The Museum of Science, Boston, (MOS) is conducting a multi-phase project that builds on the groundwork laid by the 2009 report of the NSF/ISE-funded Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE) Inquiry Group on the "public engagement with science" model (PES) in informal science education. In comparison to the Public Understanding of Science model (PUOS), where the emphasis is on a one-way transmission or translation of knowledge from experts to the public (often via the mediation of professionals in informal science education), the PES model calls for activities, events, or interactions that are characterized by mutual learning among people of varied backgrounds, scientific expertise, and life experiences, where perspectives, ideas, knowledge and values are articulated and discussed.
The two-year project will explore the possibility of new large-scale collaborative public engagement activities, find topics and approaches that are of broad interest with the ISE community, identify potential partners and advisors, and develop future project plans and proposals. In its multi-phase process, MOS will first collect, analyze and publish case-study information about current PES activities using a "dimensions of PES" analytical tool to identify clusters of PES and PUOS activities across a broad spectrum of projects. After the data collection and analysis stage, a workshop of national and international professionals will be convened to explore the implications and identify future directions for the field.
The project will produce and disseminate three reports: A summary of findings from the case study phase; a report of the findings of the workshop; and a summary of findings of the evaluation of the project and the impact on project participants.
project was aimed at extending the reach of groundwork laid by an NSF-funded Center for the Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE) Inquiry Group through activities that advance the understanding and application of an important new conceptual and programmatic approach for the field of informal science education, known as public engagement with science. As contrasted with more traditional approaches. public engagement with science (PES) replaces one-way transmission of scientific knowledge from the scientists to individuals in society, with a "dialog" or "participation" model in which publics and scientists both benefit from listening to and learning from each other. This is especially valuable when science is being put to work to meet societal needs and issues are raised that require consideration of what has been learned through scientific research as well as through the personal experiences of everyday citizens, and when social values and community perspectives play an important role. The Dimensions of PES project collected information about 201 educational activities across the U.S., and even internationally, that stepped beyond the traditional one-way communication of scientific knowledge. Brief descriptions of the projects, answers to several questions, and contact information were then published online as a PES Case Summary Catalog. The project team analyzed the 201 case summaries using methods developed in the CAISE Inquiry Group work and others developed by the project team itself. Various aspects of that analysis have been shared in workshops, at conferences, and in printed reports and publications. Analysis of the data revealed that the 201 activities covered a large variety of topics, formats, and audiences. However, because many of the topics and formats described were more characteristic of traditional programing, the data suggests a relative lack of informal educational activities that include the kinds of PES elements described in the CAISE Inquiry Group report. Only a small number of them met the defining criteria for "public engagement with science" activities in all three dimensions discussed in that earlier work -- public involvement, expert involvement, and subject matter. Overall the data showed that the goals associated with the 201 activities were focused mostly on public audiences with little emphasis on the expert participants. When goals for scientists and experts were included, many fell outside of the usual National Science Foundation educational impact categories suggesting that these categories may not be fully appropriate for PES projects and that other frameworks may be needed. The project also hosted a workshop of 55 participants whose work most strongly represented public engagement with science. The first day of the workshop included presentations about PES including preliminary findings about the case summaries and discussions about this information, a period of time to get to know others at the workshop and learn about their PES projects, as well as a brainstorming and breakout session to formulate key directions for future PES development in the ISE field. The second day of the workshop consisted of pitches from workshop participants about potential future PES projects followed by designated time that allowed participants to further discuss different project ideas with each other. Workshop participants identified nine strategic needs for growing public engagement with science capabilities within the informal science education community. These nine needs relate to: Developing a philosophy of practice that embeds pubic engagement work in the needs of the community. Developing methods to keep public engagement going beyond a single engagement event. Building the informal science education infrastructure needed to respond to public engagement questions as they arise. Understanding the diverse goals for public engagement activities and developing appropriate evaluation strategies. Developing the goals and approaches needed to engage scientists in public engagement activities. Developing goals and approaches needed to engage hard-to-reach and under-represented audiences in public engagement activities. Developing methods for building public engagement elements into more traditional educational offerings. Developing funding strategies for implementation of public engagement activities. Developing mechanisms for dissemination of public engagement strategies, products, resources, tools, and technologies. Evaluation of the workshop showed that participants gained knowledge about PES in general and about specific PES projects and people leading them. Participants showed an increased and renewed interest in implementing PES activities and collaborating with others to do so. A broad impact of the project was the establishment of a support activity within the Association of Science-Technology Centers for a community of practice around public engagement with science. Widely implemented, public engagement with science potentially supports a variety of important impacts on society: helping the public understand and play key roles in every day societal decision-making related to science and technology, strengthening the role of scientific research in both individual and collective decision-making, and insuring the best public policy from the meaningful balanced integration of expert knowledge and pubic wisdom. This project was a first small step toward making those impacts a reality.
