By: Inas Essa
While educational institutions that deliver formal and informal science education play a key role in science communication and enriching people interested in science with knowledge, this does not mean these institutions are the sole places where this could be done. In other words, science cannot be confined within four walls.
Science outreach has been one way to widely spread scientific knowledge and reach an audience away from labs and science centers and museums. While activities and experiences visitors get at a science center or museum may be more specialized thanks to the available tools, science outreach activities and programs could be much more accessible.
What Do Science Outreach Events Offer?
Science outreach events can work both ways; for learners, these events can work as enriching opportunities to help familiarize them with science by relating science to their daily lives. On the other hand, these events can hone science communicators’ teaching skills and help them build confidence in their abilities in delivering scientific knowledge.
Moreover, these events can:
- Increase the accessibility of scientific information to the general audience;
- Foster a greater understanding of science and the scientific method; and
- Provide the public with greater insights about science-related issues through direct interaction.
Science outreach programs do not only include experiments; they can include film screenings, discussion of simplified scientific topics, and direct involvement in scientific projects and science fairs as well.
Related: Methods and Types of Science Communication
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Ingredients of a Successful Science Outreach Program
No success comes out of the blue; some ingredients help science communicators get the desired results. In addition to knowing the audience that will be addressed in order to determine the right language, visuals, and metaphors to be used to increase engagement, you need to:
- Develop a clear plan with a specific goal: This would help in setting the timeline of each step and the whole event. Some pre-activity requirements would also be important to think about, like the recruitment and training of participants, selection of a suitable place, and design of a marketing campaign to make a real impact.
- Address an important community-related issue: This would help increase the audience’s interest and engagement. It could be assessed by formal means like a series of workshops and surveys, or through casual discussion. For example, as environmental and climate change issues have lately become alarming, increasing science literacy related to environmental issues would help in behavior change in society and they would feel it so relevant to their daily activities.
- Collect pre-and post-event evaluations and participant feedback: Feedback that you get after the event has equal importance to the preparations. So, to get better results from your events, it would be important to track how well the event goals had been achieved to work on solving problems and fostering what has already succeeded.
This feedback should be from all people involved: organizers, participants, and volunteers. This would be critical to spot what should be improved in addition to gathering important data about participants’ interest, to better organize your next event and customize it for wider criteria.
This feedback could be collected through surveys, especially if one of the goals of the event is to improve knowledge of a scientific topic or training in specific skills. This would also help you while fundraising for future events.
- Obtain funding: The cost of these events could be very expensive, which means that you could need funding to get your ideas out of your head and embody them in a real program or activity.
First, you need to do your research regarding potential funding sources, considering different types of them, like private foundations, corporations, and government programs. Your research should align with your target audience and general plan to avoid further constraints that may affect your whole program. Also, you need to make a plan B in case you do not get a full-fund and how you would manage that.
Next, you need to prepare a proposal that describes the setting and activity design and highlights the innovative features of the proposed project with a detailed budget for the project. You will also need to provide documents that establish the credibility and ability of your organization to receive and manage a fund.
- Have fun! Science communicators should always feel passion and enthusiasm to spread scientific knowledge. In these events, transmitting such passion and excitement to learners would guarantee a successful event.
Related: Inclusive Science Communication Key Traits and Recommendations
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Examples of successful Science Outreach Events and Programs
Science communication outreach programs should work for developing participants’ scientific knowledge and abilities, with the profound power of education. Interesting examples of successful outreach programs are:
- Anatomy Academy
One inspiring science outreach and research program is the anatomy academy, which aims to promote healthy living for children and encouraging the pursuit of higher education through the teaching of anatomy and basic nutrition information.
This is designed for both disabled and not-disabled people, and is based on active learning. This program allows mentors to gain and develop better teaching skills, such as content delivery, student engagement, classroom management, and professionalism.
- Let’s Talk Science
This program from the University of Ottawa has been intended to deliver STEM knowledge to indigenous and remote areas. It succeeded to reach over 10,000 students through two main programs:
(1) week-long outreach trips to remote and indigenous communities,
(2) a year-long mentorship program for indigenous high school students.
It has helped volunteers learn different strategies to ensure a successful STEM educational experience for participant students. Besides educating children about STEM, it has also been working on reigniting students’ passion for science, which had dwindled because of their previous negative experiences in STEM.
The lessons included in this program have been structured to include a brief introduction to the subjects, to ensure students get the basic knowledge, followed by a hands-on activity or experiment, and more in-depth workshops. Noteworthy, this program has been helping students and educators in remote areas get the tools required in STEM fields since they lack them in these faraway areas.
Scientific knowledge is such a rich thing that could be developed in different ways, and science outreach programs and events are real evidence of how it could be vividly shaped, in extremely helpful ways for both the educator and the learner.
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