This poster was presented at the 2014 AISL PI Meeting held in Washington, DC. The goal of the project is to establish practices for combining public participation in scientific research (citizen science) with DNA-based species identification (DNA barcoding) to scale-up and improve the accuracy of research projects that monitor animal and plant species in the sea and on land as they respond to climate and environmental changes.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Mount Desert Island Biological LaboratoryKaren James
This poster was presented at the 2014 AISL PI Meeting. It describes the radio and stage storytelling programs undertaken by the Center for Chemical Evolution, a CCI jointly funded by NSF and NASA.
This poster presented at the 2014 AISL PI Meeting includes an explanation of the pathways project, the evaluation questions, partners, and plans for a next phase.
This poster shows the development of the project Scientists for Tomorrow during the three years of its implementation: two first years under the full funding of the NSF and the third year as a no-cost extension. Also the poster describes how the project was incorporating more community centers and with it more participants through the development of the "self-sustained" mode of implementation. The poster introduces also the next step of the project - the Scientists for Tomorrow - National Alliance.
This poster presented at the 2014 AISL PI Meeting describes an outdoor informal science learning project that trains volunteer naturalists to lead environmental programs for middle school students.
Citizen science programs across the country invite the public to participate in scientific research. Through these experiences, participants have an opportunity to observe nature, which naturally leads to asking questions about the natural world. A new project in Minnesota is training leaders of youth groups to use citizen science experiences to stimulate curiosity and inspire motivation to design and carry out scientific research projects. This unique program model fosters authentic inquiry in youth age 10-14 outside the traditional school setting such as 4-H clubs, scout groups,or community
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TEAM MEMBERS:
University of Minnesota-Twin CitiesAmy RB RagerAndrea Lorek StraussKaren OberhauserRobert BlairPam Larson NippoltNathan MeyerKim Kies
The Jackprot is a didactic slot machine simulation that illustrates how mutation rate coupled with natural selection can interact to generate highly specialized proteins. Conceptualized by Guillermo Paz-y-Miño C., Avelina Espinosa, and Chunyan Y. Bai (New England Center for the Public Understanding of Science, Roger Williams University and the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth), the Jackprot uses simplified slot-machine probability principles to demonstrate how mutation rate coupled with natural selection suffice to explain the origin and evolution of highly specialized proteins. The
We used meta-analysis to review 55 evaluations of the effects of mentoring programs on youth. Overall, findings provide evidence of only a modest or small benefit of program participation for the average youth. Program effects are enhanced significantly, however, when greater numbers of both theory-based and empirically based "best practices" are utilized and when strong relationships are formed between mentors and youth. Youth from backgrounds of environmental risk and disadvantage appear most likely to benefit from participation in mentoring programs. Outcomes for youth at-risk due to
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TEAM MEMBERS:
David DuBoisBruce HollowayJeffrey ValentineHarris Cooper
In 2012, with funding from the National Science Foundation’s Advancing in Informal STEM Learning (AISL) division, a one-year study was conducted to focus specifically on evaluating participant learning outcomes and impacts from the beached bird data module. COASSTNET: Scaling Up COASSTal Citizen Science (NSF-DRL – 2224734) is an initial exploration of the effectiveness of the COASST beached bird module to sustain outcomes at individual, research and community levels, with a specific focus on the degree to which participants understand various scales of data, from the individual bird
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TEAM MEMBERS:
University of Washington College of the EnvironmentCynthia CharJulia ParrishJulie FriesnerJane Dolliver
This report for educators aims to examine the current landscape of adult informal learning using digital technologies. It provides new data on adult use of technology for informal learning and outlines the existing landscape of tools, resources and services which can support this. It aims to develop a shared understanding of the ways in which digital technologies are used for adult informal learning, and how this could be supplemented to enhance and transform adult informal learning in the future.