the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
| 29 Sep 2023
Children's Books for Research-based Outreach and Science Communication Pedagogy
Abstract. Academics are encouraged to integrate scientific research with the public, but methods of doing so are often transient and insubstantial. Students and future scientists also require training and exposure to the importance of public outreach and science communication within STEM fields. Here, I describe two projects that provide a template for using children's books as an efficient and impactful means of science communication. The first part describes an international research project that culminates in the writing, illustration, and distribution of a children's book. Farzana’s Journey is a children’s book based on multidisciplinary research on the pairing of the physical and human systems in coastal Bangladesh. Written, illustrated, and freely distributed in the Bengali-language, the book is a place-based tool to teach rural Bangladesh communities about the natural world and our scientific findings. Through the development and distribution of the book, we encouraged collaboration and public outreach with scientists, artists, and students concerned with enhancing educational and social opportunities in rural communities. We also ensure a physical tie to the community after the project's culmination. The book sparks children’s curiosity in the local environment, while also demonstrating a means for sustainable educational outreach with impoverished, remote communities. The second part of the paper provides an overview of how this type of science communication can be taught to early career scientists. Students in an intensive learning undergraduate course produce children's books about a scientific concept or process. I describe the curricular context and layout of the course, the assessment of deliverables, and the impacts of the science storytelling process as a model for teaching communication literacy. Together, these efforts demonstrate the potential impact of children's books on science communication efforts among students, early career scientists, and local communities.
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Notice on discussion status
The requested preprint has a corresponding peer-reviewed final revised paper. You are encouraged to refer to the final revised version.
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Preprint
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Supplement
(227268 KB)
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The requested preprint has a corresponding peer-reviewed final revised paper. You are encouraged to refer to the final revised version.
- Preprint
(6451 KB) - Metadata XML
-
Supplement
(227268 KB) - BibTeX
- EndNote
- Final revised paper
Journal article(s) based on this preprint
Interactive discussion
Status: closed
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RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-1339', Victoria Coules, 16 Oct 2023
The author has presented an an important and valuable study of an initiative to educate and engage young people in Bangladesh about environmental issues. I compliment her on her clear and engaging writing which presented the subject logically and made it a pleasure to read. The paper combines the creation of the project to increase awareness of environmental issues in children with an example of how to engage early career scientists in creating such projects, bringing their science to the public.
The two parts of the paper complement each other, and are well referenced. The illustrations show the process of developing the children's book and I found the description of the process and the collaboration interesting and instructive.
I have made a few suggestions but recommend this paper to anyone involved in educational outreach and public engagement with science.
My suggestions relate to the paper's potential readers, in that both suggest clarifying a few points for international readers.
The first is simply to clarify the start of section 2- 1, lines 58-59. I'm not sure I can visualise the size of Iowa, so the author could give a more general indication of the size of Bangladesh.
The second point relates more generally to a description of the demographic of the children.Line 76 refers to 'primary school' and it would be helpful to clarify the school system, again for international readers.
At section 2.2, could the author clarify the target age range of the children.
At section 2-3, line 141, again just define 'primary 'and 'secondary' briefly for readers who might be familiar with a different school system. Similarly, line 161, clarify American high schools and colleges.
Technical:
One grammatical suggestion: at line 178 'faculty' is singular, so recommend "...faculty develops...".
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1339-RC1 -
AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Chelsea Peters, 11 Dec 2023
The first is simply to clarify the start of section 2- 1, lines 58-59. I'm not sure I can visualise the size of Iowa, so the author could give a more general indication of the size of Bangladesh.
Excellent point. I changed the sentence to: “Approximately 160 million Bangladeshis live in the 150,000 km2} country, with one-third of the population living below the poverty line (Yoshino et al., 2017).”
The second point relates more generally to a description of the demographic of the children.Line 76 refers to 'primary school' and it would be helpful to clarify the school system, again for international readers.
The paragraph has been modified to address the reviewer's comments. Specifically, I clarified that primary school is grades 1 through 5.
At section 2.2, could the author clarify the target age range of the children.
Complete. The sentence will be changed to: “Prepared in English and translated to Bengali, the book targets primary aged children (age 8-10) in our research area but hopefully impacts teachers, parents, and local community leaders throughout Bangladesh.”
At section 2-3, line 141, again just define 'primary 'and 'secondary' briefly for readers who might be familiar with a different school system. Similarly, line 161, clarify American high schools and colleges.
Complete. The sentence will be changed to: “The primary author and translator delivered 500 copies, written in Bangla, to 12 primary (grades 1-5) and secondary (grades 6-12) schools.”
Complete. The sentence will be changed to: “The children's book has been used in American high schools (grades 9-12) and colleges as an example of scientific communication.”
Technical:
One grammatical suggestion: at line 178 'faculty' is singular, so recommend "...faculty develops...".
Thank you for catching this.
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1339-AC1
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AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Chelsea Peters, 11 Dec 2023
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RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-1339', Jeff Liston, 06 Nov 2023
Please find attached my suggested edits (pretty much entirely grammatical) for the MS - the only further point I might make to the author is that maybe a very slight change of emphasis at some point might be helpful with regard to the difference between such an approach being useful, to perhaps suggesting that it is actually essential: specifically, if children's resources are not being produced by science-based individuals, then the ground is being ceded to other messages and narratives that might run counter to evidence. Although this is a clear imperative for narratives related to climate change, this necessity goes far broader and indeed it is not that much of a stretch of the imagination to envisage it becoming more of a standard requirement as a research outcome for scientific projects. So, as we have moved to learning to do press releases, and infographics to summarise our research, we will more regularly have a requirement to produce a children's digest as well. The Roanoke College model is ripe for emulation across the educational community.
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AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Chelsea Peters, 11 Dec 2023
Thank you for your careful review of the manuscript. I have made all of the grammatical changes you suggested.
I strongly agree that it is imperative to think more deeply about children’s media. I have strengthened my conclusion by including the following statement in my conclusions. “These projects demonstrate two pathways for scientists to produce children's digest and ensure that children's storybooks and science narratives are evidence-based. Although the academic community has made great strides in communicating through media briefs, plain-language summaries, and infographics, it is imperative to devote resources to children's educational resources as well.”
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1339-AC2
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AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Chelsea Peters, 11 Dec 2023
Interactive discussion
Status: closed
-
RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-1339', Victoria Coules, 16 Oct 2023
The author has presented an an important and valuable study of an initiative to educate and engage young people in Bangladesh about environmental issues. I compliment her on her clear and engaging writing which presented the subject logically and made it a pleasure to read. The paper combines the creation of the project to increase awareness of environmental issues in children with an example of how to engage early career scientists in creating such projects, bringing their science to the public.
The two parts of the paper complement each other, and are well referenced. The illustrations show the process of developing the children's book and I found the description of the process and the collaboration interesting and instructive.
I have made a few suggestions but recommend this paper to anyone involved in educational outreach and public engagement with science.
My suggestions relate to the paper's potential readers, in that both suggest clarifying a few points for international readers.
The first is simply to clarify the start of section 2- 1, lines 58-59. I'm not sure I can visualise the size of Iowa, so the author could give a more general indication of the size of Bangladesh.
The second point relates more generally to a description of the demographic of the children.Line 76 refers to 'primary school' and it would be helpful to clarify the school system, again for international readers.
At section 2.2, could the author clarify the target age range of the children.
At section 2-3, line 141, again just define 'primary 'and 'secondary' briefly for readers who might be familiar with a different school system. Similarly, line 161, clarify American high schools and colleges.
Technical:
One grammatical suggestion: at line 178 'faculty' is singular, so recommend "...faculty develops...".
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1339-RC1 -
AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Chelsea Peters, 11 Dec 2023
The first is simply to clarify the start of section 2- 1, lines 58-59. I'm not sure I can visualise the size of Iowa, so the author could give a more general indication of the size of Bangladesh.
Excellent point. I changed the sentence to: “Approximately 160 million Bangladeshis live in the 150,000 km2} country, with one-third of the population living below the poverty line (Yoshino et al., 2017).”
The second point relates more generally to a description of the demographic of the children.Line 76 refers to 'primary school' and it would be helpful to clarify the school system, again for international readers.
The paragraph has been modified to address the reviewer's comments. Specifically, I clarified that primary school is grades 1 through 5.
At section 2.2, could the author clarify the target age range of the children.
Complete. The sentence will be changed to: “Prepared in English and translated to Bengali, the book targets primary aged children (age 8-10) in our research area but hopefully impacts teachers, parents, and local community leaders throughout Bangladesh.”
At section 2-3, line 141, again just define 'primary 'and 'secondary' briefly for readers who might be familiar with a different school system. Similarly, line 161, clarify American high schools and colleges.
Complete. The sentence will be changed to: “The primary author and translator delivered 500 copies, written in Bangla, to 12 primary (grades 1-5) and secondary (grades 6-12) schools.”
Complete. The sentence will be changed to: “The children's book has been used in American high schools (grades 9-12) and colleges as an example of scientific communication.”
Technical:
One grammatical suggestion: at line 178 'faculty' is singular, so recommend "...faculty develops...".
Thank you for catching this.
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1339-AC1
-
AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Chelsea Peters, 11 Dec 2023
-
RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-1339', Jeff Liston, 06 Nov 2023
Please find attached my suggested edits (pretty much entirely grammatical) for the MS - the only further point I might make to the author is that maybe a very slight change of emphasis at some point might be helpful with regard to the difference between such an approach being useful, to perhaps suggesting that it is actually essential: specifically, if children's resources are not being produced by science-based individuals, then the ground is being ceded to other messages and narratives that might run counter to evidence. Although this is a clear imperative for narratives related to climate change, this necessity goes far broader and indeed it is not that much of a stretch of the imagination to envisage it becoming more of a standard requirement as a research outcome for scientific projects. So, as we have moved to learning to do press releases, and infographics to summarise our research, we will more regularly have a requirement to produce a children's digest as well. The Roanoke College model is ripe for emulation across the educational community.
-
AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Chelsea Peters, 11 Dec 2023
Thank you for your careful review of the manuscript. I have made all of the grammatical changes you suggested.
I strongly agree that it is imperative to think more deeply about children’s media. I have strengthened my conclusion by including the following statement in my conclusions. “These projects demonstrate two pathways for scientists to produce children's digest and ensure that children's storybooks and science narratives are evidence-based. Although the academic community has made great strides in communicating through media briefs, plain-language summaries, and infographics, it is imperative to devote resources to children's educational resources as well.”
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1339-AC2
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AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Chelsea Peters, 11 Dec 2023
Peer review completion
Journal article(s) based on this preprint
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Chelsea N. Peters
The requested preprint has a corresponding peer-reviewed final revised paper. You are encouraged to refer to the final revised version.
- Preprint
(6451 KB) - Metadata XML
-
Supplement
(227268 KB) - BibTeX
- EndNote
- Final revised paper