Education and Community Engagement is one of three program directorates in the UNAVCO. Our primary areas of focus include: (1) Professional development/training: We broaden the community using UNAVCO-supported tools, data, and instrumentation through technical training and online resources, (2) educational materials: we facilitate the development and dissemination of geodesy-focused educational materials, (3) community communications: we facilitate greater communication, collaboration, access and dissemination of UNAVCO science and education to both the UNAVCO and broader community, and (4) geo-workforce development: we facilitate the development of a robust, well-trained and diverse geoscience workforce with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to tackle emerging scientific and societal issues.
"Ongoing collaboration-wide IceCube Neutrino Observatory Education and Outreach efforts include: (1) Reaching motivated high school students and teachers through IceCube Masterclasses; (2) Providing intensive research experiences for teachers (in collaboration with PolarTREC) and for undergraduate students (NSF science grants, International Research Experience for Students (IRES), and Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) funding); and (3) Supporting the IceCube Collaboration’s communications needs through social media, science news, web resources, webcasts, print materials, and displays (icecube.wisc.edu). The 2014 pilot IceCube Masterclass had 100 participating students in total at five institutions. Students met researchers, learned about IceCube hardware, software, and science, and reproduced the analysis that led to the discovery of the first high-energy astrophysical neutrinos. Ten IceCube institutions will participate in the 2015 Masterclass. PolarTREC teacher Armando Caussade, who deployed to the South Pole with IceCube in January 2015, kept journals and did webcasts in English and Spanish. NSF IRES funding was approved in 2014, enabling us to send 18 US undergraduates for 10-week research experiences over the next three years to work with European IceCube collaborators. An additional NSF REU grant will provide support for 18 more students to do astrophysics research over the next three summers. At least one-third of the participants for both programs will be from two-year colleges and/or underrepresented groups. "
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 mission of QESST public outreach is to provide a platform for engaging the community; students, parents, teachers, and the general public; in discussions about solar energy. Although there is a growing interest in advances of solar energy, many misconceptions prevail amongst the general community. Community outreach serves as a mechanism for engaging people and drawing them in. It is often the hook that creates interest in parents who pass that interest onto their children, or lures young students into more formalized QESST programs. Our outreach events range in scale from small workshops, large university wide open houses, and participation in educational television.
Xraise provides experiences that empower individuals by making science familiar and accessible. Immersed with scientists themselves, we facilitate hands-on, minds-on activities that involve the direct exploration of physics phenomena. Our relationship with K12 students, educators and community partners provides us with a platform for exploring personal intuitions, developing understandings and fostering excitement in science.
The National COSEE Network, primarily funded by the National Science Foundation, is in its thirteenth year. It is comprised of regional and thematic Centers comprised of ocean science research and formal and informal science education institutions. The network has grown to one of the largest organizations of ocean science research and education institutions, with over 280 members. COSEE is currently transitioning to an independent, international consortium. Its dues paying members are continuing to serve as a broader impacts arm for the ocean science community.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Gail ScowcroftWilliam SpitzerAnnette deCharon
This essay seeks to explain what the “science of science communication” is by *doing* it. Surveying studies of cultural cognition and related dynamics, it demonstrates how the form of disciplined observation, measurement, and inference distinctive of scientific inquiry can be used to test rival hypotheses on the nature of persistent public conflict over societal risks; indeed, it argues that satisfactory insight into this phenomenon can be achieved only by these means, as opposed to the ad hoc story-telling dominant in popular and even some forms of scholarly discourse. Synthesizing the
Rockman et al (REA), in partnership with Marti Louw and the University of Pittsburgh Center for Learning in Out-of-School Environments (UPCLOSE) conducted a summative evaluation in Summer 2014 of an aquatic macroinvertebrate digital teaching collection (macroinvertebrates.org) containing voucher specimens from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CMNH) in Pittsburgh, PA. The digital teaching collection groups three orders of aquatic insects (stoneflies, caddisflies, and mayflies), and users can click on a specific insect and get information on its genus, habitat, behaviors, size, abundance
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University of Pittsburgh Center for Learning in Out-of-School-Environments (UPCLOSE)Camellia Sanford-Dolly
Connected learning is an educational approach designed to make learning relevant to students, creating a deeper form of learning and understanding that will help students become life-long learners who will grow and thrive in school, work and life. Afterschool programs have long been implementing this approach that ties together students interests, peer networks and academic pursuits. This report explores the benefits of using a connected learning approach, the variety of ways afterschool programs are offering connected learning opportunities to engage students in learning, and shares ideas on
There can be a mistaken impression that the new vision for K-12 science education is only relevant to classroom science instruction. But youth frequently engage in powerful science and engineering activities that take place after or outside-of-school. They learn STEM content, engage in STEM practices, and develop an understanding of how STEM is used in the world. To capitalize on those assets, educators and other stakeholders should learn about, leverage, and broker connections for youth across the STEM learning experiences available in and out of school.
Stories help people form relationships and make sense of the world around them. Business, medicine, and education have long used stories---or cases---as teaching and professional development tools. In the family engagement field, reading cases challenges those who work with families to consider multiple perspectives; think critically about real-world issues; communicate effectively; and identify family strengths. These are all abilities that educators need to work effectively with families. With this in mind, Harvard Family Research Project and the Community Engagement Team in the Department
The project will develop and study the impact of science simulations, referred to as sims, on middle school childrens' understanding of science and the scientific process. The project will investigate: 1) how characteristics of simulation design (e.g., interface design, visual representations, dynamic feedback, and the implicit scaffolding within the simulation) influence engagement and learning and how responses to these design features vary across grade-level and diverse populations; 2) how various models of instructional integration of a simulation affect how students interact with the simulation, what they learn, and their preparation for future learning; 3) how these interactions vary across grade-level and diverse populations; and 4) what critical instructional features, particularly in the type and level of scaffolding, are needed. Working with teachers, the team will select 25 existing sims for study. Teachers and students will be interviewed to test for usability, engagement, interpretation, and learning across content areas. The goal will be to identify successful design alternatives and to formulate generalized design guidelines. In parallel, pull-out and classroom-based studies will investigate a variety of use models and their impact on learning. Ten new simulations will then be developed to test these guidelines. Products will include the 35 sims with related support materials available for free from a website; new technologies to collect real-time data on student use of sims; and guidelines for the development of sims for this age population. The team will also publish research on how students learn from sims.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Katherine PerkinsDaniel SchwartzMichael DubsonNoah Podolefsky