Resources for public engagement with science
December 12, 2024
Explore key resources for strengthening public engagement in STEM and discover strategies for meaningful informal science education.
Learn about current science communication trends and science communication-related activities around UMB in SciComm Spotlight, the monthly column for the School of Graduate Studies (SGS) Science Communication Certificate (SciComm) program. To view previous SciComm Spotlight columns, visit the program website.
During a recent visit this fall to Maryland Science Center in Baltimore, I watched our son Tommy, 6, have the time of his life running around. Sure, he has a lot of energy, like most 6-year-olds, so any space that allows him to run around meets his approval, but there’s something special about the way he interacts with his environment in the center of science. We started taking him there around his third birthday, became members, walked up and down those stairs several times, and enjoyed the planetarium shows more times than I can count on one hand.
On this last visit, I saw our son fascinated by one object in particular: the giant ball launcher in the center’s lobby that easily catapults a tennis ball 15 feet into the air. To activate the pressure mechanism to propel the tennis ball into the air, you need to pull a thick rope. With pleasure, Tommy devoted himself with all his weight to this task, often helped by other children who were also fascinated by this machine.
I admit to having been fascinated myself by the gradual and predictable arc of the ball propelled through the air, always falling into the net below. In addition to my delight in seeing our child having the time of his life, I also began to think about how such a seemingly simple contraption is a gateway to a lifelong love of all things child-related. science. Science centers or museums, like the one we frequently visit in Baltimore, are prime sites for informal science learning and public engagement in science.
I started thinking about my relationship with science or STEM, which stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics – some add an extra M to STEM, for medicine, making it STEMM. I grew up in a small village adjacent to a small town in the larger Rhineland region of Germany. I don’t remember having too much exposure to STEM-related activities during my childhood. There was certainly nothing like the Maryland Science Center where I grew up, and there were no science shows like the Baltimore scientists it would come to local libraries. Last summer, Tommy and I went to a lovely Science Guys at our local public library, which incidentally also included a pressurized air experiment; this one involved plastic tubes and ping pong balls!
So why is public engagement in science, such as science centers, science shows, and myriad other informal ways to learn about STEM, important? Several studies on informal science learning (ISL) or informal STEM learning, which are forms of public engagement in science, have demonstrated that regular and varied exposure to STEM content outside of traditional educational settings is essential to have a positive impact on people’s interests and attitudes towards science.
If you’re interested in learning more about public engagement in science, there are many resources that are treasure troves for anyone involved in scientific research. These resources, in my experience, do two main things. First, they help us understand how many people in the United States engage and interact with science outside of educational and research-oriented spaces, such as schools, universities, and laboratories. Second, they can help us understand how to communicate science with the public and interact more meaningfully with that audience.
Here are some of these resources (three in total) that my fellow professors and I use regularly in our courses in the science communication certificate program here at UMB. I’m sure you’ll find them as engaging and informative as I and my students do:
1. Public Face of Science, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, founded in 1807, is one of the oldest independent honorary societies and research centers in the United States dedicated to “informing public policy and advancing the public good” through to interdisciplinary efforts. In the mid-2010s, the academy launched a multi-year project called The public face of science dedicated to exploring the relationship between scientists and the public. In total, the academy has published three reports, “Perceptions of Science in America” in 2018, “Encountering Science in America” in 2019, and “The Public Face of Science in America: Priorities for the Future” in 2020. All three reports are accessible on the academy’s website and provide an excellent overview of public engagement with science.
2. Public Engagement in Science, National Informal Network for STEM Education (NISE)
The NISE Network is dedicated to creating resources to support learning opportunities for informal STEM education. Its goal is to connect informal science education institutions and research organizations to improve public awareness, understanding and engagement in STEM. One of its free resources is a guide to public engagement in science. This guide grew out of a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to the Museum of Science, Boston, for a project titled Multi-Site Public Engagement with Science — Synthetic Biology. It provides insight into public engagement in science activities and offers strategies for creating, executing, and evaluating events to engage the public with diverse STEM content.
3. Reinventing Equity and Values in Informal STEM Education (REVISE) Center
In 2022, the REVISE Center took over the work that the Center for Advancing Informal Science Education (CAISE) began in 2007. Funded by the NSF, the REVISE Center serves as a resource center for the NSF Advancing Informal program STEM Learning. Its website hosts a wide variety of resources for anyone interested in learning more about informal STEM education, including Widening Participation Toolkitinitially developed by CAISE.
Isabell Cserno May, PhD, is an associate professor in the School of Graduate Studies at the University of Maryland, where she directs and teaches the science communication certificate program. May also directs the UMB Writing Center and is passionate about equity- and social justice-based pedagogies.