Diversity, equity, access, inclusion, and belonging-related change is often difficult to achieve in organizations. In the context of Informal STEM Learning (ISL), this results in inequitable opportunities for both ISL professionals and learners to engage in STEM environments and experiences. For people to thrive in these settings, creative and innovative approaches that address historical and current realities of intersectional marginalization and inequitable norms within informal STEM institutions are necessary to disrupt conventions, institutional barriers, and patterns of inequities. TERC and the Detroit Zoological Society will develop and implement an ISL Equity Resource Center (the Center). The Center will advance equity within the ISL field by cultivating a multi-sector, diverse learning community that designs and conducts evidence-based research and practice, including but not limited to equity-focused leadership, decision-making, theory, methods, project topic selection and design, and budget management.
The Center will cultivate lasting change in the ISL and broader STEM learning ecosystem via (a) sharing more inclusive, culturally relevant, and responsive ISE research and practice; (b) identifying scalable, equity-focused research findings useful in ISL programming; and (c) promoting greater public awareness of the importance of broadening participation in STEM. The Center's primary stakeholders are ISL professionals, including researchers, practitioners, and evaluators. The Center will maintain and expand a digital infrastructure to support innovation and sharing across the ISL field. Through its combined efforts, the Center will raise the visibility and impact of ISL equity-focused research and practice and its contributions to the overall STEM endeavor. The Center will also organize and host the biennial AISL Awardee Meeting. The Center is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning program, which seeks to (a) advance new approaches to and evidence-based understanding of the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments; (b) provide multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences; (c) advance innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments; and (d) engage the public of all ages in learning STEM in informal environments.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Stephen AlkinsDiane MillerLisette Torres-GeraldPati Ruiz
In both the STEM media and entertainment sectors women are significantly unrepresented. Women account for only 21% of the upper-level positions in film (directors, writers, executive producers, cinematographers, etc.) according to a recent study. This small conference directly addresses how to expand the volume of STEM focused media and entertainment content centered on women and girls. The Creative Workforce Summit: Women Storytellers Explore STEM will be held in New York City and online (hybrid) in September 2022. The goal of the conference is to 1) encourage an infrastructure of support for the creation and distribution of informal STEM educational film, digital, and television content that is centered on women and girls and 2) to strengthen ties between women in media, entertainment, and women in STEM fields. The agenda includes keynote addresses by thought leaders in STEM disciplines and media, panels of industry leaders, a youth journalist interviews, and film screenings with filmmaker and scientist Q&As. The conference will be a hybrid event to allow for the greatest access to a broader audience. The projected 300 in-person and 1000+ virtual attendees will be drawn from New York Women in Film and Television’s extensive membership and 100+ partner organizations in entertainment and media, including Black Public Media, Brown Girls Doc Mafia, Firelight Media, ReelAbilities, and the National Association of Latino Independent Producers. The conference will be followed by a publication based on the convening featuring the keynotes, abridged panel discussions, additional interviews, and industry representation data analysis. In addition, a curriculum guide for high schools and colleges focused on STEM and film collaborations will be developed and distributed.
A post conference quantitative survey will be conducted with conference participants to gather data on the impacts of the conference. Questions to be asked include: What new professional connections were made by women attending the conference? What was learned related to the craft of STEM related media production and distribution? Were new and meaningful connections made with participants outside the participant’s current field/networks? Additional analysis will be done by the organizers of the conference in planning post-conference strategies for supporting and building the women in STEM infrastructure.
This project is expanding an effective mobile making program to achieve sustainable, widespread impact among underserved youth. Making is a design-based, participant-driven endeavor that is based on a learning by doing pedagogy. For nearly a decade, California State University San Marcos has operated out-of-school making programs for bringing both equipment and university student facilitators to the sites in under-served communities. In collaboration with four other CSU campuses, this project will expand along four dimensions: (a) adding community sites in addition to school sites (b) adding rural contexts in addition to urban/suburban, (c) adding hybrid and online options in addition to in-person), and (d) including future teachers as facilitators in addition to STEM undergraduates. The program uses design thinking as a framework to engage participants in addressing real-world problems that are personally and socially meaningful. Participants will use low- and high-tech tools, such as circuity, coding, and robotics to engage in activities that respond to design challenges. A diverse group of university students will lead weekly, 90-minute activities and serve as near-peer mentors, providing a connection to the university for the youth participants, many of whom will be first-generation college students. The project will significantly expand the Mobile Making program from 12 sites in North San Diego County to 48 sites across California, with nearly 2,000 university facilitators providing 12 hours of programming each year to over 10,000 underserved youth (grades 4th through 8th) during the five-year timeline.
The project research will examine whether the additional sites and program variations result in positive youth and university student outcomes. For youth in grades 4 through 8, the project will evaluate impacts including sustained interest in making and STEM, increased self-efficacy in making and STEM, and a greater sense that making and STEM are relevant to their lives. For university student facilitators, the project will investigate impacts including broadened technical skills, increased leadership and 21st century skills, and increased lifelong interest in STEM outreach/informal science education. Multiple sources of data will be used to research the expanded Mobile Making program's impact on youth and undergraduate participants, compare implementation sites, and understand the program's efficacy when across different communities with diverse learner populations. A mixed methods approach that leverages extant data (attendance numbers, student artifacts), surveys, focus groups, making session feedback forms, observations, and field notes will together be used to assess youth and university student participant outcomes. The project will disaggregate data based on gender, race/ethnicity, grade level, and site to understand the Mobile Making program's impact on youth participants at multiple levels across contexts. The project will further compare findings from different types of implementation sites (e.g., school vs. library), learner groups, (e.g., middle vs. upper elementary students), and facilitator groups (e.g., STEM majors vs. future teachers). This will enable the project to conduct cross-case comparisons between CSU campuses. Project research will also compare findings from urban and rural school sites as well as based on the modality of teaching and learning (e.g., in-person vs. online). The mobile making program activities, project research, and a toolkit for implementing a Mobile maker program will be widely disseminated to researchers, educators, and out-of-school programs.
The Louisiana Art & Science Museum (LASM) will conduct a three-year program, “Healthy Aging with LASM,” which will serve senior adults in the 11-parish capital region. The museum will implement the program in partnership with the Capital Area Agency on Aging, the East Baton Rouge Parish Council on Aging, the Baton Rouge General Arts in Medicine Program, and Dr. Rebecca Bartlett. Senior adults have faced unprecedented levels of isolation, stress, and health risk due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The museum will present virtual and in-person art and science programming designed to combat isolation, foster meaningful connections, and promote healthy aging. Programming will include virtual field trips, distribution of arts and science virtual reality headsets, and a series of hands-on arts workshops.
The Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites will create a hands-on, immersive experience about legendary African American cyclist Marshall “Major” Taylor. The exhibit will feature a 1900-era locker room, a bicycle shop that demonstrates how bike design impacts performance, and three trophies Taylor won overseas. Visitors will be able to assemble bicycles and participate in an animated race. The museum will collaborate with The Indianapolis Public Library’s Center for Black Literature and Culture, US Bicycling Hall of Fame, Bike Indianapolis, and Central Indiana Bicycling Association. The exhibit will increase awareness of Major Taylor, his achievements, and his connections to Indianapolis and Indiana, and will provide a shared experience focused on race and our ongoing struggle for social justice. Visitors can contemplate and take action around bike equity, access to affordable transportation, and urban design, explore cycling and ride bicycles together.
The Children’s Museum will collaborate with six Hartford Public Library branches, three Hartford Family Centers, and the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center to provide hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) - based programs to over 1,000 local 3 to 14-year old children and their care givers. Program design and development will include planning for field trips to the museum. All participants will be given age-specific, supplemental STEAM materials to continue their learning activities at home, and families can attend more than one week of library programs, or more than three Saturdays of family center programs. The goal will be to help urban Hartford youths find new pathways toward responsible citizenry and fiscal stability.
The Field Museum of Natural History will present “Changing Face of Science,” an exhibition series targeting pre-teens and teenagers and featuring Field Museum scientists and science educators who are women or people of color. Over three years, the museum will mount six exhibitions that highlight the experiences and work of museum scientists from diverse backgrounds in a range of disciplines. Programming will include on-site field trips and virtual events during which students and educators will interact with featured researchers. By presenting the stories of individuals from groups traditionally underrepresented in scientific fields, the museum will provide role models who will show that science is accessible and inspire a diverse group of future scientists.
ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain will increase its capacity to serve rural schools through programming opportunities under its STEM in Motion 2.0 program. In partnership with rural schools, they will conduct two year-long teacher institutes blending in-person and virtual professional development. They plan to develop a total of 270 in-person and virtual classroom STEM programs and produce 18 classroom curriculum kits and standard-activity aligned guides. As a result of STEM in Motion 2.0’s activities, the museum anticipate that 54 teachers will have additional capacity to deliver high-quality STEM learning experiences to K–5th grade students in underserved, rural communities.
Kidzeum of Health and Science will partner with Springfield, Illinois School District 186 to create a two-week STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) residency for approximately 1,000 second graders in the district. The residency will take place at Kidzeum during the 2021-2022 school year. The program will include a curriculum created by teachers, school administrators, and museum staff, featuring a collaborative STEAM project that builds on Kidzeum exhibit content. Literacy, physical education, music, social studies, and social-emotional wellness will also be included in the curriculum as the Kidzeum tests the hypothesis that museums can benefit young learners and their families by serving as a place for longer term, immersive education programs. Southern Illinois University School of Medicine will provide project evaluation and subsequent reporting.
This by the project external evaluation partner presents findings from the first phase of the Co-Created Public Engagement with Science project (CC-PES). The CC-PES project has sought to bring together informal science education institutions, civic partners, and community partners to create forums that address socio-scientific issues that are important to audience being served. The project is designed to lead these collaborative teams through three key steps of public engagement with science: agenda setting (identifying the topic of interest and designing a forum to address it), decision
The Westchester Children’s Museum will develop Full STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) Ahead, an integrated, module-based sequence of hands-on STEAM workshops adaptable for both in-person and virtual teaching for high-need 2nd to 6th grade students at Thomas Cornell Academy in Yonkers, NY and Waterside School in Stamford, CT. Project activities include program development, preparation, delivery, and evaluation to create programs that are replicable and sustainable while leveraging the museum’s resources to demonstrate how it can support their communities in need during unprecedented times. Full STEAM Ahead anticipates reaching 300 students from low-income and economically disadvantaged families.
The Institute for Native Pacific Education and Culture (INPEACE) will create a mobile science exhibit to support improved academic outcomes in science and math for students from pre-school to eighth grade. With the collaboration of science experts, teachers, students, and cultural practitioners, the project team will identify and design three core exhibits using a culture-based educational approach. The project will link indigenous knowledge and practices with scientific theory, providing hands-on experiences designed to engage youth in STEM learning. The 'Ike Hawai'i Science Center Exhibit will visit rural Native Hawaiian communities on O'ahu and at least one other island. It will be available to public audiences of all ages.