Difference between revisions of "Team:Dalhousie/Human Practices"

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Being a group that focuses on employing scientific concepts and techniques to synthesize products for industrial, environmental, and medical purposes, we are aware of the value and importance of understanding and utilizing scientific concepts for societal advancements. In recent years, the public distribution of scientific material has reached a new high. However, due to heavy scientific jargon, it can be difficult for the general public to properly interpret conclusions and significance from scientific publications. For this reason, along with the rise of “fake news”, the Human Practices Team has decided to promote scientific literacy alongside our research.</br></br>
 
Being a group that focuses on employing scientific concepts and techniques to synthesize products for industrial, environmental, and medical purposes, we are aware of the value and importance of understanding and utilizing scientific concepts for societal advancements. In recent years, the public distribution of scientific material has reached a new high. However, due to heavy scientific jargon, it can be difficult for the general public to properly interpret conclusions and significance from scientific publications. For this reason, along with the rise of “fake news”, the Human Practices Team has decided to promote scientific literacy alongside our research.</br></br>
  
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<font color= "#C1D35D">Goals</font></br>
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<font color= "#C1D35D">Our Blog</font></br>
  
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Our main goal was to survey the population in order to get a basic understanding of how people feel about interpreting and sharing science-based news. This initial survey helped us formulate questions which we then took to the experts. We then published a “how-to” infographic, inspired by our survey and interview results, about reading science-based news.
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Our main human practises initiative was the partnership with PLoS Journals to establish the Think of the PLoSibilities blog. We wanted to help extend the reach of PLoS articles by writing engaging, scientifically-accessible summaries for the general public. We recognized that clear lay science writing is key to engaging the general public and promoting science literacy. In the future, we hope to help other iGEM teams establish their own blogs such that there are a network of blogs under the PLoS banner all working to promote science literacy. For more details, please refer to the <a href="https://2017.igem.org/Team:Dalhousie/Engagement" style="color: #C1D35D">public engagement</a> page.</br></br>
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Our survey contained ten questions to probe the public’s view on science-based news articles and their practices interpreting them. More than 250 people from diverse educational and cultural backgrounds filled out the survey. We were surprised with the results. We hypothesized that people with a post-secondary education would identify as feeling comfortable interpreting scientific results, but we found that that was not the case regardless of education level. In addition, we identified a population of respondents who would blindly share non-credible information over social media platforms.
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We consulted a variety of experts ranging from professional science communicators, science discipline professors, students, and members of the general public to get their perspectives on our survey results. For more details, please refer to the <a href="https://2017.igem.org/Team:Dalhousie/HP/Silver" style="color: #C1D35D">science communication</a> page.</br></br>
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<font color= "#C1D35D">Survey</font></br>
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We surveyed the population in order to get a basic understanding of how people feel about interpreting and sharing science-based news. More than 250 people from diverse educational and cultural backgrounds completed the survey. These results helped us formulate questions to discuss with our panel of experts, including professional science communicators, science discipline professors, students, and members of the general public. We then published a “how-to” infographic, inspired by our survey and interview results, about reading science-based news.  
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For more details, please refer to the <a href="https://2017.igem.org/Team:Dalhousie/HP/Silver" style="color: #C1D35D">science communication</a> page.</br></br>
  
 
<font color= "#C1D35D">Outreach and Education</font></br>
 
<font color= "#C1D35D">Outreach and Education</font></br>
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In addition to our science communication efforts, we concentrated on advocating scientific literacy amongst the Halifax community. A huge part of our work was geared towards getting young children and students engaged in science. We hosted several workshops collaborating with SHAD Valley, SuperNOVA summer camps at Dalhousie University, and the Discovery Centre. For each session, we devised simple scientific experiments that equipped participants with new laboratory techniques and ended with insightful discussions. For more details, please refer to the <a href="https://2017.igem.org/Team:Dalhousie/Engagement" style="color: #C1D35D">public engagement</a> page.</br></br>
 
In addition to our science communication efforts, we concentrated on advocating scientific literacy amongst the Halifax community. A huge part of our work was geared towards getting young children and students engaged in science. We hosted several workshops collaborating with SHAD Valley, SuperNOVA summer camps at Dalhousie University, and the Discovery Centre. For each session, we devised simple scientific experiments that equipped participants with new laboratory techniques and ended with insightful discussions. For more details, please refer to the <a href="https://2017.igem.org/Team:Dalhousie/Engagement" style="color: #C1D35D">public engagement</a> page.</br></br>
  
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<font color= "#C1D35D">Our Blog</font></br>
 
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We also developed the PLoSibilities blog to provide students a platform to practice science communication, and to provide the general public a place to read in simplified terms the latest scientific research. We are very proud of our partnership with PLoS in establishing our blog. For more details, please refer to the <a href="https://2017.igem.org/Team:Dalhousie/Engagement" style="color: #C1D35D">public engagement</a> page.</br></br>
 
  
 
<font color= "#C1D35D">Integrated Human Practices</font></br>
 
<font color= "#C1D35D">Integrated Human Practices</font></br>
  
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Finally, we integrated many of the ideas we learned in the science communication portion of our human practises project into our overall design. We talked with experts to see how we could improve our project, and take it to the next level, we explored the safety of our project, and we met with a local fermentation company, BioVectra, to discuss how our idea could be commercialized. Furthermore, we put our science communication skills to the test and practiced presenting our project to different audiences. For more details, please refer to the <a href="https://2017.igem.org/Team:Dalhousie/HP/Gold_Integrated" style="color: #C1D35D">integrated and gold</a> page.</br></br>   
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Finally, we integrated science communication and science literary into our overall design. We talked with experts to see how we could improve/ develop our project, we explored the safety of our project, and we met with a local fermentation company, BioVectra, to discuss how our idea could be commercialized. Furthermore, we put our science communication skills to the test and practiced presenting our project to different audiences. For more details, please refer to the <ahref="https://2017.igem.org/Team:Dalhousie/HP/Gold_Integrated" style="color: #C1D35D">integrated and gold</a> page.</br></br>   
  
  

Revision as of 19:04, 1 November 2017

Human practices


Human Practices Summary


Background
Being a group that focuses on employing scientific concepts and techniques to synthesize products for industrial, environmental, and medical purposes, we are aware of the value and importance of understanding and utilizing scientific concepts for societal advancements. In recent years, the public distribution of scientific material has reached a new high. However, due to heavy scientific jargon, it can be difficult for the general public to properly interpret conclusions and significance from scientific publications. For this reason, along with the rise of “fake news”, the Human Practices Team has decided to promote scientific literacy alongside our research.

Our Blog
Our main human practises initiative was the partnership with PLoS Journals to establish the Think of the PLoSibilities blog. We wanted to help extend the reach of PLoS articles by writing engaging, scientifically-accessible summaries for the general public. We recognized that clear lay science writing is key to engaging the general public and promoting science literacy. In the future, we hope to help other iGEM teams establish their own blogs such that there are a network of blogs under the PLoS banner all working to promote science literacy. For more details, please refer to the public engagement page.

Survey
We surveyed the population in order to get a basic understanding of how people feel about interpreting and sharing science-based news. More than 250 people from diverse educational and cultural backgrounds completed the survey. These results helped us formulate questions to discuss with our panel of experts, including professional science communicators, science discipline professors, students, and members of the general public. We then published a “how-to” infographic, inspired by our survey and interview results, about reading science-based news. For more details, please refer to the science communication page.

Outreach and Education
In addition to our science communication efforts, we concentrated on advocating scientific literacy amongst the Halifax community. A huge part of our work was geared towards getting young children and students engaged in science. We hosted several workshops collaborating with SHAD Valley, SuperNOVA summer camps at Dalhousie University, and the Discovery Centre. For each session, we devised simple scientific experiments that equipped participants with new laboratory techniques and ended with insightful discussions. For more details, please refer to the public engagement page.

Integrated Human Practices
Finally, we integrated science communication and science literary into our overall design. We talked with experts to see how we could improve/ develop our project, we explored the safety of our project, and we met with a local fermentation company, BioVectra, to discuss how our idea could be commercialized. Furthermore, we put our science communication skills to the test and practiced presenting our project to different audiences. For more details, please refer to the integrated and gold page.

Science Community

Integrated Human Practices

Public Engagement

Social Media