Nowadays, ‘engaging the public’ regarding important subjects has risen in importance, compared to only educating them. The one-way communication flow seems to fail when communicating scientific findings. We are in need of professionals with a deep understanding of how science works and how its public use is entangled with political, cultural and moral sensitivities. These entanglements are studied in the interdisciplinary master History and Philosophy of Science (HPS). For that reason, a new track is developed for the incorporation of public engagement in the HPS master. This USO project aims to define the content and format for the track. 

Background

Meaningful and effective public engagement requires professionals with a deep understanding of how science works and how its public use is entangled with political, cultural and moral sensitivities. These entanglements are precisely what we study in the interdisciplinary master History and Philosophy of Science (HPS). For that reason, we want to incorporate public engagement in the HPS master in the form of a new track. The track will combine the expertise of the lecturers of HPS, the Science Education and Communication (SEC) master and the Communication Profile. This new public engagement track will use these foundations of expertise to create a coherent, innovative and appealing track of the highest quality. The combination of a broad vision on public engagement with critical reflection and intellectual depth distinguishes it from existing science communication programs within the UU and at other Dutch universities.  

Project description

Phase 1: May – Aug 2022: 

• assemble a project group of lecturers and students for coordination; 
• investigate interest among current and potential students; 
• organize meetings to discuss the learning goals and teaching methods; 
• organize meetings with (potential) internship providers and future employers of the alumni, to discuss their expectations; 
• formulate learning goals. 

Phase 2: Sep – Dec 2022: 

• analyse and change existing courses with the new learning goals; 
• create an outline design of a new impact assessment course; 
• prepare the integration of the track in the HPS course planning; 
• plan dissemination and promotion. 

Phase 3: Jan-Apr 2023:  

• define the final curriculum of the track;  
• include the track in HPS course planning and OER annex;  
• start recruiting students.

Phase 4: from September 2023: 

• start teaching the track; 
• conduct evaluations, both during the courses and afterwards.

Aims

The aim of the project is to design a coherent track on public engagement within the HPS master. The project contributes to the aim of the Science Faculty to “support public engagement and to increase the visibility of our societally relevant research.” Secondly, the public engagement track is highly relevant for the UU strategic themes Pathways to Sustainability (especially its Sustainability Education and Engagement community) and Institutions for Open Societies, as well as for Open Science (especially the new Open Education initiative).  

Results

The precise format of the track will be formulated during this project, but it will be defined within the elective course space of the master (max. 37.5 EC) and the internship (15 EC).  

This involves:  

• Creating a working group of lecturers and students to coordinate the project; 
• Investigating potential student interest; 
• Formulating learning goals and trajectories; 
• Critically evaluate existing courses that could be integrated in the track; 
• Formulate recommendations for a new courses on critical impact assessment of public engagement;  
• Design effective formats for the internship and research project;  
• Define the track and integrating it into the HPS curriculum; 
• Design a communication strategy to highlight the new track with prospective students.