ASC2018 - 11-15 Nov, Sydney

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Students Blogging Science: A Case Study that Measures the Effectiveness of Communicating Science to Public Audiences

When: Wednesday 14th November, 8:45am – 9:45am
Where: L3, Level 2 to the left of the registration/foyer area, down the hallway and through the doors on the right
Hashtag: #W5

ASC2018 asks, “How do we know whether any given effort in communicating science among public audiences is effective? And by which aims and objectives are those efforts measured?”
This case study answers these questions by examining the effectiveness of view stats from student blogs that were created as part of an assignment in a first-year university science communication paper. In 2017 the Royal Society of New Zealand (RSNZ) published a discussion paper that asks public audiences to consider the medical, legal, ethical, cultural implications of gene-editing healthcare technologies in New Zealand relevant to four given case scenarios (sickle cell anaemia, breast and ovarian cancer, cardiovascular disease, improving athletic performance). Students were required to write a series of blog posts targeted to public audiences in response to the RSNZ discussion paper. In post #2, students were prompted to communicate their position on one of the discussion paper case scenarios while addressing one or more of the four considerations. After publishing their posts for public view, many students noted significant high/low percentages in their blog view stats from audiences located both locally in New Zealand and internationally. The blog view stats are the focus of this case study, which help gauge and measure where public interests lie regarding new media platforms as an accessible means to science communication.

Session

Case studies: Education

Presenter

Susan Rauch, Lecturer, professional writing (science and technology), Massey University, School of English and Media Studies

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Kickstart Science

When: Wednesday 14th November, 8:45am – 9:45am
Where: L3, Level 2 to the left of the registration/foyer area, down the hallway and through the doors on the right
Hashtag: #W5

The Kickstart Science workshops are aimed at HSC Science students and teachers and are designed to meet the demand expressed by teachers in response to previous and upcoming changes to the HSC Science syllabus. Parts of the syllabus requires equipment or expertise in areas that many schools may not be able to provide. Kickstart workshops give HSC students a chance to do experiments and demonstrations of key ideas in the syllabus that are difficult to do in the classroom.

Kickstart Science makes HSC Physics accessible for students and teachers. The experiments and demonstrations have covered aspects of the core and optional HSC Physics syllabus all in the setting of real teaching laboratories. Classes spend two and half hours going through our experiments in small groups. Each group has its own casual academic tutor and covers many dot points of the syllabus in depth. Worksheets are provided for all students and teachers.

The case study will introduce the Kickstart Science outreach program from the University of Sydney Faculty of Science, including how it is run and how it has changed in its history. We will cover some of the unique aspects of Kickstart Science including justification of how it is designed, reporting on how it is received by students and teachers and how it is held within the faculty of Science. We will also include challenges and future work.

Session

Case studies: Education

Presenter

Tom Gordon, Senior Science Communicator, University of Sydney, Faculty of Science

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Pixcells: when digital art meets science

When: Wednesday 14th November, 2:40pm – 3:40pm
Where: L2, Level 2 to the left of the registration/foyer area, down the hallway and through the doors on the right
Hashtag: #W17

We are exceedingly good at extracting information through visual processing. Studies have shown that the brain can identify images seen for as little as 13 milliseconds – a rate of more than 75 images per second. As science communicators, the image is a powerful and universally accessible form of knowledge transfer. As the complexity of scientific understanding unfolds, visual science communication will play an increasingly important role in education, policy and public engagement, and will no doubt inspire the scientists of the future. This presentation highlights the value of science-trained artists and where to find them locally.

Session

Case studies: Visualising science

Presenter

Andrew Lilja, Techincal Director and Co-founder, SquareCell

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Science storytelling and detective work in Museums

When: Wednesday 14th November, 11:55am – 1:25pm
Where: L1, Level 2 to the left of the registration/foyer area, down the hallway and through the doors on the right
Hashtag: #W12

Join MAAS curators in a participatory workshop and behind-the-scenes tour.

Experience being a curator, learn about object investigation and how to extract science stories from material culture. Deepen your understanding of the role that objects and museum collections play in understanding who we are and what we value.

Then join the curators of science, innovation and technology on a tour of the extraordinary wonderland of the Museum’s underground collection store.

Please note: There is one flight of stairs to access the Collection Store.

Session Producer, Presenter

Tilly Boleyn, Curator, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences

Presenter

Matthew Connell, Principal Curator, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences

Nina Earl, Science and Technology Curator, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences

Angelique Hutchison, Curator, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences

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Scicomm in a not-for-profit: a two-way street

When: Tuesday 13th November, 2:00pm – 3:30pm
Where: Theatrette, Level 2 behind the registration/foyer area
Hashtag: #T9

Dr Alison Gould1, Jemma Falkenmire1 and Jessica Van Coppenhagen2
Australian Red Cross Blood Service
1 Sydney Processing Centre, 17 O’Riordan St Alexandria NSW 2015
2 National Office, Level 3, 417 St Kilda Road, Melbourne VIC 3004

From “too sciencey” to “give us more”, this presentation will showcase how science communication can contribute to the strategic goals of a healthcare organisation, using the Australian Red Cross Blood Service (Blood Service) as an example.
The Blood Service provides life-changing products and services to patients and health-care providers throughout Australia. Our work is supported by a multidisciplinary team of research scientists embedded within an organisation of some 3500 staff, many of whom are not scientifically trained.
Scientific Communications was introduced as a dedicated role in our R&D team four years ago. Since then, it has contributed significantly to growing the organisation’s social media following, choosing research directions and translating research outcomes into practice at the Blood Service and beyond.
We showed that our audience has a strong appetite for science when we achieved viral success with a video describing some of our research. Our presentation will describe the anatomy of this success, and how it contributed to our organisation’s overall goals.
Since then, we have found that linking the world of research, media and social media through close collaboration has provided benefits for all of these groups.
Demand for science content, which was initially met with scepticism, has increased to the point where “too much science is barely enough”. From the perspective of our media team, provision of science builds solid relationships with journalists, which in the long-term can facilitate media call outs when we need to call for additional donations.
We will provide specific examples of our collaborative practices and the benefits delivered across our teams, including the ability to capture the attention of mainstream journalists, provide growth for our social media platforms, increase the reach of our research communications, conduct strategically aligned research and attract new collaborators for our researchers.

Session

Case studies: Lessons from the experts

Presenter

Dr Alison Gould, Scientific Communications Specialist, Australian Red Cross Blood Service

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Little Bang – Bright Sparks: Delivering a national priority through local collaboration

Little Bang Discovery ClubWhen: Wednesday 14th November, 8:45am – 9:45am
Where: L3, Level 2 to the left of the registration/foyer area, down the hallway and through the doors on the right
Hashtag: #W5

In an era of ‘false news’, a growing mistrust of ‘the expert’ and almost universal access to unfiltered advice from the internet of all things, the need for a science-literate community has never been more important.

The ability to critically assess information starts early and needs to become one of the pillars of education: reading, writing, arithmetic and CRITICAL THINKING.

Science communicators and educators can work smarter to better engage and sustain community understanding of how science works in producing evidence-based knowledge. The resulting democratising of knowledge, and the ability to discern trusted sources, enables better decision making for individuals, and the community as a whole.

This case study involves a series of science engagement initiatives that utilise the exisiting trusted and nationally distributed network of public and school libraries. By working in concert with this ‘third space’ we have a unique opportunity to influence a generation of children, their families and whole community outside the status quo of home, school and the workplace.

The overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic response from librarians and participating families is evidence of the scalability and sustainability of these low-cost programs, with measurable impact on attitudes and understating of science.

Session

Case studies: Education

Presenter

Adam Selinger, Executive Director, Children’s Discovery Museum Ltd

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Scientists, Journalists and Science Communicators: a three-way partnership to build a social heavyweight

When: Tuesday 13th November, 2:00pm – 3:30pm
Where: Theatrette, Level 2 behind the registration/foyer area
Hashtag: #T9

It is hard to go to a science communication conference without seeing the phrase ‘fake news’ or ‘post-truth’, with many keynotes calling for scientists and science communicators to find a voice to be heard in the echo chambers of social media.

Twelve months ago, the Australian Academy of Science embarked on an ambitious project to do just that: to deliver a social engagement initiative of science communication content that was engaging, informative and—most importantly—increased the quality of verified science content in social media feeds.

Bringing in experience from commercial media to partner with skilled science communicators and backed up by the reputation and expertise of the Academy’s Fellowship, the communications team has evolved into a high-performing media house that produces videos, articles and image content specifically for social media on a broad range of topics and breaking news items.

But how, in the fast-paced environment of breaking news and the constraints of a 60-second video, can we ensure we do not misrepresent complex science and risk damaging the Academy’s reputation for excellence?

In this presentation, I will discuss our rigorous verification processes that ensure that we publish only fact-checked and consensus-view content. I will also touch on how this verification process builds trust both within the science sector and with mainstream media outlets.

https://www.facebook.com/AustralianAcademyofScience/

Session

Case studies: Lessons from the experts

Presenter

Dr Tom Carruthers, Senior Content Producer, Australian Academy of Science and National Director, Pint of Science Australia

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The breathtaking circus of photosynthesis: communicating the most important biological process on Earth

When: Wednesday 14th November, 2:40pm – 3:40pm
Where: L2, Level 2 to the left of the registration/foyer area, down the hallway and through the doors on the right
Hashtag: #W17

Photosynthesis is probably one of the most misunderstood and undervalued of the biological processes by the public. Perhaps this misunderstanding is due to the difficulty to show and engage the public with an imperceptible process that takes place within microscopic structures inside leaves.
This poster will show a group of displays focused on photosynthesis that we have been developing in the past two years, as part of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis. This small exhibition of photosynthesis has been used in public events to engage the public with a topic that, despite its importance in our lives (we will either asphyxiate or die of hunger if it stops), is rarely presented in the form of interactive, visually appealing displays.

Session

Case studies: Visualising science

Presenter

Natalia Bateman, Communications officer, ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis

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The making of AMOSS – a living science style resource

When: Tuesday 13th November, 2:00pm – 3:30pm
Where: Theatrette, Level 2 behind the registration/foyer area
Hashtag: #T9

‘Sulfur’ versus ‘sulphur’, ‘prevalence’ versus ‘incidence’ – before the Australian manual of scientific style (AMOSS) came along, science and technical writing was a Wild West of duelling styles and lone rangers…

This presentation takes you behind the scenes of Biotext’s quest to bring together scientific conventions from a wide range of disciplines and aspects of science communication in one style manual. Its team’s considerable experience with the limited science-specific content in other Australian style resources helped Biotext see the huge potential benefit of an interactive, online style manual for an Australian audience.

Learn about the 3-year journey undertaken by Biotext’s experienced writers, editors and designers to develop AMOSS, and its publication as an online resource, in partnership with Macquarie University. Explore the structure and main features of AMOSS, and its accessibility as an online resource. This presentation is ideal for the same groups identified as potential users of AMOSS: academics, researchers, students, government employees, science communicators, editors and journalists.

Session

Case studies: Lessons from the experts

Presenter

Dr Julie Irish, Principal Health Writer and Editor, Biotext

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21st century comms: emerging digital, technical and social trends to anticipate: Simulation case studies from AIE

When: Tuesday 13th November, 9:15am – 11:15am
Where: Theatre, Level 2 down the stairs to the right of the registration/foyer area
Hashtag: #T2

This presentation focuses on emerging digital, technical and social trends in Virtual and Augmented Reality as 21st century communication technologies. We will first introduce the facilities and infrastructure used in a number of pioneering research projects in the last 15 years at the Virtual Reality (VR) lab and the Simulation Hub of Macquarie University, and explore Academy of Interactive Entertainment’s educational philosophy and involvement in digital content creation. Then, explaining the differences between Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality concepts, we will discuss emerging trends by reviewing a number of most recent VR & AR market reports and survey results. Finally, we will demonstrate a number of simulations developed by VISOR (Virtual and Interactive Simulation of Reality) team at Macquarie University, reflecting on our past experiences in research funding. Thus, we hope to be able to project what might possibly be in demand and get funded in the near future.  Survey results state that startup founders, tech executives, investors, and consultants expect gaming to attract the most investment for the coming year. More social and collaborative applications of AR and VR are expected to appear as well as smartphone applications. High prices, overhyped hardware, and lack of compelling content are seen as the biggest missed opportunities in this domain. Number of headsets sold are expected to increase and AR market is predicted to be four times bigger than VR, due to its accessibility. The top unsolved problems include comfortable locomotion, light and inexpensive headsets, as well as quality content. We will conclude the presentation by listing the challenges ahead as well as the potential solutions to these. Major challenges are listed as lack of skills due to the face pace of technology and being up to date with the practical skills, low number of domain experts, the number of start up funds and the size of grants, the limited amount of proper digital content, high costs of hardware, as well as mindset of corporates. Solutions we suggest are university and vocational education courses focusing on VR and AR content development, collaboration and close-knit partnerships to build learning communities, novel subscription models for sharing infrastructure and expertise, tech industry friendly immigration laws allowing knowledge transfer, better and easier access to large funding, easy to use VR and AR libraries and toolkits, and encouraging the corporates to take risks for long term benefits rather than short term rewards. We recommend to build an Australian version of Silicon Valley and a large VR and AR Training Center to drive innovations and industry access to talent.

Presenter

Associate Professor Manolya Kavakli, Academic Director of AIE Institute (Academy of Interactive Entertainment) and Director of the Virtual Reality Lab at the Simulation Hub, Macquarie University

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Questions? Please contact Kali on asc2018@asc.asn.au.

Acknowledgements

© 2018 Australian Science Communicators

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