‘Knowledge is power’: A mixed methods study exploring adult audience preferences for engagement and learning formats over three years of a health science festival

摘要

Science festivals enable scientists to engage with publics, but format design reflecting different engagement models is contested. This study gathered mixed methods data over three years (2011-2013) from on-site surveys (N = 661) of a health science festival, exploring audience preferences for dissemination or dialogue formats (lectures, discussions, community expo, lab experiments and day out). Irrespective of time, age group or gender, lectures were significantly ranked the main attraction (76.8%); most highly attended (89.1%); and most useful format (83.8%). Thematic analysis revealed five themes exploring non-formal learning motivations for audiences, highlighting knowledge/understanding acquisition is perceived as empowering greater health literacy.