The field of informal science learning and communication is comprised of many sectors—after school programs, science center exhibitions and programs, television and film, print and new media, to name just a few. Each of these is understood to make unique contributions, present unique opportunities, and require unique support. Science Live began with the observation that it is time to similarly acknowledge the practice of live public science events.
Public science events are live, in-person programs designed to engage publics with science in a social context that is at least as meaningful as
Chemistry plays a critical role in daily life, impacting areas such as medicine and health, consumer products, energy production, the ecosystem, and many other areas. Communicating about chemistry in informal environments has the potential to raise public interest and understanding of chemistry around the world. However, the chemistry community lacks a cohesive, evidence-based guide for designing effective communication activities. This report is organized into two sections. Part A: The Evidence Base for Enhanced Communication summarizes evidence from communications, informal learning, and
In 2014 Poets House received a planning grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for Discovering the Natural World through Poetry at Libraries & Natural History Museums. Activities included discussions among the project team about how to support learning in a hybrid program; a two-day set of pilot public event experiments at the Oakland Museum of California and the Oakland Public Library; and a one-day workshop for poets, scientists, museum and library leaders, and researchers to explore the potential of poetry and science to promote deeper public connection to the natural world
This poster was presented at the 2016 Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) PI Meeting held in Bethesda, MD on February 29-March 2. This project addresses gaps in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) in STEM education by examining contextual factors that influence implementation and practice of STEM programs in underserved communities.
The purpose of the summative evaluation is to two-fold: 1) provide documentation to NSF about the extent to which the project met its goals and objectives, and 2) give the Lab of Ornithology information about how well the Web application and the ecosystem within which it resides is engaging the intended audiences. The main evaluation questions the study needed to answer related to who is participating in YardMap, how much participation affects participants’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviors around birding, gardening, and citizen science.
A true experimental design was used, where
This poster was presented at the 2016 Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) PI Meeting held in Bethesda, MD on February 29-March 2. EA4CS is an AISL Pathways project that explores the use of embedded assessment (EA) to measure participant science inquiry skill development within the context of citizen science (CS) projects. This proof-of-concept project consists of two concurrent strategies to study and enhance the use of EA in these informal-science-learning settings. With a “forest view,” we are scanning the CS community to understand assessment of targeted science inquiry skills. With our
This special report describes NSF INCLUDES (Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science), a comprehensive initiative to enhance U.S. leadership in science and engineering discovery and innovation by proactively seeking and effectively developing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) talent from all sectors and groups in our society. By facilitating partnerships, communication and cooperation, NSF aims to build on and scale up what works in broadening participation programs to reach underserved populations
This presentation from the 2016 NSF Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) Principal Investigators' Meeting presents an overview of the AISL Online Project Monitoring System (OPMS), including a report-out of findings from the data collected from projects funded between FY2006-FY2014.
This special issue of Science Education & Civic Engagement contains articles on work occurring in a variety of informal STEM education settings, and is dedicated to the memory of former CAISE co-Principal Investigator and adviser Alan Friedman. It was provided in hard copy form to 2016 NSF AISL PI meeting participants.
These slides were presented at the NSF Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) Principal Investigators' Meeting held in Bethesda, MD from February 29-March 2, 2016. The presentation describes NSF INCLUDES, a funding opportunity that leverages collective impact strategies to broaden participation in STEM.
This poster was presented at the 2016 Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) PI Meeting held in Bethesda, MD on February 29-March 2. 'Be a Scientist!' is a full-scale development project that examines the impact of a scalable, STEM afterschool program which trains engineers to develop and teach inquiry-based Family Science Workshops (FSWs) in underserved communities.
These slides provide an overview of current NSF funding opportunities, including Dear Colleague Letters and foundation-wide mechanisms. The presentation occurred as a technical assistance session at the 2016 NSF AISL PI Meeting.