The 2019 coronavirus disease pandemic and distrust for popular media have highlighted the need for effective methods of direct communication of biomedical science to the public. It is presently unclear how well nonexperts can learn from primary scientific sources and what factors predict such learning in the general public. The present study examined three modalities for learning about biomedical science directly from study investigators: primary scientific articles, annotated primary scientific articles presented online with interactive learning features, and TEDTalks about scientific studies presented by a study investigator. Each modality presented the same study, "Sleep Drives Metabolite Clearance from the Adult Brain" (L. Xie, H. Kang, Q. Chen, Y. Liao, et al., Science 342:373-377, 2013, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1241224). Knowledge about the study's scientific content was assessed before and after the randomly assigned learning modality using multiple-choice questions. Participants included a sample of college psychology students and a sample of community-dwelling older adults. Cognitive tests were used to assess individual differences in working memory, processing speed, science literacy, and semantic knowledge. Surveys were used to assess trust in science and scientists, attitudes toward science, and attitudes toward cognitive tasks. Results indicated that both younger and older adults can learn basic biomedical science from a primary source. Knowledge gains were observed in all three learning modalities with no evidence of age group differences. Notably, the largest learning gains for undergraduates and older adults were observed in the primary scientific article condition, followed by the TEDTalk, and the annotated paper. Baseline knowledge about the science study topic and adoption of "scientific attitudes" (e.g., open-mindedness) predicted learning across age groups and learning modalities. These findings suggest that science educators, communicators, and outreach professionals should consider methods of promoting science literacy in the general public through direct access to primary scientific sources.

中文翻译：

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初级科学文献不仅适用于学生和学术界：对初级来源模式和成年期学习预测因子的研究。

2019 年冠状病毒病大流行和对大众媒体的不信任凸显了向公众直接传播生物医学科学的有效方法的必要性。目前尚不清楚非专家如何从主要科学资源中学习，以及哪些因素可以预测公众的这种学习。本研究检查了直接从研究调查人员那里学习生物医学科学的三种方式：初级科学文章、在线提供的带有交互式学习功能的带注释的初级科学文章，以及由研究调查人员提供的关于科学研究的 TED 演讲。每种模式都呈现相同的研究，“睡眠驱动成人大脑的代谢物清除”（L. Xie、H. Kang、Q. Chen、Y. Liao 等人，Science 342:373-377, 2013, https:/ /doi.org/10.1126/science.1241224）。使用多项选择题在随机分配的学习模式之前和之后评估有关研究科学内容的知识。参与者包括大学心理学学生样本和社区居住的老年人样本。认知测试用于评估工作记忆、处理速度、科学素养和语义知识方面的个体差异。调查被用来评估对科学和科学家的信任、对科学的态度以及对认知任务的态度。结果表明，年轻人和老年人都可以从主要来源学习基础生物医学科学。在所有三种学习方式中都观察到了知识的增长，没有年龄组差异的证据。尤其，在初级科学文章条件下观察到本科生和老年人的最大学习收益，其次是 TEDTalk 和带注释的论文。关于科学研究主题的基线知识和采用“科学态度”（例如，思想开放）可以预测跨年龄组和学习方式的学习。这些发现表明，科学教育者、传播者和外展专业人员应该考虑通过直接获取主要科学资源来提高公众科学素养的方法。