LESSONS FOR SCIENCE EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION FROM MUSEOLOGY

Abstract

Science communication has much in common with museology. By looking at what each field is trying to achieve rather than its main focus, common goals start to emerge such as fostering communities, raising literacy and encouraging the sharing and creating of knowledge. When teaching science students to communicate their discipline, it is of paramount importance to instil the importance of ethical science communication. This is a growing area of the field that has much to learn from museology, a discipline that has long strived to meet a strong ethical and moral function (Medvecky & Leach, 2019). In this talk I will explain this foundational idea of my PhD, based on previous research and experience as a science communicator within a museum. As science communicators, we can use the framework sitting within museums to support our practice and work out how to have social impact, as well as educational impact. We can understand more about how to shift behaviours and attitudes towards science through our communication efforts, contributing to a more engaged and scientifically literate community. This will help build a foundation for educators to imbed ethical and actionable science communication skills in students.