Richard Holliman

Media Coverage of Cloning: A Study of Media Content, Production and Reception

This paper presents the results of empirical research that analyzed UK news media coverage of cloning. More specifically, it describes how quantitative and qualitative methods were used to examine the production, content and reception of newspaper and television news coverage of cloning. The paper documents the results of a systematic analysis of two years of media content (1996 and 1997), a period that includes the announcement that a Finn Dorset sheep (Dolly) had been cloned from a somatic cell. Interviews with media professionals and the Roslin Institute examined the processes of mediation involved in producing this coverage. A reception analysis, which investigated the significance of this coverage in informing respondents’ views about cloning, showed that these respondents were particularly influenced by coverage of Dolly the sheep. In conclusion, the paper considers how media coverage of cloning might influence the construction of scientific citizenship.

Investigating cooperation and collaboration in near synchronous computer mediated conferences

The development and use of computer mediated communications as a tool for teaching and learning has grown considerably in recent years. It has been developed to extend the conventional face-to-face tutorial environment and for distance-learning purposes, actively engaging students in productive learning situations. Here we document the findings of an analysis of near synchronous conferencing where postgraduate distance learners worked in small groups to produce a report that examined media coverage of controversial science. The results suggest that students actively engaged in both cooperative and collaborative learning in preparing and producing these reports, and that tutor interventions were an important factor in influencing peer interaction. Furthermore, we have found evidence of cooperation between learners who passively participate in vicarious learning. We consider the implications of these findings with respect to current definitions of cooperation and collaboration.

Advocacy in the tail: Exploring the implications of ‘climategate’ for science journalism and public debate in the digital age

This article explores the evolving practices of science journalism and public debate in the digital age. The vehicle for this study is the release of digitally stored email correspondence, data and documents from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in the UK in the weeks immediately prior to the United Nations Copenhagen Summit (COP-15) in December 2009. Described using the journalistic shorthand of ‘climategate’, and initially promoted through socio-technical networks of bloggers, this episode became a global news story and the subject of several formal reviews. ‘Climategate’ illustrates that media-literate critics of anthropogenic explanations of climate change used digital tools to support their cause, making visible selected, newsworthy aspects of scientific information and the practices of scientists. In conclusion, I argue that ‘climategate’ may have profound implications for the production and distribution of science news, and how climate science is represented and debated in the digitally mediated public sphere.

Mediating science learning through information and communications technology

This volume focuses on how contemporary science education has been affected by recent developments in educational technology. More specifically, this reader deals with changes in the ways in which science is taught and learnt due to developments in information and communication technology (ICT) (for example, the increased use in science of multimedia, web-based learning and communication technology). The reader includes papers on the theoretical and practical considerations of using ICT in the teaching and learning of science. Examples are drawn both from higher education, science in schools and open and distance education. The reader discusses approaches to learning and teaching in science accessible over the web, and science learning mediated through disc-based resources. Emphasis is given to formal learning contexts. These approaches includes the role of such current developments as access to practical work delivered over the web and future prospects for research in this area.

The emergence of the controversy around the theory of evolution and creationism in UK newspaper reports

The question of whether religious explanations about the origin of life should be taught alongside scientific accounts in compulsory science education has sparked controversy in several countries for decades. An important site for these controversies is media reporting. This article presents the results of a quantitative and qualitative analysis of UK national and regional newspaper coverage from 2002. The sampled articles reported the controversy about teaching creationism in science classes alongside the theory of evolution at Emmanuel College, Gateshead, UK. The results describe how the national curriculum for science was represented in these articles and, in particular, how scientific controversies were initially described and revised as the public debate developed. Furthermore, the article documents the mobilization of a range of actors who used media reporting as an important channel to argue their case about this issue. It is suggested here that media reporting of creationism/evolution was an important factor in framing public debate about these issues, influencing, in part, the debate over which controversial science-based topics should be taught as part of the national curriculum for science.

Mapping public engagement with research in a UK University.

Notwithstanding that ‘public engagement’ is conceptualised differently internationally and in different academic disciplines, higher education institutions largely accept the importance of public engagement with research. However, there is limited evidence on how researchers conceptualise engagement, their views on what constitutes engagement and the communities they would (or would not) like to engage with. This paper presents the results of a survey of researchers in the Open University that sought to gather data to fill these gaps. This research was part of an action research project designed to embed engagement in the routine practices of researchers at all levels. The findings indicate that researchers have a relatively narrow view of public engagement with research and the communities with which they interact. It also identified that very few strategically evaluate their public engagement activities. We conclude by discussing some of the interventions we have introduced with the aim of broadening and deepening future researcher engagement.

Norms and Values in UK Science Engagement Practice

In recent years, there has been a rhetorical shift from ‘deficit’ to ‘dialogue’ and ‘engagement’ in UK policy and institutional discourse about science communication. Past efforts to reduce public scientific literacy deficits have been overshadowed by calls for dialogue between scientists, science communicators and non-scientists. However, it is unclear how this rhetorical shift has translated into a real change in the guiding principles and practices of UK science engagement. This study investigates reported practices and discourse of UK science engagement practitioners from a variety of professional backgrounds. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered using questionnaires and focus groups. The analysis employed a theoretical lens informed by Bourdieus theory of practice, Irwins taxonomy of first (deficit), second (dialogue) and third (contextual) ‘orders’ of engagement and theoretical conceptualizations of social change from cultural psychology and sociology. Results suggest that participating practitioners’ reported experience was predominately first order, although current definitions and discussions of engagement by a small number of practitioners indicate some limited acceptance of dialogue-oriented thinking. Such potential movement from past practice to current thinking is highly contingent however, not least because so few practitioners had experienced second- or third-order engagement. The implications of these findings are explored both in terms of understanding patterns in UK science engagement and what they portend for Bourdieus theory of practice and social change.

From analogue to digital scholarship: implications for science communication researchers

Digital media have transformed the social practices of science communication. They have extended the number of channels that scientists, media professionals, other stakeholders and citizens use to communicate scientific information. Social media provide opportunities to communicate in more immediate and informal ways, while digital technologies have the potential to make the various processes of research more visible in the public sphere. Some digital media also offer, on occasion, opportunities for interaction and engagement. Similarly, ideas about public engagement are shifting and extending social practices, partially influencing governance strategies, and science communication policies and practices. In this paper I explore this developing context via a personal journey from an analogue to a digital scholar. In so doing, I discuss some of the demands that a globalised digital landscape introduces for science communication researchers and document some of the skills and competencies required to be a digital scholar of science communication.

Telling science stories in an evolving digital media ecosystem: from communication to conversation and confrontation

The globalised digital media ecosystem can be characterised as both dynamic and disruptive. Developments in digital technologies relate closely to emerging social practices. In turn these are influencing, and are influenced by, the political economy of professional media and user-generated content, and the introduction of political and institutional governance and policies. Together this wider context provides opportunities and challenges for science communication practitioners and researchers. The globalised digital media ecosystem allows for, but does not guarantee, that a wider range of range of contributors can participate in storytelling about the sciences. At the same time, new tools are emerging that facilitate novel ways of representing digital data. As a result, researchers are reconceptualising ideas about the relationship between practices of production, content and consumption. In this paper I briefly explore whether storytelling about the sciences is becoming more distributed and participatory, shifting from communication to conversation and confrontation.

Online citizen science: participation, motivation, and opportunities for informal learning

Citizen Inquiry: Synthesising Science and Inquiry Learning is the first book of its kind to bring together the concepts of citizen science and inquiry-based learning to illustrate the pedagogical advantages of this approach. It shifts the emphasis of scientific investigations from scientists to the general public, by educating learners of all ages to determine their own research agenda and devise their own investigations underpinned by a model of scientific inquiry. ‘Citizen inquiry’ is an original approach to research education that refers to mass participation of the public in joining inquiry-led scientific investigations. Using a range of practical case studies underpinned by the theory of inquiry-based learning, this book has significant implications for teaching and learning through exploration of how new technologies can be used to engage with scientific research. Key features include: a new perspective on science education and science practice through crowd-sourced research explanation of the benefits of this innovative approach to teaching and learning a steady shift of emphasis from theory to application for readers to understand thoroughly the current state of research in the field and its applications to practice examples of practical applications of this approach and recommendations on how successful citizen inquiry applications can be developed. This edited volume is essential reading for academic researchers and professional educators interested in the potential of online technology in all levels of education, from primary and secondary level through to further education and lifelong learning. It will be ideal reading on any undergraduate or postgraduate course involving research methods in education as well as developments in science education and educational software.