Experts often employ their megaphone to disseminate information to their audiences. A recent scientific study encourages them to rather engage in a dialogue and not only teach their audience, but also learn from them. In other words, experts should increase their perspectivist flexibility. Because science communication is the social conversation around science.
How do you stay up to date on the latest news and insights in the field of science communication? This list gives you a head-start.
Giving people information is one of the most used strategies for communicating science. But what if you want the information you are giving to actually change their behaviour, like stimulating people to adhere to the corona measures? This essay discusses the limitations of only giving information when trying to influence behaviour.
The new academic textbook Science Communication, an introduction, is an excellent study guide for both students and professionals in the field of science communication. One of the reasons I’m particularly excited about its release is that it contains a chapter on Science Journalism that Mark Bos and I wrote, which gives a high-level overview of the field and the challenges it is facing.
What can you do tomorrow to bring future generations into contact with the science of today?
Every year in the United States, the popular ScienceOnline conference is held for anyone who communicates about science and uses new and social media to do so. Frank Nuijens, editor-in-chief at TU Delft and science journalist, went there for the first time in February 2013 and was so enthusiastic that he took the initiative for a ScienceOnline Leiden community. He explains why.
This essay discusses why good science journalism is important and why it means that journalists need to have more training in this specialty.