ASSESSING HOW ATTENDING A CONCERT AND/OR A SCIENCE CAFé ABOUT GLOBAL CHANGE ALTERS THE ENGAGEMENT, CONCEPTIONS, PERSPECTIVES, ATTITUDES, AND BEHAVIORS OF ATTENDEES

Two informal education events, a concert and a science café, were held and open to the general public in order to increase attendees’ overall climate literacy. This study specifically examines how attendance at a concert and/or a science café about global change impacts attendees' engagement, conceptions, perspectives, attitudes, and behaviors toward global change, with the aim of determining whether or not non-traditional informal education events succeed in increasing the climate literacy of the general public. A science café was held at the local science museum with the purpose of introducing soundscapes, the local scientists who study them, and a symphony created to imitate soundscapes. A concert was held three days later during which the symphony created to imitate soundscapes was performed. Participants included attendees of the concert, the science café, and both events. Surveys were distributed at both events and completed at the end of each event (n=257 for the concert, n=58 for the science café). A subset of ten participants also wore hand sensors, and 13 attendees (including the ten who wore hand sensors) participated in interviews after both events. The surveys provided self-reported measures of conceptions, perspectives, attitudes, and behaviors with regard to global change. The hand-sensor data quantified participants’ physiological responses to the concert and the science café (a proxy for their levels of engagement during the events). The results of the research provide insights as to how scientists can better communicate their science to the general public in order to impact their attitudes and behaviors related to global change and build an informed and engaged citizenry.