THIS IS HOW I TALK SCIENCE

With Marie-Claire Shanahan, my lab is developing a research query around examining the dichotomy of children’s impressions of being “scientific” versus being “creative” - all with a mind to see if the disconnect is common place, and whether it is a good or bad thing for general science literacy and perceptions.  

This qualitative data started in earnest in fall 2014 and was collected for two years.  We’re currently (2018) at the stage where the data has been coded (nVivo), and we will soon begin data analysis looking for thematic trends.  In particular, this initial round of surveys/interviews were conducted with a view to see what emergent themes came up in the children’s discourse: this information, we hope, will inform us to prepare a better survey matrix when assessing connections between notions of “science” and “creativity.” See this link (an open research blog) for more information.