Assessing Science Engagement Through Social Media - NOVA scienceNOW season 7

这个早期的设计和开发、整合媒体和研究项目将通过探索社交媒体与广播电视整合后的科学参与，为非正式科学学习文献贡献重要的新认识。它将有助于回答以下问题：这种接触是什么样子的？谁参加?它是如何以及为什么发生的？参与的程度和深度是什么？该项目建立在WGBH之前在全国范围内传播电视连续剧NOVA scienceNOW的成功工作和EDC的研究专长的基础上。WGBH的NOVA scienceNOW项目将与EDC合作开发新的指标，以了解学习者如何以及为什么在社交媒体上参与科学。可交付的内容将包括六个一小时的NOVA scienceNOW节目、在线短视频、主持的在线讨论事件和一个在线电影节。一项新的社交媒体倡议将开发6个直播微博活动、6个直播后在线讨论活动、每日社交媒体更新和一个以用户生成视频为特色的在线电影节。视频和在线帖子中的一系列STEM内容将围绕重大科学和工程问题展开，如动物交流和生存系统、睡眠生物学、气候变化、新技术、能源、遗传学和自然灾害。社会媒体渠道的不断创新和扩展为学习者提供了接触高质量科学内容、研究人员和参与科学的机会提供了重要的新机会。在这项工作的第一阶段，为了加深对社交媒体如何支持非正式科学参与的基于证据的理解，NOVA和EDC将合作开发新的测量工具：(1)网络概况，以定量地表示NOVA社交媒体网络的规模和活动；(2)非正式科学参与（ISE）指数，通过对对话和帖子进行编码和分析来衡量参与程度；(3)追随者简介，用于评估活动程度和参与的性质；(4)科学社交媒体参与调查工具。然后，他们将使用这些措施和数据收集协议来探索该计划是否以及如何影响科学参与。具有内容和方法专业知识的外部专家审稿人将在关键时刻审查项目的所有方面。该项目将提供重要的新知识和研究工具和方法，以更好地了解如何最有效地实现社交媒体渠道的学习机会。这具有巨大的潜力，可以为社会带来广泛而持久的利益，并推动非正式科学学习领域的发展。

This early-stage design and development, integrated media and research project will contribute important new understandings to the informal science learning literature by exploring science engagement on social media when integrated with broadcast television. It will help answer questions including: What does such engagement look like? Who participates? How and why does it happen? and What is the degree or depth of engagement? The project builds on the previous successful work by WGBH nationally distributing the television series NOVA scienceNOW and the research expertise of EDC. WGBH's NOVA scienceNOW program will collaborate with EDC to develop new metrics to understand how and why learners engage with science on social media. Deliverables will include six one-hour episodes of NOVA scienceNOW, short online videos, moderated online discussion events, and an online film festival. A new social Media Initiative will develop six live broadcast microblogging events, six post-broadcast online discussion events, daily social media updates, and an online film festival that will feature user generated videos. A range of STEM content in the videos and online posts will be framed around big science and engineering questions such as animal communication and survival systems, the biology of sleep, climate change, new technologies, energy, genetics, and natural disasters. The continued innovations and expansion of social media channels provides significant new opportunities for providing learner's access to high quality science content, researchers, and opportunities to participate in science. In the first phase of this work to deepen the evidence based understanding of how social media supports informal science engagement, NOVA and EDC will collaborate to develop new measurement instruments: (1) a Network Profile to quantitatively represent the size and activity of NOVA's social media network; (2) an Informal Science Engagement (ISE) index to measure the degree of engagement by coding and analyzing conversations and posts; (3) a Follower Profile to assess the degree of activity and the nature of the engagement; and (4) a Science Social Media Engagement survey instrument. They will then use these measures and data collection protocols to explore whether and how the initiative might influence science engagement. External expert reviewers with content and methodological expertise will review all aspects of the project at critical junctures. This project will contribute important new knowledge and research instruments and methods to better understand how the learning opportunities of social media channels can be realized most effectively. This has significant potential for broad and lasting benefits to society as well as advancing the informal science learning field.