Have you ever struggled to explain a complex scientific concept to your friends or family? We all know how important scientific concepts are and their importance is undeniable. However, a large group of people is unaware of the importance of being aware of scientific concepts.
If people knew a lot about the COVID-19 pandemic, this virus would never have spread so quickly in the world. The need to understand and be understood about scientific findings is now growing. Therefore, the power and influence of science and research on people’s lives should not be underestimated.
Through this DoNotEdit article, an attempt has been made to list 8 ways to explain science to all common people who are truly eager to understand the wonderful mysteries of science!
Why Explain Science to Non-Science People?
Nowadays, science is communicated through scientific journals. Scientific journals are known to complicate scientific concepts through terms that only experts in the field can understand. However, the purpose of scientific findings, discoveries, and inventions is not limited to scientific researchers. Whether the reader of the article is a scientist or not, these findings are going to affect human beings directly or indirectly.
Understanding science and scientific findings is very important; thus, scientific research articles and findings are not easily explained. In addition, discussion and conclusion are two aspects of the research that are highlighted for a better understanding of research objectives and impact on the global audience. Therefore, to make these research outcomes reach ordinary people and non-scientists, researchers must explain science to non-science people.
Who Is a Science Communicator? What Is Their Role?
A science communicator is a person with knowledge of scientific research whose goal is to disseminate scientific knowledge in a simple and easily comprehensible manner.
A science communicator plays an important role in popularizing science. They use their knowledge to articulate scientific issues. They also use their effective communication skills to bridge the scientific gap between non-scientists and to increase their understanding of scientific findings.
Simplifying science might sound like a humongous task to researchers who are academic speakers, teaching assistants, writers of research papers and theses, managers of multiple experiments, analysts of results, etc. However, following the 8 easy methods mentioned in the following may help them to express their scientific study more easily. Easier expression of scientific issues encourages scientific communication so that researchers can promote their research work globally.
Advantages of Scientific Communication
While publishing research in a prestigious and reputed journal makes the researcher popular in that particular research field, it is not the final state of research. In addition, research should reach non-scientists to explain its importance and how it affects sustainability.
Scientific communication is beneficial for researchers in the following ways: Sharing the research with a wider audience
Increasing a researcher’s global presence
Accreditation and recognition of researchers for their scientific findings
Increasing the reputation and impact of research
Providing more views for better funding
We agree that some research results are difficult and completely irrelevant to non-scientists, but every research starts with a big question, and the science communicator’s goal is to answer that question with their stated goals. In addition, simplifying research results helps to answer the question and provide relevant answers.
8 Ways to Be a Good Science Communicator
1- Explaining the problem and its solution is enough to be a science communicator
A scientific communicator loses his audience when he starts explaining everything from scratch and basic concepts. Researchers have a habit of always starting explanations from basic concepts. But in most cases, all one has to do is explain the problem and state the solution. Furthermore, if it catches the listener’s attention, they will ask questions for more details.
2- Give an example
When a concept is accompanied by an example, it is better understood. Giving examples makes the scientific concept more relatable. For example, observing how the heart works is not practical, but you can ask the audience to measure their pulse rate and use that to explain blood pressure.
3-Use comparison
Another interesting concept is the use of comparison. Comparisons, like examples, help the audience connect with the concept and help them retain the explanation. You can relate a complex biomolecular concept of how ATP synthesis works to the turbines of a hydroelectric power plant that uses the kinetic energy of water flowing through dams.
4- Avoid using special terms
The use of trade terms distracts the attention of the audience from the topic of discussion. This leaves non-scientists unaware of what is being explained and sometimes frustrated. Furthermore, listeners lose interest in understanding the concept and never try to understand it again. It is very important to know that science should be understood and not boasted about.
5-Use famous and well-known keywords
Using relevant and popular keywords helps the audience connect with the topic instantly. Listeners become familiar with familiar and popular words and understand the concept better. For example, a science communicator uses the terms global warming, deforestation, biodiversity, loss of glaciers, the effects of warming on biodiversity, etc. to explain environmental and sustainability issues.
6- Make the audience visualize the concepts
The most interesting and difficult way to explain science is to make your audience visualize scientific concepts. Teaching aids, such as infographics, gifs, videos, animations, and PowerPoint presentations, can help inform science to make your explanation session more interactive. Visualizing concepts helps listeners retain the message. For example, science textbooks always explain biogeochemical cycles in infographics, which is why you still remember them!
7- Use diagrams and pictures
Diagrams and pictures are always better than reading consecutive sentences. They explain complex concepts in a simple way. Additionally, it benefits the science communicator who presents and explains concepts without complexity.
8- Use social media
Social media is not just a place for kids, but an important platform for policymakers, the media, and communication with other scientists. Researchers usually avoid using social media to their advantage because, although it is an open platform, it is associated with dissenting opinions (which is not always favorable for the research outcome). However, the cyberspace platform should be used to communicate with your research and other researchers because half the world thrives on social media!
As it turns out, being a science communicator is challenging. It is also a bonus to explain what you do as a researcher. Therefore, budding researchers attend seminars and symposia to find out how they can share their research work.
Conclusion
It is fantastic to do a great job in the lab, try to perfect the experiment to achieve reproducibility, read dozens and hundreds of research papers, and monitor your progress. Is all this work done just to publish articles in scientific journals? It is time for science to be recognized not only among scientists but also among ordinary people, non-scientists, and non-researchers!
Have you ever had a moment where you had to explain your research work to your non-scientist friends? How was your experience? Write to us or leave a comment below!