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引人入胜的方式接触到大量的儿童，它被强调为一种通过《魔法学校巴士》和《科学人比尔·奈》等节目来促进科学素养的手段。然而，目前还没有对这些节目的实际情况进行量化分析。在这项研究中，PI将开发和测试一种编码方案，以寻找一些儿童科学节目中特征出现的频率。这些特征既包括实质性的问题，如节目中人物的外表和对科学的口头引用，也包括可能影响儿童感知科学的生产特征，如灯光和音效。

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.