Translating land-use science to a museum exhibit

Abstract

For land use science to engage the general public it must successfully translate its concepts and conclusions and make them public outside of traditional scientific venues. Here we explore science-art exhibits, which blend artistic presentations with specific scientific data or themes, as a possible effective way of communicating scientific information and disrupting misconceptions. We describe the process of producing a science-art exhibit on remote sensing and Puerto Rican landscape history from 1937 to the present, sited at a rural Puerto Rican community museum, and examine the visitor experience and educational outcomes of the museum exhibit through analysis of survey data. The exhibit project engaged undergraduate students from a variety of academic backgrounds, introduced land use science concepts to the public in an engaging format, and was effective at reshaping visitors’ misconceptions of Puerto Rico's landscape change history.

Contextualizing information enhances the experience of environmental art.

“…Many studies in this area have chosen to take a look at the combination of scientific research and art as a way to enhance the communication of scientific data to the public. Arce-Nazario (2016) found that an exhibition in Puerto Rico that blended scientific data and artistic presentation was successful in communicating scientific ideas and knowledge, specifically in changing visitors’ misconceptions about Puerto Rico’s history of landscape change. Neal (2015) provided an explanation for such beneficial effects of art, describing art as a frame for social and visual experiences, which have the ability to bridge people and institutions and lay open their emotional and aesthetic connections with the world they live in.…”

Impact of a Science Art Exhibit on Public Interest and Student Comprehension of Disease Ecology Research

“…Consistent with our predictions, students in both the art and abstract learning treatments had higher comprehension scores than the control group, indicating that students were able to acquire knowledge through both learning treatments. Similarly, other studies have found that integrating art into science education can be effective for enhancing science knowledge in undergraduate students ( 20 , 35 , 36 ). However, some studies have found that art can hinder education, either by oversimplifying complex issues ( 37 ) or by communicating in an overly subtle or abstract way ( 38 , 39 ).…”

“…To examine the impact of art on public interest and student comprehension of science, we chose to develop an art exhibit, as science art exhibits have been shown to engage wider audiences in science and clarify misunderstandings about certain science topics ( 20 , 21 ), as well as supporting the development of critical thinking skills in the classroom ( 22 ).…”

DATA AS ART: An Exhibition of the Issues that Lakes Face

“…Art is a way to connect our science to the broader public. Science‐art collaborations can be effective for transmitting concepts and reshaping misconceptions (Arce‐Navario 2016). Art can act as a framework for visual and social experiences, which can create empathy toward the natural environment, generating appreciation and concern simultaneously (Marks et al 2016).…”