Skip to main content

Teaching, Communication, and Dissemination for Society

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
New Challenges and Opportunities in Physics Education

Part of the book series: Challenges in Physics Education ((CPE))

  • 216 Accesses

Abstract

The dissemination of scientific culture in society is assuming new forms. On the one hand, digitalization and the affirmation of social networks imply the implementation of a new communication strategy to fulfill people’s need of knowledge. On the other hand, science is not free of interconnections and is moving toward an interdisciplinary approach, mixing disciplines and languages. As a result, the language of science is changing and so is the language of science communication. What are the new challenges of science communication? How can science be communicated and taught in the new millennium to promote the learning of science in society and to strengthen cultural awareness of scientific issues? In this chapter, the authors discuss the features and the evolution of teaching, communication, and dissemination of science, offering new (technical and digital) strategies to build an effective way to use the potentiality of natural language to spread and teach science in our society. Based on the scientific literature, the arguments are shown in a form of dialogue, inspired by the famous Galilei’s “Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems”.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    See Kuhn (1962) for details.

  2. 2.

    See Morganti (2016) for details.

  3. 3.

    See Abbott et al. (2016).

  4. 4.

    https://eventhorizontelescope.org/press-release-april-10-2019-astronomers-capture-first-image-black-hole.

  5. 5.

    https://eventhorizontelescope.org/blog/astronomers-reveal-first-image-black-hole-heart-our-galaxy.

  6. 6.

    Such kind of experiments have been made during the “Gravitas” project, an outreach and educational initiative led by the Cagliari Division of the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), in Italy. You can find more information here: https://dark.infn.it/eventi-pre-festival/. You can also have access to all the webinars at the dedicate YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL94cdNBLY9XqD3V_YqEjVyQPXmspf2-k8.

  7. 7.

    https://www.instagram.com/dario.bressanini/.

  8. 8.

    See https://www.youtube.com/@SteveMould or https://www.youtube.com/@LaFisicaCheCiPiace (in Italian) as an example.

  9. 9.

    See https://www.instagram.com/emilia.science/ as an example.

  10. 10.

    https://phyphox.org/.

  11. 11.

    See https://www.frontiers-project.eu/gravitational-wave-astronomy/ and https://phet.colorado.edu/it/ as an example. The former offers educational resources for gravitational waves astronomy. The latter spans over all scientific topics covered in school, from physics to biology and chemistry and so forth.

References

  • B.P. Abbott et al., Observation of gravitational waves from a binary black hole merger. Phys. Rev Lett. 116, 061102 (2016)

    Article  ADS  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • R.K. Coll, The role of models/and analogies in science education: implications from research. Int. J. Sci. Educ. 27(2), 183–198 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • P. Corbetta, Metodologia e tecniche della ricerca sociale (Bologna, Il Mulino, 2014)

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Davies, M.T. Devlin, Interdisciplinary Higher Education: Implications for Teaching and Learning (Centre for the Study of Higher Education, Melbourne, 2007)

    Google Scholar 

  • P. D’Este, N. Robinson-García, Interdisciplinary research and the societal visibility of science: the advantages of spanning multiple and distant scientific fields. Res. Pol. 52(2), 104609 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2022.104609

  • A. Einstein, L. Infeld, The evolution of Physics. The growth of Ideas from Early Concepts of Relativity and Quanta, (Editor C.P. Snow. Cambridge University Press) 1938

    Google Scholar 

  • P. Engel, Philosophie et psychologie (Gallimard, Paris, 2000)

    Google Scholar 

  • F. Ervas et al., Scripta manent. Dieci lezioni sulla scrittura argomentativa (Milano, Mimesis, 2021)

    Google Scholar 

  • G. Galilei, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (trans. S. Drake) (The University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles, CA, 1632) (1953)

    Google Scholar 

  • F. Gobet, Cognitive aspects of learning in formal and non-formal contexts: lessons from expertise research, in British Journal of Educational Psychology Monograph Series II: Number 11, Learning Beyond the Classroom (2015), pp. 23–37

    Google Scholar 

  • D. Gouthier, E. Ioli, Le parole di Einstein (Edizioni Dedalo, 2016)

    Google Scholar 

  • J. Hadamard, The Psychology of Invention in the Mathematical Field (Dover, New York, 1954)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • R. Hall, Towards a fusion of formal and informal learning environments: the impact of the read/write web. Electron. J. e-Learn. 7(1), 29–40 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  • S. Hawking, A Brief History of Time (Bantam Books, 1988)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • T.S. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1962)

    Google Scholar 

  • G. Lakoff, R. Núñez, Where Mathematics Comes From (Basic Books, New York, 2000)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • S.M. Land et al., Student-centered learning environments: foundations, assumptions and design, in Theoretical Foundations of Learning Environments (Routledge, 2012), pp. 3–25

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Michelini, The learning challenge: a bridge between everyday experience and scientific knowledge, in Proceedings of the Third Int GIREP SeminarInformal Learning and Public Understanding of Physics”. Ljubljana, Slovenia, 5–9 Sept 2005, pp. 18–38

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Morganti, Filosofia della fisica. Un’introduzione (Carocci Editore, 2016)

    Google Scholar 

  • A. Oriji, I.F. Uzoagu, Lifelong learning in a technology-driven society: the needs, the benefits, and the challenges. Eur. J. Educ. Stud. 6(9) (2019). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3595250

  • E. Otte, R. Rousseau, Social network analysis: a powerful strategy, also for the information sciences. J. Inf. Sci. 28(6), 441–453 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1177/016555150202800601

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R. Pan et al., The evolution of interdisciplinarity in physics research. Sci. Rep. 2, 551 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep00551

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • A.-M.A. Petrescu et al., The Role of Non-formal Activities on Familiarizing Students with Cutting-Edge Science Topics. ERD 2016: Education, Reflection, Development, 4th edn. (2016). https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2016.12.56

  • F. Piazza, Linguaggio, verità, persuasione, La retorica del Novecento (Carocci, Roma, 2004)

    Google Scholar 

  • A. Pluchino et al., Exploring the role of interdisciplinarity in physics: success, talent and luck. PLoS ONE 14(6), e0218793 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218793

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • A. Postiglione, I. De Angelis, Students’ understanding of gravity using the rubber sheet analogy: an Italian experience. Phys. Educ. 56, 025019 (2021)

    Google Scholar 

  • T. Rabatzis, D. Ioannidou, The role of models and analogies in the Bohr atom, in One Hundred Years of the Bohr Atom, ed. by F. Aaserud, H. Kragh (The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, 2015), pp. 360–376

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Root-Bernstein, R. Root-Bernstein, Sparks of Genius: The Thirteen Thinking Tools of the World’s Most Creative People (Houghton Mifflin, New York, 1999)

    Google Scholar 

  • M.J. Simis et al., The lure of rationality: why does the deficit model persist in science communication? Public Underst. Sci. 25(4), 400–414 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662516629749

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • C.P. Snow, The Two Cultures (Cambridge University Press, London, 1959) (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  • E.J.H. Spelt et al., Teaching and learning in interdisciplinary higher education: a systematic review. Educ. Psychol. Rev. 21, 365 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-009-9113-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • P.B.A. Teixid et al., Evaluating the rubber sheet spacetime analogy by studying ball movement in a bent trampoline. Eur. J. Phys. 40, 045005 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6404/ab1a5c

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • B. Trench, Towards an analytical framework of science communication models, in Communicating Science in Social Contexts, ed. by D. Cheng, M. Claessens, T. Gascoigne, J. Metcalfe, B. Schiele, S. Shi (Springer, Dordrecht, 2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8598-7_7

  • D.A. Ucko, The learning science in informal environments study in context. Curator Mus. J. 53, 129–136 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2151-6952.2010.00014.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • T.W. Ward et al., Effective learning: lessons to be learned from schooling, in Effective Learning in Non-formal Education, Org. by T.W. Ward, W.A. Herzog Jr. (Michigan State University, East Lansing, 1974), p. 38 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  • T.R. Watkins, Gravity & Einstein: assessing the rubber sheet analogy in undergraduate conceptual physics. Master thesis (2014). https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1889&context=td

  • A.J.Y. Zaidieh, The use of social networking in education: challenges and opportunities. World Comput. Sci. Inf. Technol. J. (WCSIT) 2(1), 18–21 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Matteo Tuveri .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Tuveri, M., Gola, E., Serra, M. (2023). Teaching, Communication, and Dissemination for Society. In: Streit-Bianchi, M., Michelini, M., Bonivento, W., Tuveri, M. (eds) New Challenges and Opportunities in Physics Education. Challenges in Physics Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-37387-9_11

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-37387-9_11

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-37386-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-37387-9

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics