Ö: Public Relations (since 2011)
Summary:
Nanoscience and functional materials are regarded as highly relevant for research and the society. Nevertheless, an understanding ("nanoliteracy") is rather low among students, teachers and other members of the society. This project is aiming at the development and implementation of experiments, models and material for schools and teacher education on the one hand and for public demonstrations and information on the other. Science and teacher students will be involved as mediators and disseminators, which implements the approaches and results of this research program also within the university.
copyright: CAU; photo: Jürgen Haacks
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Concept
Contemporary research from the Collaborative Research Center 677 is linked with context of applications and scholar experiments. Additionally, the work of the scientist is going to be presented in a multimedia context and will be educationally reconstructed for secondary school students on a subject-matter base. The aim of the project Public Relations is to communicate main scientific principles and the resulting research products to a broader public in schools and society. Not only is it desirable to reach a broader understanding of the scientific content but also to stimulate the interest in study and work perspectives on topics like synthesis, analysis and technical use of of nano structures and molecular switches.
With regards to contents, the different projects of the Collaborative Research Center shall be made accessible by answering the three following central questions:
- What does Nano-Science mean and how can the special characteristics of the “nano world” be explained? Which potential/ risk perceptions do we find in this development?
- Which principles of chemical and physical switching of matter are used to construct “nano switches”
- Which methods and procedures are suitable to investigate and represent nano structures and the functionality of nano materials?
We strive for the following educational goals:
- Extension of Concept-Based Education
- Combination of experiment and multimedia
- Insights in everyday research work of scientists
Science, public and media
The research plan, that is conducted by the IPN is a combination of testing the understanding of structure-property-relationships, collecting questions, conceptions and interests of visitors in scientific outreach activities. This will be accompanied by investigation of beliefs about scientists, their work environment and their interests in natural sciences. To complete the project, we are not only interested in what the public thinks about science but we also want to carve out how scientists experience the usage of media, translating their work to a broader public.
