• Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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• v.2 no.2 s.4
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• pp.25-54
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• 2002

Without much communication, large-scale surveys of public knowledge of, and attitudes to, science (quantitative PUS) and case-study analyses of the public's understandings of science in particular (constructivist PUS) have dominated in the public understanding of science (PUS) area. Not only methodological preference but also a strong antipathy against value-orientations that each approach presumed to have and support has been barriers for quantitative PUS and constructivist PUS to benefit each other. In order to overcome such barriers, this paper demonstrates that value orientations guiding quantitative PUS have been much more diverse than what constructivist PUS researchers might think, and that quantitative PUS has indeed yielded the results consistent with and complementary to constructivist PUS. Finally this paper proposes that (1)quantitative PUS should test propositions provided by constructivist PUS, so that it can contribute much to the construction of more generalizable PUS theories and policies, and (2)constructivist PUS uses the outcome of quantitative PUS to develop more complex case studies which consider heterogeneous publics, trends of public evaluations of science, and how public attitudes to science in the abstract and public attitudes to science in particular in a specific context have effect on each other.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.373-390
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• 2022

Science museums are platforms of PUS (public understanding of science). The purpose of this study was to explore the science communicators' competencies critical in interacting with visitors from the comparison of their training and professional development programs nationally and internationally. The managers running science communicators' programs and communicators themselves from six different national science museums and those from five different international ones participated in the structured survey. The data from surveys were compared among respondents to draw common and specific descriptions for communicators' competencies. In addition, the experienced exemplary science communicator, Ms. Park, participated in this study and the data from her observation field notes, her own developed science communicators' manual, and interviews were used to support the result. The contextual model of learning in science museums (Falk, 2006) was used to illustrate science communicators' expertise. National managers and science communicators showed difference in their perception about science communicators' roles, difficulties, and improvement for their competencies. Internationally, the managers and science communicators showed similar perception about communicators' competencies in terms of the contextual model of learning. It is highly suggested that practice-based science communicators' training and professional development programs must be offered on the basis of interaction between experienced and novice communicators as mentors and mentees systems.