Professional Development Fellowship: Mental Models Study of Perceptions of Audience in Science and Technology Communication

专业发展奖学金：科学技术传播中受众认知的心理模型研究

• 批准号: 0956624
• 负责人: Deborah Illman
• 金额: $ 9.76万
• 依托单位: University of Washington
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-02-01 至 2013-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0956624&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Professional; Development; Fellowship; Mental; Models

Abstract forProfessional Development Fellowship: Mental Models Study of Perceptions of Audience in Science and Technology CommunicationThis fellowship project draws upon methods of cognitive sciences and STS studies to focus on how technical experts engage with communication professionals in the public arena to translate new knowledge in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) for diverse audiences. The project consists of an educational component to provide preparation in mental models research methods to the fellowship recipient and a research component in which these methods will be used to study perceptions of audience and decision-making of novices and experts in the communication of STEM content to general audiences. The research targets the greatest barrier for STEM graduate students to becoming more effective communicators: issues of audience, that is, use of jargon, parroting technical explanations, inappropriate technical detail, and inappropriate order of information. Many STEM graduate students have very little contact with non-scientists on a daily basis and therefore little opportunity to develop mental models of what is appropriate for general readers. This project is aimed at eliciting the mental models of these students as a necessary first step in designing educational interventions. Professional science journalists, on the other hand, have an extensive working model of what audiences know and don?t know, but the process by which these experts make decisions about content and structure of writing for general audiences is essentially a ?black box.? Mental models methods will be used to characterize the thought processes of a group of experienced science journalists in order to compare them with those of STEM graduate students and to identify educational interventions to help novices advance to more expert levels. Based on the comparison of the expert and novice models, two versions of a communication learning module will be developed and pilot tested with STEM graduate students. This work should yield new understanding that may transform how we teach STEM experts to communicate with broader audiences. The results ultimately may enhance the interactions between technical experts and groups such as policymakers and the press.

摘要专业发展奖学金：心理模型研究的观众在科学和技术communicationThis奖学金项目借鉴认知科学和STS研究的方法，专注于如何在公共竞技场技术专家从事通信专业人士翻译新的知识，在科学，技术，工程和数学（干）为不同的观众。该项目包括一个教育部分，为研究金获得者提供心理模型研究方法的准备，以及一个研究部分，其中这些方法将用于研究受众的看法以及新手和专家在向普通受众传播STEM内容时的决策。 该研究针对STEM研究生成为更有效的沟通者的最大障碍：受众问题，即使用行话，鹦鹉学舌的技术解释，不适当的技术细节和不适当的信息顺序。许多STEM研究生每天与非科学家接触很少，因此很少有机会开发适合普通读者的心理模型。这个项目的目的是引出这些学生的心理模型，作为设计教育干预措施的必要的第一步。另一方面，专业的科学记者有一个广泛的工作模式，观众知道什么和不知道什么？我不知道，但是这些专家为普通读者决定写作内容和结构的过程本质上是一个？黑盒？ 心智模型方法将用于描述一组经验丰富的科学记者的思维过程，以便将其与STEM研究生的思维过程进行比较，并确定教育干预措施，以帮助新手提升到更专业的水平。基于专家和新手模型的比较，将开发两个版本的沟通学习模块，并与STEM研究生进行试点测试。这项工作应该产生新的理解，可能会改变我们如何教STEM专家与更广泛的受众沟通。研究结果最终可能会加强技术专家与决策者和新闻界等群体之间的互动。