This paper discusses three mediation concept approaches and, consequently, three facets of mediator action. The approaches presented start with a bibliographical review of the concept of mediation present in education and scientific communication studies. These approaches serve as a basis for interpreting a semi-directive interview with the director of the Museum of Morphological Sciences of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). They also help us reflect on the complexity of organizing the objectives of a museum action that takes into account the transformational role of the
At the end of the dark ages, anatomy was taught as though everything that could be known was known. Scholars learned about what had been discovered rather than how to make discoveries. This was true even though the body (and the rest of biology) was very poorly understood. The renaissance eventually brought a revolution in how scholars (and graduate students) were trained and worked. This revolution never occurred in K–12 or university education such that we now teach young students in much the way that scholars were taught in the dark ages, we teach them what is already known rather than the
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Robert DunnJulie UrbanDarlene CavalierCaren Cooper
From Intel to Facebook, Google and Apple, technology companies are joining other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) industry leaders in a grand challenge to diversify their workforce. Finally, two sides of the diversity message can be heard simultaneously: expanding opportunities for women and girls is not just the right thing to do, investing in diversity is also a smart business opportunity. To meet workforce supply demands, improve innovation, and ensure social equity, STEM professions need the imaginations and talents of girls and underrepresented communities of color
Oficina Desafio, Challenge Workshop, is a project of UNICAMP Exploratory Science Museum – the Science Center of the State University of Campinas (Brazil). It is an outreach project, consisting of a fully - equipped mobile workshop constructed on a truck, which visits schools and gives the students open solution real problems challenging them to “design, construct and operate a device” capable of solving the challenge. Analysis of the evaluation forms answered by school students reveals that participants of the challenges perceive it as a “learning opportunity”, in the sense they identify
This poster was presented at the 2016 Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) PI Meeting held in Bethesda, MD on February 29-March 2. The project developed FieldScope, a GIS-based platform that enables organizations to engage students and members of the public in educational citizen science projects.
This report summarizes findings from a research-practice partnership investigating STEM-rich making in afterschool programs serving young people from communities historically under-represented in STEM. The three-year study identified key dimensions related to (1) How STEM-Rich Making advances afterschool programmatic goals related to socio-emotional and intellectual growth for youth; (2) Key characteristics of programs that effectively engage youth historically marginalized in STEM fields; and (3) Staff development needs to support equity-oriented STEM-Rich Making programs.
This paper describes Synergies, an on-going longitudinal study and design effort, being conducted in a diverse, under-resourced community in Portland, Oregon, with the goal of measurably improving STEM learning, interest and participation by early adolescents, both in school and out of school. Authors examine how the work of this particular research-practice partnership is attempting to accommodate the six principles outlined in this issue: (1) more accurately reflect learning as a lifelong process occurring across settings, situations and time frames; (2) consider what STEM content is worth
The dramatic decline in youth interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) during adolescence, both in the USA and internationally, has been a phenomenon of societal concern for several decades. The Synergies project was launched to help deal with this issue. In this paper, we report findings from the first two years of our longitudinal survey research. We sought to understand the nature of the STEM-related interests of 10-/11-year-old youth living in a single urban community and the factors that seem to influence whether these various dimensions of interest increase
The nature of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) learning is changing as individuals have unprecedented, 24/7 access to science-related information and experiences from cradle to grave. Today’s science-education opportunities include not only traditional schooling, but also libraries, museums, zoos, aquaria, science centers, and parks and preserves; diverse broadcast media such as television, podcasts, and film; organized youth programs such as 4-H, after-school or summer camps, and special-interest clubs and hobby groups; and an ever-increasing array of digital media
Being aware of the fact that science is a decisive factor for development and individual well being and a citizen's right, no less important than all his other rights, Tunisia's new-Era initiated its Science City on 10 April, 1992. The purpose of such an institution is to disseminate science throughout the whole of Tunisia for the different categories of citizens and to help, in the context of dovetailing with the educational sector, youngsters get, from their earliest years, interested in science and its use.
Scientific literacy is an important educational and societal goal. Measuring scientific literacy, however, has been problematic because there is no consensus regarding the meaning of scientific literacy. Most definitions focus on the content and processes of major science disciplines, ignoring social factors and citizens’ needs. The authors developed a definition of scientific literacy for the California 4-H Program from the citizen’s perspective, concentrating on real-world science-related situations. The definition includes four anchor points: science content; scientific reasoning skills
This poster was presented at the 2016 Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) PI Meeting held in Bethesda, MD on February 29-March 2. The third season of the national PBS series, SciGirls, is the first national children’s television series and website designed to engage and educate millions of children about citizen science. In each half-hour episode, a female mentor guides a group of ethnically diverse middle school girls as they learn about citizen science protocols and collect and share data for an established citizen science project. In addition to the videos, the SciGirls website presents