Production, Narratives, and Identity in Science Communication Videos
Castillo, Stephanie
0000-0003-2719-9016
:
2022-03-29
Abstract
With the rise of sharing science online through social media platforms, scientists, science educators, and communicators have turned to become producers of science videos. Based on science filmmaking practices and online video learning theory, we crafted a workflow to support and guide scientists, educators, and communicators in producing science videos. In addition, as the need to engage the general public with scientific discourse online increases, it is important to understand how different audiences perceive, understand, or change their behavior after interacting with science videos. To explore how young adults engage with science videos, two videos with different narrative structures were produced: science-centered and scientist-centered.
The two videos were randomly presented to 211 participants who provided feedback through four open-ended questions: (1) Were there any moments/scenes you particularly liked, (2) disliked, (3) what did you learn, and (4) what was relatable about the featured scientist (a biomedical engineer who so happens to be a Black woman)? Student feedback gave insight into how production elements support or detract from the video’s narrative, and how the narrative influences the degree of relatability to the scientist presented. Our findings will help inform how scientists, educators, and communicators can present the science or scientists, depending on their production objective.