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<p>A primary goal of science education and communication is to promote a functional scientific literacy that enables people to efficaciously engage with socioscientific issues (SSI), such as COVID-19 and climate change. Understanding the nature of science (NOS) is a crucial component of a functional scientific literacy that facilitates critical evaluation of scientific information, mis/disinformation resistance, and responsible socioscientific decision-making. Scientists are uniquely positioned yet often unprepared and underutilized to educate the public about the nature of their work despite how the public would greatly benefit from scientists’ communicating the nature and validity of their research. This mixed-methods investigation features analysis of surveys and interview data collected from 14 scientists to understand their perceptions and values toward communicating NOS. Results from a semi-grounded thematic analysis of the interviews demonstrate that scientists’ NOS communication views are complex and are influenced by a number of factors, including their perceptions of the public, financial and institutional constraints, and the role of science in solving societal issues. Prominent findings from this study demonstrate that the scientists highly value communicating the societal benefits of science to the public. However, the scientists afforded much less priority to addressing other NOS ideas, such as the importance and nature of basic science, peer review, and consensus building. Additionally, the scientists investigated in this study demonstrated reluctance to communicate about the subjectivity of their work, citing a fear that doing so would negatively impact public trust in science. We discuss these findings in the context of scientists’ NOS views and perceptions of NOS communication which we gathered through surveys and interviews. This investigation provides a much-needed step toward better understanding how science educators and science communication specialists can support scientists’ efforts to convey important features of their work effectively.</p>

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How Scientists Perceive NOS and Its Value for Science Communication

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年1月20日

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  • Sarah V Poor,
  • Benjamin C Herman,
  • Benjamin A Janney

摘要

A primary goal of science education and communication is to promote a functional scientific literacy that enables people to efficaciously engage with socioscientific issues (SSI), such as COVID-19 and climate change. Understanding the nature of science (NOS) is a crucial component of a functional scientific literacy that facilitates critical evaluation of scientific information, mis/disinformation resistance, and responsible socioscientific decision-making. Scientists are uniquely positioned yet often unprepared and underutilized to educate the public about the nature of their work despite how the public would greatly benefit from scientists’ communicating the nature and validity of their research. This mixed-methods investigation features analysis of surveys and interview data collected from 14 scientists to understand their perceptions and values toward communicating NOS. Results from a semi-grounded thematic analysis of the interviews demonstrate that scientists’ NOS communication views are complex and are influenced by a number of factors, including their perceptions of the public, financial and institutional constraints, and the role of science in solving societal issues. Prominent findings from this study demonstrate that the scientists highly value communicating the societal benefits of science to the public. However, the scientists afforded much less priority to addressing other NOS ideas, such as the importance and nature of basic science, peer review, and consensus building. Additionally, the scientists investigated in this study demonstrated reluctance to communicate about the subjectivity of their work, citing a fear that doing so would negatively impact public trust in science. We discuss these findings in the context of scientists’ NOS views and perceptions of NOS communication which we gathered through surveys and interviews. This investigation provides a much-needed step toward better understanding how science educators and science communication specialists can support scientists’ efforts to convey important features of their work effectively.