The Explore Science: Let’s Do Chemistry project is a design-based research study creating both chemistry hands-on activities and a theoretical framework about strategies that promote increases in public interest, understandings of relevance, and feelings of self-efficacy about chemistry. This poster, which was presented at the 2019 NSF AISL Principal Investigators Meeting, shared the design-based research process for the ChemAttitudes project and asked how we can promote use of project findings and products beyond the life of the grant.
Chemistry is an important and widely relevant field of science. However, when compared with other STEM content areas, chemistry is under-represented in U.S. science museums and other informal educational environments. This project will build, and build knowledge about, innovative approaches to delivering informal science learning activities in chemistry. The project will not only increase public interest and understanding of chemistry but also increase public perception of chemistry's relevance and increase the public's self-efficacy with respect to chemistry. This project outcomes will include a guide for practitioners along with activity materials that will be packaged into a kit, distributed, and replicated for use by informal science educators, chemists, and chemistry students at 250 sites across the U.S. The project team will reach out to organizations that serve diverse audiences and diverse geographic locations, including organizations in rural and inner-city areas. The kits will provide guidance on engaging girls, people with various abilities, Spanish speakers, and other diverse audiences, and include materials in Spanish. Written guides, training videos, and training slides will be included to support training in science communication in general, as well as chemistry in particular. This project is supported by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds research and innovative resources for use in a variety of settings, as a part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments.
This project will take an innovative approach to develop informal educational activities and materials about chemistry. Rather than starting with content goals, the project will start with a theoretical framework drawn from research about affecting attitudes about science related to interest, relevance, and self-efficacy. A design-based research approach (DBR) will be used to apply that framework to the development of hands-on educational activities about chemistry, while also testing and modifying the framework itself. (DBR blends empirical educational research with the theory-driven design of learning environments.) Existing or new educational activities that appear to embody key characteristics defined in the framework will be tested with public audiences for their impact on visitors. Researchers and educators will determine how different characteristics of the educational activities defined in the framework affect the outcomes. The activities will be modified and tested iteratively until the investigators achieve close alignment between framework and impacts.. The project team will continue the design-based research approach both to examine groups of activities in which synergies can have impacts beyond single interactions as well as to examine varied ways of training facilitators who can also significantly affect outcomes. In this way, the project will generate knowledge about how kits of hands-on informal learning activities can stimulate attitudes of interest, relevance, and self-efficacy with respect to the neglected field of chemistry. The project teams will broadly disseminate project outcomes within the educational research, science and informal Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education communities. While this project will focus on chemistry, the strategies it will develop and test through a design-based research process will provide valuable insight into effective approaches for informal STEM education more broadly.
Research chemists from the Center for Enabling New Technologies Through Catalysis (CENTC) worked collaboratively with the Liberty Science Center (LSC) to develop a hands-on activity to educate visitors about how small molecules derived from petroleum feedstocks are used to make larger molecules that are then utilized in the production of everyday consumer goods. Researchers, faculty, and students provided the chemistry content and LSC worked with Blue Telescope Studios to create a user-friendly program for the Ideum Multitouch Table. The resulting “Molecule Magic,” an engaging and intuitive
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Center for Enabling New Technology Through Catalysis (CENTC)Abby O'Connor
The importance of reporting current science to the general public is more important now than ever before. The best way to ensure enthusiastic support for science is to engage the general public as directly as possible. Unlike schooling, learning in a museum is self-motivated, self-directed, and can be lifelong. The partnership between Columbia University's MRSEC (Materials Research Science and Engineering Center) and the New York Hall of Science will do this in an exciting manner by development of innovative 'rolling exhibits' (Discovery Carts) that are visually attractive, intellectually stimulating and demonstrate current research. This project will unite a dynamic University research faculty, dedicated graduate students, and high school teachers from one of the largest and best known teacher research experience programs in the country. NY Hall of Science, specialists in public science education, have developed exhibitions, over the past 20 years, for school and family group visitors in biology, chemistry and physics. Most recently, the Hall opened an 800-foot biochemistry discovery lab featuring ten experiments that teach visitors about the role of molecules in everyday life. The lab is facilitated by an explainer, and hundreds of families use the lab throughout the year. All exhibits and programs have rigorous science presented in an engaging manner in an educationally non-threatening environment. Columbia University is one of the premier research institutions in the country. Columbia's MRSEC is engaged in multi-faceted educational outreach activities in the New York metropolitan area, including a close working relationship with Columbia's 16 year old RET program. Together these institutions are well situated to involve the research community in public education activities that will inform the public about the current advances in science. Teachers and graduate students who have worked in MRSEC labs will assist in bringing new skills and ideas to the development of museum programming and exhibits. The teachers have experienced both the research projects first-hand and have had the experience in translating the research into meaningful classroom activities for their students. The graduate students have worked alongside the teachers, assisting them in making the research meaningful to high school students. Broader Impact: Highly skilled educators who can improve a young person's chances for success are like gold for the nation's schools, which are under pressure for tough accountability standards. Teachers will influence over a thousand students during the course of their careers. The Hall's Explainers are of high school and college age. These two groups will have positive impacts on our society for years to come. They will benefit from participation, and the tens of thousands of visitors to the museum will learn about cutting edge research.
In late spring 2010, Goodman Research Group, Inc. (GRG) was contracted by the Museum of Science, Boston, to conduct an outcomes evaluation of their educational live performance, The Amazing Nano Brothers Juggling Show (ANB). The show presents scientific concepts about atoms and nano science in a highly entertaining and engaging performance. The evaluation focused on the learning outcomes of children, adults, and middle school students. The goal of this evaluation was to examine the effectiveness of the show in increasing audiences' knowledge of and interest in nano science and nanotechnology
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Rachel SchechterMuseum of ScienceMolly PriedemanIrene GoodmanCarol Lynn Alpert
Columbia University Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) and New York Hall of Science (NYHOS) partnered to create Research and Rolling Exhibits (RARE). The project's goal is to showcase current research in science and make it accessible to the general public. Five Wondercarts were created over three years, from 2005 through 2008, highlighting topical scientific research and its relevance to the museum's target audience. The carts were programmed to engage families in conversation, letting their interest determine the direction of activities. In this manner Wondercarts
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Ellen GiustiNew York Hall of ScienceKathleen Condon
CENTC's (Center for Enabling New Technologies Through Catalysis) outreach is focused on partnerships with science centers. Initially we worked with the Pacific Science Center (PSC) to train our students in effective communication of science concepts to public audiences. Later we developed a short-term exhibit, Chemist - Catalysts for Change in the Portal to Current Research space. As part of the CCI/AISL partnership program, we partnered with Liberty Science Center to create an activity on a multi-touch media table, "Molecule Magic." We are currently developing another exhibit with PSC.
This multimedia project tells the human story of the long, continuing quest to identify, understand, and organize the basic building blocks of matter leading to the Periodic Table of Elements. Project deliverables include a two hour PBS documentary; a website on the Periodic Table and discovery of the elements; a Teacher\'s Guide; and an Outreach Plan led by the St. Louis Science Center and nine other science centers. The target audiences are adults with an interest in science, inner-city youth, and high school chemistry teachers and their students. Partners include Moreno/Lyons Productions, the American Chemical Society (ACS), the Chemical Heritage Foundation; the St. Louis Science Center; and Oregon Public Broadcasting. The national broadcast and outreach activities are intended to complement the International Year of Chemistry (IYC) 2011, furthering the opportunity to enhance the public understanding of chemistry. The goal of the project is to reveal science as an intensely human process of discovery through stories of some of the greatest scientists. The two-hour PBS special will tell a "detective story" of chemistry, stretching from the ancient alchemists to today's efforts to find stable new forms of matter. Among key characters will be Joseph Priestley, Antoine Lavoisier, Humphry Davy, Dmitrii Mendeleev, Marie Curie, Harry Moseley, and Glenn Seaborg. The program will show both their discoveries and the creative process, using reenactments shot with working replicas of their original lab equipment. Interwoven with history will be segments on modern chemical research and the real-world consequences of the discoveries. A two-part Outreach Plan is aimed at engaging inner-city youths through a network of ten science centers led by the St. Louis Science Center and at reaching a broader audience through events, activities, and publications offered by ACS during National Chemistry Week and IYC 2011. The television program is projected to reach three million viewers during its multiple broadcasts over premiere week, increasing to five million or more with subsequent repeat broadcasts and DVD distribution. It is estimated that 6,500 underrepresented urban teens will participate in the hands-on activities in the ten science centers during IYC 2011. The website is intended to become a resource extending the reach and impact of the project for a decade or more. The summative evaluation will assess the extent to which the project accomplishes the goals of enhancing public understanding of chemistry, affecting public attitudes toward chemistry and chemists, and improving the understanding of the nature of science. Three studies will be conducted. The first will be an in-depth evaluation of the program and Web site with a sample of 150 adult PBS viewers using a two-group post-test randomized study design. The second study will evaluate the outreach effort with diverse audiences at the local level prior to and during National Chemistry Week using on site observations, surveys, and interviews to capture participant feedback at local events. The third study will evaluate high school educators' use of the Teacher's Edition & Guide.
The New York Hall of Science will develop, test, and implement the "Biochemistry Discovery Lab," a 1000-sq.-ft. space designed to complement the content and design of "The Chemistry of Living Things," a 3000-sq.-ft. exhibition that will be opening in 1999. The Biochemistry Discovery Lab will engage visitors in four different types of activities: 1) guided experiments for scheduled groups, 2) self-guided experiments, 3) demonstrations, and 4) the prototyping of ancillary materials. These activities are intended to engage the target audiences -- families, students, and the general public -- in experiences leading to an understanding that chemical reactions are due to the interaction of molecules; that chemical reactions occur in both living and nonliving things; and that there are visible and measurable characteristics of chemical reactions in living and nonliving systems.
This project by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) develops a public education program on chemistry. The program: introduces students and the general public to the science of chemistry and processes of chemistry-related research through drop-in lab activities; provides follow-up chemistry activities for use by elementary teachers and parents so that children can further explore the interests they have developed in science and chemistry; provides opportunities for internships for high-school students as lab assistants so that they can develop greater knowledge of "everyday" chemistry, laboratory techniques and safety, develop skills in working with others and in teaching chemistry, and explore potential careers in teaching chemistry; and make available the resources developed by OMSI to other interested science museums.
Inventure Place will present "Interactive Experiences Introducing Polymer Science." This planning grant will enable Inventure Place and its partner, the College of Polymer Science and Engineering at the University of Akron, to conduct audience research and prototyping and resolve design issues for the development of an integrated program of permanent and traveling interactive exhibits, learning labs, and educational activities introducing families and students to polymer science. Through accessible experiences, Inventure Place will introduce some basic concepts in the physical sciences, raise "polymer literacy", and introduce related careers.
Visitors to the Science Museum of Minnesota provided feedback on the books, How Small Is Nano? and Is That Robot Real? in order to assess the books and their ability to impart knowledge of nanoscience. The visitors, 63 adults in all, read one of the books to the child or children accompanying them, then answered a series of questions about their experience including their interest in and enjoyment of the book they read, as well as the age appropriateness of the book. The report compares and contrasts the two books throughout.