The Observatory’s “Education and Outreach” (EDU) capability is designed to facilitate the interface between the Observatory and communities of users. Ultimately, our goal is to empower people to effectively use NEON data to enable understanding of continental-scale ecological change over time. To ensure that NEON science/data products are accessible to and usable by diverse communities, including scientists, students, educators, citizen scientists, decision-makers and the interested general public, we provide a suite of online data-centric resources/tools, workshops, a variety of courses, internship/research programs for undergraduates, and citizen science projects.
We have two transition programs for veterans with disabilities--one in advanced manufacturing (Advancing Inclusive Manufacturing-AIM) and one for transition to STEM majors (Experiential Learning for Veterans in Assistive Technology and Engineering-ELeVATE). We also have a Research Experience for Teachers and Undergraduates program.
The Science Cartoon (Sci-Toons) initiative, an informal education program, was developed to engage STEM and non-STEM students and faculty in the creation of science animation. Housed within Brown University’s Science Center, Sci-Toons projects incorporate several students and faculty each semester from both STEM and non-STEM majors. Team members are provided with technical training in animation, storytelling, and scientific concepts. The Sci-Toons model is a new approach for communicating scientific research and concepts to a broad audience via storytelling, animation, high-quality multimedia, and art.
At the CSMC, we have three main goals for our Outreach and Education activities, and we do our best to accomplish all three goals with all of our programs and activities. These goals include increasing young peoples' interest in STEM, increasing adults' appreciation of the importance of publicly funded research, and professional development for our students, post docs and PIs. With that in mind, we have created a suite of education and outreach programs that highlight professional development for the people doing the outreach while also accomplishing our outreach goals. Our programs include hosting local and regional Science Pub events, participating in Meet-a-Scientist style outreach events at schools and science and technology centers, and something called the Oregon Outreach Days tours. These tours combine a Science Pub event for the public in the evening with meetings with business, political and educational leaders during the day.
In late 2012, COMPASS received NSF grant number 1255633, “A Workshop to Explore Building Systemic Communication Capacity for Next Generation Scientists.” Known in shorthand and on twitter as #GradSciComm, the work comprises three major components, culminating in this report: (1) To assess the current landscape of science communication workshops, courses, and trainings available to graduate students in the STEM disciplines; (2) To convene a workshop of science communication trainers, scholars, science society leaders, funders, administrators, and graduate students; and (3) To provide concrete
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
Liz NeeleyErica GoldmanBrooke SmithNancy BaronSarah Sunu
The LTER Network is an innovative platform for training the next generation of natural scientists in collaborative, integrative, long-term research in ecology. An important objective of the network is to share knowledge with other communities. The LTER Network Office addresses this objective by managing a Communication and Outreach program that targets key communities—scientists, policy makers, educators and students, and the mass media as a proxy of the rest of the non-specific audiences—and maintain strategic partnerships and collaborations that provide improved access to these communities.
The C-DEBI education program works with audiences at all levels (K-12, general public, undergraduate, graduate and beyond) in formal and informal settings (courses, public lectures, etc.). Sub-programs focus on community college research internships and professional development for graduate students and postdocs.
We a have full slate of programs including science academies for underrepresented high school and middle school students; Large programs for the public including holiday lectures, stars of materials science lectures, materials science and nano days for the public; Teacher development programs including Research Experience for Teachers and Teachers as Scholars; Research Experience for Undergraduates; Graduate Summer School on Condensed Matter; and many other programs.
The Center for Sustainable Polymers implements and fosters a wide range of educational and public outreach activities. Our faculty, researchers, students, and staff work together to engage the public and educate the citizenry and policy makers on the societal importance of sustainable polymers and technologies. An important aspect of the CSP’s work is to broaden the participation of underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields by relying on key community partners.
The "places" of learners and practitioners of science from communities of color are increasingly a focus in analyses of science learning and education in the U.S. Typically, these places are defined through the discourse of equity that focuses on representation and the goal of creating learning environments that will allow students of color to perform as well as their white peers. More recently, this focus has shifted from performance to actual knowledge of and the ability to think critically about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) content. Although critical thinking and
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
Megan BangDouglas MedinGregory Cajete
Our Center works with students from kindergarten through graduate school and beyond. We work with teachers and scientists and combine our knowledge to inspire students to pursue careers in neural engineering and neuroscience. Program activities include summer research programs, curriculum development, school visits, teacher/student workshops, science festivals, and international student exchanges.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
University of WashingtonEric Chudler
The Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake, New York will develop Mining in the Adirondacks, a multi-faceted project that will include a 29,000 square foot permanent exhibit, an interactive web site module, curriculum development, and public programming. The exhibition will feature approximately 300 objects from the Adirondack Museum collection, including a tuyere plate, miners’ safety gear, picks and drills, historic photographs, an ore cart, maps, iron pigs, garnet jewelry, household items and audio recordings. A mining tunnel, open pit and mine village landscape will be incorporated to provide an immersive experience for visitors. The Mining in the Adirondacks project seeks to interpret the history of mining in the Adirondack wilderness grounded in current scholarship, best museum practice, visitor studies research, and understanding of varied learning styles. Four humanities scholars will work with museum staff.