Provocative Questions: Supporting Effective Dialogue about Societal Issues Informed by Human Biology in a Changing World

研究人员计划设计、开发和测试一系列展览原型，以培养参观者参与讨论社会科学问题的能力，特别是与当今生活中存在的许多与人类生物学和健康相关的社会科学问题有关的问题。这一小规模项目的目的将是探索设计非便利的博物馆展览体验的可行性，使博物馆参观者参与活动，使他们认识到社会科学论点的组成部分，对其进行评估，并提出自己的论点。展览将使用通常应用于科学博物馆的互动展览技术来探索物体、现象或科学和工程过程，但这次展览的主题是文字和谈话，而不是事物和物理现象。它的目的是让参观者练习科学思维技能，公民可以使用这些技能来批判性地倾听、评估论点和构建自己的论点。该项目将支持设计、开发和测试六项非便利活动，使参观者参与解构、评估和发展与社会科学问题有关的论点。研究人员将开发原型，以便在形成性测试过程中可以更改标签、内容和物理设计。原型将由科学博物馆、教育和战略项目部门的成员开发。该项目旨在通过评估收集证据，说明是否可以设计一个无人值守的展览，以提高参观者参与讨论社会科学问题和与健康有关的社会科学问题的能力。科学博物馆研究与评估部将对这些原型进行形成性评估。这将为博物馆展品提高参观者科学思维能力提供新的证据。

The investigators plan to design, develop and test a series of exhibit prototypes that build visitors' capacity to engage in discussions of socio-scientific issues, particularly those related to the numerous human-biology and health-related socio-scientific issues present in their lives today. The purpose of this small-scale project will be to explore the feasibility of designing un-facilitated museum exhibit experiences that engage museum visitors in activities where they recognize the components of socio-scientific arguments, evaluate them, and pose arguments of their own. The exhibit will use techniques of interactive exhibits usually applied in science museums to explore objects, phenomena, or scientific and engineering processes but the subject of this exhibit is about words and talk rather than things and physical phenomena. It is intended to give visitors practice in science thinking skills that citizens can use in listening critically, assessing arguments, and framing arguments of their own. This project will support the design, development, and testing of six unfacilitated activities that engage visitors in deconstructing, evaluating, and developing arguments related to socio-scientific issues. The investigators will develop prototypes so that labels, content, and physical design can be changed during the course of formative testing. The prototypes will be developed by members of the Museum of Science Education and Strategic Projects Departments. This project is intended to gather evidence through evaluation about whether an unstaffed exhibit can be designed to increase visitors' capacity to engage in discussions of socio-scientific issues and health-related socio-scientific issues. The Museum of Science Research and Evaluation Department will conduct the formative evaluation of these prototypes. It will provide new evidence about the ability of museum exhibits to increase the scientific thinking skills of visitors.