Describes an instrument developed to quantitatively evaluate the participation levels of students on outdoor education activities. From photographs taken at two minute intervals, students are assigned values for their observed behaviors. The correlations of values assigned by several judges are shown.
This report describes the findings of an evaluation of the Gallery Guide program at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle, Washington. It aimed to determine if and how 6 identified public tour goals are being met and examined how visitors are generally engaging during public tours at the museum. List of Key Findings: Overall all Gallery Guide goals were met to varying degrees. The majority of surveyed visitors reported they would feel comfortable leading a friend through the Frye after their tour experience. Gallery Guides provided a high number of informative statements (47%). Visitors appear more
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Peder NelsonMark RosenRose Paquet KinsleyThe Frye Art Museum
MinnAqua, a program of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Division of Fish and Wildlife, educates the state's youth about angling and aquatic resources. In 2001, MinnAqua began developing a leaders' guide so educators could carry out MinnAqua activities in their own setting. As part of the development process, a formative evaluation was undertaken to answer two questions: (a) to what extent are MinnAqua's rewrite guidelines addressed in individual lessons and the leaders' guide as a whole?, and (b) to what extent does the leaders' guide meet the educational needs of
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) MinnAqua program educates the state's youth about angling and aquatic resources. In 2001, MinnAqua developed a Leaders' Guide so educators could carryout MinnAqua activities in their own setting. As part of the development process, a formative evaluation was undertaken to answer the questions: (a) To what extent are MinnAqua's rewrite guidelines addressed in individual lessons and the Leaders' Guide as a whole?, and (b) To what extent does the Leaders' Guide meet the educational needs of intended users in both formal and informal
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Amy Grack NelsonMinnesota Department of Natural Resources
Goodman Research Group, Inc. (GRG) conducted process and summative evaluation for the New York Aquarium (Wildlife Conservation Society) of Project POWER: Protecting Our Wetlands with Educators and Regulators. The project was designed to train teams from around the country to present wetlands workshops in their local communities to reduce the frequency and magnitude of wetlands violations by community residents. As part of their participation in Project POWER, in March 2006, teams attended a two-day Leadership Seminar where they received training and resources. The primary goal of the
Front-line educators are arguably critical to the visitor experience at museums and science centers across the country. However, little research exists to inform staff facilitation strategies or professional development efforts. In this article, we describe the results of a qualitative study of 63 staff-family interactions in a science center, focusing particularly on the role of adult family members.We observed three distinct phases of interaction, during which adult family members acted as gatekeepers to deeper staff engagement. The results suggest that in order to successfully facilitate
In this report, noted scholar James Paul Gee discusses the evolution of digital media and learning (DMAL) from its infancy as an ""academic area"" into a more organized field or coherent discipline. Distinguishing among academic areas, fields, disciplinary specializations, and thematic disciplines, Gee describes other academic areas that have fallen into these categories or developed into established disciplines. He argues that DMAL will not evolve until a real coherence develops through collaboration and the accumulation of shared knowledge. Gee offers a concrete proposal of one way scholars
Throughout the spring, the CSM and The Media Consortium (TMC) drew together dozens of leading public interest media makers, funders and researchers in Chicago, New York, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, DC, and Boston for a series of Impact Summits. These convenings—which asked attendees to describe how they measure reach, relevance, engagement, inclusion and influence in their work—informed a new analysis co-published by CSM and TMC: Investing In Impact: Media Summits Reveal Pressing Needs, Tools for Evaluating Public Interest Media. In Investing in Impact, we outline the major
An important outcome for the CAISE Media Convening was to identify and prioritize critical issues faced by ISE media producers, and then develop a set of shared objectives around which we could collectively begin to organize ourselves. Participants clearly identified needs such as wanting to learn more about each other's projects, building a better evidence base to articulate the impacts and value of ISE media, and the need to bring more young professionals into the community. Some suggested we should think more deeply about audiences and experiment with engagement strategies. Others strongly
Researchers from the Center for Informal Learning and Schools (CILS), Learning in Informal and Formal Environments (LIFE) Center and two other centers recently published LOST Learning Opportunities: Learning about Out-of-School Time. The book, published by Springer, addresses conceptual, methodological, and empirical issues related to studying learning in everyday and afterschool settings. Primarily written for researchers, LOST Learning Opportunities includes chapters on what math looks like in everyday family settings, how science is positioned in afterschool, how children's learning and
Find out how afterschool and summer learning can support student success in the Expanding Minds and Opportunities compendium, released by The Expanded Learning & Afterschool Project. This collection of nearly 70 articles includes reports, studies, opinion commentaries, and examples of best practices makes the case that opportunities in out-of-school time learning can have positive impacts on youth development—including in STEM.