As a part of the strategy to reach the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Science Education and Public Outreach Forum Objective 1.2: Provide resources and opportunities to enable sharing of best practices relevant to SMD education and public outreach (E/PO), the Informal Education Working Group members designed a nationally-distributed online survey to answer the following questions: 1. How, when, where, and for how long do informal educators prefer to receive science, mathematics, engineering, and/or technology content professional development? 2. What are the professional development and
The Massachusetts Linking Experiences and Pathways Follow-on (M-LEAP2) is a three-year longitudinal empirical research study that is examining prospectively how early formal and informal STEM education experiences are related to gender-based differences in STEM achievement-related choices in middle and high school. M-LEAP2 serves as a complement to - and extension of - a prior NSF-funded study, M-LEAP, which was a largely quantitative research study that followed overlapping cohorts of 3rd - 6th grade female and male students for three years. M-LEAP surveyed over 1,600 students, 627 student-parent pairs, and 134 second parents in 8 diverse public schools across Massachusetts. In contrast, M-LEAP2 is a heavily qualitative three-year study using in-depth interviews with a diverse range of 72 of these students and their families to study how formal and informal science experiences shape the students' science-related beliefs, interests, and aspirations as they progress though middle and high school.
Researchers Jurow, Hall, and Ma examined how conversations and interactions between students and STEM professionals expanded students’ understanding of math modeling.
Having developed the concept of near-peer mentorship at the middle school/high school level and utilized it in a summer science education enhancement program now called Gains in the Education of Mathematics and Science or GEMS at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), it is now our goal to ultimately expand this program into an extensive, research institute-based source of young, specially selected, near-peer mentors armed with kits, tools, teacher-student developed curricula, enthusiasm, time and talent for science teaching in the urban District of Columbia Public Schools (specific schools) and several more rural disadvantaged schools (Frederick and Howard Counties) in science teaching. We describe this program as a new in-school component, involving science clubs and lunch programs, patterned after our valuable summer science training modules and mentorship program. Our in-house program is at its maximum capacity at the Institute. Near-peer mentors will work in WRAIR's individual laboratories while perfecting/adapting hands-on activities for the new GEMS-X program to be carried out at McKinley Technology HS, Marian Koshland Museum, Roots Charter School and Lincoln Junior HS in DC, West Frederick Middle School, Frederick, MD and Folly Quarter Middle School and Glenelg HS, in Howard County, MD. Based on local demographics in these urban/rural areas, minority and disadvantaged youth, men and women, may choose science, mathematics, engineering and technology (SMET) careers with increasing frequency after participating, at such an early age, in specific learning in the quantitative disciplines. Many of these students take challenging courses within their schools, vastly improve their standardized test scores, take on internship opportunities, are provided recommendations from scientists and medical staff and ultimately are able to enter health professions that were previously unattainable. Relevance to Public Health: The Gains in the Education of Mathematis and Science (GEMS) program educates a diverse student population to benefit their science education and ultimately may improve the likelihood of successfully entry into a health or health-related professions for participating individuals. Medical education has been show to improve public health.
More and more young people are learning about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in a wide variety of afterschool, summer, and informal programs. At the same time, there has been increasing awareness of the value of such programs in sparking, sustaining, and extending interest in and understanding of STEM. To help policy makers, funders and education leaders in both school and out-of-school settings make informed decisions about how to best leverage the educational and learning resources in their community, this report identifies features of productive STEM programs in
This is a report of an evaluation of the content and design of the science components of the Education Development Center's TV411 program, conducted by Owen Consulting, Inc. In 2010, EDC received a grant from NSF to reconstruct the TV411 website, produce new science content, including videos and web lessons, improve user interactivity, and develop materials to support adult educators who work with the site's target population of low literacy adults. This report lays out the evaluation design, provides an overview of site web metrics, describes the registered user population discusses the ways
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Education Development CenterEric GraigDavid Owen
This volume explores how technology-supported learning environments can incorporate physical activity and interactive experiences in formal and informal education. It presents cutting-edge research and design work on a new generation of "body-centric" technologies such as wearable body sensors, GPS tracking devices, interactive display surfaces, video game controller devices, and humanlike avatars. Contributors discuss how and why each of these technologies can be used in service of learning within K-12 classrooms and at home, in museums and online. Citing examples of empirical evidence and
STARBASE Minnesota strives to increase the knowledge, skills, and interest of inner-city elementary school youth in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) for greater academic and lifelong success. This study examines the potential long-term impacts of participation, including interest and engagement in STEM, academic achievement, high school graduation, and college enrollment.
Innovation spaces are springing up around the world. This phenomenon is driven by emerging technologies in additive manufacturing, by new thinking about learning, by a desire to grow the Michigan economy through the democratization of innovation and entrepreneurship and the need to provide authentic experiences to engage and retain students in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) disciplines and careers. We are presently engaged in the project planning phase of the Innovation 5 concept. Innovation 5 will be a community-based rapid prototyping/additive manufacturing facility that will be housed within and will be integral to the Impression 5 Science Center in downtown Lansing, MI. This space is envisioned to house resources such as rapid prototyping and additive manufacturing equipment, meeting spaces and networking facilities for collaboration, This space will also serve as a core element of the informal learning experience for visitors to the Impression 5 Science Center. Impression 5 is currently planning a dramatic renovation and expansion which provides a window of opportunity for development of this new concept. Innovation 5 is planned to function at the intersection of three major trends in education and economic development; additive manufacturing and rapid prototyping, authentic STEM experiences for students and community based innovation and entrepreneurial support.. Additive Manufacturing/Rapid Prototyping: Additive manufacturing and rapid prototyping are poised to be the next great digital revolution, where the barrier between digital concept and physical object ceases to exist. "Machines that turn binary digits into physical objects are pioneering a whole new way of making things" one that could rewrite the rules of manufacturing in much the same way that the PC laid waste to traditional computing (The Economist Technology Quarterly Dec 1, 2012) This technological revolution is becoming a central feature of a new set of institutions that make these facilities available to entrepreneurs as shared community resources. Global networks are already forming as non-profits such as FabLabs and MakerSpaces, commercial entities like TechShop and at the Federal government level, such as the recently announced National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute. Authentic STEM Experiences for Students: There is increasing recognition that student learning can be dramatically enhanced by enabling students to engage in inquiry-driven work that connects their learning to the real world and that involves collaboration and communication. For example, the National Science Foundation is devoting significant resources to promote the concept of learning through innovation through such programs as the I-Corps. The informal science education community has moved strongly towards becoming a center for STEM learning in conjunction with more traditional learning environments. The National Science Foundation recently changed the name of its Informal Science Education (ISE) division to Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL). The Impression 5 Science Center is also actively pursuing the link between informal education and innovation through its new exhibit, the Build Zone where children are encouraged to create and test new structures in a wide variety of physical formats. Community-based Entrepreneurial Support: The Maker/FabLab culture emphasizes the democratization of these new technologies. We feel that this can be a key contribution of Innovation 5 to the City of Lansing community. The population of the City of Lansing is diverse with a high proportion of members of underrepresented groups. In addition, Lansing is undersupported compared to neighboring communities in terms of access to technology and related educational resources. By becoming the local "on ramp to innovation," Innovation 5 can provide low-cost, easy-entry access to these new technologies for community members, whether as microentrepreneurs or just to access these technologies for personal interest. The goal of the Innovation 5 proposal is to meld these threads into a new type of institution. We view the Innovation 5 space as a graded environment for STEM learning through innovation. The facility is envisaged to have a "front end" that serves as an inviting informal education setting where children and families can learn about and participate in the process of innovation and where they can actually see and interact with, in a controlled fashion, the rapid prototyping facility. The "back end" of the facility will have multiple spaces with various levels of controlled access. There will be a collaboration space with visual global networking capability and access to design tools that will be relatively open. Beyond that area would be a space with rapid prototyping tools that require training and supervision for access and operation. One step beyond this might be small spaces for entrepreneurs to pursue more advanced projects. Students will participate integrally in all aspects of Innovation 5's functioning, from interacting with children in an informal setting to serving as team members in developing products from concept to market. Students will also provide the core of the group managing the facility, with substantial input into the direction Innovation 5 will take. Consistent with this vision, 6 student interns are diligently working this summer as a project planning team. They are focusing on various aspects of the facility, from design and equipment needs to marketing and social media. We anticipate completing the project planning phase this summer, to be followed by focused fundraising efforts to install and maintain Innovation 5. Impression 5 Science Center is strongly supportive of this project and has generously offered to provide ample space within their current building envelope for Innovation 5. With this support as well as financial support already received from Lansing area community, education and economic development groups, we are confident that we are well on our way to creating Innovation 5, the first facility of its kind in the United States, and one that has great potential to be replicated nationally.
The Chester County intermediate Unit developed strong collaborations between school districts and informal education providers across Pennsylvania to engage thousands of students in high quality learning experiences. NASA will support these partnering institutions as they engage local teachers in professional development in high quality instruction during the school year. Requirements for both summer activities and school year activities necessitates cooperative agreements with secondary education partners to ensure fulfilling participation requirements such as reaching a large number of middle school students and teachers. The CCIU has many potential partners in the PA SoI project who have expressed interest in participating; including Carnegie-Mellon Robotics Academy, Cheyney University, Widener University, the Philadelphia School District, the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the NASTAR flight facility. With a renewed effort by the CCIU the PA Summer of Innovation Program will be implemented through the PAIU NET to provide quality STEM programming to students and STEM training to teachers while monitoring student outcomes. In Eastern PA camps will be held August 1-5 at 36 sites in the 20 participating school districts statewide. In Chester County, camp sites include Gordon Elementary School and Pope John Paul II Regional Catholic School. Additionally several NASA SoI Mini-Camps were held increasing the breath and depth of the program's impact.
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Chester County Intermediate UnitJohn Hall
The designers of the Math Moves! exhibits have worked hard to support visitors’ qualitative, kinesthetic understanding of the topic of ratio and proportion. How did we, as designers of math exhibits in science museums, attempt to make connections for visitors between embodied understanding of mathematics and more abstract knowledge? How have they come to view what counts as mathematics?
This RAPID proposal was submitted in response to the NSF Dear Colleague letter soliciting proposals related to research addressing the Ebola challenge. The PBS NewsHour will produce 8 Television reports and Web coverage of scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and computer and technology experts as they apply their knowledge to tackling the Ebola virus. The programs will be distributed nationally through PBS, the NewsHour website, and multiple social media channels reaching a large national audience. The public needs to be kept informed about the research into Ebola in a way that is understandable to a broad general audience. Current news reports focus primarily on the immediate crisis of the victims and medical personnel while less so on the science of Ebola. The NewsHour programs will instead help people learn about the non-medical, non-clinical care research that can help lead to solutions about Ebola; information that may also be applicable to similar diseases. The videos and web content will show and explain the scientific work being done by some of the leading scientists, engineers, computer experts and big data gatherers. These researchers' stories and work will be told in ways that will be engaging to a large and diverse audience, increasing their knowledge of the scientific, engineering, and mathematical/computer data/modeling work that is critical to solving the Ebola crisis. The PBS NewsHour has significant reach through its nightly national broadcasts, its website, and its large social media following. Over 300 PBS stations broadcast the program each week night reaching 1.4 million people (11% African American and 51% female). The website has 3.8 million unique visitors and there are 575,000 Twitter followers. In addition over 1.5 million registered teachers use the PBS NewsHour educational materials. The videos and transcripts will be consolidated on the NewsHour website where they will exist permanently providing a resource for the public and researchers.