Standard indicators for the social appropriation of science: Lessons learned.

Abstract

This book is the result of a two-and-a-halfyear close collaboration between the seven partners of the Erasmus+ KA203 project “Knowledge, beliefs, perceptions about the science of European students (Persist_EU)”. One of the project’s main objectives was to develop a tool to evaluate European students’ initial knowledge when configuring their beliefs and perceptions about different science topics. Once the tool (platform) had been designed, the next step consisted of carrying out activities (Science camps), which would allow validating the platform and identifying changes in perception (through questionnaires with Likert scales), which students experienced during their participation in training activities, organised within the framework of the project. For this, five Science camps were organised in five European universities, two in central Europe (Germany, Slovakia), and three nations in southern Europe (Portugal, Spain and Italy). Therefore, we make sure to cover differences related to socio-geopolitical issues. The topics that were chosen for the debate were climate change, genetically-modified organisms (GMOs), complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) and vaccines, and it was expected that around 100 students would participate in each of the universities of the PERSIST_EU consortium (Valencia, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Trnava, Lisbon, and Vicenza).