Experientially learning how to communicate science effectively: A case study on decoding science

The need for science communication programs is matched with the need for program evaluation. This case study is an evaluation of the “Decoding Science” program (DSP) [Rodgers et al. (2018). Science Communication, 40(1), 3–32], a science communication training program, and examines key experiential-learning themes [Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall]. Specifically, we discuss the program's emphasis on learning that science communication is a process that (a) is continual, (b) involves conflict resolution, (c) requires adaptation to the world, (d) requires environmental interaction, and leads to (e) knowledge creation. Additionally, we discuss our analysis of student feedback. Results suggest that the DSP successfully utilizes experiential learning to facilitate the learning of science communication techniques and that future evaluations can lead to the development and improvement of science communication training programs.     

Print Media

Elizabeth L. Eisenstein, The Printing Press as an Agent of Change (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1979---$49.50 for the two volume set)

Roy Harley Lewis' Antiquarian Books: An Inisder's Account (New York: Arco, 1979---$10.00)

Jack Lindsay's William Morris: His Life and Work (New York: Taplinger, 1979---$14.95)

Thomas Weyr's Reaching for Paradise: The Playboy Vision of America (New York: Times Books, 1979---$12.50)

Book Publishing Worldwide, A Publisher's Weekly Extra (New York: R.R. Bowker, 1979---S6.95, paper)

Scholarly Communication: The Report of the National Enquiry (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1979---$3.95, paper)

Charles B. Osburn's Academic Research and Library Resources: Changing Patterns in America (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1979---$18.95)

Robert Egan's The Bookstore Book: A Guide to Manhattan Booksellers (New York: Avon Books, 1979---$5.95, paper)     

General Mass Communication

Jack Temple Kirby's Media-Made Dixie: The South in the American Imagination. (Baton Rouge, La.: Louisiana State University Press, 1978—$9.95)

Dan Nimmo's Political Communication and Public Opinion in America (Santa Monica, Calif.: Goodyear Publishing Co., 1978—price not given, but available in hard and paper editions)

Raymond G. Smith's The Message Measurement Inventory: A Profile for Communication Analysis (Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1978—$12.50)

Fred Fedler's An Introduction to the Mass Media (New York: Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich, 1978—price not given, paper)

Rolf Myller's Symbols and their Meaning (New York: Atheneum, 1978—$9.95)

William E. Francois, Mass Media Law and Regulation (Columbus, Ohio: Grid, Inc., 1978—price not given)

James Leigh and Claude R. Martin, Jr., Current Issues and Research in Advertising (Ann Arbor, Mich.: Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Michigan, 1978—$4.75, paper)

Philip Ward Burton's Advertising Copywriting (Columbus, Ohio: Grid, 1978—$12.95)

Postal and Allied Arenas–Research Task Specifications, Phase I: Arena Survey by John F. McLaughlin (October 1977, 39 pp., $10.90, paper, Working Paper W-77-9)

The Communications Act Policy Toward Competition: A Failure to Communicate by G. Hamilton Loeb (October 1977, 95 pp., $23.40, paper, Publication P-77-3)

Roland E. Wolseley's Careers in Religious Communications (Herald Press, Scottdale, Pa. 15683—$4.95, paper)

Roland Barthes' Image-Music- Text (New York: Hill & Wang, 1977—$8.95)

Jacques Barzun and Henry F. Graff's The Modern Researcher (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1977—$6.95 in paper, and also available in hardback)     

Relationships between highly skilled golfers’ clubhead velocity and force producing capabilities during vertical jumps and an isometric mid-thigh pull

Whilst previous research has highlighted significant relationships between golfers’ clubhead velocity (CHV) and their vertical jump height and maximum strength, these field-based protocols were unable to measure the actual vertical ground reaction force (vGRF) variables that may correlate to performance. The aim of this study was to investigate relationships between isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP), countermovement jump (CMJ), squat jump (SJ) and drop jump (DJ) vGRF variables and CHV in highly skilled golfers. Twenty-seven male category 1 golfers performed IMTP, CMJ, SJ and DJ on a dual force platform. The vertical jumps were used to measure positive impulse during different stretch-shortening cycle velocities, with the IMTP assessing peak force (PF) and rate of force development (RFD). Clubhead velocity was measured using a TrackMan launch monitor at a golf driving range. Pearsons correlation coefficient analyses revealed significant relationships between peak CHV and CMJ positive impulse (r = 0.788, p < 0.001), SJ positive impulse (r = 0.692; p < 0.001), DJ positive impulse (r = 0.561, p < 0.01), PF (r = 0.482, p < 0.01), RFD from 0–150 ms (r = 0.343, p < 0.05) and RFD from 0–200 ms (r = 0.398, p < 0.05). The findings from this investigation indicate strong relationships between vertical ground reaction force variables and clubhead velocity.     

Information use and needs in manufacturing organizations: Organizational factors in information behaviour

In this paper assumptions about the nature of complex organizations are examined in relation to the design of information systems. Models of organizational structure which have been used in relation to information need are discussed in the light of recent findings of a research project which has investigated the information use and needs of managers in manufacturing companies. Qualitative and quantitative data are presented and discussed. The findings do not support some of the current assumptions about information in complex organizations and the implications of this are discussed.     

Regulating research: The problem of theorizing community on LambdaMOO

This article considers ongoing attempts to regulate or even ban researchon LambdaMOO. Industry, private individuals, and research institutionshave supported MOOs, or multi-user object-oriented worlds. The earlyresearch on MOOs by Pavel Curtis, who was one of the key designers,suggests that these systems are part of a research project and have beenresearched since they were originally designed. However, a group ofMOOers have grown increasingly uncomfortable about the quotation ofcertain texts on web sites and academic journals and the potentiallypanoptic effect of research. Some of these practices have breachedcommunity conventions. Yet, such things as testing, invisibly watching,freely quoting characters, and ignoring certain rules have always beenaspects of the system. The dispute over research ethics and theparticipation of varied researchers within this setting indicate thatdiverse values are represented among MOOers and different expectationsexist about how the MOO might be a community. The term ``community' andthe presumption that online characters are people may have alsoincorrectly informed the research debate by making it seem that onlinesettings provide immediate access onto spaces, bodies, and individuals.Many MOOers may believe that research threatens individuals andcommunity. However, critical histories and analysis are needed in orderto explain the system to new users and encourage alternative forms ofdevelopment. Such work can only be produced if online systems are opento research and critique.     

The Value of Education: A Reply to Andrew Reid

Andrew Reid's essay on the value of education in this journal distinguished the intrinsic features of education from what education is for, the latter being ultimately located in the promotion of personal well-being. At a meta-ethical level, this response accepts Reid's claim about ultimate location, but challenges his view that prudential goods are desire-independent, arguing for a desire-dependent conception based on supra-individual, but not always universal-human, preferences. It also questions his claim that the source of educational value lies in the intrinsic features of education, rejecting the suggestion that epistemological rather ethical considerations should be the starting-point.     

Feedback complexity and corrective efficiency

College undergraduates read a 2400-word passage, responded to 16 multiple-choice questions, and received one of four types of feedback following their responses. Complexity of feedback was inversely related to both error correctability and criterion efficiency taken as a ratio of feedback study time to post-test corrects. The results were discussed in terms of depth of processing and instructional comprehension.