Increasing Learning and Efficacy about Emerging Technologies through Transmedia Engagement by the Public in Science-in-Society Activities

Increasing Learning and Efficacy about Emerging Technologies through Transmedia Engagement by the Public in Science-in-Society Activities Increasing Citizen Efficacy through Transmedia Engagement Activities in Science-in-Society The primary goal of this INNOVATIONS IN DEVELOPMENT project is to create, deploy, and study a set of transmedia activities that involve making, curating, and otherwise exploring social themes around a pervasive cultural and scientific referent. The project will probe the hypothesis that exposing publics to rigorous and creative opportunities related to Frankenstein will not only develop their facility with 21st century digital tools, but it will also increase their understanding, ability and feelings of efficacy around issues in science-in-society. To accomplish this goal, we will create a network of partners through which we will develop three innovative projects: 1) a digital museum dedicated to exploring Mary Shelleys Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus; 2) an activities kit for table-top programing called Frankensteins Footlocker; and 3) a making activity called the Frankenstein Factory. These three distinct yet interlocking modes of interacting the transmedia engagement build on prior work by the principal investigators and other senior personnel to provide robust opportunities for quantitative and qualitative research on their suitability for increasing the assessment by publics of their own ability to contend with important societal issues related to emerging science and technology (e.g., synthetic biology, robotics) and to work effectively with others to address those issues publicly.