caise

NOVA scienceNOW Science Cafés are an outreach program of a science news and magazine television series produced by WGBH, Boston, funded in part by NSF’s Informal Science Education program (#0638931). The series, which began airing in January 2005, aims to increase public awareness and understanding of cutting-edge science, while the related Science Cafés go further, aiming to engage a broad and diverse public in dialogue with scientists in casual, non-academic settings like pubs and cafés. Evaluations are showing that the program is succeeding in attracting the young adults who are its primary target audience and even helping to catalyze and connect more grassroots cafés across the United States.

In planning its NOVA scienceNOW Science Cafés, WGBH was inspired by the Café Scientifique movement that began in the United Kingdom in the late 1990s. Initial experiments proved encouraging. Events drew large numbers of young adults (aged 18-35) and also female participants, few of whom had watched the television series NOVA. When WGBH proposed the new television series, the Science Café was built in as a major outreach initiative.

As the television series launched, the first related Science Cafés were held in Massachusetts, California, and Washington. Each featured a local scientist or engineer, with different groups playing host. In Cambridge, WGBH hosted an event where robotics was the focus; in San Diego, Sigma Xi hosted a discussion of mirror neurons and autism; and in Seattle, the topic was hurricanes and climate change, with the local group Science on Tap playing host.

In a typical NOVA scienceNOW Science Café, clips from the show may be used to set the stage for a presentation by a local scientist, who then extends concepts presented in the video, shares related aspects of his or her own work, and engages participants in dialogue. Later, the room may break into small groups to continue discussion while a moderator circulates to keep discussion on track. Activities like trivia quizzes, panel discussions, or games sometimes enliven the event.

Evaluations have found that the vast majority of scientists who have presented at Science Cafés would participate again; some noted that their participation has changed the way they think about presenting their work to the public. Most participants also have carried out follow-up activities related to the topic. For local organizers and scientists alike, these events receive high marks, according to evaluators, for “engaging audiences, providing background information, setting the mood, and encouraging audience involvement” (Peterman, Pressman, and Goodman 2005, 2007).

Together with Sigma Xi, and with the help and input of other organizers of science cafés, NOVA scienceNOW now hosts a web site, www.sciencecafes.org, to support and encourage growth of science cafés nationwide.

Web sites:
www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/
http://www.sciencecafes.org