Sai Pathmanathan. Photo: Huw James.
We all watched children’s television growing up, and many of us still do (for ‘research’ purposes!). Some of us watched children’s science and technology programmes, and can attribute particular shows or presenters as the reason for why we pursued a science (or STEM: science, technology, engineering and mathematics) career.
But these days, how effective is children’s science television? Back in the early ‘80s, children would come home from school, put down their lunchbox and sit in front of the television to watch one of four channels (BBC1, BBC2, ITV or Channel 4) as part of children’s tea time programming. Now, audiences are much more fragmented – there are hundreds of television channels, everyone’s viewing via different devices and ‘on demand’ services. So, is television still the best method to get science to young audiences?