Imagination Station, Toledo’s Science Center, will implement Toledo Tinkers: Through a Child’s Eyes — a new initiative to address barriers to STEM education and promote a lifelong love of those subjects. An outreach curriculum and a mobile tinkering lab will help children ages 11–13 and their families establish personal connections with making and tinkering. Pilot programs will include the Maker Club — a 12-session out-of-school program for students from Boys and Girls Clubs of Toledo and other community-based organizations — as well as Tinkering Takeovers, which is a drop-in tinkering program for families at branch libraries. A community exhibition will showcase the diversity of the Toledo community and its rich history of making and tinkering, using the work of participating children.
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.
Community Science Workshops: Beginning a National Movement is an extension of a successful, NSF-funded project that created a network of community science centers in California. Green Mountain College has now taken this successful venture to a national level by working with partner organizations throughout the country to establish new Community Science Workshops (CSWs) in underserved communities. Once sites are selected, CSW directors participate in an intensive two-week training program. This is followed by visits by site mentors, annual meetings, and ongoing support through the Internet and other media, which contributes to the establishment and eventual sustainability of the centers. Each site partners with local, established museums, science centers and community-based nonprofit organizations to gain much needed assistance with exhibits and education programs. Community Science Workshops contain permanent exhibit space, a workshop area for student projects and classroom/storage space. They serve a variety of audiences through after school, family, school and summer science programs. National CSW locations include Miami, Houston, New Orleans, Boston, and Washington, D.C. A CSW program is also in development in Biloxi, MS.
Community Science Workshops: Beginning a National Movement is an extension of a successful, NSF-funded project that created a network of community science centers in California. The San Francisco State University will now take this successful venture to a national level by working with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Quality Education for Minorities (QEM) to establish a new Community Science Workshop (CSW) 8-10 in underserved communities over the next four years. Once sites are selected, CSW directors participate in an intensive two-week training program. This is followed by visits by site mentors, and ongoing support through the WWW and other media, which contributes to the establishment and eventual sustainability of the centers. Each site partners with larger, established museums and science centers locally to gain much needed assistance with exhibits and education programs. Community Science Workshops contain permanent exhibit space, a workshop area for student projects and classroom/storage space. They serve a variety of audiences through after school, family, school and summer science programs. Potential locations include Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, New York, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and the District of Columbia.
Chabot Space and Science Center seeks support to engage in a six-month planning process for "Imagine That!," a multi-faceted science and technology career exploration program. In partnership with the Columbia River Exhibition of History, Science & Technology (CREHST) and the American Museum of Science & Energy (AMSE), Chabot proposes to fill the gap between well-intentioned and designed programs and the programs' abilities to really influence/affect future career choices by participants. "Imagine That!" will familiarize youth with a wide range of careers in scientific and technical fields through after-school and summer programs that offer in-depth career exploration and guidance activities, hands-on experiences that complement science education in school and an introduction to role models. "Imagine That!" will also provide parents with resources to support their children as they explore potential careers in science, technology and engineering. This planning grant will enable the three major science museums, Junior Achievement and government and business partners to develop the logistics for working together on an ambitious collaborative program of national scope. "Imagine That!" has the potential for broad and significant impact. Not only would it create a national program of career exploration, it will strengthen and diversify the STEM workforce. The national impact of this project is assured by the inclusion of geographically diverse partners, regional advisory councils and a robust dissemination plan.