In 2008, Goodman Research Group, Inc. (GRG) conducted summative evaluation of Absolute Zero, a collaborative effort of the University of Oregon's Cryogenic Helium Turbulence Laboratory and Twin Cities Public Television. The films were produced by Meridian/Windfall Productions, Washington DC, and/Windfall Films in London, UK. Outreach was spearheaded by Devillier Communications, Inc. The Absolute Zero project was centered on a two-part documentary about low-temperature physics, which aired on PBS/NOVA in early January 2008, as well as an outreach campaign, which included approximately 20
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Irene GoodmanUniversity of OregonLaura HousemanMarianne McPherson
In 2005, Independent Broadcasting Associates (IBA) received funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to create a series of radio programs for National Public Radio that features the Ganges river basin in South Asia. The radio programs, which are in the process of being produced, will describe the 650 million people who are supported by the river, as well as its cultural and religious significance. The programs will also describe the political and/or economic environment of the river and its surrounding areas. Each of these topics will encourage listeners to divorce themselves from U
GRG conducted summative evaluation of Ganga, a NSF-funded six-segment series of NPR radio programs about the culture and ecology of the river Ganga in India and Bangladesh and its companion Website. Through a web-based survey, GRG assessed the study participants' knowledge gain from and the satisfaction with the series and the Website. The appendix of this report includes the online survey used in the study.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Irene GoodmanIndependent Broadcasting Associates, Inc.
The investigators will collect data on a broad range of informal science education activities of an existing sample of approximately 3,500 adults across the U.S. It will relate these activities to prior forms of science involvement and to various indicators of lifelong STEM learning. The proposed work is an extension of the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY), a study funded by NSF since 1986 and still ongoing. Prior work has tracked two national cohorts of students who were originally representative of public middle and high schools, focusing on their science and mathematics course enrollment, content, achievement, and career choices, and informed by data from their parents and teachers. The project team has maintained very high levels of continued participation by the approximately 5,000 students, now aged 34-38, many of whom have families of their own. The project will extend the planned surveys for 2009 and 2010 to examine how these adults use informal science education resources such as museums, libraries, books, magazines, newspapers, television, and the Internet. The project will provide baseline data on informal science education resource use in the Internet era for a large and diverse sample. It will allow investigation of the relationships of current informal science learning behaviors, both individual and intergenerational, to prior learning variables such as school science achievement, parental involvement, college experience, career choice, and prior use of informal learning resources while respondents were school-aged.
The investigators will collect data on a broad range of informal science education activities of an existing sample of approximately 3,500 adults across the U.S. It will relate these activities to prior forms of science involvement and to various indicators of lifelong STEM learning. The proposed work is an extension of the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY), a study funded by NSF since 1986 and still ongoing. Prior work has tracked two national cohorts of students who were originally representative of public middle and high schools, focusing on their science and mathematics course enrollment, content, achievement, and career choices, and informed by data from their parents and teachers. The project team has maintained very high levels of continued participation by the approximately 5,000 students, now aged 34-38, many of whom have families of their own. The project will extend the planned surveys for 2009 and 2010 to examine how these adults use informal science education resources such as museums, libraries, books, magazines, newspapers, television, and the Internet. The project will provide baseline data on informal science education resource use in the Internet era for a large and diverse sample. It will allow investigation of the relationships of current informal science learning behaviors, both individual and intergenerational, to prior learning variables such as school science achievement, parental involvement, college experience, career choice, and prior use of informal learning resources while respondents were school-aged.
This study was commissioned to provide systematic feedback regarding visitor experience of the Low-Carb Craze exhibits (about nutrition and dieting) in Current Science Central. The principal issues to be investigated were about the interpretive experience: are visitors getting the idea that this is about current science information?; do visitors perceive the information to be recent?; are they learning any new information or not? To address these issues, an evaluation strategy was developed that focused on people's perceptions of the content and reactions to the activities; specifically
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Jeff HaywardScience Museum of MinnesotaJolene Hart
Nanoscale science and engineering study and create materials and devices on the molecular scale. The Nanobiotechnology Center, a National Science Foundation supported Science and Technology Center, collaborated with Ithaca, New York's Sciencenter, a hands-on museum, and Painted Universe, Inc. an exhibition design-and-fabrication team, to create It's a NanoWorld, a 3,000 square-foot, hands-on traveling exhibition. Edu, Inc., an external evaluation group, led front-end research and formative evaluation to guide and refine development of the exhibition. Summative evaluation investigated visitors'
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Douglas SpencerCornell UniversityVictoria AngelottiSciencenter
This is a report from the supplemental summative evaluation of the exhibition, Genetics: Decoding Life at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago. The evaluation was designed to measure visitors' attention to the main messages of the exhibition, visitors' thinking and attitudes about genetics, and whether visitors made connection among their genes, themselves, and their families. The evaluation was designed to establish findings that complemented and built upon a previous summative evaluation. Two types of exit interviews were used to gather qualitative and quantitative data. A total of
In the Spring of 2003, Rockman et al conducted an evaluation that was designed to explore children's viewing behavior, outcomes of viewing, the impact of the program's structural features, viewers' content preferences, and factors that motivate greater participation by viewers. Nearly six hundred children and twenty-five adults in three major U.S. cities participated in this study. Evaluation activities included: Five sets of student surveys: one administered prior to viewing episodes of DragonflyTV, one following each of the three programs viewed as part of the evaluation, and one
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Rockman, et. al.Twin Cities Public TelevisionJennifer Borland
This guiding question for this evaluation conducted by ILI was to measure the long term impact of the NYHS SCL program on its participants. The SCL participants also known as Explainers are high school and college students who are paid employees for NYHS. Focus was on knowledge development and skill development specifically critical thinking, and problem solving and transfer of those skills to everyday life. The evaluation also attempted to gauge SCL graduates' perception of science and scientists, influence of the program on career planning, leisure time choices with respect to lifelong
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Martin StorksdieckNew York Hall of ScienceKate Haley-GoldmanMika Cohen Jones
The University of Minnesota is partnering with several nature centers in the Midwest to transform citizen "technicians" into citizen "scientists." The Driven to Discover project will use existing citizen science programs with strong educational components to engage 12-14 year old youth and their adult mentors in authentic research. The goal of the project is to develop a training model for adults who work with youth in a variety of informal education settings to involve them in authentic scientific inquiry via citizen science rather than just data collection activities. In the proof-of-concept phase, teams consisting of 4-H youth, adult leaders, and several scientists are conducting participatory action research to understand what factors lead youth to full engagement in ecological research. In phase two, project personnel are training 4-H educators, naturalists, and teachers how to engage youth and their adult leaders in other 4-H programs and other informal education programs to conduct ecological research with scientists in advisory roles. Phase one involves approximately 10 adults and 70 youth, whereas phase two involves approximately 40 adults and 300 youth. A front-end study defined the project's target audiences and partners. Formative evaluation study will monitor interactions among members of the research teams and summative evaluation will measure impacts on participants' knowledge, skills development, attitudes, and behavior. Project deliverables include youth-generated ecological research findings, web-based program implementation materials, an annual conference, and a model for engaging youth groups in informal settings in authentic scientific inquiry. The model is expected to impact more than six million youth nationwide.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Karen OberhauserNathan MeyerAndrea Lorek StraussPamela NippoltKatie ClarkRobert Blair
This project will engage underserved Native and non-native youth and adults in environmental science content and awareness through innovative exhibitions and hands-on activities. Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and western science will be communicated and promoted within culturally relevant contexts as valuable, complementary ways of knowing, understanding, and caring for the world. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), the lead institution, and its partner organizations, The Indigenous Education Institute (IEI), The National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), the Tramastklikt Cultural Institute, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Hibub Cultural Center and Natural History Preserve (Tulalip Tribes) will work collaboratively to develop and deliver all aspects of the project. An estimated 1.5 million Native American and non-Native American youth and adults are expected to be engaged in the project\'s exhibits, website, and activity kits over the five year duration of the project. Native American and non-Native American youth (ages 11-14) and their families from the Portland area and visitors to national science centers, tribal museums, and members of Native American organizations and service providers will be targeted for participation in Generations of Knowledge activities. In addition, the Professional Collaborative component will bring professionals from the partnering organizations to share resources, professional opportunities, and document their collaborative process. OMSI, project partners, Native scientists, tribal museum partner, exhibit developers, advisors, and members of various Native American communities will work collaboratively to develop four integrated deliverables. Each deliverable will be interconnected and designed to accommodate a variety of venues and audiences. Project deliverables include: (a) a 2,000 sq ft traveling exhibition, (b) a small traveling graphic panel exhibition, (c) an online virtual exhibition, (d) an activity kit for Native youth in informal and formal settings, and (e) opportunities and resources for reciprocal collaboration between ISE and Native American partners through a professional collaborative initiative. IEI and advisors from RMC Research and Native Pathways will conduct the external evaluation using a mixed method, community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach. Formative and summative evaluative data will be used to monitor, assess, and inform the project and the extent to which project goals have been met and the intended impacts achieved. The anticipated project outcomes include (but not limited to): (a) an awareness and understanding of the interconnectedness of TEK and western science, (b) a recognition of the relevancy and value of TEK and western science for understanding and caring for the natural world, (c) intergenerational learning and discussions about related TEK and western science issues, and (d) an increased capacity, supported by evidence, among the project team and partners to facilitate reciprocal collaborative efforts. This project builds on a long history of successful NSF/DRL supported work led by OMSI and IEI. It also extends existing traditional ecological knowledge focused work through a culturally contextualized hands-on traveling and virtual exhibitions, a rigorous professional development component, highly visible national partners (e.g., NMAI), and a national reach to over one million Native American and non-Native American youth and adults over a five year period. The project\'s research and evaluation findings will add to the knowledge base on strategies that can be employed to communicate and promote TEK and western science as complementary, valuable was of understanding and caring for the natural world.