{"id":4397,"date":"2016-09-13T09:00:48","date_gmt":"2016-09-13T13:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/?p=4397"},"modified":"2016-09-08T09:02:26","modified_gmt":"2016-09-08T13:02:26","slug":"no-fear-crystal-clear-successful-science-publications-can-teach-us-knowledge-mobilization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/communityfirst\/2016\/no-fear-crystal-clear-successful-science-publications-can-teach-us-knowledge-mobilization\/","title":{"rendered":"Have No Fear, its Crystal Clear: What Successful Science Publications can teach us about Knowledge Mobilization"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Carly Foubert, CFICE Communications RA<\/em><\/p>\n

Science can be scary. It can be complex, overwhelming, and difficult to understand at times\u2014frustrating even. But it doesn\u2019t have to be that way.<\/p>\n

Movies and television may have propagated the image of the crazed and frenzied scientist for years, but its time to ditch that stereotype! And it\u2019s time to accept that you don\u2019t have to have a degree in science to understand it, all thanks to the many successful science publications that make science accessible to everyone. There is a lot that these publications can teach us in terms of techniques for mobilizing knowledge in\u00a0all fields of research.<\/p>\n

Maybe you\u2019ve noticed some of the popular videos posted and shared by science publications on social media that explain or show science experiments. Maybe you\u2019ve even shared them yourself. Publications such as I F* Love Science<\/a> (IFLS for short) and asapSCIENCE<\/a> have done a phenomenal job of making science understandable and even fun with the use of GIFs, little video clips, and interesting photographs.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Neil

This GIF demonstrates the concept of gravity by invoking\u00a0the popular “mic drop” expression.<\/p><\/div>\n

How? They make science relevant to everyday life and use plain language to explain complex concepts. In essence, they answer the \u201cso what?\u201d question.<\/p>\n

Chantal Barriault, Co-Director of Laurentian University\u2019s Science Communication graduate program<\/a>, said these publications are really far\u00a0reaching and really good at showing science\u2019s relevance to everyday life. They demystify science by putting it into everyday language.<\/p>\n

This is the key to IFLS\u2019s success, continues Barriault, \u201cThey really do make it relevant to people in their everyday lives and they show them what the relationship is to these findings and what they do everyday.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is something journalists, bloggers, and knowledge mobilization workers should all take a page from in adopting the IFLS approach.<\/p>\n

When interviewing scientists, journalists and writers can help in this process of articulating research by trying to find comparisons and analogies to things that might be more widely understood by the audience. CBC\u2019s Bob McDonald uses this approach in the radio show Quirks & Quarks<\/a>, He aims to make the stories and science he discusses interesting and relatable by connecting the science to things that listeners already understand.<\/p>\n

\"ImageMany science communication sources have been doing this for a while. For example, think of the popular kids show The Magic School Bus!<\/em> This show was targeted to children who are themselves students, but who also often have big imaginations that allow them to get excited about the wild premises presented in the show. In one episode for example, Ms. Frizzle takes her students (and the viewers) on a tour of the human digestive system by literally driving herself and her students into a student\u2019s mouth with the aid of her magical yellow bus. Talk about hands-on experiences! The show made science enjoyable and fun by making science exciting and accessible to its intended audience.<\/p>\n

IFLS is doing the same thing but with a new platform to better suit their target audience. \u201cIf we look at things like Discovery Channel and Nature of Things and popular magazines,\u201d Barriault says, \u201cthey remained relevant and popular and now I think this [social media] is the new way to consume science. Because it\u2019s social media, it\u2019s online content, it\u2019s sort of the Discovery Channel of this generation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother thing that\u2019s important,\u201d Barriault says, \u201cis that they\u2019re not dumbing it down. Science websites are still doing science justice. They\u2019re still being accurate. They\u2019re not over simplifying; they\u2019re not glamorizing with headlines. They\u2019re saying it how it is. They\u2019re finding a way to make it connect with everyday life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The oversimplification of research and science is something that Barriault does caution against. She recommends knowing your audience so you know where to start in your knowledge mobilization efforts. \u201cWe have to give the public and our reading audiences credit for being genuinely interested in what\u2019s going on in the world of science and scientific discoveries,\u201d says Barriault. \u201cDon\u2019t take for granted that the person in front of you has absolutely no knowledge of what you\u2019re talking about. Find out where their starting point is, what they know, what they\u2019ve experienced, what they understand and build on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

For years now science publications have found ways to popularize science research and engage their audiences. Now its time for researchers in other fields to\u00a0more actively\u00a0get on board! Start by finding ways to make your\u00a0research relevant to the lives of your audiences and make your findings matter by answering the \u201cso what\u201d question that\u2019s on everyone\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Carly Foubert, CFICE Communications RA Science can be scary. It can be complex, overwhelming, and difficult to understand at times\u2014frustrating even. But it doesn\u2019t have to be that way. Movies and television may have propagated the image of the crazed and frenzied scientist for years, but its time to ditch that stereotype! And it\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[92,1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nHave No Fear, its Crystal Clear: What Successful Science Publications can teach us about Knowledge Mobilization - Community First<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Thanks to science 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