EXTINCT: Legendary Birds is a large-scale exterior street mural. It was created as a novel method of science communication with the goal to transform the four-story wall of a building in an unused public space and encourage cultural memory of extinct indigenous animal species from Aotearoa New Zealand. Street murals as a method of science communication involves the translation of facts into a visual narrative meant to connect with people’s values, beliefs, attitudes, awareness, and understanding. For this project, we used research-based street art as a transdisciplinary method to reach a broad spectrum of people about the current extinction crisis, including those who might otherwise be disinterested or seldom-reached. A critical reflection is offered for the project’s process (tasks completed to create the street mural), design (symbolic and visual narrative choices) and reception (responses to the process and the completed art). Both the collaborative production of the street art and the artwork itself resulted in constructive community dialogue, contributing to contemplation of environmental ethics and cultural memory of extinct indigenous fauna in a spatial-temporal context.

This study investigates the epistemological, pedagogical, and cultural frameworks that guided the redevelopment of Tūhura Otago Community Trust Science Centre, a major science centre in Aotearoa New Zealand. Through semi-structured interviews with floor staff and museum decision makers conducted before and after the transformation, the study explores staff ideas regarding science, science communication and how their worldviews shaped exhibit design, institutional philosophy, and public engagement strategies. Findings reveal that staff held diverse epistemological views, though most framed science as an instrument or method for generating knowledge, with floor staff showing a broader and more inquiry-oriented epistemology than decision makers. Furthermore, emotional engagement, intergenerational learning and authenticity in exhibit interaction emerged as key elements of science communication. The study also examines the integration of Mātauranga Māori—including Indigenous Māori knowledge—as a partner epistemological framework, representing a significant shift towards bicultural science communication. This study advances science communication research by highlighting the essential interpretive work of staff members in designing science centres— showing how their worldviews shape exhibit selection, pedagogical philosophy, and bicultural integration. The findings underscore the need for inclusive, reflective, and culturally responsive approaches to informal science learning.

BackgroundIncreasingly, people are living with multimorbidity and long-term conditions or permanent impairments, which contribute substantially to health loss and additional health inequity. Critical to managing this health crisis is the appropriate support provided by health and social services. International research has informed the implementation of supported self-management knowledge into Aotearoa New Zealand. Meagre attention has been given to how New Zealand health care organizations can appropriately support people to self-manage their lifelong conditions within their own life contexts and cultures. Currently in New Zealand, those experiencing the greatest health inequities are Māori and Pacific peoples—Tāngata Whaikaha Māori (Māori living with disability) and people with learning (intellectual) disability who live with long-term health conditions or permanent impairments. This research aims to challenge and reframe supported self-management in New Zealand to enable our underserved populations and their whānau (families) to receive appropriate support to live well. ObjectiveWe aim to reconceptualize supported self-management in New Zealand as a holistic approach to the provision of support and care within the complexities of the lived human and whānau experience. In total, three objectives will be considered across 3 key populations of people with long-term conditions or permanent impairments (Māori, Pacific Peoples, and those with learning disability) to (1) understand our community partners’ and their communities’ aspirations for living well and how best to support these desires, (2) develop innovative models of support by working alongside communities to enable supported self-management within their own context, and (3) implement models and evaluate outcomes. MethodsEmbracing social construction of reality, this participatory case study program uses mixed methods and implementation evaluation design and is underpinned by Whānau Tuatahi (Māori) and Fonua (Tongan) research models and the Transformative Paradigm. Moreover, 3 case studies, 1 for each population group, will apply the same program objectives. Objectives 1 and 2 will be addressed with qualitative methodologies underpinned by relevant participatory designs. Objective 3 will use appropriate implementation frameworks. ResultsFunded in October 2023, we have completed 2 years of this 5-year program grant. These first 2 years were focused on relationship building, ethical applications, research capability, and capacity building. Substantial, progressive consultation with the respective communities of each case study was undertaken. ConclusionsNew knowledge generated across our program has the potential to inform New Zealand policy and practice about service delivery acceptable to the people to whom it matters (particularly Māori, Pacific Peoples, and people with a learning disability) and places emphasis on well-being promotion. This approach focuses on the inherent strengths and abilities of people, rather than the deficits or problems, acknowledging the wealth of expertise and experience people living with long-term conditions or permanent impairments bring, and builds relationships and partnerships between people and health care partners. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)PRR1-10.2196/89658

Aotearoa New Zealand's aquatic ecosystems are declining despite widespread awareness of mitigation needs. This study employs storytelling to address this issue, testing the role of the messenger in encouraging freshwater restoration in rural catchment communities. We quantified peer-to-peer knowledge exchange on three cognitive processes (retention and extraction of information, motivation to reproduce modelled restoration behaviour, and recall of acquired information), using ArcGIS® ‘StoryMaps’. We created two restoration stories; one told through the voice of a respected catchment group member known for leadership, and one through a collective catchment group voice. We surveyed freshwater community members (N = 82) before and after reading the stories, and one month later, and found that participants reading either catchment restoration story (1) accepted both the catchment collective and the respected individual member as a trusted source, and could therefore relate to either, and (2) thought the story was informative and contained new details, independent of the time span land holders have been actively restoring. While our study found no significant differences between individual or collective storytellers, it confirms the value of trusted messengers as restoration knowledge brokers in rural catchment communities, a critical step in value-led freshwater restoration at large scales.

This practice insight describes community consultation and creation of an exhibit that was installed in a local museum to share findings from research involving excavations of historic cemeteries. Two individuals who had been buried in unmarked sites in historic cemeteries in the town of Lawrence, in the Otago region of New Zealand were exhumed for bioarchaeological research that included biochemical methods. Results were combined with cultural and environmental information from the Otago goldrush era to reconstruct lives of these settlers and tell their stories in the exhibit described here. Community values about exhibit representations related to human remains were explored through 16 semi-structured stakeholder interviews. Interviewees overwhelmingly but not unanimously supported the creation of an exhibit about this research. Interviewees recommended things to exclude from the exhibit (human remains or images of them) as well as information and objects to include. Information was compiled from multiple sources, including: existing bioarchaeological research findings; interviews with descendant groups, community, and other stakeholders; and historical archives. Information from these multiple sources was combined to create osteobiographies of two individuals — a woman and a Chinese journeyman — who had lived in Lawrence during the goldrush period (1850–1910). These osteobiographies formed the basis of an exhibit that was created and installed in a community museum in the town where their graves were located.

IntroductionFrom the high-stakes operating room of a Seattle hospital, to the shattered remains of a planet in a galaxy far, far away, Hollywood is often critiqued for its representations of scientific knowledge, methods, and/or technology. Existing research into Hollywood representations of science focuses primarily on those that do not align with expert consensus, and on how audiences engage with these representations - such as how misinformation in fictional narratives influences us. This paper, instead, approaches the matter of fictional science in fictional narratives (FiSci) from the perspectives of the individuals creating Hollywood content. We use the label of "FiSci" for any representation of science within a narrative which does not align with humanity's current knowledge or technological capability. MethodsSemi-structured interviews were conducted in late 2020 with a purposefully-selected sample of both Hollywood creators (writers, directors, and producers; n = 28) and science experts who have served as consultants (n = 18) across a range of film and television projects. Thematic analysis was used to explore how these creators and consultants perceive FiSci and its role within Hollywood narratives. Three themes were constructed from the interview data. Results and discussionParticipants primarily spoke of FiSci as: (1) a storytelling tool, perceived either positively or negatively, depending upon how that tool is wielded; (2) a way to play within a constructed storyworld which does not resemble our own; and (3) a source of unrealistic "B.S." which threatens to break audience suspension of disbelief and can signify a lack of effort in the creative process. This paper contributes to science communication research by providing access to minds behind the representations of science in Hollywood film and television. As such, it can be used to aid the creator-consultant relationship and the implementation of FiSci to the benefit of both groups. It may also inform creators who have yet to work with a consultant, experts looking to become consultants, audiences critiquing FiSci in the content they watch, and experts and science communicators who express concerns about the use of FiSci and the responsibilities of Hollywood.

In Aotearoa New Zealand, catchment communities have been actively working to restore the health of their rivers, in some cases for many decades. Their knowledge offers a valuable resource that could motivate and empower other groups to do the same, making river restoration more effective at large scales. We spoke to five catchment groups across Aotearoa New Zealand to conceptualize and define how knowledge sharing through storytelling could be used as a tool to inspire freshwater restoration action amongst their own community and elsewhere. Each group created a “Catchment Journey,” a graphical artwork that told a story of their land and people, and their restoration activities. Whilst each of these “Journeys” was unique, the following common elements were important for knowledge sharing: (1) the role of respected storytellers (e.g., community champions) in influencing restoration in their community; (2) recognition of responsibility to act (e.g., concern for future generations, land stewardship, prosperity and community cohesion); and (3) authenticity (e.g., true and honest stories, including weaknesses, threats and hardship). Participants recommended including each of these key elements in collective catchment storytelling to encourage large scale freshwater restoration.

This study investigated impacts of intensive, short-term participation as a science outreach presenter on attitudes towards science and interest in lifelong learning about science. Participants included high school and university students who volunteered to assist as presenters over 1 week when Science Caravan—an extensive science outreach program in Thailand, run by the National Science Museum—visited their locality. This study employed mixed methods over two phases. Phase One involved three questionnaires. Two questionnaires were administered to current presenters (N = 690), pre-presenting (before training) and immediately post-presenting at 12 locations of the Science Caravan tour in 2017–2018. A third questionnaire collected data from previous, alumni presenters (n = 726). Phase Two involved interviews with current presenters (n = 19) and alumni presenters (n = 19). While presenters already had positive attitudes towards science, the brief but intensive experience of being a Science Caravan presenter enhanced science attitudes in four scales—with more positive attitudes about Self-concept in science, Value of science to society, and Future participation in science, and decreased Anxiety about science presenting. Participation had a greater impact of reducing anxiety in female presenters compared to male presenters. The experience of presenting with Science Caravan led to the development of more positive attitudes towards science and increased interest in lifelong learning activities regarding science, including presenters’ interest in science-related education. The increased interest in lifelong learning activities was correlated with positive attitudes about and self-efficacy in science. This study provides evidence that a short-term, intensive experience of science outreach can lead to increases in positive attitudes towards science and lifelong learning.

EDITORIAL article Front. Educ., 29 July 2022Sec. STEM Education https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.983325

In this commentary, I reflect on twenty years of teaching science communication at universities in Australia, Singapore and New Zealand. I discuss many of the challenges and opportunities for people working in the field. Some of the professional teaching experiences, challenges, and lessons I have learned may resonate with colleagues or help newcomers navigate the complexities of academic landscapes.

A visual discrete format was developed for use in surveys as an alternative to a Likert-type format to measure changes in a relatively stable construct before and after an intervention. Visitors to a science centre ranging in age from 8 years old upwards were asked to complete surveys that included a seven-item questionnaire scale on self-concept in science using either the Likert-type format (n=446) or the visual discrete format (n=375), before and after their visit. A new set of statements to assess self-concept in science were developed and validated so they could be conducted on either format. Matched responses were used to calculate internal consistency, standard deviation, confidence interval and percentage of missing values; these were all similar for both formats. In the visual discrete format, text labels were replaced by visual labels with a single image of different size for each response option. While a Likert-type format describes a level of agreement/disagreement with a specific item, the visual discrete format relates more to choosing the best reflection of the self in relation to that item. The Likert-type format included a set of emoji in its descriptions to appeal to younger participants. The visual discrete questionnaire scale detected a small increase with medium effect size in self-concept in science after the visit to the science centre while the Likert-type questionnaire scale did not detect any change. This suggests the proposed new format can not only be a viable and useful alternative, but potentially more sensitive under certain conditions.

Worldwide, progress has been made toward managing productive lands more sustainably to improve freshwater health. However, a lack of national guidance for environmental reporting and recording means that it is not possible to quantify consistently which land management actions that help improve water quality have been implemented, where, when, and to what extent. This situation suggests that information on the effectiveness of these actions is missing or fragmented. Systematic recording and reporting of land management actions is an important piece of a large freshwater restoration puzzle. We investigated what motivates New Zealand land managers to record their actions and report them to their networks by conducting 23 semi-structured interviews. Between February and November 2020, we spoke with food producers, New Zealand Indigenous people of the land tāngata whenua community members, and government and industry representatives. The key themes that described motivators for these land managers to record and report land management actions were collective engagement (e.g., working with catchment care groups), identity and social norms (e.g., being a “socially approved” farmer), and efficient farm management (e.g., using one simple recording tool for multiple purposes to save time). While these findings will be broadly germane to international contexts, they are being used specifically to inform the development of a proposed National Register of Land Management Actions in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Vegetative growth consists of growth and development of the primary axis (cell division and cell expansion) as well as initiation and growth of lateral meristematic tissue. Cell division and expansion are discussed in the section on cell growth, differentiation in the section on organ growth, and coordination between tissues in the chapter on plant growth. This chapter focuses on more recent work, with particular emphasis on nitrogen and phosphorus deficiency; examples of other stresses are mainly used to illustrate comparisons and contrasts with these two readily remobilized elements. There are unequivocal examples of nutrient deficiencies such as calcium and boron which cause decreased growth as their primary effect. For salt-stressed plants there is similar evidence that the decreased growth is due to effects in the growing tissue rather than effects on photosynthesis. One of the more fascinating aspects of plant growth is that the shoot apical meristem gives rise to forms of such diversity and order.

In an online survey of 1071 Americans conducted in October 2016, we found technological optimism, environmental beliefs, and gender to be better predictors of climate change concern than respondents' perceived ability to visualize the year 2050 and their future optimism. An important finding from this study is that in October 2016, just before the 2016 Presidential election, 74% of responding Americans were concerned about climate change. Climate change ranked as their second most serious global threat (behind terrorism). However, when asked to describe travel in the year 2050 only 29% of participants discussed lower carbon options, suggesting that actively envisioning a sustainable future was less prevalent than climate change concern. Enabling expectations and active anticipation of a low carbon future may help facilitate mitigation efforts.

Over the past 50 years, the prevalence of interactives in museums and science centres has increased dramatically, with interactive learning proliferating around the world. With a current estimated visitation of 300 million people each year, free-choice learning through museums and related venues has become a major source of human learning over the course of a lifetime. While many studies of visitor experience have examined positive changes in affective components of learning, fewer have examined whether specific scientific content knowledge is included in what is learnt. This research investigated gains in content knowledge through informal science learning. Three surveys were conducted at the Otago Museum’s science centre (Dunedin, New Zealand) with visitors eight years and older. The main component of the survey included a brief “formal” content knowledge assessment in the form of a pre-post multiple-choice test, with a focus on physics concepts illustrated in the science centre. Self-reported examples of science learned during the visit and selected items from the Modes of Learning Inventory complement the data. In the pre-post test, prior knowledge was age and gender dependent, with younger visitors and females getting significantly lower scores. Notwithstanding, visitors to the science centre had an overall average of 13% more correct answers in the test after visiting, independent of age and gender. A learning flow diagram was created to visualise learning in the presence or absence of interactivity. As expected, interactivity was found to increase learning.