Engaging and Learning for Conservation: Workshop on Public Participation in Scientific Research was held at the American Museum of Natural History 7-8 April 2011. This preliminary report is based on the delayed post feedback from workshop participants 2-3 months following the workshop. The overall goals of the project are to convene a workshop for scientists, educators, and community members involved in public participation in scientific research (PPSR) to share experiences, lessons, protocols, and tool and to collaboratively set forth a coherent agenda for answering outstanding questions for
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Joe E HeimlichAmerican Museum of Natural HistoryCornell UniversityNational Audubon Society
resourceevaluationProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The National Center for Science and Civic Engagement (NCSCE) contracted Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) to evaluate its SENCER-ISE conference funded by the National Science Foundation and the Noyce Foundation. The goal of the conference was to bring together professionals from the informal and formal science education sectors to discuss civic engagement in science and initiate potential collaborations between the two science education sectors. The evaluation explored participants' conference experiences, ideas, and collaborations resulting from the conference. RK&A conducted 20 in-depth
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Harrisburg University of Science and Technology
In October 2007, The Franklin Institute Science Museum (FI) in partnership with the Free Library of Philadelphia was awarded a 5-year National Science Foundation grant to build a model museum/library partnership. This partnership project, called LEAP into Science, integrates science content and inquiry into an existing afterschool program at the Library, called LEAP. More specifically, LEAP into Science has three overarching goals: 1) To increase the capacity of influential adults for science teaching and learning; 2) To increase the capacity of libraries for science teaching and learning; 3)
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Jessica LukeFranklin InstituteJeanine E. AnceletClaudia Figueiredo
In 2001, The Franklin Institute Science Museum (TFI) received funding from the National Science Foundation to develop and implement Parent Partners in School Science (PPSS). A year project, PPSS was designed to demonstrate how a science museum can facilitate K-4 children's science learning in and out of school, working with teachers and parents from 3 urban elementary schools in Philadelphia. More specifically, three goals have informed the implementation of PPSS: 1) Promote science teaching at the elementary level; 2) Cultivate home-school collaboration in support of students' science
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Jessica LukeFranklin Institute Science MuseumMartha Washington Academics PlusOlney Elementary SchoolR.B. Pollock Elementary SchoolSusan Foutz
Goodman Research Group, Inc. (GRG) conducted a summative national field test study of the PEEP Explorer's Guide in early childhood education (ECE) classrooms. Participating teachers used four-to-six Explorer's Guide Units with their students over the course of one school year. GRG assessed changes in teachers' science-teaching practices after using the PEEP Explorer's Guide over an extended period of time and examined potential barriers to using the PEEP Explorer's Guide throughout the course of a school year. The evaluation sought to measure the following professional audience impacts and
The Peabody Museum of Natural History's program on Biodiversity and Vector-Borne Disease was successful in meeting all of its goals. The following is a summary of the program in terms of these goals. Goal 1: To build teacher capacity for bringing research in biodiversity and disease ecology to grades 5-11 in an engaging, inquiry-based style. A total of 64 teachers from Connecticut and 4 teacher-trainers from California, Texas, and Wisconsin participated in training institutes to learn about vector-borne diseases. All participating teachers successfully implemented most or all of the curriculum
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Minda BorunPeabody Museum of Natural History
Engaging and Learning for Conservation: Workshop on Public Participation in Scientific Research was held at the American Museum of Natural History 7-8 April 2011. This preliminary report synthesizes the process evaluation with the workshop feedback provided by the participants. The overall goals of the project are to convene a workshop for scientists, educators, and community members involved in public participation in scientific research (PPSR) to share experiences, lessons, protocols, and tool and to collaboratively set forth a coherent agenda for answering outstanding questions for
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Joe E HeimlichAmerican Museum Natural HistoryCornell UniversityNational Audubon Society
Impact of GLC On Teachers Over the four years of the project, GLC worked with 171 teachers and 7schools. The program had a dramatically positive impact on the teachers involved. The GLC staff did an excellent job of establishing relationships with participating teachers, teaching them to use Lesson Study techniques and how to use the school garden as a resource for learning and creativity. As a result, teachers' overall attitudes towards teaching improved. Lessons became more flexible and useful across the curriculum. The teachers involved were seen by GLC staff to have made observable
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Minda BorunUniversity of California Botanical Garden
resourceevaluationProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The Nanoscale Informal Science Education (NISE) Network held Regional Workshops workshops around the country during the summer of 2008. Formative evaluation was carried out to measure the workshop's success and related improvements in 1) integrating new and existing partners into the NISE Network, 2) providing valuable networking opportunities among workshop attendees, 3) creating a foundation for strong and lasting regional partnerships within the NISE Network, 4) presenting NISE Net's catalog of existing products, and 5) providing professional development resources including knowledge, tools
User Experience Research Consulting (UXR) conducted a summative evaluation of the NSF-ISE funded project, STEPS (Science Theater Education Programming System). The STEPS project brought together a network of informal science educators and contractors to create an interactive museum theater authoring and presentation system to increase educational capacity for small and large museums across the country. The software package includes an authoring tool for the creation of multimedia science theater productions; a presentation player for displaying the shows to audiences in museum theaters
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Jes A. KoepflerUniversity of Colorado, Denver
Goodman Research Group, Inc. conducted a comprehensive multi-method external evaluation of the first season of the Design Squad TV series and outreach initiative. The broad evaluation goals were to: assess the extent to which children's knowledge, interest, and awareness of engineering increased as a result of watching the Design Squad series, document the implementation of community events resulting form the November 2006 Engineering Summit, and assess the effectiveness of the Afterschool Educators Guide with leaders and students.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Peggy VaughanEmilee PressmanIrene GoodmanWGBH
KQED's QUEST is a multi-year, multiple-media project seeking to influence the Bay Area's discussions about and activities related to science, the environment, and nature, with a particularly local focus. Rockman et al (REA), a San Francisco-based research and evaluation organization, conducted an evaluation of QUEST programming and activities over the course of several years. The evaluation examined general QUEST audiences, formal and informal educators' use of QUEST, and KQED's development and maintenance of a partnership among a number of Bay Area science and environmental organizations. The
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Elizabeth BandyMonnette FungKQED Northern California Public Media