Science Festivals and the Benefits of Face-to-Face Interaction

Evaluation findings of the Science Festival Alliance show that the number one predictor of positive learning outcomes for festival audiences is an interaction with a science professional. Along with highlighting this finding and its implications, this poster introduces the work of the NSF-funded Science Festival Alliance, including the Cambridge, San Diego, Philadelphia, and Bay Area (San Francisco) science festivals. These are among the first citywide science festivals in the U.S. and each festival team includes university partners. Supported by independent evaluation, the poster will describe how the results of the festivals are being measured (the methods) and the impacts of the festivals on attendees, participating science professionals, and organizational partners in their communities (the outcomes).