The Afterschool Alliance, a Washington, D.C. based advocacy group for out of school learning, has released a highly anticipated report on outcomes for youth in STEM after school programs. The report is the result of a 10-month study funded by the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation and the Noyce Foundation, of afterschool providers from around the country that were surveyed on “appropriate and feasible” outcomes for STEM learning in afterschool settings. The survey results were organized into a framework of outcomes, indicators, and sub-indicators that demonstrate how afterschool contributes to
Naturejobs.com article called “Education: Free-range learning,” highlighting some of the benefits of and challenges for informal science education. The article includes quotes and examples from project leaders in citizen science, cyberlearning, science museums, learning research, and evaluation, and makes the claim that in a time of uncertain funding, research and evaluation for ISE projects are critical.
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Virginia Gewin
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
As part of its ongoing Practice-and-Research (PaR) initiative, the Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE), in collaboration with the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, has engaged cross-sector groups of informal STEM learning practitioners and researchers through a trajectory of activities that include surveys, conference calls, an online forum, and a recent convening to explore, discuss, and brainstorm about the existing and potential relationships between practice and research in the field.
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CAISE
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
As part of its Practice-and-Research initiative, the Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE) has been hosting a series of field-wide discussions to explore the current and potential connections between ISE practice and research. A rich variety of practitioners, researchers and evaluators have contributed to one or more of these conversations that have taken place on conference calls, an online forum, and an in-person convening to share and broaden understandings about the benefits and challenges in facilitating these connections.
Poster on NSF grant DRL-1132393 (Cyberlearning Research Summit 2012: Imagining the Future of Learning, Systems, People, and Technology) from the 2012 ISE PI Meeting.
Poster on NSF grant DRL-1114663 (3D Visualization Tools For Enhancing Awareness, Understanding, And Stewardship Of Freshwater Ecosystems) from the 2012 ISE PI Meeting.