From curiosity to commitment: exploring the longevity of science festival impacts one year post-event

Canovan, Cherry orcid iconORCID: 0000-0002-9751-5646 (2025) From curiosity to commitment: exploring the longevity of science festival impacts one year post-event. International Journal of Science Education, Part B: Communication and Public Engagement . ISSN 2154-8455

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/21548455.2025.2493371

Abstract

Science festivals are known to boost aspects of science capital in the short term, but little work has been done to determine their longer-term impacts. We surveyed festival participants one year after attendance, and found that a large proportion retained knowledge acquired during the experience. Many had also been prompted to take further science-related actions, and some reported sustained impacts from previous visits 3+ years previously. We propose two mechanisms by which such a transient event can have long-term impacts; the role of curiosity in facilitating knowledge acquisition, and the experiential nature of festivals which prompts a cycle of learning.


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