The San Diego Natural History Museum contracted RK&A to conduct an evaluation of the SPECTRUM Social Stories Project. The program involved a series of 16 “meetups” for museum staff and young adults with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to visit seven Balboa Park museums. The young adults, with support from museum staff, used their observations of those spaces to create pre-visit materials for museum-goers with ASD.
How did we approach this study?
The evaluation explored outcomes for young adult participants, museum staff, and project partners from other Balboa Park museums. We conducted
The purpose of this study was to explore whether the notion of activity frames might be a useful alternative to sociomathematical norms to help describe the behaviors of family members at interactive math exhibits. In this study, activity frames are defined as contextspecific, emergent understandings or expectations, either implicit or explicit, about the nature and goals of family and staff interactions at math exhibits (Pattison et al., in review; Pattison, Gontan, & Ramos-Montañez, in review). Researchers questioned not only whether activity frames could describe family behaviors, but also
This is a report from Workshop IV, part of the Support Systems for Scientists' Communication and Engagement workshop series. Workshop IV was held May 2-3, 2018 at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, CA. In this study, researchers sought to explore and understand the mechanisms, motivations, and outcome metrics utilized by individuals and organizations that facilitate scientists’ communication with the public. To capture the full range of engagement methods, facilitators from a wide variety of organizations were contacted and interviewed. After contacting 30 leaders the realm of science
In 2015, the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community (SITC) received a two-year NSF-AISL Pathways Grant (#1516742) entitled “Developing an Informal Environmental Health Education Model in Tribal Communities,” designed to develop a process model and curriculum for community-based environmental health outreach, grounded in cultural values and practices. The project deliverables included a curriculum and guiding document, intended to inform and inspire other tribal communities wishing to create a culture-based environmental or public health curriculum.
SITC contracted the Lifelong Learning Group
It is a well-documented fact that women and minorities are currently underrepresented in STEM higher education degree programs and careers. As an outreach measure to these populations, we established the Hexacago Health Academy (HHA), an ongoing summer program. Structured as an informal learning environment with a strong youth initiated mentoring component, HHA uses game-based learning as both a means of health education and stimulating interest in careers in medicine among adolescents from underrepresented minority populations. In this article, we describe the 2015 session of the Hexacago
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Megan MacklinPatrick JagodaIan B. JonesMelissa Gilliam
Previous research has identified parental involvement—the ways parents and other caring adults interact with children in and outside of the home, and the kinds of learning materials with which parents surround children—as key to helping children develop knowledge and skills in literacy and math (Bassok, Finch, Lee, Reardon, & Waldfogel, 2016; Burgess, Hecht, & Lonigan, 2002; Niklas, Nguyen, Cloney, Tayler, & Adams, 2016; Sénéchal & LeFevre, 2002; Skwarchuk, Sowinski, & LeFevre, 2014). Parental support may be critical to children’s developing knowledge and understanding in science as well.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Megan SilanderTodd GrindalNaomi HupertElisa GarciaKea AndersonPhilip VaheyShelley Pasnik
Integrating Science Into Afterschool: A Three-Dimensional Approach To Engaging Underserved Populations In Science, or STEM 3D, was a five year project led by The Franklin Institute. The project was created with three major goals: to (1) increase youth engagement in hands-on, inquiry based, science projects; (2) cultivate intergenerational/parental support for science learning; and (3) evaluate the effectiveness of this 3-D (afterschool, home, and community) approach in engaging children, families, afterschool facilitators, and community-based organizations in science learning and the promotion
Please join us in celebrating Citizen Science Day, which falls this year on Saturday, April 14th. This issue of Connected Science Learning is dedicated to highlighting effective citizen science programs that involve classroom students in collecting data for research scientists, while also engaging them in key STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) content and practices. Students get a “front row seat” to what scientists do and how scientists work, plus develop the reasoning skills and practices used by scientists.
With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), SciStarter 2.0 was launched to enhance, diversify, and validate participant engagement in scientific research in need of the public’s help. SciStarter’s leadership is part of the National Academy of Sciences’ Committee, Designing Citizen Science to Support Science Learning, which is developing guidelines and a research agenda for citizen science in education. This article briefly introduces educators to SciStarter 2.0.
Since 2005, the IMLS Office of Museum Services has funded research projects under the auspices of the National Leadership Grant program. These grants support projects that ‘raise the bar’ in museum research and practice. Funded projects have national impact and generate findings that, through broad dissemination, move the field forward. This project was funded in the program’s inaugural round. Why Zoos and Aquariums Matter: Working with Community Perceptions to Achieve Your Goals draws on the illuminating research conducted as part of the IMLS-funded study. Its findings provide useful
Federal support for museums through the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is based on the premise that museums are valuable community organizations providing rich opportunities for learning and civic engagement. Yet, until recently, there has been a paucity of systematic and evidence-based research on the public impact of museums. Therefore, since 2005, the IMLS Office of Museum Services has funded research projects under the auspices of the National Leadership Grant program. These grants support projects that ‘raise the bar’ in museum research and practice. Funded projects have
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TEAM MEMBERS:
John H FalkKerry BronnenkantCynthia VernonJoseph Heimlich