Principal Investigator
Reyhaneh Maktouf – Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Project Description
The author uses the Strategic Science Communication model (Besley & Dudo, 2022) to explore how digital platforms have become increasingly effective spaces for informal science education and the considerations and challenges that creators and educators on these platforms must make when using these platforms for science education.
Research Questions
- How can digital platforms be used as effective spaces for informal science and engineering education?
- What goals, objectives, and tactics should guide science communication on digital platforms for specific audiences?
- What considerations and challenges do creators and educators face when using digital platforms to support science learning, career interest, or science-informed decision-making?
Key Findings
The author explores how science educators can effectively leverage digital platforms by understanding the specific audience they are trying to reach, outlining a goal or behavioural change they hope to see in that specific audience, having clear objectives such as the beliefs that need to be changed to reach the goal, using specific tactics to address the objective, and evaluating if the content had the impact it was intended to have.
Study Citation
Maktouf, R. (2025). Sustained public engagement in science and engineering via digital spaces and communities. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
The Key Findings above were reproduced from the published report and do not necessarily reflect interpretation of Overdeck Family Foundation staff.
