Please join us in celebrating Citizen Science Day, which falls this year on Saturday, April 14th. This issue of Connected Science Learning is dedicated to highlighting effective citizen science programs that involve classroom students in collecting data for research scientists, while also engaging them in key STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) content and practices. Students get a “front row seat” to what scientists do and how scientists work, plus develop the reasoning skills and practices used by scientists.
With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), SciStarter 2.0 was launched to enhance, diversify, and validate participant engagement in scientific research in need of the public’s help. SciStarter’s leadership is part of the National Academy of Sciences’ Committee, Designing Citizen Science to Support Science Learning, which is developing guidelines and a research agenda for citizen science in education. This article briefly introduces educators to SciStarter 2.0.
The National Center for Science & Civic Engagement (NCSCE) contracted RK&A, Inc. (RK&A) to conduct a summative evaluation of Partnership Champions: SENCER-ISE and Professional Development Through Mentoring to Enhance Learning Environments (Partnership Champions), an IMLS-funded project. Partnership Champions builds upon NCSCE’s SENCER-ISE initiative, which supports ten cross-sector partnerships between museums and higher education institutions. With the addition of Partnership Champions, five past SENCER-ISE partners take on the role of mentors to a new group of partners.
In Fall 2016, RK&A
This preliminary study examined the effect that five major sources of public science education—schools, science centers, broadcast media, print media, and the Internet—had on adults’ science interest values and cognitive predispositions. Over 3,000 adults were sampled in three U.S. metropolitan areas: Los Angeles, California, Phoenix, Arizona, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. To minimize potential sampling bias, the results were weighted by current U.S. Census data to be comparable to demographics from each of the three jurisdictions. Participants were asked to self-report their current and
This article discusses how camp professionals are taking a greater interest in the concept of allyship, a process of unlearning and re-evaluating whereby those in positions of privilege attempt to adopt a stance of solidarity with marginalized groups of people. It includes an annotated list of Indigenous Instructional Programming, which aims to build awareness of programs that can aid camp professionals seeking to build intercultural competency among staff groups and, by extension, work toward a larger goal of determining whether or not indigenous traditions still merit a place at camp.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Stephen FineThomas McIlwraith
resourceresearchPark, Outdoor, and Garden Programs
Science in the Learning Gardens (henceforth, SciLG) program was designed to address two well-documented, inter-related educational problems: under-representation in science of students from racial and ethnic minority groups and inadequacies of curriculum and pedagogy to address their cultural and motivational needs. Funded by the National Science Foundation, SciLG is a partnership between Portland Public Schools and Portland State University. The sixth- through eighth-grade SciLG curriculum aligns with Next Generation Science Standards and uses school gardens as the milieu for learning. This
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Dilafruz WilliamsHeather Anne BruleSybil Schantz KelleyEllen A. Skinner
In this article, The North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) shares the programs and publications it developed to advance E-STEM—the integration of environmental education into STEM.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Kristen Kunkle
resourceresearchMuseum and Science Center Programs
Learn about how a university-based teacher preparation program, public schools, and local science-focused museums implement an ecological approach to STEM learning in Chicago.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Daniel BirminghamLara SmetanaHeidi RouleauJenna Carlson
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
From December 4 – 6, 2017, the Kavli, Moore, Packard, and Rita Allen Foundations hosted a workshop at SUNY’s Global Campus, to explore how communication trainers support scientists’ engagement and communication, as part of the Support Systems for Scientists' Communication and Engagement project. The workshop was intended to explore the systems where communication trainers are thriving, where they are running into obstacles, and places they can advance the field as a community. This outline summary aims to capture the ideas, notes and content discussed at the meeting.
These are slides from John Besley and Anthony Dudo's presentation on "Communication Training Landscape View." Besley and Dudo discuss how the communication training community is incredibly passionate, bu also like the wild west.
This talk was given at the Support Systems for Scientists' Communication and Engagement Workshop I held December 4 – 6, 2017 at SUNY’s Global Campus, to explore how communication trainers support scientists’ engagement and communication. The workshop was intended to explore the systems where communication trainers are thriving, where they are running into obstacles
In our efforts to sustain U.S. productivity and economic strength, underrepresented minorities (URM) (for the purpose of this paper defined as persons of African American, Hispanic American, and Native American racial/ethnic descent), provide an untapped reservoir of talent that could be used to fill technical jobs. Over the past 25 years, educational diversity programs have encouraged and supported URM pursuing STEM degrees. Yet, their representation in STEM still lags far behind that of White, non-Hispanic men.
To understand the reasons why this is occurring, the American Association for
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Yolanda S. GeorgeVirginia Van HorneShirley M. Malcom
Informal science learning (ISL) organizations that are successful at providing meaningful science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) experiences for Latino children, youth, and their families share some common traits. They have leaders and staff who believe in the importance of developing culturally relevant models and frameworks that meet the needs and acknowledge the legacy of STEAM in Latino communities. Such organizations are willing to take risks to create experiences that are culturally meaningful, garner funding and implement programs by working closely with their
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Cheryl JuarezVerónika NúñezExploratorium