Building New Audiences: Science Cafés
Bella Desai
How can we attract new audiences? How do we engage a younger, more diverse crowd? How do we get nonscientists to talk about science with the same sense of passion and fun as non-athletes discussing sports? These are perennial questions asked by both science centers and public television. While we’re not exactly expecting scientific research to supplant the Super Bowl, science cafés are an effort to bring cutting-edge work out of the labs and to the lay public so they can understand (and enjoy!) the latest developments.
Science cafés (or “Cafés Scientifique”) are lively science discussions that take place in a nontraditional setting. Scientists speak briefly and often without slides, and the audience engages directly with them in a discussion/Q&A. Mac West (2005) wrote a brief article in The Informal Learning Review describing new opportunities with Café Scientifique. In conjunction with NOVA scienceNOW, a new series from the producers of NOVA, WGBH (Public Broadcasting in Boston, Massachusetts) has been working to create, augment, and support cafés around the country. We have been involved with 30 cafés in 2005, and will continue to grow collaborations throughout 2006. There is a unique opportunity for science centers to become involved with science cafés, and to broaden their reach in the community. This article traces our journey with the science café, describing the need, history, evolution, partnerships, vignettes of five events, and evaluation of the efforts. We conclude with a call to get involved and start your own café, with information on the resources and support we can provide to you free of charge.
Background: Engaging the Public with Current Science
Do voters have enough information to make informed choices about policyrelated
issues? Does the public have a clear grasp of current scientific research?
Unfortunately, the answer is an overwhelming and alarming NO. The vast
majority of the American public does not feel well informed about current
science (National Science Board 2002). When quizzed on basic science principles,
or asked to describe processes involved in scientific inquiry, public
performance is poor. In terms of scientific literacy, one study extrapolates
that “…four out of five Americans cannot read and understand the science
section of The New York Times…” (Miller 2004).
While a significant percentage of Americans are exposed to science through informal educational settings (museums, zoos, libraries, etc.) (National Science Board, 2004), most of these settings (with some notable exceptions) focus their energies on basic science, not current research (Field and Powell, 2001). Anecdotally, it seems that a great deal of science outreach is aimed at motivating people (primarily students) to consider a career in science. Unfortunately, the majority of people who choose not to go into sciencerelated fields end up ignoring (and being ignored by) the scientific community.
NOVA scienceNOW
To help address this gap in public understanding, the producers of NOVA
created a new series. In January of 2005, television’s most-watched science
program launched NOVA scienceNOW. The mission of the series is
to increase public awareness, understanding, and engagement with cutting-edge
science. Whereas NOVA presents hour-long, in-depth documentaries
on a single subject, NOVA scienceNOW is a magazine-format
program with several short segments highlighting a variety of topics in
current research. Its light, quirky touch makes subjects accessible and
engaging for viewers.
The program is complemented by outreach that aims to extend the series’ concepts beyond the television screen and to give the public a chance to engage faceto- face with the scientific community. Like the program, the outreach strives to make cutting-edge research accessible to a broader audience. The outreach specifically tries to target to more young people, more women, and more non-scientists.
New Audiences: Demographics and Challenges
The NOVA scienceNOW outreach specifically targets 21-35
year-olds. Because the concepts and inventions that often emerge from
current research (and the potential ethical dilemmas surrounding them)
are likely to become central in their lives and the lives of their children,
it is important for this demographic to be informed about these topics.
Since they pay taxes that support much of this research, it is critical—for
them and for society at large— that they be aware, engaged, and invested
in the work their tax dollars support (Field and Powell, 2001).
There are several specific challenges that arise when trying to reach this younger demographic. For example, they:
- think that cutting-edge science is relevant to their daily lives. While almost 90% of Americans claim to be “interested” in science, national indicators show that “only about 2 percent of the most closely followed news stories of the past 15 years were about scientific breakthroughs, research, and exploration” (National Science Board, 2002).
- hold preconceived notions that science, particularly cutting-edge research, is too complicated and specialized for them to understand.
- do not go to the traditional forums where cutting-edge science is discussed.
- do not see popular culture celebrating people like themselves who are involved in current science. Primetime television features few scientist characters, and the perception of scientists as odd, work-obsessed geeks persists in a substantial percentage of the population (National Science Board, 2002).
The Science Café Model
Given these challenges, how do we reach this elusive demographic? One
interesting approach that has been growing in popularity is the science
café. The café model is based on the old European salons, where small
groups of people gathered over drinks to casually discuss science and
philosophy. While it is likely that these sorts of gatherings have happened
continuously for some time, there was a revival of the café movement in
1998, when a group called “Café Scientifique” began holding events in
Leeds, England. In addition to facilitating their own café in Leeds, the
organizers of Café Scientifique made a concerted effort to disseminate
information about the café model and help start cafés across England.
The movement built up great momentum in the UK and beyond. Today there
are 30 Cafés Scientifique in the UK and 17 throughout the rest of Europe.
There are also cafés in India, Brazil, Canada, Australia, and Singapore
(http://www.cafescientifique.org).
In the United States, the movement has recently picked up a bit of steam,
with over a dozen new cafés opening since January 2002.
Cafés take place in a wide variety of public places, such as coffee shops, pubs, restaurants, and galleries. These informal venues provide an opportunity to engage members of the public who might not attend a formal university or museumbased lecture. Generally, science outreach that is done outside of the museum or university setting happens in schools or after school centers. These venues are ideal for engaging with students and children who may become the next generation of scientists. But there is a noticeable gap when it comes to outreach for adults who have not chosen careers in science. While they are perhaps too intimidated or busy to go to the formal institutions, the science café model allows the scientists to come to them. Cafés can play a significant role in fulfilling the need described by Field and Powell in 2001:
Much of current research has raised a number of social, ethical, and policy issues. … Therefore, it is important to provide a forum for discussion of these issues in the context of what is known scientifically and what still needs to be determined (Field and Powell, 2001).
In addition to an accessible, intimate venue, cafés are designed to encourage an interactive discussion between the public and the scientists. The NOVA scienceNOW television broadcast effectively communicates a wide range of concepts in current research. A related café allows attendees to actively engage in a dialogue about a science topic and the issues surrounding it. The café format usually involves a brief, informal presentation by the speaker(s), followed by an open question and answer session, sometimes a panel discussion, or even a town-hall style debate. The effectiveness of the cafés is borne out by their popularity— one café in Palo Alto, California does not charge admission, but requires attendees to sign up in advance because they otherwise get more than double the number of people that could reasonably fit in the venue. A café held in Cambridge, MA packed a local pub with a standing-roomonly crowd on a snowy Monday night!
Expanding the Café Model with NOVA scienceNOW
In many ways, science cafés and NOVA scienceNOW are ideal
partners. We were able to use the existing (albeit small) universe of
cafés to present NOVA scienceNOW topics and also use the
series as an opportunity to launch new cafés. One modification introduced
to the traditional café format was to show a brief clip (5-15 minutes)
from the program during the event. This proved to be an engaging “hook”
for the audience, as the segments entertain while they introduce and explain
the basic science concepts. The clip also provides the speakers with an
easy springboard to discuss their individual work in the field. The café
audience has such a varied background that the clip serves as a baseline
experience from which to begin a discussion.
The fact that the cafés are typically held in informal settings helps encourage the participation of younger, more diverse audiences. However, we really wanted to push the envelope to attract people who might not typically watch NOVA or attend a science talk. To accomplish this goal, we introduced a twist: from time to time we couple the café with a trivia night. Trivia nights in coffee houses and pubs are popular with our target demographic. This fact inspired us to create the “trivia night with a science twist.” The event still begins with a clip, followed by a brief talk by the scientists and a brief discussion/Q&A session. The audience then applies its new science learning in a few rounds of trivia. The trivia is played in teams, and the questions are a mix of science topics related to the evening’s theme and popular culture questions that are creatively tied to the topic. While participants feel as though they are simply playing a game, they are, in fact, directly engaging with the topic. Though trivia may not substitute for higher-order learning, participants do discuss key facts and concepts with one another, which provides reinforcement of the topic and opportunities for positive group experience centered around science.
We also explored other formats to test variations on the café theme. We participated in formal events hosted at science centers, such as the hydrogen fuel cell town hall-style debate at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. We were also involved in book promotion events such as the Koshland Science Museum’s new café series in Washington, DC, where science authors discussed their work. At Penn State, we collaborated with the local public television station, WPSU, to film a café for broadcast on their digital research channel. More detailed vignettes of a variety of cafés formats appear later in this article.
Partnerships: The Secret Ingredient
The key to collaborating with existing science cafés and creating new
ones was developing partnerships with a broad spectrum of people and organizations.
We began by reaching out to the organizers of existing cafés, learning
from their experiences and offering our resources for collaborative events.
We then worked with national organizations like Sigma Xi, the Scientific
Research Society, to tap into networks of scientists who were potentially
interested in hosting and/or participating in café events. We also solicited
organizers and supporters through the network of public television stations,
who have provided everything from help with promotion to full coordination
of café events. We developed relationships with science centers like Discovery
Place in Charlotte, the Museum of Science in Boston, and the Bell Museum
in Minneapolis. Where a series already existed (as in the case of the
Museum of Science and the Bell Museum), we provided help with speakers,
video clips, and handouts. With new events (e.g., with Discovery Place),
we helped guide our partner through the process of launching a café.
A major component of our vision to expand the number of science cafés nationwide was to provide adequate and appropriate support for events. To do this, we made strong connections with people or organizations in the communities where the events were happening. In certain cases, we connected with a single motivated volunteer (e.g., a Sigma Xi scientist) who was able to coordinate logistics on the ground and facilitate an event. We also worked with local universities and private scientific companies who got involved through their education and outreach initiatives. We looked to our partners as resources for logistical coordination, café facilitation, potential speakers, and local promotion.
Our partnerships allowed us to play to our own strengths, avoid reinventing the wheel, and support people and organizations with goals that are similar or complementary to our own.
Evaluation
Prior to launching outreach for NOVA scienceNOW through
the café model, we worked with Multimedia Research of Bellport, NY to
conduct a formative evaluation. This research confirmed that the model
was popular with diverse audiences, had the potential to reach individuals
who were not already regular NOVA viewers, and could attract interested
(and interesting) scientists as speakers.
In addition, an evaluation of a pilot café for NOVA scienceNOW held in Cambridge, MA indicated that our approach had the potential to meet many of our objectives:
- Attendees ranged in age from 8 to 80, with an average age of 30.
- Twice as many attendees reported that they were likely to watch NOVA after the event than before (30% va. 60%).
- The event dramatically increased attendees’ interest in science in general.
- After the event, 30% of attendees said they were very or extremely likely to sign up for the science in the news newsletter.
- After the event, over 25% of attendees said they were very or extremely likely to sign up for distributed computing projects.
- After the event, 77% said they were very or extremely likely to attend another café event. (Only 19% had previously attended a science café.)
- The Multimedia Research evaluator wrote, “The evening was a success in both promoting WGBH’s new science show and in giving people a chance to get out and learn something while having some fun.”
While we are only at the end of our first year of NOVA scienceNOW, preliminary results from an evaluation conducted by Goodman Research Group of Cambridge, MA have found:
- The NOVA scienceNOW Science Cafés are an effective way to reach participants who traditionally do not attend science events. Formative evaluation indicated that the Science Cafés would be an effective way to engage audiences who do not typically have the opportunity to interact directly with scientists and presentations of their work. The summative evaluation confirmed these findings. Specifically, the summative evaluation demonstrated that the NOVA scienceNOW Science Cafés served a diverse audience including those aged 35 and under, women, and non-scientists.
- NOVA scienceNOW Science Cafés covered topics that were appealing to attendees. Science Café attendees indicated that the topics covered were of high interest, with the majority of attendees from each Café reporting that the content was very to extremely interesting. Interest in the topics was also indicated by the fact that over one-third of the attendees reported sharing what they learned at the Science Café with friends, family, or colleagues.
- Science Cafés were effective at providing attendees with new science-related experiences. The majority of Science Café attendees reported that this was their first Science Café experience. In addition, the Science Café was either the first time most attendees had learned about the topic being presented, or it was the first time they had heard a scientist speak about the topic.
- Non-traditional settings for a discussion of science are appealing. Attendees appreciated the casual setting of the Café, with approximately one in five stated that this aspect was what they liked most about the event.
- The Science Cafés were effective at encouraging attendees to continue engaging in science-related activities. All attendees reported that they would attend another Science Café event. Over half reported they had completed an activity from the Science Café handout and just over one third had plans to complete activities. A significant number of attendees retained information they had learned at cafés after three months.
A Tale of Five Cafés
What follows is a series of brief vignettes from five cafés that NOVA
scienceNOW has been involved with. Our involvement ranged from
the creation, facilitation, and promotion of the entire event to simply
providing a clip or brochures for an existing event. In addition to our
own pilot café in Cambridge, we have specifically highlighted partnerships
with science centers. We hope that the variety of formats, venues, and
topics described here gives a sense of the spectrum of opportunities available
to connect the community with current science. Because each community
is different, and each partner has different resources, you will want
to tailor the model to best reach the audience in your area.
- Cambridge, Massachusetts: Trivia Night with
a Science Twist
Partners: New Scientist Magazine, WGBH
Location: A bar in Harvard Square
Topic: Distributed Computing and Emergence
Our pilot NOVA scienceNOW café happened the night before the premiere of the series and featured a “sneak peek” of the upcoming program. On a Monday evening following a major snowstorm, we packed the cozy bar in Harvard Square with over 70 people, many of whom just happened to be passing by. We began with a clip of the program, followed by a brief presentation and demonstration by a young, local scientist (who happened to be profiled in the show), and then finished with three rounds of trivia. The trivia format enticed many nonscientists, and the surveys indicated that we had succeeded in engaging audience members who previously had little or no interest in current science research.
- Minneapolis, Minnesota: Café Scientifique
at the Kitty Cat Klub
Partners: Bell Museum, TPT (Twin Cities Public Television)
Location: A restaurant/nightclub in a university neighborhood
Topic: Mirror Neurons
The Bell Museum had an existing café series. We worked with the museum to create an event around mirror neurons, a topic featured in the program. NOVA scienceNOW paid for a young female scientist from San Diego featured in our program to travel to Minneapolis to speak at the Café Scientifique there. The Mirror Neurons café drew approximately 100 participants, and, of the people who filled out surveys (n=43), almost 60% were women, more than a third were under 30, and almost half were nonscientists. Part of this success undoubtedly relates to the venue, which is a hip restaurant/club in a neighborhood frequented by university students. This café is an excellent example of a science center reaching out to new audiences by going beyond the walls of the museum.
- Charlotte, North Carolina: Science Café
Partners: Discovery Place, Sigma Xi, WTVI
Location: The café in the science center
Topic: Stem Cells
We collaborated with the Discovery Place museum, the local chapter of Sigma Xi, and the local public television station to launch a new café series in Charlotte. Their first event attracted 30 people, who watched the NOVA scienceNOW clip on stem cells and had a lively discussion with the two speakers. Of the 19 people who responded to the café survey, more than 75% were women, more than two-thirds did not work or study in a science-related field, and over 40% were under age 35 (including several high school-aged students). This café asked for RSVPs and charged a $5 admission. Complementary food and beverages were provided. The event demonstrated that cafés participants are willing to pay a small fee to help offset costs (especially when snacks are provided).
Café facilitator at Discovery Place, Charlotte.
- Washington, DC: Café Scientifique
Partner: Koshland Science Museum
Locations: The museum and a bar/cafe
Topics: Alternative Energy, Artificial Life
Our partnership with the Koshland Science Museum is a good example of a collaboration where we simply provided our materials to existing events. The Koshland was planning to host a trivia event on alternative energies at the museum and we provided a video clip on hydrogen fuel cells to help inform and engage their audience prior to the trivia. The museum was also about to launch a café series at a hip new bar in an upand- coming neighborhood in DC. Their café program is both an attempt to reach new audiences by holding events outside the museum and an opportunity to showcase new books and authors from the National Academy of Sciences. At the first café, they had four scientists speak about their recently published books, which were on different topics. Though it required more work to organize the event and keep the agenda moving, the organizer said that the variety of topics made for a lively and interesting discussion.
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Town Square Debate
Partners: Academy of Natural Sciences, Sigma Xi, WHYY
Location: Museum auditorium
Topic: Hydrogen: Hope or Hype?
The Academy of Natural Sciences already had a “Town Square” program where they hosted workshop and debate-style events at the museum. The organizers determined that the NOVA scienceNOW segment on hydrogen fuel cells would be a good fit for their audience. They contacted a scientist who had recently published a book arguing that hydrogen was over-hyped, and we helped identify a speaker who believed that hydrogen technologies did indeed hold significant promise. After showing the video clip, each scientist presented his point of view. Questions and comments from the audience sparked a lively discussion between the speakers. Of the 86 respondents to our survey, almost half were women, 40% were under 35, and 40% were nonscientists. This event was more formally structured than the typical café, but it attracted a large audience (almost 150 people) that was clearly engaged in the topic.
Host Your Own Café!
Science cafés are a great way to reach out to your community and grow
new audiences for your science center. We can help you start or augment
your own café. We offer the following resources at no charge to support
science cafés:
- Guide to starting a local science café
- Scratch ‘n’ Sniff brochures for participants with tips on ways to keep informed about current science
- A list of existing science cafés and contact people
- Sample press release
- Help coordinating with local public television stations
- Video clips from the series
- Tips and help finding presenters (either scientists from the program or researchers in a related field)
- Comprehensive toolkit for organizing a science café trivia night on select topics
- Evaluation surveys
- Raffle prizes for completed surveys
- Logistical and financial support
To obtain any of the resources of for more information, go to www.pbs.org/nova/sciencenow/involved/cafe-host.html and e-mail Bella Desai (bella_desai@wgbh.org).
References
Café Scientifique web site, cited 4 Dec. 2004.
http://www.cafescientifique.org/Field, Hyman and Patricia Powell. 2001.
“Public understanding of science versus public understanding of research."
Public Understanding of Science. 10:421.Miller, Jon D. 2004.
"Public understanding of, and attitudes toward, scientific research: what we know and what we need to know."
Public Understanding of Science. 13:290.National Science Board.
Science and Engineering Indicators 2002.
Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation, NSB-02-1, 7-2.
National Science Board.
Science and Engineering Indicators 2004.
Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation Volume 1, NSB 04-1, 7-12.
West, Robert M.
"Café Scientifique: A Huge Opportunity."
The Informal Learning Review no. 70:24. 2005.
Bella Desai is Outreach Coordinator, NOVA scienceNOW at WGBH in Boston. She may be reached at bella_desai@wgbh.org.