communicang science - anne hodgsonannehodgson.de/wp-content/...science-across-fields.pdf · science...
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Communica)ng science across fields
Progress PhD Coaching WS 1 21.‐23.3.2011 Anne Hodgson
"We've arranged a global civiliza)on in which the most crucial elements... profoundly depend on science and technology. We have also arranged things so that no one understands science and technology. This is a prescrip)on for disaster. "
Carl Sagan, The Demon‐Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, 1997
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The public assesses the experts
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Progress is...
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"Science, if it can deliver truth, cannot deliver it at the speed of poli)cs."
H. Collins/ R. Evans, Rethinking ExperEse, 2010
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Exper)ses
beer‐mat knowledge
popular understanding
primary source knowledge
interac6onal exper6se
contributory exper6se
general public
general local technical connoisseurship
downward discrimina6on
referred exper6se
external
How we assess the expert:
How we par)cipate in expert knowledge:
internal
specialists
H. Collins/ R. Evans, Rethinking ExperEse, 2010
science!communicator!
scientist!
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"Thought is not merely expressed in words; it comes into existence through them."
Lev S. Vygotsky, Thought and Language, 1934
Both experts learn: Both experts learn:
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A mee)ng of minds
interpersonal ability reflexive ability
contributory exper)se:
The scien)st
interac)onal exper)se: The science
communicator
H. Collins/ R. Evans, Rethinking ExperEse, 2010 11
Points of reference
Scien6sts:
• Background comes first
• Facts in context follow • Scien)fic informa)on is
inherently uncertain
• Technical issues are complex
Science communicators:
• Facts come first: What is the discovery? What does it mean? How important are the facts?
• Background follows • Able to communicate
technical issues in plain English
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The science communicator asks the scien)st: What is your research about?
• What is your hypothesis? • Please sum up the major/preliminary finding of your work in one sentence.
• What mo)vated you to explore this subject? • Does it relate to any major event known to the public?
• How will the results affect the public, immediately/ in the long term?
KrisEne Kelly: TranslaEng Science. From Academia to Mass Media to the Public. 2010
Interview: Interview:
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audience with more informa)on
audience with less
informa)on
instruct and entertain
Communica)ng to an audience
general public –––– policy makers –––– scien)sts in related areas –––– reviewers –––– instructor
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display exper)se
purpose
Your poster text should contain
6tle and authors methods
abstract – including key points from your interview
results
relevance
acknowledgements – people and funding