As a part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds research and innovative resources for use in a variety of settings. This Broad Implementation project would scale up the CryptoClub Project, an afterschool and online program designed to engage middle school youth in mathematics and cryptography. The project builds on previous successful work and evaluation that is ready for scale up using a train-the-trainer model implemented through a partnership with the National Girls Collaborative. The project will train 160 new CryptoClub leaders who will then train 800 new leaders at 20 hub sites reaching 9600 students. In addition, professional development modules and webinars will continue to refresh leader skills. Other project components include an online multiplayer cryptography game, weekly challenges through social media, and digital cryptology badges for students.
The research uses a think-aloud method with students as they actually attempt to solve the cryptology problems using mathematical thinking. Three think-aloud studies will be performed during the Project. The research team will code transcripts of the interviews for evidence of the mathematical thinking intended to be addressed by each activity, as well as capturing unexpected kinds of thinking. Tasks will also be rated according to the type of knowledge elicited. A written report will include statistical analyses of the think-aloud and interview responses, interpreted in light of the overall CryptoClub goals. The findings will contribute to both future research efforts and practice. The evaluation by EDC uses a quasi-experimental design, which assesses project outcomes for trainers, leaders, students, and Internet users. EDC will also investigate the fidelity to the CryptoClub model as it is scaled up. These studies have strong potential for informing numerous other projects that are at a stage where scale up is under consideration.
Lineage is a comprehensive educational media and outreach initiative that will engage individuals and families in learning about deep time and evolution, helping audiences come to newfound understandings of the connections between the past, present, and future of life on Earth. The project is a partnership between Twin Cities PBS (TPT) and the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History and is linked to the opening of that museum's new Deep Time Fossil Hall in June 2019. The project includes a two-hour film for national broadcast on PBS, and a 20-minute short version for exhibition in science centers. The documentaries will show how scientists, using paleontology, genetics, earth science and other disciplines, can reconstruct in detail the origins of living animals like birds and elephants, revealing their ancient past as well as evidence of ecological change that can inform our understanding of Earth today. Extensive educational outreach will include the creation of "Bone Hunter," an innovative VR (Virtual Reality) game designed for family co-play that engages multiple players in the process of paleontology as they piece together a fossil in a digital lab. Bone Hunter and other collaborative educational activities will be deployed at Family Fossil Festivals that will attract multi-generational learners. One such Festival will take place at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., while others will be based at geographically diverse institutions that serve underserved rural as well as urban communities. Lineage is a collaboration between national media producers, noted learning institutions and researchers, including Twin Cities Public Television, the Smithsonian Institution / National Museum of Natural History, Schell Games, the Institute for Learning Innovation (ILI), and Rockman et al. One of the project's primary innovations is its exploration of new learning designs for families that use cutting-edge technologies (e.g. the Bone Hunter virtual reality game) and collaborative multi-generational learning experiences that advance science knowledge and inquiry-based learning. An external research study conducted by ILI will investigate how intergenerational co-play with physical artifacts compared to virtual artifacts influences STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) learning and engagement. The findings will lead to critical strategic impacts for the field, building knowledge about ongoing innovation in the free choice learning space. The project's external evaluation will be conducted by Rockman et al and evaluative findings, as well as the educational materials derived from the project, will be widely disseminated through partnerships with professional and educator groups. Clips from the Lineage film and related learning resources will be hosted on PBS LearningMedia, so educators can incorporate these resources into their classrooms, and students and lifelong learners can explore and discover on their own. The project outcomes will have broad impact on public audiences, deepening and advancing knowledge and understanding about important scientific concepts, and promoting continued, family-based collaborative learning experiences to expand and deepen STEM knowledge. This project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments. This includes providing multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning.
As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal Science Learning program funds innovative research, approaches and resources for use in a variety of settings. This Exploratory Pathways project brings together scientists and science curriculum experts with field station leaders to study informal science learning at biological field stations. The objective is to understand and evaluate the unique qualities of field stations as centers of informal and enduring science learning for the non-science community. There are over 400 field stations and represent a science communication mechanism that if available to most US citizens. This project is a collaboration between Texas A&M University and Colorado State University.
Field stations typically engage in informal science learning. While there are great examples of informal learning through outreach activities at field stations, little is known about what is happening in the aggregate at these establishments. This project documents the outreach work of field stations and explores the connections between how the outreach activities engage learners, incorporate science topics, and address science learning. By creating an Outreach Ontology, a multidimensional framework around the outreach activities, this work provides a valuable resource and reference to informal science researchers who seek to understand what informal learning projects are undertaken at field stations, and how these activities fit into the broader context of informal science learning. This project will help field stations collaborate on improving informal STEM learning activities by bringing them together to discuss their efforts and by developing a publicly available, searchable database detailing their activities. A particular benefit to advancing informal STEM learning by investigating field stations is the broad range of people and communities that are involved with and affected by field station outreach activities.
As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds innovative research, approaches and resources for use in a variety of settings. This Research in Service to Practice project will address the issues around Informal Education of rural middle school students who have high potential regarding academic success in efforts to promote computer and IT knowledge, advanced quantitative knowledge, and STEM skills. Ten school districts in rural Iowa will be chosen for this study. It is anticipated that new knowledge on rural informal education will be generated to benefit the Nation's workforce. The specific objectives are to understand how informal STEM learning shapes the academic and psychosocial outcomes of rural, high-potential students, and to identify key characteristics of successful informal STEM learning environments for rural, high-potential students and their teachers. The results of this project will provide new tools for educators to increase the flow of underserved students into STEM from economically-disadvantaged rural settings.
The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology predicts a rapid rise in the number of STEM jobs available in the next decade, describing an urgent need for students' educational opportunities to prepare them for this workforce. In 2014, 62% of CEOs of major US corporations reported challenges filling positions requiring advanced computer and information technology knowledge. The project team will use a mixed methods approach, integrating comparative case study and mixed effects longitudinal methods, to study the Excellence program. Data sources include teacher interviews, classroom observations, and student assessments of academic aptitude and psychosocial outcomes. The analysis and evaluation of the program will be grounded in understanding the local efforts of school districts to build curriculum responsive to the demands of their high-potential student body. The project design, and subsequent analysis plan, utilizes a mixed methods approach, incorporating case study and longitudinal quantitative methods to analyze naturalistic data and build robust evidence for the implementation and impact of this program. This project will provide significant insights in how best to design, implement, and support informal out-of-school learning environments to broaden participation in the highest levels of STEM education and careers for under-resourced rural students.
As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds innovative research, approaches and resources for use in a variety of settings. There are few empirical studies of sustained youth engagement in STEM-oriented making over time, how youth are supported in working towards more robust STEM related projects, on the outcomes of such making experiences among youth from historically marginalized communities, or on the design features of making experiences which support these goals. The project plans to conduct a set of research studies to develop: a theory-based and data-driven framework for equitably consequential making; a set of related individual-level and program-level cases with exemplars (and the associated challenges) that can be used by researchers and practitioners for guiding the field; and an initial set of guiding principles (with indicators) for identifying equitably consequential making in practice. The project will result in a framework for equitably consequential making with guiding principles for implementation that will contribute to the infrastructure for fostering increased opportunities to learn among all youth, especially those historically underrepresented in STEM.
Through research, the project seeks to build capacity among STEM-oriented maker practitioners, researchers and youth in the maker movement around equitably consequential making to expand the prevailing norms of making towards more transformative outcomes for youth. Project research will be guided by several questions. What do youth learn and do (in-the-moment and over time) in making spaces that work to support equity in making? What maker space design features support (or work against) youth in making in equitably consequential ways? What are the individual and community outcomes youth experience in STEM-making across settings and time scales? What are the most salient indicators of equitably consequential making, how do they take shape, how can these indicators be identified in practice? The project will research these questions using interview studies and critical longitudinal ethnography with embedded youth participatory case study methodologies. The research will be conducted in research-practice partnerships involving Michigan State University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and 4 local, STEM- and youth-oriented making spaces in Lansing and Greensboro that serve historically underrepresented groups in STEM, with a specific focus on youth from lower-income and African American backgrounds.
This one-year Collaborative Planning project seeks to bring together an interdisciplinary planning team of informal and formal STEM educators, researchers, scientists, community, and policy experts to identify the elements, activities, and community relationships necessary to cultivate and sustain a thriving regional early childhood (ages 3-6) STEM ecosystem. Based in Southeast San Diego, planning and research will focus on understanding the needs and interests of young Latino dual language learners from low income homes, as well as identify regional assets (e.g., museums, afterschool programs, universities, schools) that could coalesce efforts to systematically increase access to developmentally appropriate informal STEM activities and resources, particularly those focused on engineering and computational thinking. This project has the potential to enhance the infrastructure of early STEM education by providing a model for the planning and development of early childhood focused coalitions around the topic of STEM learning and engagement. In addition, identifying how to bridge STEM learning experiences between home, pre-k learning environments, and formal school addresses a longstanding challenge of sustaining STEM skills as young children transition between environments. The planning process will use an iterative mixed-methods approach to develop both qualitative and quantitative and data. Specific planning strategies include the use of group facilitation techniques such as World Café, graphic recording, and live polling. Planning outcomes include: 1) a literature review on STEM ecosystems; 2) an Early Childhood STEM Community Asset Map of southeast San Diego; 3) a set of proposed design principles for identifying and creating early childhood STEM ecosystems in low income communities; and 4) a theory of action that could guide future design and research. This project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments.
Public Participation in Scientific Research (PPSR), often referred to as crowdsourcing or citizen science, engages participants in authentic research, which both advances science discovery as well as increases the potential for participants' understanding and use of science in their lives and careers. This four year research project examines youth participation in PPSR projects that are facilitated by Natural History Museums (NHMs). NHMs, like PPSR, have a dual focus on scientific research and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. The NHMs in this project have established in-person and online PPSR programs and have close ties with local urban community-based organizations. Together, these traits make NHMs appropriate informal learning settings to study how young people participate in PPSR and what they learn. This study focuses on three types of PPSR experiences: short-term outdoor events like bioblitzes, long-term outdoor environmental monitoring projects, and online PPSR projects such as crowdsourcing the ID of field observations. The findings of this study will be shared through PPSR networks as well as throughout the field in informal STEM learning in order to strength youth programming in STEM, such that youth are empowered to engage in STEM research and activities in their communities. This project is funded through Science Learning+, which is an international partnership between the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Wellcome Trust with the UK Economic and Social Research Council. The goal of this joint funding effort is to make transformational steps toward improving the knowledge base and practices of informal STEM experiences. Within NSF, Science Learning+ is part of the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program that seeks to enhance learning in informal environments and to broaden access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences.
The study employs observations, surveys, interviews, and learning analytics to explore three overarching questions about youth learning: 1) What is the nature of the learning environments and what activities do youth engage in when participating in NHM-led PPSR? 2) To what extent do youth develop three science learning outcomes, through participation in NHM-led citizen science programs? The three are: a) An understanding of the science content, b) identification of roles for themselves in the practice of science, and c) a sense of agency for taking actions using science? 3) What program features and settings in NHM-led PPSR foster these three science learning outcomes among youth? Based on studies occurring at multiple NHMs in the US and the UK, the broader impact of this study includes providing research-based recommendations for NHM practitioners that will help make PPSR projects and learning science more accessible and productive for youth. This project is collaboration between education researchers at University of California, Davis and Open University (UK), and Oxford University (UK) and citizen science practitioners, educators, and environmental scientists at three NHMs in the US and UK: NHM London, California Academy of Sciences, and NHM Los Angeles.
As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds innovative research, approaches, and resources for use in a variety of settings. This project will develop a national infrastructure of state and regional partnerships to scale up The Franklin Institute's proven model of Leap into Science, an outreach program that builds the capacity of children (ages 3-10) and families from underserved communities to participate in science where they live. Leap into Science combines children's science-themed books with hands-on science activities to promote life-long interest and knowledge of science, and does so through partnerships with informal educators at libraries, museums, and other out-of-school time providers. Already field-tested and implemented in 12 cities, Leap into Science will be expanded to 90 new rural and urban communities in 15 states, and it is estimated that this expansion will reach more than 500,000 children and adults as well as 2,700 informal educators over four years. The inclusion of marginalized rural communities will provide new opportunities to evaluate and adapt the program to the unique assets and needs of rural families and communities.
The project will include evaluation and learning research activities. Evaluation will focus on: 1) the formative issues that may arise and modifications that may enhance implementation; and 2) the overall effectiveness and impact of the Leap into Science program as it is scaled across more sites and partners. Learning research will be used to investigate questions organized around how family science interest emerges and develops among 36 participating families across six sites (3 rural, 3 urban). Qualitative methods, including data synthesis and cross-case analysis using constant comparison, will be used to develop multiple case studies that provide insights into the processes and outcomes of interest development as families engage with Leap into Science and a conceptual framework that guides future research. This project involves a partnership between The Franklin Institute (Philadelphia, PA), the National Girls Collaborative Project (Seattle, WA), Education Development Center (Waltham, MA), and the Institute for Learning Innovation (Corvallis, OR).
As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds innovative research, approaches and resources for use in a variety of settings. The project plans to deliver and improve a constructivist professional development (PD) program called Remake Making for library staff that work with youth in maker spaces. The proposed project will be led by a team at the University of Pittsburgh and builds on a pilot facilitation framework developed in an earlier project by this team. The PD program responds to the rapid growth of makerspaces with a constructivist PD program focused on facilitation. Maker spaces are a new service model in many public libraries, part of a broader shift in general library services. Effective facilitation for learning, like that required in makerspaces, is a relatively new facet of librarianship that is not a consistent part of librarian education or PD. The project will work with two local library systems with libraries that have makerspaces but little to no PD opportunities around facilitation. The project plans to iteratively design and investigate the Remake Making program, its impact on library maker facilitators and their interactions with child and youth learners. This will provide a setting for preliminary research about constructivist PD and the experiences and struggles of staff who facilitate making in libraries within the context of shifting library norms. This project will produce an efficient, maker-friendly PD system for facilitation in makerspaces, applicable to a broad range of informal and formal educators who wish to incorporate facilitated making.
The project plans to conduct an iterative development process involving several cohorts of participants and using multiple data sources which include embedded PD workshop data, participant pre-post surveys, observation of library makerspaces, and interviews/focus groups. A participatory approach will be employed by involving participants in creating and refining research questions within the scope of the project. This approach is designed around inquiry-based improvement, which is experienced by participants as reflective practice or continuous improvement. The proposed project aims to advance knowledge and PD strategies for facilitation in library makerspaces. The research will build knowledge about the efficacy of an innovative constructivist PD program with adaptation as a key feature. The data collected in the context of the development of this innovation will provide opportunities for applied research about informal STEM learning in the context of library maker spaces, and the role that library staff play in facilitating this type of learning.
Considering whether to volunteer to be an NSF AISL reviewer? Here’s some information to help you decide if you are a good fit. Each year, the NSF Advancing Informal STEM Learning program looks for peer reviewers. New reviewers often have questions about the commitment to review. This slide deck is to help you understand what reviewers do and the commitments they make considering issues about time commitment, activities, money, etc.
In this case study, we highlight the work of the Bay Area STEM Ecosystem, which aims to increase equity and access to STEM learning opportunities in underserved communities. First, we lay out the problems they are trying to solve and give a high level overview of the Bay Area STEM Ecosystem’s approach to addressing them. Then, based on field observations and interviews, we highlight both the successes and some missed opportunities from the first collaborative program of this Ecosystem. Both the successes of The Bay Area STEM Ecosystem--as well as the partners’ willingness to share and examine
The landscape for out-of-school STEM learning in Hong Kong is evolving. In 2017, to capture this change, the Croucher Foundation conducted a mapping exercise. This is the second annual mapping exercise conducted by the Croucher Foundation.
The study reveals a rich and vibrant ecosystem for out-of-school STEM in Hong Kong with almost 2,000 discrete activities covering a very wide range of science disciplines. This second report indicates extremely rapid growth in available out-of-school STEM activities compared to 2016 and an even larger increase in the number of organisations offering out