is a museum educational outreach program that bring the museum to the people rather than vice versa. Typically they can be in Recreational Vehicles (RVs) or trucks/trailers that drive to schools, libraries and rural events. Their business model is to use grant or donor support, as they goal is to make the museum exhibit accessible to underserved populations. Below are some examples of mobile museums.

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Physics outreach encompasses facets of science outreach and physics education, and a variety of activities by schools, research institutes, universities, clubs and institutions such as science museums aimed at broadening the audience for and awareness and understanding of physics. While the general public may sometimes be the focus of such activities, physics outreach often centers on developing and providing resources and making presentations to students, educators in other disciplines, and in some cases researchers within different areas of physics.

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The ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre is an astronomy centre located at the site of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Headquarters in Garching bei München. It offers exhibitions, guided tours and planetarium shows that feature observations made by the telescopes of the European Southern Observatory.

Aomawa L. Shields is an associate professor of physics and astronomy at UC Irvine. Her research is focused on exploring the climate and habitability of small exoplanets, using data from observatories including NASA's Kepler spacecraft. Shields was a 2015 TED Fellow, and is active in science communication and outreach. She develops interactive workshops to encourage self-esteem and teach about astronomy, combines her training in theater and her career in astronomy.

The Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Toronto is an astronomical research centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kimberly Arcand</span> American science communicator and data visualizer

Kimberly Kowal Arcand is a data visualizer and science communicator for NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. She is also the visualization coordinator for the Aesthetics and Astronomy image response project at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Nancy Cottrell Maryboy is a Cherokee and Navajo Indigenous science expert and educator. Maryboy is the president of the Indigenous Education Institute, an organization she founded in 1995 to apply traditional Indigenous knowledge to contemporary settings. Much of her work has focused on Indigenous astronomy and she has written several books on Navajo astronomy.

References

  1. ↑ "The Public Science Project: Participatory Action, Research and Design for a Just World". publicscienceproject.org. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
  2. ↑ "MORRIS JUSTICE: a public science project". morrisjustice.org. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
  3. ↑ Arcand, K.K., Watzke, M. (September 2011), "Creating Public Science with the From Earth to the Universe Project". Science Communication, 33(3). doi : 10.1177/1075547011417895
  4. ↑ Watzke, M., Arcand, K.K., "The Universe Brought Down to the Streets: The "From Earth to the Universe" Project". Mercury magazine, 39(1), Spring 2010.
  5. ↑ Plait, Phil (6 January 2009). "Busing in astronomy". blogs.discovermagazine.com. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
  6. ↑ Cole, P.R. & Cutting, J.M., 1996, "The Inside Story of Science City: An Outdoor Public Science Exhibition". Curator: The Museum Journal . Volume 39 #4, p. 245–261.
  7. ↑ "Duncan Dallas obituary". theguardian.com. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
  8. ↑ Bell, P., Lewenstein, B., Shouse, A. W., Feder, M. A. (Eds), 2009, Learning Science in Informal Environments: People, Places and Pursuits. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press. doi : 10.17226/12190
  9. ↑ Norsted, B. A., 2010, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game: Science Outreach to Non-traditional Audiences". Science Education and Outreach: Forging a Path to the Future. ASP Conference Series, Vol. 431, p. 170–173.
  10. ↑ "From Earth to the Universe Exhibition". www.fromearthtotheuniverse.org. Archived from the original on 2009-01-21. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
  11. ↑ Russo, P. and Christensen, L.L. (Eds.), 2010 "International Year of Astronomy 2009 Final Report" International Astronomical Union, ISBN   978-3-923524-65-5
  12. ↑ Arcand, K.K., Watzke, M., 2010, "Bringing the Universe to the Street: A Preliminary Look at Informal Learning Implications for a Large-Scale Non-traditional Science Outreach Project". JCOM Journal of Science Communication. 9(2), 1. doi : 10.22323/2.09020201
  13. ↑ "Sciencegarden.de".
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