The Role of Media in Supporting Informal Science Learning Conference & Website Evaluation Report

With the Role of Media in Supporting Informal Science Learning project, the Institute for Learning Innovation (ILI) and Grunwald Associates sought to establish a “national learning initiative” to explore the intersection of media and informal science learning. To do so, ILI proposed an initial conference followed by the development of a website and online community. The National Science Foundation funded this project, with additional funding provided by the National Parks Service. Held in March 2009, the 1.5 day conference was designed to be a “first step” in the development of a conversation among a diverse group of 25 professionals who – despite sharing an interest in informal science learning – rarely interact with one another. The conference organizers assembled this diverse group in a face-to-face meeting to accomplish a number of goals: (1) examine current learning research emanating from various media fields; (2) identify critical topics and common goals in informal science education; (3) explore possibilities for coordination and collaboration; and (4) establish frameworks for extending and sharing this initial conversation. As the last goal indicates, the conference was designed as a planning meeting to frame an ongoing discussion within an online community of which the conference attendees would be the initial members and contributors. This virtual space would include conference materials and encourage continued dialogue and interaction among both attendees and the larger ISE and media communities. Rockman et al (REA), an educational research and evaluation firm in San Francisco, CA, served as the external evaluator for this project. To evaluate this media and informal science learning initiative, REA staff created a number of survey instruments and observed the conference. Instruments included: a Pre-Conference Survey filled out by invited attendees (n=19); a brief Post-Conference Follow-up Questionnaire sent to attendees via email (n=14); and a Web Survey aimed at users, both conference attendees and those who joined the community online, of the newly launched website and wiki (n=22). The link to this survey was sent via email to conference attendees and posted on the website http://www.mediasciencelearning.com/.

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