The project team published a research synopsis article with Futurum Science Careers in Feb 2023 called “How Can Place Attachment Improve Scientific Literacy?”
The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), in collaboration with New York University's Institute for Education and Social Policy and the University of Southern Maine Center for Evaluation and Policy, will develop and evaluate a new teacher education program model to prepare science teachers through a partnership between a world class science museum and high need schools in metropolitan New York City (NYC). This innovative pilot residency model was approved by the New York State (NYS) Board of Regents as part of the state’s Race To The Top award. The program will prepare a total of 50 candidates in two cohorts (2012 and 2013) to earn a Board of Regents-awarded Masters of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree with a specialization in Earth Science for grades 7-12. The program focuses on Earth Science both because it is one of the greatest areas of science teacher shortages in urban areas and because AMNH has the ability to leverage the required scientific and educational resources in Earth Science and allied disciplines, including paleontology and astrophysics.
The proposed 15-month, 36-credit residency program is followed by two additional years of mentoring for new teachers. In addition to a full academic year of residency in high-needs public schools, teacher candidates will undertake two AMNH-based clinical summer residencies; a Museum Teaching Residency prior to entering their host schools, and a Museum Science Residency prior to entering the teaching profession. All courses will be taught by teams of doctoral-level educators and scientists.
The project’s research and evaluation components will examine the factors and outcomes of a program offered through a science museum working with the formal teacher preparation system in high need schools. Formative and summative evaluations will document all aspects of the program. In light of the NYS requirement that the pilot program be implemented in high-need, low-performing schools, this project has the potential to engage, motivate and improve the Earth Science achievement and interest in STEM careers of thousands of students from traditionally underrepresented populations including English language learners, special education students, and racial minority groups. In addition, this project will gather meaningful data on the role science museums can play in preparing well-qualified Earth Science teachers. The research component will examine the impact of this new teacher preparation model on student achievement in metropolitan NYC schools. More specifically, this project asks, "How do Earth Science students taught by first year AMNH MAT Earth Science teachers perform academically in comparison with students taught by first year Earth Science teachers not prepared in the AMNH program?.”
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Maritza MacdonaldMeryle WeinsteinRosamond KinzlerMordecai-Mark Mac LowEdmond MathezDavid Silvernail
resourceresearchMuseum and Science Center Programs
The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) is one of the world's single largest employers of science communicators, with over 350,000 students and 40,000 staff. Its science communication activities include five museums (Universum, Museo de la Luz, the Geology Museum, Museo de la Medicina Mexicana and Musem of Geophysics), botanical gardens, as well as a wide range of cultural and outreach activities. It has several programmes for training professional science communicators. The science communication staff are spread across the campuses in Mexico City and four other cities, including
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Ana Claudia NepoteElaine Reynoso-Haynes
The National Center for Earth-surface Dynamics (NCED) is a Science and Technology Center focused on understanding the processes that shape the Earth's surface, and on communicating that understanding with a broad range of stakeholders. NCED's work will support a larger, community-based effort to develop a suite of quantitative models of the Earth's surface: a Community Sediment Model (CSM). Results of the NCED-CSM collaboration will be used for both short-term prediction of surface response to natural and anthropogenic change and long-term interpretation of how past conditions are recorded in landscapes and sedimentary strata. This will in turn help solve pressing societal problems such as estimation and mitigation of landscape-related risk; responsible management of landscape resources including forests, agricultural, and recreational areas; forecasting landscape response to possible climatic and other changes; and wise development of resources like groundwater and hydrocarbons that are hosted in buried sediments. NCED education and knowledge transfer programs include exhibits and educational programs at the Science Museum of Minnesota, internships and programs for students from tribal colleges and other underrepresented populations, and research opportunities for participants from outside core NCED institutions. The Earth's surface is the dynamic interface among the lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere. It is intimately interwoven with the life that inhabits it. Surface processes span environments ranging from high mountains to the deep ocean and time scales from fractions of a second to millions of years. Because of this range in forms, processes, and scales, the study of surface dynamics has involved many disciplines and approaches. A major goal of NCED is to foster the development of a unified, quantitative science of Earth-surface dynamics that combines efforts in geomorphology, civil engineering, biology, sedimentary geology, oceanography, and geophysics. Our research program has four major themes: (1) landscape evolution, (2) basin evolution, (3) biological sediment dynamics, and (4) integration of morphodynamic processes across environments and scales. Each theme area provides opportunities for exchange of information and ideas with a wide range of stakeholders, including teachers and learners at all levels; researchers, managers, and policy makers in both the commercial and public sectors; and the general public.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Efi Foufoula-GeorgiouChristopher PaolaGary Parker
The following three case studies are descriptive and evaluative in nature, and are designed to describe, explain, and portray in some detail three examples of COSIA partnerships. These cases are context bound; the place-based aspect of these cases is critical to the phenomenon being explored. Consistent with the goal for employing a case study approach for COSIA (Communicating Ocean Sciences to Informal Audiences) is the approach if investigating a phenomenon within the context of the places and partners involved. While each of these COSIA partnership sites are involved in other important and
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Mark St. JohnUniversity of California, Berkeley
Communicating Ocean Sciences to Informal Audiences (COSIA) is an innovative project that creates unique partnerships between informal science education institutions and local colleges conducting research in ocean sciences, with an emphasis on earth, biological and geochemical sciences. The project enables over 100 undergraduate and graduate students that are enrolled in the Communicating Ocean Sciences college course to create engaging learning activities and teaching kits in conjunction with their informal education partners. Institutional teams include: Long Beach Aquarium and California State University-Long Beach; Hatfield Marine Science Center and Oregon Sea Grant at Oregon State University; Virginia Aquarium and Science Center and Hampton University; Liberty Science Center and Rutgers University; and Lawrence Hall of Science and University of California-Berkeley. Students learn valuable outreach skills by providing visiting families and children with classes, guided tours and interactive learning experiences. Deliverables include a three-day partner workshop, a series of COSIA Handbooks (Collaboration Guide, Informal Education Guide and Outreach Guide), an Informal Science Education Activities Manual and Web Bank of hands-on activities. Strategic impact will be realized through the creation of partnerships between universities and informal science education institutions and capacity building that will occur as informal science institutions create networks to support the project. It is also anticipated the evaluation outcomes will inform the field abut the benefits of museum and university partnerships. The project will impact more than 30,000 elementary and middle school children and their families, as well as faculty, staff and students at the partnering institutions.
The IRIS Education and Public Outreach program draws upon the seismological expertise of Consortium members and combines it with the staff expertise to create products and activities that advance awareness and understanding of seismology and geophysics while inspiring careers in Earth science. These products and activities are designed to impact 6th grade students to adults in diverse settings: self-directed exploration over the Web, interactive museum exhibits, major public lectures, and in-depth exploration of the Earth’s interior in formal classrooms. Each year, a select group of undergraduates spends the summer conducting research under the expert guidance of Consortium members and affiliates. Other highlights include the widely distributed Teachable Moment slide sets for use in college and school classrooms within a day of major earthquakes, new animations and videos, new content for the Active Earth Monitor, and expanded use of social media.