Public Engagement with Science involves intentional, meaningful interactions that provide opportunities for mutual learning between scientists and members of the public. | AAAS and Architect of the Capitol
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Communication Best Practices
Evaluating Public Engagement
Science in Policymaking
The AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology often collaborates with researchers from a number of fields to conduct and disseminate research about science communication and public engagement.
Communication Best Practices
Strategic science communication on environmental issues (2016) Matthew C. Nisbet and Ezra Markowitz, Washington, D.C.: AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology
Science communication research: bridging theory and practice (2016) Matthew C. Nisbet and Ezra Markowitz, Washington, D.C.: AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology
Americans' attitudes about science and technology: the social context for public communication (2016) Matthew C. Nisbet and Ezra Markowitz, Washington, D.C.: AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology
Typology for public engagement with science: a conceptual framework for public engagement involving scientists (2016) Martin Storksdieck, Cathlyn Stylinski and Deborah Bailey, Corvallis, OR: Center for Research on Lifelong STEM Learning
Public engagement research and major approaches (2015) Matthew C. Nisbet and Ezra Markowitz, Washington, D.C.: AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology
Public engagement with and communication of science in a web-2.0 media environment (2015) Sara K. Yeo, Washington, D.C.: AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology
Evaluating Public Engagement
Assessing public engagement outcomes by the use of an outcome expectations scale for scientists (2017) Karen Peterman, Jane Robertson Evia, Emily Cloyd & John C. Besley, Science Communication, Vol. 39, Issue 6, Pages 782-797, DOI: doi.org/10.1177/1075547017738018
Validating a scale that measures scientists’ self-efficacy for public engagement with science (2017) Jane Robertson Evia, Karen Peterman, Emily Cloyd & John Besley, International Journal of Science Education, Part B, DOI: doi.org/10.1080/21548455.2017.1377852
Scientists’ prioritization of communication objectives for public engagement (2016) John C. Besley and Anthony Dudo, PLOS ONE, DOI: doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0148867
Scientists' views about communication training (2015) John C. Besley, Anthony Dudo and Martin Storksdieck, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Vol. 52, No. 2, Pages 199-220, DOI: 10.1002/tea.21186
What do scientists think about the public and does it matter to their online engagement? (2014) John C. Besley, Science and Public Policy, Vol. 42, No. 2, Pages 201-214, DOI: doi.org/10.1093
Science in Policymaking
Communicating science to Congress (study in progress): This research is being conducted to understand the factors that affect how scientific information is used in the personal offices of members of Congress. A workshop in Fall 2017 initiated the project. In Winter 2017 and Spring 2018, the team will interview and survey legislative staff from the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate to map opportunities and barriers in the fit of scientific information within legislative contexts; the interplay of new knowledge with behavior, past experience, and culture; and the nature of the interaction between scientists and policymakers.
- Investigators: Karen Akerlof, AAAS Visiting Scholar, Research Assistant Professor, George Mason University and Adjunct Faculty, Johns Hopkins University; Maria Carmen Lemos, Professor and Associate Dean for Research at University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability; Emily Therese Cloyd, Project Director at AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology; and Erin Heath, Associate Director at AAAS Office of Government Relations
- AAAS News story about the study: Taking science to Capitol Hill: AAAS workshop explores opportunities—and challenges—in communicating science for policy in Congress
- Congress's Use of Science: Considerations for Science Organizations in Promoting the Use of Evidence in Policymaking - A Report from a Workshop Convened at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, DC, on October 13, 2017
Evidence-based sciencecommunication to policymakers (study in progress): This project will examine the communication and use of science within the policymaking arena. Researchers will integrate existing scholarly literature with new empirical findings from a survey of science communicators, case studies of science-relevant legislating, and qualitative interviews with policymakers to propose a set of best practices for presenting science to policymakers.
- Investigators: Elizabeth Suhay, Assistant Professor of Government at American University; Emily Therese Cloyd, Project Director at AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology; Erin Heath, Associate Director at AAAS Office of Government Relations; and Erin Nash, PhD Candidate at Durham University
- AAAS News story about the study: Joint effort gets underway to inform scientists’ policy engagement
- Associations Now story about the study: Research project will help scientists better communicate with policymakers
- National Academy of Sciences news release about the award: NAS announces awards for building capacity for science communication partnerships