A Study of the Presentation of Science and Scientist in Children's Science Education Programming

由于电视有可能以一种吸引人的方式接触到大量的儿童，因此它一直被强调为通过“神奇校车”和“科学家比尔·奈”等节目促进科学素养的一种手段。“然而，还没有对这些方案实际存在的内容进行定量分析。 在这项研究中，PI将开发和测试一个编码方案，以寻找一些儿童科学节目中出现特征的频率。 这些特点将包括两个实质性的问题，如物理外观的字符在节目和口头引用科学，以及生产的特点，如灯光和音响效果，可能会影响儿童如何看待科学。

Because television has the potential to reach a large number of children in an engaging manner, it has been emphasized as a means to promote science literacy through programs such as the "Magic School Buss" and "Bill Nye the Science Guy." However, there has been no quantitative analyses of what these programs actually present. In this study, the PIs will develop and test a coding scheme to look for the frequency of occurrence of characteristics in a number of children's science programs. These characteristics will include both substantive issues, such as the physical appearance of characters on the program and verbal references to science, as well as production features, such as lighting and sound effects, that may affect how children perceive science.