Abstract

Although science and technology impact every aspect of modern societies, there is still an extensive gap between science and society, which impairs the full exercise of citizenship. In the particular case of biomedical research increased investment should be accompanied by parallel efforts in terms of public information and engagement. We have carried out a project involving the production and evaluation of educational contents focused on stem cells - illustrated newspaper chronicles, radio interviews, a comic book, and animated videos - and monitored their impact on the Portuguese population. The study of the outreach materials in a heterogeneous sample of the population suggests that they are valuable tools to disseminate scientific messages, and that this is especially true for the comic-book format. Furthermore, the data showed that clear and stimulating outreach materials, that are able to teach new concepts and to promote critical thinking, increase engagement in science at different levels, depending on the depth of the concepts involved. Additionally, these materials can influence political, social and personal attitudes toward science. These results, together with the importance attributed to scientific research in stem cells by the population sampled, validates the diffusion of such materials as a significant contribution towards an overall public understanding and engagement in contemporary science, and this strategy should thus be considered in future projects. Regardless, stringent quality control must be implemented in order to efficiently communicate accurate scientific developments, and the public stimulated in terms of finding additional sources of reliable information.

Highlights

  • Science is present in almost every aspect of our daily life, affecting a wide range of public and personal issues

  • In order to explore if the outreach materials contributed towards knowledge acquisition in our sample, the eleven items corresponding to knowledge on stem cell topics of both questionnaires were computed into two variables named Previous Knowledge and Posterior Knowledge

  • These outcomes strongly suggest that the outreach materials were suitable for the transmission of knowledge on stem cells regardless of the age, expertise and professional background of the subjects involved

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Summary

Introduction

Science is present in almost every aspect of our daily life, affecting a wide range of public and personal issues. This lack of understanding and communication compromises the full exercise of citizenship in contemporary democratic societies [5,6]. Given the importance of lay audience awareness regarding scientific issues, and in order to bridge the communication gap between researchers and the general public, strengthening the links between science and society, improvements should be considered [7,6]. Science awareness can potentially facilitate informed and responsible decisions made by citizens, namely regarding health issues [1,8]. Governments must be motivated to engage scientists in problem-solving at this level, and, given that understanding and applying scientific developments in industry could increase competitiveness and productivity, decision makers must be aware of all relevant scientific issues, as well as of their possible implications. Improving the appreciation and trust in science and promoting public engagement is paramount towards guaranteeing sustained development [1,10]

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