Native Americans exert sovereignty over vast amounts of United States land and water resources, yet are underrepresented in the disciplines that train our nation's future land and water resource managers. Native American resource managers must walk in two worlds, accommodating both traditional and modern methods that may come into conflict. Building on an existing, NSF-funded Manoomin Science Camp, the Walking Two Worlds (W2W) project will employ a systems view of resource management in considering a broad range of resource management issues affecting the region (including its lakes and wetlands, fisheries, forestry, wildlife, and air quality), with the goal of engaging the entire community in environmental and resource management issues of immediate relevance to the community. W2W will incorporate both Western science concerning the physical, chemical, and biological worlds, and traditional environmental knowledge, culture, language, and the judgment of elders. This holistic approach will not only facilitate effective resource management for the community, it will also serve as a 'hook' for engaging students and the community in STEM. A partnership of the Fond du Lac Band (of Lake Superior Chippewa) and the University of Minnesota (UMN) planned collaboratively with the community, W2W will focus on community-inspired, participatory science research projects related to resource management and environmental science. W2W will be facilitated by local teachers, with former participants as mentors, researchers and resource manages as mentors, and UMN faculty as lecturers. W2W recognizes the critical importance of strong STEM education for natural resource management. Using a mixed-methods approach to external evaluation, the project will build knowledge on the contributions of the W2W holistic, systemic approach and theme of community resource management. This will provide the foundation for a future development project that builds a community of place-based learning and community-inspired research projects.
This project supports the development of technological fluency and understanding of STEM concepts through the implementation of design collaboratives that use eCrafting Collabs as the medium within which to work with middle and high school students, parents and the community. The researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the Franklin Institute combine expertise in learning sciences, digital media design, computer science and informal science education to examine how youth at ages 10-16 and families in schools, clubs, museums and community groups learn together how to create e-textile artifacts that incorporate embedded computers, sensors and actuators. The project investigates the feasibility of implementing these collaboratives using eCrafting via three models of participation, individual, structured group and cross-generational community groups. They are designing a portal through which the collaborative can engage in critique and sharing of their designs as part of their efforts to build a model process by which scientific and engineered product design and analysis can be made available to multiple audiences. The project engages participants through middle and high school elective classes and through the workshops conducted by a number of different organizations including the Franklin Institute, Techgirlz, the Hacktory and schools in Philadelphia. Participants can engage in the eCrafting Collabs through individual, collective and community design challenges that are established by the project. Participants learn about e-textile design and about circuitry and programming using either ModKit or the text-based Arduino. The designs are shared through the eCrafting Collab portal and participants are required to provide feedback and critique. Researchers are collecting data on learner identity in relation to STEM and computing, individual and collective participation in design and student understanding of circuitry and programming. The project is an example of a scalable intervention to engage students, families and communities in developing technological flexibility. This research and development project provides a resource that engages students in middle and high schools in technology rich collaborative environments that are alternatives to other sorts of science fairs and robotic competitions. The resources developed during the project will inform how such an informal/formal blend of student engagement might be scaled to expand the experiences of populations of underserved groups, including girls. The study is conducting an examination of the new types of learning activities that are multiplying across the country with a special focus on cross-generational learning.
The Exploratorium, in collaboration with the Boys and Girls Club Columbia Park (BGC) in the Mission District of San Francisco, is implementing a two-year exploratory project designed to support informal education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) within underserved Latino communities. Building off of and expanding on non-STEM-related efforts in a few major U.S. cities and Europe, the Exploratorium, BGC, and residents of the District will engage in a STEM exhibit and program co-development process that will physically convert metered parking spaces in front of the Club into transformative public places called "parklets." The BGC parklet will feature interactive, bilingual science and technology exhibits, programs and events targeting audiences including youth ages 8 - 17 and intergenerational families and groups primarily in the Mission District and users of the BGC. Parklet exhibits and programs will focus on STEM content related to "Observing the Urban Environment," with a focus on community sustainability. The project explores one approach to working with and engaging the public in their everyday environment with relevant STEM learning experiences. The development and evaluation processes are being positioned as a model for possible expansion throughout the city and to other cities.
Earth Partnership: Indigenous Arts and Sciences (EP) will develop and refine a model for integrating Indigenous and informal and formal K-20 educators in ecological restoration, project-based learning and professional development. EP will involve participants in Native habitat restoration on community spaces, school grounds and nearby natural areas as a context for intergenerational STEM learning across age, ecosystem, discipline, learning style, culture and place. EP integrates Native knowledge and core values including relationship, reciprocity, respect and responsibility with Western STEM concepts and processes. The project will integrate the expertise of university social, physical, life and learning scientists and community and tribal practitioners to design, develop and test informal STEM learning incorporating ecological restoration, citizen science and cultural diversity. EP grows out of a teacher professional development model funded by NSF and is a network that now includes participating individuals and organizations from many states. This network will enhance dissemination and provide a foundation for a larger project growing out of the results of this project. EP will build capacity of Native and non-Native informal educators and citizens to work together to generate engagement among young people and adults with ecological STEM learning and stewardship. The approach will integrate culturally authentic resources, inquiry and citizen science process skills (e.g., data collection, analysis, ecological restoration, water stewardship) in multiple learning settings. Stronger multicultural, intergenerational and community partnerships will be supported to restore aquatic and terrestrial habitats through community-based stewardship projects and Service Learning. Through EP, Native youth will be encouraged to explore STEM careers that will meet future workforce needs for managing tribal resources and become knowledgeable citizens able to use critical thinking and analysis of STEM-related issues in their communities. The project will use a developmental evaluation approach to assess project planning processes and outcomes of educational programs.
This award will engage the public on the issues surrounding the interaction and interdependence of human systems and natural systems. Specifically, it will engage them on human impacts and the health of salmon fisheries in the area of Sitka, Alaska. The public in this area includes the citizens of lower portion of Alaska, K-12 students frequenting the Sitka Sound Science Center on field trips, Alaskan Natives, visiting scientists, and tourists who arrive by cruise ships. The exhibit will be placed at the Sitka Sound Science Center and will include a tank of live salmon fish, a computer game, a 10 minute video, and an artist's rendition of the fishing system and salmon life cycle. The team of scientists from the University of Washington coupled with the exhibit developer, Tenji, Inc., and the outstanding artist, Ray Troll should produce an understandable and marvelously picturesque exhibit for the visitors. This will be augmented by the highly capable staff that has considerable experience in translating science concepts to the public. Media broadcasts will broaden the reach of the exhibit. While the impact of this project is not huge in terms of numbers of people, it is an important endeavor as the people in the Sitka area of Alaska will understand their role in the food system for themselves and for the many other parts of the world. Furthermore, the cruise line visitors will derive an understanding of the fragile environment of the salmon ecosystem.
This CRPA award addresses the exciting contemporary chemical science that occurs in interstellar space. The new interferometers coming online this year will enhance this new area of science and further intrigue those who engage. The plan in this award is to build an exhibit that will interest the audience with the space-based aspects, but will also engage them in understanding the chemistry that occurs in space. This is a collaborative effort between the University of Virginia and the Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. The exhibit is relatively small facilitating its mobility. Thus, the authors will travel the exhibit to smaller venues in rural areas and embrace citizens who are typically under-served by educational opportunities of ISE venues. The target audience is 12-15 year old youths. Clearly, this project is meant to engage the public in both Space science and Chemistry with the ultimate hope that some individuals will even think about careers in the joint science field that is emerging from these types of behaviors.
The Designing Our World (DOW) project centers on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) equity and addresses the need for more youth, especially girls, to pursue engineering and fill vital workforce gaps. DOW will integrate tested informal science education (ISE) programs and exhibits with current knowledge of engaging diverse youth through activities embedded in a social context. Led by teams of diverse community stakeholders and in partnership with several local girl-serving organizations, DOW will leverage existing exhibits, girls’ groups, and social media to impact girls’
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Oregon Museum of Science and IndustryAnne Sinkey
Many communities across the country are developing "maker spaces," environments that combine physical fabrication equipment, social communities of people working together, and educational activities for learning how to design and create objects. Increasingly, maker spaces and maker technologies are being designed to provide extended learning opportunities for school-aged young people. Unfortunately, few youth from under-represented populations have had the opportunity to participate in these maker spaces, and many communities do not have the resources to establish facilities dedicated to making activities. This project, a collaboration of faculty at California State University, San Marcos and San Diego County Office of Education, the Vista Unified School District, and the San Diego Fab Lab, is a feasibility study that will work to address these needs by implementing and evaluating a pilot Mobile Making program in an underserved youth population. It will bring Making to four after-school programs in underserved communities in San Diego by using a van to take both equipment and undergraduate student mentors to program sites. At these sites, between 50% and 90% of the students are Hispanic or Latino and between 40% and 90% are eligible for free or reduced price lunch. The project employs a research-based approach to the design and implementation of the Mobile Making program, coupled with an evidenced-based plan for developing a model for future dissemination. Project objectives are: increasing the participants' interest, self-efficacy, and perception of the relevance of Making/STEM in everyday life; identifying and overcoming challenges associated with a Mobile Making program; developing a model for implementing and assessing Mobile Making in underserved communities; and disseminating materials and guides for practitioners. Development will be guided by five research-based principles for design of out-of-school time programs in underserved communities: access to resources; ethnically diverse near-peer leaders; authentic activities; legitimacy within the community; and ongoing input from participants. To inform program development and implementation, including continuous monitoring and adjustment throughout the two-year initiative, the evaluation component will use a mixed methods approach to study outcomes with respect to the students, their parents and the undergraduate mentors. Future work will apply the lessons learned in the project to guide implementations and study the model's applicability in other informal education settings. The dissemination plan will include publication of project findings, activities, practitioner's guides, and the model for implementing making programs in underserved communities.
Where do kids’ beliefs about their ability to do science originate? How do these self-efficacy beliefs relate to unspoken theories about whether scientific ability is fixed or fluid? Researchers set out to answer these questions in a study of 1,225 middle and high school students.
This Australian study by Logan and Skamp reports on students’ science interest across their first four years of secondary school. The findings will be relevant to all concerned about the decline in the numbers of students choosing to study science at higher levels and pursue science-related careers. Findings highlight the importance of an individual teacher’s pedagogical practices in either fostering or hindering student interest in science.
This paper examines how students, teachers, and parents evaluate residential fieldwork courses. As in prior research, findings from questionnaire data indicate that fieldwork effects social, affective, and behavioural learning. More surprisingly, focus group interviews captured increases in cognitive learning as well. This paper underscores the value of out-of-school experiences, particularly for students from under-resourced backgrounds.
Students with special educational needs score significantly below their peers across several measures of science achievement. However, educational approaches that provide appropriate scaffolding and support, such as the inquiry-based science writing heuristic described in this paper, can benefit special educational needs students and ensure an equitable experience for all.