Merging Science Education into Communication: Developing and Validating a Scale for Science Edu-Communication Utilizing Awareness, Enjoyment, Interest, Opinion formation, and Understanding Dimensions (SEC-AEIOU)

Abstract

For better understanding of how the public perceive the information in science communication; this study sought to develop the scale of Science Edu-Communication (SEC), an instrument to measure AEIOU: Awareness; Enjoyment; Interest; Opinion formation; and Understanding. The AEIOU framework was adopted for use as the major component of SEC to depict participants’ general perceptions of science communication from their daily life experiences. Responses from 121 participants were analysed using exploratory factor analysis; item discrimination; and qualitative coding analysis. Results support SEC-AEIOU as a valid and reliable instrument to measure the effectiveness of science communication experiences. Additionally; SEC-AEIOU can serve as a framework for research and practice to bridge science communication and science education. In particular; science communicators; educators; and institutions that engage in science communication and educational activities may benefit from such a metric. This scale seeks to assist in building a robust framework to facilitate the trend of bridging science communication and science education: Science Edu-Communication.

Teachable Moments in News Media—An Analysis of Audience Awareness, Enjoyment, Interest, Opinion Formation, and Understanding (AEIOU) toward Science

“…Burns' definition of science communication was revised to develop an AEIOU-based instrument that would fit contemporary needs better [9,26]. The AEIOU dimensions were Awareness: being aware of the importance of science and technology and having a sense of the nature of science; Enjoyment: enjoying how current technology brings forth an enjoyable life experience; Interest: the desire to engage in more scientific issues, events, or activities; Opinion formation: forming opinions to support one's own views toward the scientific topics communicated; and Understanding: the comprehension of the communicated scientific topics.…”

“…The impact of the flood of (incorrect) information was shown to be significant. While more catastrophic diseases and natural disasters are expected to arise continually on this planet, what the news media producers can do to provide sound and solid science information to the public on how sustainable life and development can be achieved by science and technology has been investigated [9].…”

“…For example, while journalists are skilled in using vivid and "common language" to narrate live experiences to the public, science educators can elucidate scientific concepts for journalists, photographers, or computer graphics creators to produce content for the public. As a result, a proposal of collaboration through "Science Edu-Communication" [9] would seem particularly appropriate.…”

Mismatching ideas among the experts–Producing science edu-communication media for the citizen

“…Therefore, a new form of science news production model needs to be established, integrating theories and practices of science education and science 2 / 19 communication to address the aforementioned issues (Wu et al, 2019). In addition to scientists and journalists, the team also includes a third-party role with knowledge of media production and a background in science education: science edu-communicators (SEC).…”

Comunicação de Ciência e Ciência Cidadã: Estratégias Para o Cidadão Comum

“…Citizen science (CS) is a growing field of research and practice that can be used to overcome the traditional and unidirectional paradigm that has long guided the production and dissemination of knowledge. CS involves engaging citizens throughout the research cycle and thereby learning about what is truly important to society (Roche et al, 2020;Wu et al, 2019).…”