How Science Museums Promote Public Understanding Of Science

New areas of study in the philosophy of science have evolved in the recent two to three decades.We empirically study the subject of what scientific literacy is and why the public needs to grasp the nature of the scientific process while integrating the epistemic and social elements of scientific knowledge to address the question,"What is science?" Scientific literacy,which has an open meaning,continues to attract researchers in the philosophy of science to discuss how to promote public understanding of the nature of scientific practices from the route of social epistemology based on the practices of science communication.Science museums are seen to be able to play a significant role in enhancing public understanding of science and developing public epistemic trust in science as an important venue for informal education and scientific communication.As a result,scholars in the philosophy of science,science education,and science communication have taken an interest in the theme of how and what kind of scientific literacy may be promoted for the public in science museum communication.How the theoretical framework of the philosophy of science research affects the practice of science museum communication,and how the relationship between public acceptance and understanding of science in science museum communication has enriched the theory of philosophy of science,and become an attractive but still early stage.In order to achieve this,we choose visitors to science museums as a research sample,conduct interviews and follow-up surveys,based on the most recent theoretical framework of the study of the relationship between the public and science in the philosophy of science,draws on existing empirical research findings and methods on the public understanding of the origin of life,and explores the role science museums play in the public understanding of science,and then tries to suggest how the practices of science communication can enrich the theory of philosophy of science.The specific work includes: 1)Sorting out the philosophical theoretical framework related to scientific literacy,outlining how philosophy of science research can integrate both epistemic and social dimensions to enrich and update the definition of scientific literacy,analyzing the theoretical synchronization between philosophy of science research and science museum communication research,and addressing issues that arise when promoting each other;2)Empirical research and data analysis: semi-structured interviews on the topic of "Public Understanding of the Origin of Life" and samples from the "From Ape to Human" and "Darwin Center" exhibits at the Shanghai Nature History Museum,this study examines the public’s acceptance and understanding of evolution,sources of opinion and epistemic norms,and attitudes toward science.3)Discusses the potential for mutual promotion between science museum communication practices and the theoretical framework of philosophy of science practice after examining visitors’ attitudes toward and understanding of science and scientists at science museums.The research tries to draw the following viewpoints: 1)Visitors’ epistemic sources and epistemic norms,which have an impact on their acceptance of evolution.,and science museums are a significant source;2)The Science Museum increases visitors’ understanding of evolution and science works by presenting the processes and evidence of scientific discovery and research in diverse ways;3)The knowledge framework visitors already have before the visit and their understanding of the nature of scientific practice after the visit interact to promote public trust in science;4)There are issues that warrant further investigation,such as the synergistic mechanisms between the public’s scientific knowledge and their understanding of scientific practice and the general applicability of this study to other disciplines.