Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

The authors’ adaptation of the popular Café Scientifique model has proven to be effective for communicating science to a high school teen audience. Their process for achieving effective science communication between scientist-presenters and teens focuses on overcoming the “information deficit” mode of presentation that most scientists are trained for. Their coaching stresses that effective science communication requires engagement on a personal level that meets the audience where it is in terms of both prior knowledge and social context, while making connections to the teens’ daily lives. Scientist-presenters report strong satisfaction with the coaching process and the resulting quality of science communication.

Keywords

Café Scientifique high school teens science literacy information deficit model storytelling science communication

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Cohen

J. J.

Macfarlane

(2007). Beer and bosons at the Café Scientifique. Museums & Social Issues, 2, 233-242.

Dallas

(2006). Café Scientifique—deja vu: Is the Café Scientifique a fashionable by-product of a comfortable age or an indicator of the changing relationship between science and society? Cell, 126, 227-229.

Feldon

D. F.

Peugh

Timmerman

B. E.

Maher

M. A.

Hurst

Strickland

. . . Stiegelmeyer

(2011). Graduate students’ teaching experiences improve their methodological research skills. Science, 333, 1037-1039.

Foutz

Luke

(2010). A youth-directed Café Scientifique summative evaluation (Report prepared for Science Education Systems). Edgewater, MD: Institute for Learning Innovation.

Giles

(2004). Pop science pulls in public as Café culture goes global. Nature, 429, 333.

Kahan

(2010). Fixing the communications failure. Nature, 463, 296-297.

Miller

J. D.

(2004). Public understanding of, and attitudes toward, scientific research: What we know and what we need to know. Public Understanding of Science, 13, 273-294.

Nisbet

M. C.

Mooney

(2007a). Framing science. Science, 316, 56.

Nisbet

M. C.

Mooney

(2007b). The risks and advantages of framing science: Response. Science, 317, 1169-1170.

10.

Nisbet

M. C.

Scheufele

D. A.

(2009). What’s next for science communication? Promising directions and lingering distractions. American Journal of Botany, 96, 1767-1778.

11.

Sink

(2006, February 21). Science comes to the masses (you want fries with that?). New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/21/science/21cafe.html

Science Communication in a Café Scientifique for High School Teens

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References