1,721,006 research outputs found
Editorial:Learning science in out-of-school settings
Full text linkScience learning outside of school or university extends beyond traditional science content and curriculum and contributes to life-long learning. Most people's learning takes place outside of school (Falk and Dierking, 2010) and can be self-directed or facilitated. Transformative and satisfying experiences can be provided through out-of-school science education (Bell et al., 2009) and life-long learning (Rennie et al., 2019).This Research Topic collected papers about science learning in diverse programs. The articles share insights about program delivery. They document who benefits from those programs, what benefits accrue and how those benefits are assessed.The Koru Model (Figure 1) provides a framework for lifelong learning and is used to provide an overview of this Research Topic. The Topic includes 19 articles that involve a range of communication avenues, discuss support for learning in out-of-school settings, and address learners' perceived control and impact of learning opportunities on learners' science identities. Innovative evaluation tools are described that provide evidence of outcomes, including longer term impact in some studies
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
The Use of Regional Accent in Audio Health Communications
No full textCancer is a large and complex family of diseases with a variety of causes and risk factors. The health communication strategy needed to combat cancer may also need to be a large and complex family of communications. Podcasts are an easily made, readily accessible form of audio communication. However, little research has been done about the use of podcasts for health communications. Drawing on the body of literature that supports the efficacy of tailored and targeted health communications, this project looks at the use of audio cancer prevention communications tailored with three regional accents, the American Midwestern accent, the Southern Texan accent, or the Tejano (Texan Mexican American) accent, focusing on a cancer prevention message in two cohorts, Americans (excluding Texans) and Texans.
After listening to any of the three audio communications, both cohorts had a strong comprehension of the message and intended to exercise more. The American population reported liking the Southern-accented narrator less and viewing the message as less valid compared to the other narrators, but this did not impact either comprehension or intention to exercise. The Texan population had no significant difference in response to any of the three accents. However, in both the Texan and American population, there was a difference in the response to accents between men and women. Additionally, Americans who had been affected by cancer rated the only Midwestern-accented message higher in validity than those who hadn’t been affected, while Texans who had been affected by cancer rated only the Southern-accented message as higher in validity than those who hadn’t.
This study found that audio health messages were well comprehended by listeners regardless of regional accent. It also found that regional accent may interact with other axes of identification, such as gender or association with disease, to create a significant increase in perception of validity of the health communication. Given the increasing popularity of podcasts and the need for health communications targeted towards specific populations, this study is an important addition to the health communications field, with implications for future research
Source of Expertise Affects Perceived Credibility of an Interview Used in a Medical Documentary
No full textThis thesis is composed of two integrated components: a creative project and original academic research. The creative component is a 25-minute medical documentary called Fairy Steps. Fairy Steps follows a 4-year-old girl with Cerebral Palsy who is trying to get to St Louis, in America to have a surgery called Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) that may help her walk for the first time. There were difficulties finding New Zealand health professionals willing to be interviewed for Fairy Steps but a timely holiday visit to New Zealand provided an opportunity to film the American surgeon. The challenge of finding experts willing to be interviewed and a paucity of research into credibility of different sources of expertise provided the impetus for the academic research.
The academic component involved original research into the use of interviews in Fairy Steps, and how this storytelling device affects viewers’ perceptions of source credibility, empathy towards the characters and engagement with the content. This was tested with an intervention where 328 individuals were divided into two conditions. Each was shown one of two 30-second videos. The video was an excerpt from Fairy Steps; the same individual was shown in both videos in which the condition of Cerebral Palsy was briefly, accurately and articulately described. In one condition, the interviewee was labelled correctly as the mother of a child with the condition of Cerebral Palsy; in the other condition, the interviewee was labelled as a neuroscientist. Both labels were deemed plausible in pilot testing. Measures of viewer perceived credibility, empathy and engagement were assessed by pre-test and post-test survey questions in each group and compared between conditions. There were no differences in viewer engagement or empathy between the conditions. There was a significant difference in participant responses to two of the credibility questions, regarding the interviewees’ experience and expertise. Participants were more likely to “Strongly agree” that the Mother had more experience. Participants were comparatively more firm in their belief that the Scientist was an expert in Cerebral Palsy than the Mother.
This research has implications for the use of interviews for factual communication. Viewers are frequently using media as a source of learning about health-related information. The current research has indicated that source identity has effects on viewer perceptions of source credibility. Source credibility is essential to viewers making well informed decisions about their health. Given this, this research indicates that the choice of expert can impact how effective the message is in a documentary and have wider consequences for the viewer. As such when using this medium for health communication it is crucial that filmmakers think about who is the most appropriate expert to effectively communicate their message and whether this expert should necessarily be a Health Professional
Where Fact Meets Fiction - The Science Mockumentary
Full text linkMockumentary is a style of film that has existed since 1957, at the latest. A fictional news piece from the BBC told the story about the annual spaghetti harvest occurring in Switzerland. Presented in the style of a typical news piece, this parody went on to fool many viewers. From these humble beginnings, mockumentary (as a genre of film) has since taken a place on the world stage. Mockumentaries such as This is Spinal Tap (1984); Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006); and Summer Heights High (2007) have proved the efficiency and popularity of this film form.
Despite this popularity, there is a noticeable gap in the coverage of scientific subjects. This is especially noticeable when comparing the 3.8% of mockumentaries covering scientific subjects, with the 23.2% of documentaries that communicate science. This lack of science communication in mockumentary is something that could be changed in future filmmaking efforts, as mockumentary holds certain elements that are beneficial to science communication. The inherent humour, parody, and story elements in mockumentary all have the potential to greatly benefit science communication, as long as potential drawbacks are considered. Namely the risks of the audience missing the point, criticism of ‘tricking’ the viewers, and the reliability of the information.
These elements of mockumentary are shown to be beneficial to science communication (with the careful consideration of the potential drawbacks) through the creative component of this thesis, a scientific mockumentary Kiwis Against Birds.
Kiwis Against Birds follows Richard Duncan, the founder of a non-profit, community led organisation ‘Kiwis Against Birds’. Richard is attempting to bring more young people into ‘Kiwis Against Birds’, and enlists the help of some friends to help teach these young adults how to get rid of all of the birds. Kiwis Against Birds utilises humour, parody, and story to communicate science on how habitat destruction/degradation, irresponsible cat ownership, and commercial fisheries can negatively impact native bird populations. Kiwis Against Birds illustrates the potential of using mockumentary to communicate science
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