This article from Afterschool Matters explores the challenge of engaging boys in writing. Loeper examines the difference between "engagement" and "flow", providing generalizable lessons for fostering engagement in out of school time activities.
Few studies focus on afterschool interventions for Asian-American young people. This article presents research documenting effects of afterschool participation on high school students from Hmong communities with implications for policy and practice.
This paper advocates for place-based education to guide research and design for mobile computers used in outdoor informal environments (e.g., backyards, nature centers and parks). By bringing together research on place-based education with research on location awareness, we developed three design guidelines to support learners to develop robust science-related understandings within local communities. The three empirically- derived design guidelines are: (1) Facilitate participation in disciplinary conversations and practices within personally-relevant places, (2) Amplifying observations to see
The article offers information on using video games as a strategy for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) learning. According to a study from the University of California, San Francisco, which says playing video games help develop learning capabilities in children. It discusses two games Portal and Minecraft which are used to design learning systems Teach with Portals (TWP) for teaching physics and mathematics, and MinecraftEdu for teaching engineering, physics and mathematics.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Brian Jenkins
resourceevaluationWebsites, Mobile Apps, and Online Media
In 2013, Shedd Aquarium launched a pilot Teacher Badging program with a set of Great Lakes Science Certified badges. Badges include Intro to Badging, Great Lakes Basics, Invasive Species Defined, Environmental Literacy, Science Literacy, and 21st Century Skills, culminating in the achievement of the Great Lakes Science Certified badge. Each badge includes 3-7 missions that teachers must complete to be awarded a given badge. As of December 31, 2013, 262 people have logged into the site, with 499.75 contact hours recorded in 1140 completed missions. The project was partially funded by the USDA
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TEAM MEMBERS:
John G. Shedd AquariumHeather SchneiderStephanie Bohr
The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) and its collaborators are conducting a set of research and development activities focusing on early childhood astronomy in the first field-wide effort to increase the capacity of informal science education (ISE) institutions to effectively engage their youngest visitors (ages 3 - 5) in astronomy. Leading the project is an Action Research Group comprised of the ASP; experts in cognitive development, early childhood, and astronomy learning progressions from UC Santa Cruz, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and Penn State; and the Lawrence Hall of Science at UC Berkeley, Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose, and San Luis Obispo Children's Museum as sites for research, field testing, and implementation. The project will identify critical areas of focus for early childhood astronomy and will test the hypothesis that early astronomy learning is not only possible but may contribute to a more sophisticated understanding of the domain. A key question is: How can the ISE field scaffold children's early curiosity and ideas about astronomy to position them for greater understanding and interest in the topic? The results of the research and the materials that are created for educators will receive broad distribution nationally.
The summative evaluation of the Farming for Fuels classroom program and family event was conducted over two years. Two interim reports were delivered with preliminary results about specific areas of focus. This final report described the overall evaluation study methods and results, and made recommendations for potential revisions and improvements to the program. The evaluator worked with the program team at the Creative Discovery Museum to generate a list of questions to guide the evaluation study. The questions covered each of the major audiences for the program: museum educators, teachers
The article offers information on Quin Etnyre, a 13-year-old boy from Southern California who founded the electronics company Qtechknow. Topics discussed include Etnyre's invention of the ArduSensors plug-and-play electronic device components, Etnyre's used of the open-source electronics prototyping platform Arduino to began his company, and Entyre's hobbies such as sports including volleyball, track, and swimming.
The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) contracted with Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) to help determine realistic strategies and next steps for scaling up its Science in Pre-K program, a PNC Bank-funded teacher professional development program that supports District of Columbia Public Schools’ (DCPS) preschool teachers in teaching science through exploration and problem solving. How did we approach this project? RK&A prepared two literature reviews—Scaling Up and Distance Education—intended to explore best practices for scaling up non-profit programs and facilitating distance learning
This book chapter describes the early evolution of Project FeederWatch, Classroom FeederWatch (which later evolved into the Lab of Ornithology's BirdSleuth), and early work to conduct citizen science online with the advent of the World Wide Web. It cites and presents data from several evaluation reports produced for the Lab's first citizen science award from the National Science Foundation, called "Public Participation in Ornithology." Contact Rick Bonney (reb5@cornell.edu) for a PDF of this chapter.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Cornell Lab of OrnithologyRick Bonney
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
This handout is from a research and practice workshop at the NARST annual conference. The handout takes researchers through an exercise to craft a pitch to practitioners with whom they would like to partner for a research study.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST)
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
In this presentation from a workshop on research and practice at the NARST annual conference, Bill Penuel of the University of Colorado and Ted Willard of the National Science Teachers Association discuss strategies that education researchers can use to propose partnerships and collaborations with practitioner communities.