Meaning Making on the Pathways of Science Communication

A School of Education Seminar hosted by the Learning Sciences Research Institute

Presented by Dr Pryce Davis, University of Nottingham

Every day people are inundated with news reports about new findings of scientific research. The ways in which these texts enlighten or misinform the general public is a central question in both research literature and discussions in popular culture. However, both research and popular discussion often take on deficit views of these texts and the capabilities of readers to critically engage with them. Likewise,  they treat these texts as static, one-way conduits that transfer information to a passive audience. In contrast, I advocate treating popular science texts as the result of a chain of consumption and production that are actively shaped by the varied perspectives of scientists, communicators, and members of the general public.

My work envisions all of these actors as science learners who simultaneously act as both producers and consumers of science, and who interact with one another through in-the-moment meaning making. This seminar presents work that examines how the meaning of scientific research is filtered and transformed in moments of interaction and knowledge construction as it moves along this pathway of science communication from scientists to the general public.

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