Update 14, August 2006

What contributions are science centres and museums making in your community? What best-practice approaches by science centres and museums make a difference to important government agendas such as increasing young people's interest in science careers or communicating challenging science topics to the public? This is a monthly update on a project focusing on such questions in the APEC region.

The Community's Contribution to Science Learning

Professor Léonie Rennie delivered a keynote paper at the ACER Research Conference, held in Canberra, Australia, 13-15 August 2006, on the theme Boosting science learning – what will it take?

The title of her paper ‘The community's contribution to science learning: making it count’ is underpinned by two assumptions. The first is that the community should contribute to science learning. To justify this assumption, Professor Rennie describe what we know about the outcomes of learning science. The second assumption is that the potential community contribution needs some assistance to ‘make it count’. To explain this, she outlines community-based opportunities for learning science, melds this with what we know about learning outside of school, and then uses case studies to illustrate how we can make it count.

Download the paper (64 kB, pdf)

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Biotext Pty Ltd, an Australian science information consultancy, has carried out a review of international initiatives to promote public engagement in the development and oversight of emerging scientific technologies. The report includes a review of relevant academic literature published during 2000-05, tracks public engagement initiatives in several countries including Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States, and offers practical advice for planning public consultation.

Download the report (pdf, 303 kB)

New on our website

For a summary of what’s new on the website each month, check on the main news page of the site.

Contact

APEC Science Centre Impact Project Secretariat
Questacon – The National Science and Technology Centre
King Edward Terrace, Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
E apecproject@questacon.edu.au