Communication on the Cutting Edge: Lessons from the Nanoscale

How can informal science institutions respond to major and rapid changes in science and technology? The Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network, NISE Net, is a multi-year effort to do just that, by bringing to bear the resources and ingenuity of a large and growing network of science centers, museums, and other partners working with support from the National Science Foundation (#0532536) to increase public awareness and knowledge of nanoscale science and technology and engagement with related issues. In this issue, Larry Bell of the Museum of Science, Boston, Principal Investigator of NISE Net, recaps highlights of the network's recent annual meeting and offers insights about science communication relevant for others in informal science education.—WP

Nanotechnology is going to change the world and the way we live, creating new scientific applications that are smaller, faster, stronger, safer, and more reliable. The power of nanotechnology is rooted in its potential to transform and revolutionize multiple technology and industry sectors, including aerospace, agriculture, biotechnology, homeland security and national defense, energy, environmental improvement, information technology, medicine, and transportation.

This is the vision of the National Nanotechnology Initiative. But despite the scale of the vision and scope of investment—$1.6 billion in the FY 2010 U.S. federal budget alone—the public knows very little about nanotechnology or its possible implications.Yet the public plays an important role in new technological development as consumers, as citizens, and as the workforce that makes it all possible. How can we as a nation make good choices about our future without knowing at least a little bit about the developments that are going to “change the world and the way we live”?

The Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net) has been working since 2005 to respond to that challenge, by increasing public awareness, knowledge, and engagement with nanoscale science, engineering, and technology primarily through science museums and other kinds of organizations that provide informal science educational experiences to the public.

During NISE Net's September 14–16 annual meeting in San Francisco,180 informal science educators and scientists interested in public outreach met to explore how we could strengthen connections between research science and informal science education, better integrate learning about nanotechnology in the range of content areas that are typical of science museums, and serve a broader range of audiences.

One of the keynote speakers, Dietram Scheufele, professor of Life Sciences Communication at the University of Wisconsin and co-leader of the Public Opinion and Values Research Team for the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University, offered perspectives on science communication relevant not only to those working in nanoscale informal education, but to others across the ISE field.

Scheufele noted the challenges facing those working in university outreach and informal science institutions like museums. They range from lack of funding (with less than two percent of total nano funding going to education) to the shrinking number of journalists regularly covering science and technology to radical changes in media use. One thing that's clear, he said, is that the public's lack of awareness and understanding of nano and other research is "not about availability of information"—and lack of knowledge doesn't stop people from forming opinions. "Whether we like it or not," he said, "policy is being formed without a knowledgeable public."

What to do? Research in social psychology offers insights, Scheufele said. We know, for example, that most people use shortcuts to make rapid decisions with as little information as possible—whether about people, products, or policies. Samuel Popkin, author of The Reasoning Voter, referred to this as "low information rationality." Some heuristics end up replacing information in our decisionmaking and attitude formation. In the field of science, one such heuristic is trust in scientific information and deference toward scientific authority. Informal science education helps shape this sense of trust, he said.

Television and other popular entertainment, whether comic books or CSI, also contribute significantly to popular understandings of science and technology, he said; and how we perceive information is "reference dependent." That is, the way information is framed by the media or others may or may not resonate with a schema we already have in our heads. If it does, we're likelier to take it in. If it doesn't, you'll "get a blank stare," he said. Finally, personal values also shape how we make sense of information.

Scheufele summed up with three overall observations:

Values matter. Good communication isn't just about facts. While the majority of the public trusts scientists, for example, they may have questions about ethical implications of research. To be sure an exhibit or program addresses concerns of those for whom it is intended, formative research is important—and researchers are ready to help.

Data trumps intuition. "We're doing the science scientifically," Scheufele said; "we should do the outreach scientifically." Numerous sources of data are available—from the NSF Science & Engineering Indicators to studies by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Relationships matter. In what sociologist Paul Lazarsfeld described as a "two-step flow" of information, people tend to form opinions based on their associations. Even participation in informal science education experiences—like going to museums—is often based on imitation and relationships of personal trust, Scheufele said.

To listen to a recording of Scheufele's speech and other presentations, visit the NISE Net website. Other recordings include:

• David Ucko, deputy director for NSF's Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings, on the history and accomplishments of the NISE Net to date
• Larry Bell on the current status of the National Nanot.chnology Initiative and future plans of the NISE Net.
• Erik Jolly, director of the Science Museum of Minnesota, with an inspirational presentation about the importance of reaching out to underserved audiences and how a small personal act of kindness can have a life-changing influence on an individual.

You can also get involved with NISE Net's NanoDays, a week of nano education activities for the public at over 200 sites nationally—from Alaska to Puerto Rico, Maine to Hawaii. NanoDays 2010 will take place March 27 through April 4, 2010. Starting November 1, you will be able to apply online for a free NanoDays kit full of everything you need to conduct a NanoDays event.

—Larry Bell, Director, Nanoscale Informal Science Network, Museum of Science, Boston