This project takes advantage of the charismatic nature of arachnids to engage the public in scientific inquiry, dialogue, and exploration. The project has two specific programs: (1) The development, implementation, and assessment of an informal museum event entitled 'Eight-Legged Encounters' which now has more than 25 associated activity stations. These activities encompass stations relating to (a) classification and systematics (e.g., 'What is an Arthropod', 'Create a Chelicerate', and 'Assemble an Arachnid'), (b) spider-specific stations focused on silk (e.g., 'Build a Burrow', 'Cribellate vs. Ecribellate Silk', 'Weave a Web', and 'Catch a Moth'), and (c) research related stations (e.g., 'Microscope Madness' and 'Community Experiment'). In addition, there is a stand-alone module entitled the 'Path of Predators' that includes an activity booklet and eleven stations that walk participants through the eleven living arachnid orders. Each stations has original artwork backdrops, clay sculptures, trading cards, and collectible stamps (participants place stamps on a phlylogenetic tree depicting the current hypothesis of evolutionary relationships among the eleven orders). Most stations have live animals and prizes are given to participants that complete their stamp booklet. 'Eight-Legged Encounters' has been hosted at the Nebraska State Museum (Morrill Hall) twice, with record-breaking attendance (>800 people in
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University of Nebraska-LincolnEileen Hebets
This paper argues that the diverse curriculum reform agendas associated with science education are strongly and critically associated with the educational characteristics of the humanities. The article begins with a survey of interpretations of the distinctive contribution which the humanities make to educational purposes. From this survey four general characteristics of the humanities are identified: an appeal to an autonomous self with the right and capacity to make independent judgements and interpretations; indeterminacy in the subject matter of these judgements and interpretations; a
This implementation study explores middle school, high school and community college student experiences in Globaloria, an educational pilot program of game design offered in schools within the U.S. state of West Virginia, supported by a non-profit organization based in New York City called the World Wide Workshop Foundation. This study reports on student engagement, meaning making and critique of the program, in their own words. The study's data source was a mid-program student feedback survey implemented in Pilot Year 2 (2008/2009) of the 5 year design-based research initiative, in which the
This presentation given at the 2013 Materials Research Society (MRS) Spring Meeting examines evidence for the effectiveness of STEM education programs at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.
One objective of the Center for High-rate Manufacturing is to increase knowledge of and interest in nanotechology among secondary and postsecondary students, educators, and the general public. The Center partners with the Museum of Science, Boston, to help carry out these goals. The Museum's CHN sub-award PI and her team provides training to graduate students to help them learn how to engage in education and outreach activities with these groups. To better understand graduate student education and outreach activities, and student participation in the Museum of Science outreach activities and
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UMass Donahue Institute Research and Evaluation GroupCarol Lynn AlpertCarol Barry
This is a collaborative research project between Montana State University (MSU), Bozeman, USA and Gorno-Altaisk State University (GASU), Altai Republic, Russian Federation. In this NSF International Research Experiences for Students project MSU students will travel to the Altai Republic and work with faculty and students at Gorno-Altaisk University to conduct research related to native language use in learning ecological sciences in informal settings. Student researchers will conduct individual studies related to the project theme of science learning in ecological contexts. This project will help students learn how to conduct educational research related to the ecological learning experiences of indigenous youth (ages12-16) and the use and influence of native language in learning about environment. This research directly addresses the results of our prior NSF supported work that identified shared issues of indigenous people, natural resources and the decline of native language use among underserved populations in the Altai and Yellowstone systems. This project contributes significantly to our emerging understanding of science learning in informal settings. It addresses a unique conception of ecological learning in three dimensions; personal, community and cultural perspectives. Research and education objectives align with modern conceptualizations of informal science learning as proposed by the National Academies of Science (2009). The MSU-GASU collaboration provides a holistic view of science learning and will unite diverse intellectual resources and research efforts in unique ecological and social systems. Both the Yellowstone and Altai mountain systems are of global concern as part of worldwide natural and cultural resources impacted by pervasive development, recreation and tourism activities and climate change. The underlying theoretical foundation for learning proposed in this research project is the basis for effective approaches to enable isolated rural populations to contribute traditional knowledge and wisdom to contemporary issues related to world-wide ecological and cultural issues including global climate change. Aspects of sustainability practices that are embedded in the knowledge and social processes of both marginalized and dominant societies will be better understood and taken into consideration for future research and education activities. Research outcomes will contribute to more effective informal, place-based and experiential science learning to help empower communities and decision makers in meeting challenges of sustainability. Inevitably, we expect this work to extend our understanding of science learning related to critical natural and cultural resources and their management. An understanding of how, why and where learning takes place will help extend the US and international research and education agendas related to informal science learning, natural and cultural resource management and sustainability.
Non-technical part.
This is a collaborative research project between Montana State University (MSU), Bozeman, USA and Gorno-Altaisk State University (GASU), Altai Republic, Russian Federation. In this NSF International Research Experiences for Students project MSU students will travel to the Altai Republic and work with faculty and students at Gorno-Altaisk University to conduct research related to native language use in learning ecological sciences in informal settings. Student researchers will conduct individual studies related to the project theme of science learning in ecological contexts. This project we will help students learn how to conduct educational research related to the ecological learning experiences of indigenous youth (ages12-16) and the use and influence of native language in learning about environment. Three cohorts of five MSU students will travel to the Altai Republic for eight weeks in the summers of 2013, 2014 & 2015. MSU students will comprise a research team with GASU science, education and language faculty to conduct research in the city of Gorno-Altaisk, two medium size villages such as Onguday and two small villages such as Karakol. We expect to work with youth in each setting and interview a representative sample at each site. As a research team we expect to gain a better understanding of how indigenous youth use native Altai language in informal settings to learn about environment. We expect to compare sights within the study. As part of our larger research interests in ecological learning and native people, we will conduct a similar comparative study in the Yellowstone Ecosystem with Native American youth. The studies associated with this project will add to our understanding about the extent and nature of native language use to learn science in underserved populations in very sensitive and unique ecological and cultural settings.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Michael BrodyClifford MontagneArthur BangertChristine StantonShane Doyle
The Badges for College Credit project designs and researches: (1) a digital badge system that leads to college credit as the context for investigating how to integrate badges with learning programs; (2) how to assess learning associated with badges; and (3) how badges facilitate learning pathways and contribute to science identity formation. The project is one of the first efforts to develop a system to associate informal science learning with college credit. The project will partner with three regional informal science institutions, the Pacific Science Center, the Future of Flight, and the Seattle of Aquarium, that will facilitate activities for participants that are linked to informal science learning and earning badges. The project uses the iRemix platform, a social learning platform, as a delivery system to direct participants to materials, resources, and activities that support the learning goals of the project. Badges earned within the system can be exported to the Mozilla Open Badges platform. Participants can earn three types of badges, automatic (based on participation), community (based on contributions to building the online community), and skill (based on mastery of science and communication) badges. Using a learning ecologies framework, the project will investigate multiple influences on how and why youth participate in science learning and making decisions. Project research uses a qualitative and quantitative approach, including observations, interviews, case studies, surveys, and learning analytics data, and data analytics. Project evaluation will focus on the nature and function of the collaboration, and on the scale-up aspects of the innovation and expansion, by: (1) analyzing and documenting effective procedures,and optimal contexts for the dissemination of the model and (2) by analyzing the collaboration between informal science organizations and higher education.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Carrie TzouKaren LennonAmanda GoertzGray Kochlar-Lindgren
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The Nanoscale Science and Engineering Education (NSEE) Center for Learning and Teaching (NCLT) would focus on the research and development of nano-science instructional resources for grades 7-16, related professional development opportunities for 7-12 teachers, and programs infused with nano-science content for education doctoral students. The Center would bring together educators and scientists from several areas of nano-science and engineering research to collaborate with science teachers and doctoral candidates in education on both the development of the resources and research on their efficacy. The PI has prior experience as director of the Materials World Modules project, an NSF-funded curriculum currently in use in several secondary schools across the country. Lead partners in the proposed Center are Northwestern University, Purdue University, University of Michigan, University of Illinois at Chicago and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Additional partners include Argonne National Laboratory, West Point Military Academy, Alabama A & M University, Fisk University, Hampton University, Morehouse College and University of Texas at El Paso. The additional partners will widen the geographic range of the project, expanding opportunities to reach a diverse and currently underrepresented population of graduate students, teachers and ultimately students. STEM and Education faculty and researchers from the partner institutions would participate in interdisciplinary teams to address the Center's mission: Provide national education leadership and resources for advancing NSEE Create and implement professional development programs in NSEE Use innovative ideas in learning to design instructional materials for grades 7-16 Conduct research relating to integration of NSEE into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
R. P. H. ChangThomas MasonNcholas GiordanoJoseph Krajcik
This project augments an NCES data collection effort for the High School Longitudinal Study by including 150 additional schools in up to 10 selected states to create state representative samples of at least 40 schools in each state. NCES will create a contract with a survey organization to collect survey data from students in about 800 schools starting at the 9th grade and following them to age 26. The student, teacher, and parent survey data will be merged with state administrative data. Thus the final data set for these states will include detailed longitudinal data on student education histories, test scores, courses, demographics, and other survey information about parents and teachers. In some of the states the student data will be linked with detailed teacher data. The purpose of this augmentation is to provide support for additional schools to create state samples. NSF will also be involved in planning for future surveys of these students as they reach college age.
Ways of Knowing, Inc. is developing "The Writing Project," two one-hour television documentary programs about the science (the archeology and written history, anthropology, and cognitive science) of writing systems and, at the same time, about "creative writing," from cuneiform tablets to e:mail. The programs will show how writing is a different thing from speech, and how it did not evolve, like speech, but had to be invented. The goal of the project is to inform a wide, general audience about the most important technological invention since the beginning of civilization, to introduce them to the science of writing systems (grammatology), and to create an original "Introduction to Writing" for colleges and high schools. During this planning phase, the staff will conduct the research needed to bring order and focus to the topic and develop a treatment for presenting the topic in the two films. The PI and his colleagues would draw upon the wisdom of numerous experts in the field of science of writing including three world renowned scholars: William Bright, University of Colorado, Professor Emeritus, UCLA, and editor of "Written Language and Literacy;" Peter Daniels, author, scholar, lecturer on grammatology, and editor of "The World's Writing Systems;" and Victor Mair, Professor of Chinese at U-Penn. On the literary side, writers to be interviewed in the planning phase include Kurt Vonnegut, Elmore Leonard, and Helen Vendler. Specific costs involved in the nine-month planning phase include travel; producer, writer, and researcher fees; fees to consultants; and mini conferences of experts.
This is a proposal for a 3 year, $1,297,456 project to be conducted as collaboration among 5 higher education institutions and one school system across the country, with St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, PA serving as the lead institution (other collaborators are from Colorado School of Mines, Ithaca College, Santa Clara University, Duke University, and Virginia Beach School System). The primary goal is to attract and retain students in computer science, especially women and underrepresented minorities (including two EPSCoR states). To this end, the project will use Alice, a software program that utilizes 3-D visualization methods, as a medium to create a high-level of interest in computer graphics, animation, and storytelling among high school students, hence to build understanding of object-based programming. Such an IT focus on media and animation is aligned with national computer science standards. The project will build a network of college and high school faculty, who will offer workshops and provide continuing support during the academic year. In each site, pairs of teachers from each participating school (total = 90) will learn with university faculty via a 3-week summer program in which an introduction to using Alice for teaching will be followed by teacher development of materials for students that will then be used to teach high school students. An experimental start at one site will be followed by implementation at four additional sites and culminated with revised implementation at the sixth site (1-4-1 design).
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Susan Rodger
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
This project is aimed at perfecting and testing a new instructional method to improve the effectiveness of introductory physics teaching. the methods has two chief characteristics: 1) a systematic challenge to common sense misconceptions about the physical world, and 2) an emphasis on models and modeling as basic to physical understanding. Two versions of the method will be tested. The first version is designed especially for high school physics. It emphasizes student development of explicit models to interpret laboratory activities. After an initial test, this version will be taught to high school physics teachers in a summer Teacher Enhancement Workshop, and its effect on their subsequent teaching will be evaluated. Teachers with weak as well as strong backgrounds will be included. A special effort will be made to include females and minorities. The second version will be tested in a special college physics course designed to prepare students with weak backgrounds for a standard calculus based physics course. It emphasizes modeling techniques in problem solving. This project is jointly supported by the Division of Materials development, Research and Informal Science Education and the Division of Teacher Preparation and Enhancement.