| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立臺南大學 === 動畫媒體設計研究所碩士班 === 106 === The promotion of popular science has taken center stage in Taiwan as accumulating scientific knowledge is not only crucial to the development of the country but also inextricably linked to quality of life and public safety. While global warming has garnered considerable attention from different countries and an increasing number of international protocols and agreements aiming at conserving environments and making use of energy are being proposed, solar energy is emerging as a form of renewable energy that has received much global attention due to its low-risk and non-polluting nature. Given their wide audiences, comics and animations are ideal mediums for spreading information and knowledge. Nonetheless, there are currently very few comics and animations which are themed around popular science and the use of energy. In view of this, this study uses solar energy as a theme to examine two media channels, i.e. comics and animation, in order to analyze and explore their impact on audiences’ comprehension of popular science and attitude toward the content.
Using the single-factor experimental design and purposive sampling method, the study collected a total of 68 questionnaires from the students of National University of Tainan. The participants were separated into the comic group and the animation group, each of which participated in the experiment. The questionnaire assessed the participants’ comprehension of and attitude toward the content, which helped the researcher evaluate the impact generated by the two media channels (comics and animation). The comprehension section is aimed at understanding the effectiveness of the two media channels in conveying popular science knowledge, thus evaluating the future usability of the channels. The section in regard to attitude, on the other hand, is designed to gauge the opinions and preferences of university students towards popular science knowledge in the form of comics and animation, as well as their tendency to science in the future. The data collected was analyzed using the quantitative method.
The research findings indicated that the comprehension section revealed a significant difference in the overall comprehension and textual understanding of the content in both the comics and the animation groups regardless of the media form used. Yet there is no significant difference in terms of inferential and critical comprehension between the two groups. In addition, the comics group outperformed the animation group in the average score on overall comprehension, textual understanding and critical comprehension while the animation group outperformed the comics group in inferential comprehension. In the section regarding attitude, there is no significant difference in the overall consumption attitude which includes cognition, emotions and intentions between the comics and the animation groups regardless of the media form used. Furthermore, the animation group outperformed the comics group by scoring higher on overall attitude. Among the three criteria used to measure attitudes, the comics group outperformed the animation group in cognitive and emotional aspects while the animation group outperformed the comics group in the intentional aspect.
The result of the research indicated that there is a significant difference in the level of comprehension between university students who acquired popular science knowledge through two different media forms, i.e. comics and animations. Comics, as a media form, outperforms animation in the average score on overall comprehension. While there is no significant difference in overall attitude toward each media form, animation outperformed comics in the average score on overall attitude. The results of the research can provide reference for future popular science educators and authors so that they can select the suitable media form for spreading popular science knowledge.
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