The University of California-Davis and its collaborators are identifying and testing strategies for implementing a model citizen science program that links the statewide Master Naturalist program with local citizen science projects that engage the public in environmental scientific research. The goals of the project are to develop a mechanism for broadening the reach of master naturalist and citizen science programs, and measure the impact of these programs on participants' science learning and environmental stewardship behavior. The project is (1) implementing strategies for engaging underserved audiences (young adults and communities of color) and enhancing learning for seniors in the California Naturalist program, (2) developing and testing a citizen science training module, (3) establishing two regional volunteer naturalist networks in Northern California that have links to local citizen science projects, and (4) developing web tools for use by program providers and naturalists to connect to projects and promote science learning. Project deliverables include training sessions, support services, network coordination, web tools, research on impacts on science learning, and participant tracking. By bringing together young and older adults to learn together, merging these audiences will result in the formation of a diverse corps of citizen naturalists who participate in ecological monitoring of local natural areas and conduct land stewardship activities. The project's findings will help program administrators scale-up the approach statewide and across the nation.
The New England Wild Flower Society, in collaboration with the Yale Peabody Museum, Montshire Museum of Science, and the Chewonki Foundation, is implementing the Go-Botany project, a multi-faceted, web-based botany user interface. "Go-Botany: Integrated Tools to Advance Botanical Learning," improves botanical education by opening plant study to a larger and more diverse segment of the population including novices, citizen scientists, and informal science educators. The project is designed to integrate a variety of web tools and mobile communication devices to facilitate learning about botany and plant conservation with a focus on native and naturalized plants in New England. Project deliverables include an online database of New England plants; online keys to over 4,000 species of New England flora; a customizable user interface; My Plants personal webpages; an outdoor exhibit that incorporates mobile resources; training programs for informal science educators and educational programs for the public. Projected impacts include increased attraction to and engagement in botanical learning for public audiences and improved teaching abilities by informal science education professionals through the application of user friendly, digital resources on mobile communication devices. Go-Botany significantly impacts the field of informal science education by changing the way that informal learners learn about plants by removing barriers through the use of free online materials, mentoring, and user created resources. This project is projected to reach over 46,000 youth, adults, and informal educators in workshops and via the Go-Botany website.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Elizabeth FarnsworthGregory LowenbergArthur HainesWilliam Brumback
The National Audubon Society, the National Association of Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, Earth Force, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are identifying strategies and supports that move citizen science volunteers up the ladder of engagement from contributory to collaborative to co-creative participants in scientific research. The Citizens, Science, and Conservation project is testing strategies for engaging senior citizens (ages 60+) and underserved youth (ages 16-18) residing in Illinois, North Carolina and California in conservation-focused citizen science projects. This inter-generational project is engaging 45 seniors and 45 youth from three communities located near important bird areas (IBAs) in bird conservation activities and studying how to immerse them together in authentic scientific research. The goals of the project are to (1) learn how to better recruit and sustain deeper relationships with seniors and youth, (2) facilitate the roles seniors and youth can play as collaborators in field research and conservation science, (3) study ways that seniors and young people, as well as scientists and non-scientists, might interact more effectively while in training and in the field, and (4) study the cognitive and affective impacts of such collaborations upon both volunteers and professionals. Evaluation data on implementation, impact, and scale-up are being collected on three comparison groups of citizen scientists (new, core, and model). Audubon plans to disseminate a plan for implementing senior-youth paired collaborative and co-created citizen science programs to 2,100+ IBA programs in 42 states, 50+ nature centers and its 480 local chapters.
Coastal Communities for Science: A Bering Sea Partnership is a 3-year program of collaboration among the WWF-US, four Alaska native rural communities and regional scientists investigating the ecology of the Bering Strait. Its primary purpose is to advance youth interaction with science and it proposes to achieve this by engaging young people from high school and beyond to conduct research with scientists. The project which involves training community youth on science and research methods, capacity building of informal educators in these rural communities to lead and encourage field-based programs, inclusion of community elders in the overall learning and communication of science concepts and the creation of a model of collaboration. The science content, an amalgam of community interest and researcher interest, is grounded in local environmental and economic issues. With WWF's support and electronic technology, this has the potential of being a model project that is broadly disseminated at local, regional and national levels.
This planning activity will produce a prototype film on Spanish horses and conduct 10 focus group discussions to determine: audience interest, background knowledge, what viewers would like to see in this documentary, language barriers, cultural barriers, and how the film could be structured to help the public and teachers interact with children. The focus groups will target the follow groups: (1) middle school teachers, (2) elementary school teachers, (3) families with young children, (4) Hispanic families, (5) American Indian families, (6) youth ages 13-19, (7) horse lovers and those involved in horse activities, (8) senior citizens and individuals with disabilities, (9) documentary, museum exhibit and website production professionals, and (10) media and museum marketing professionals. The effort is intended to guide development of a PBS documentary, an interactive website, a companion book, and a museum exhibit on the origins, evolution, migration and impact of Spanish horses. STEM content in mathematics, genetics, paleontology, chemistry, evolution, and animal behavior, integrated with history, will be incorporated into the scripts for this diverse array of media platforms. The project also presents an opportunity to present in a very interesting and real sense the scientific process used for discovery. In addition to producing the prototype film and conducting focus group discussions, this planning grant will help to: clarify the responsibilities of all of the participants, especially the international participants; clarify the contributions from each discipline and scientist; plan in detail ways to achieve the greatest understanding with the anticipated diverse audiences; select the best geographic region, graphics, media, and animation; and establish realistic budgets and elements for production and post-production. Collaborators include: New Mexican Horse Project, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Habitat Media, University of New Mexico and Institute for Social Research, Cambridge University, Texas A &M University, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Selinda Research Associates, and PBS.
The Garden Mosaics program will develop and test a model in which youth conduct research on community and home gardens in urban settings. Youth ages 11-18 will be recruited to participate in gardening activities in conjunction with elders from their communities. Students learn the science content associated with organismal biology, community ecology, ecosystems and the physical environment, as well as culturally-related food growing practices. Participants then take part in guided research; using methods such as transect walks, mapping, ecosystem models and soil tests, to document food-growing practices of immigrant minority and traditional gardeners. Expanded research investigations will be open to students who want to continue their explorations using the Internet and other resources. Students contribute to new and existing databases of ethnic and heritage gardening practices in the United States. Materials to be developed include an Educator's Manual, a Youth Handbook and a Garden Mosaics website. During the pilot phase a national leadership team will be established to test the program and materials at 10 sites in different cities across the U.S. including San Antonio, Baltimore, Boston, Sacramento, New York, Brooklyn and Philadelphia. It is anticipated that the dissemination of this model will reach more than 750 educators and 13,000 youth.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Marianne KrasnyAlan BerkowitzGretchen Ferenz
This creative project pairs grandparents or other senior citizens with children in grades K-7 for an intergenerational hands-on SMT program. The OASIS institute, which has a large national membership of adults 55 and older with centers based in 25 cities across the US, is the source of adults. Twenty intergenerational modules will be developed which address the learning styles of both children and older adults, half of which will be linked with the NSF-funded "Find Out Why" materials. Master training sessions will be conducted for OASIS trainers, who would then train volunteers at their local centers. Anticipated outcomes include increased knowledge of standards-based SMT concepts, enhanced problem-solving skills and a better understanding of how science, math and technology apply to everyday life. In addition to the modules, the program would also result in the creation of a supplementary guide for volunteers, materials kits and a comprehensive training program. It is anticipated that this exciting program will be piloted in the following nine states: MO, IN, OR, MD, AZ, TX, CA, IL and OH. Over 100,000 individuals will be impacted during the three years of the project.
The Ramapo College of New Jersey requests funding to develop the "Senior Environmental Experiences (SEE)" project. The project will produce a series of interactive science experiences using Internet videoconferencing to connect seniors at community centers and extended care facilities with environmental experts at the Meadowlands Environment Center as the principal context for discussions of environmental concepts and issues. The goal of the program is to increase the interest of seniors by linking science to history and politics. "SEE" will create experiential modules related to the natural history, ecosystem structure and future of the Meadowlands. Discussion from the field using live images and feedback from the seniors would support exploration of details relevant to the specific topic at hand. The videoconferences will be recorded and made available to seniors in other locations throughout New Jersey and the US. Follow up materials will encourage further activities by the seniors. "SEE" will reach approximately 4,500 seniors in 32 centers during the three-year project.
This is a report of an evaluation of the content and design of the science components of the Education Development Center's TV411 program, conducted by Owen Consulting, Inc. In 2010, EDC received a grant from NSF to reconstruct the TV411 website, produce new science content, including videos and web lessons, improve user interactivity, and develop materials to support adult educators who work with the site's target population of low literacy adults. This report lays out the evaluation design, provides an overview of site web metrics, describes the registered user population discusses the ways
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Education Development CenterEric GraigDavid Owen
The Exploratorium's Going APE project (APE=Active Prolonged Engagement) developed 30 exhibit designs to encourage visitors to become more cognitively engaged with exhibits--to use exhibits as tools for self-directed exploration, rather than as authoritative demonstrations. To do this, the staff drew on work in the fields of education, visitor research, human factors engineering, computer interface design, and interactive exhibit development at other museums. The project also integrated evaluative research into exhibit development to maximize possibilities for visitor-authored questions