The investigators will collect data on a broad range of informal science education activities of an existing sample of approximately 3,500 adults across the U.S. It will relate these activities to prior forms of science involvement and to various indicators of lifelong STEM learning. The proposed work is an extension of the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY), a study funded by NSF since 1986 and still ongoing. Prior work has tracked two national cohorts of students who were originally representative of public middle and high schools, focusing on their science and mathematics course enrollment, content, achievement, and career choices, and informed by data from their parents and teachers. The project team has maintained very high levels of continued participation by the approximately 5,000 students, now aged 34-38, many of whom have families of their own. The project will extend the planned surveys for 2009 and 2010 to examine how these adults use informal science education resources such as museums, libraries, books, magazines, newspapers, television, and the Internet. The project will provide baseline data on informal science education resource use in the Internet era for a large and diverse sample. It will allow investigation of the relationships of current informal science learning behaviors, both individual and intergenerational, to prior learning variables such as school science achievement, parental involvement, college experience, career choice, and prior use of informal learning resources while respondents were school-aged.
SoundVision Productions is developing and distributing a series of ten, hour-long public radio documentaries that will explore the turbulent boundary between science and the humanities, capturing the present moment of tremendous scientific and scholarly ferment with the unique and intimate power of radio. By introducing the radio audience to the thoughts and voices of some of the world\'s most accomplished scientists, in conversations with the counterparts in the humanities, the series will look at recent developments in science including physics, molecular and cell biology, environmental science, cognitive psychology and neuroscience, and the multiple disciplines of the life sciences reflecting the increasingly subtle and widespread application of evolutionary theory. In each program, a careful account of new scientific ideas and discoveries will be placed within the context of historical and contemporary thought about the human and natural worlds. Barinetta Scott, the Executive Producer, has most recently been the Executive Producer for the highly regarded NSF funded NPR series, "The DNA Files." In developing this project, she will work closely with an advisory committee that includes: John Avise, Research Professor, Dept. of Genetics, University of Georgia Samuel Barondes, Professor and Director of the University of California San Francisco\'s Center for Neurobiology and Psychiatry Terrence Deacon, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Boston University Anne Foerst, Professor of Computer Science and Theology, St. Bonaventure University Ursula Goodenough, Dept. of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis William Irons, Professor of Anthropology, Northwestern University Gordon Kane, Professor of Physics, University of Michigan Jim Miller, Senior Program Associate for the AAAS Program of Dialogue Between Science and Religion W. Mark Richardson, Episcopal Priest, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, General Theological Seminary Holmes Rolston, University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Philosophy, Colorado State University Michael Ruse, Professor of the Philosophy of Biology and Ethics, at Florida State University Mary Evelyn Tucker, Professor of Religion at Bucknell University Dorothy Wertz, Senior Scientist; Social Science, Ethics, and the Law; The Shriver Center.
The goal of this project is to extend the impact of the nationally broadcast weekly radio program, Science Friday to a new, young audience through the various new cyber-space platforms and interactive tools such as Facebook, Twitter, and Second Life as well as new emerging social networking tools. The STEM content over the course of the two year project will include a wide variety of topics in all disciplines. The relationship between art and science will also be a focus. The NPR radio broadcasts currently reach 1.3 million listeners every week, and that audience is expected to increase. In addition to that audience, this project will target a new audience of adults under the age of 35 using various cyber platforms and new social networking tools such as Second Life, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Audiences will also be reached through remote broadcasts from science centers and art centers around the country. Over 30 science centers will use this project's web content on their own web sites, reaching their audiences as well. The web content will be translated into Spanish and widely disseminated to Hispanic audiences. Each Friday afternoon, Ira Flatow, the PI will produce and host the nationally broadcast Science Friday radio program interviewing scientists and engineers in a lively engaging format. In addition, the Science Friday digital media team will be producing and inviting others to create and post digital content and commentary on the Science Friday web site for further dissemination through Second Life, Facebook, as well as other emerging networking platforms. The evaluation will use a quasi-experimental design to study the appeal of both the radio broadcasts and the cyber-platforms with both older and younger audiences. Proposed audience impacts include increased STEM knowledge, interest, and behaviors. Partner organizations include the Self Reliance Foundation, the New York Hall of Science, LA Theatreworks, and Tribeca Film Festival.
FETCH with Ruff Ruffman is a daily half-hour PBS television series with accompanying Web and outreach activities targeted to 6- to 10-year olds. The program brings science learning to young children by uniquely blending live-action with animation, game show convention with reality programming, and humor with academics. The intended impacts are to 1) help the target audience develop interest, knowledge and skills necessary to do science; 2) train afterschool leaders to better facilitate science activities with kids; and 3) demonstrate how media can be used to teach substantive science and share the results of project evaluation with others in the field. The requested funds will allow the project to expand the science curriculum with 20 new half-hour episodes and expand the Web site, focusing on three new science themes that highlight topics of interest to this age group. The Web site will include four new science-based Web games that will allow kids to create and post content of their own design and contribute to nationwide data collection. A new FETCH Online Training resource will be created to help afterschool leaders to effectively engage in FETCH's hands-on science activities. American Institutes for Research (AIR) will conduct summative evaluation of the Online Training program.
The Institute for Learning Innovation, in collaboration with Mary Miss Studio and the Institute for Urban Design, is conducting an exploratory research and development project on sustainable practices related to the built infrastructure of New York City. The work will (1) pilot test and study new interpretive strategies for urban "place-based" public learning experiences that focus pedestrians' attention on a city's ecology and existing built sustainability infrastructure; (2) engage urban design professionals and STEM researchers to explore how these new strategies have the potential to transform how urban design fields inform, dialog and interact with the public about sustainable urban design and planning; and (3) assess the effectiveness of these public interpretation programs on STEM learning beyond traditional Informal Science Learning Environments (ISEs) such as science museums. Project participants also include faculty from the City College of NY Graduate Program in Urban Design, STEM faculty from Columbia University, and staff of the Provisions Library in Washington, D.C. The project is an early phase of the "City as Living Laboratory" initiative that can leverage the Rockefeller Foundation-funded Urban Design Week program in New York City scheduled to occur September 15 - 20, 2011. This request to NSF adds an additional track to the process to specifically focus on STEM learning and urban sustainability. From the promotional materials: "The Institute for Urban Design is currently preparing for the first annual Urban Design Week, a public festival created to engage New Yorkers in the fascinating and complex issues of the public realm and celebrate the city's exceptional urbanity. Through a rich roster of charettes, summits, installations, film screenings, exhibitions, and tours, Urban Design Week will draw in citizens from every borough and walk of life and highlight the idea that cities are made by collective effort, and that each of us can be a part of that great endeavor." The project goal is to generate new models for public engagement with science in the city environment and to explore how urban designers and planners, as they design for sustainability, can more effectively collaborate with STEM researchers and with the public. The project has both research and programmatic deliverables. Research activities include: Public Audiences: observational study of pedestrians in the installation environment; intercept surveys of the public about their experiences with the streetscape installations. Professional Audiences: pre-installation surveys on the role of public space science interpretation for altering public discourse about urban planning and sustainable cities; focus group assessment of professionals' experiences with observing public interactions with the installations; online delayed- post experience survey on learning outcomes in terms of knowledge, attitude, motivation and anticipated impacts on professional practices; analysis of blog postings and public media surrounding the installation; survey of attendees at an ISE forum on the project, its goals, outcomes and potential for future developments. Programmatic deliverables include: a workshop that engages urban design students in the development of experimental streetscape installations; a pilot installation on streets in the City College of NY (consistent with approvals already received by NYC Dept. of Transportation); a City as Living Laboratory art-science workshop for Urban Design Week professionals to highlight possible benefits of inter-disciplinary collaboration; a panel discussion around new forms of citizen engagement through a "city as a science learning environment"; a forum specifically for ISE professionals to explore the research findings and potential for use as a strategy to increase science learning in city places.
This broader implementation project will create a professional network of individuals and institutions increasing their capacity to develop, implement, and evaluate the impact of large scale community science festivals. The project builds on a previous award that supported the implementation of science festivals in Cambridge, MA; San Francisco, San Diego, and Philadelphia. Each festival reached 50-70,000 attendees, many of them families from low-income, ethnic communities. Festival organizers and participants include science center practitioners, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) researchers, STEM related businesses, public television STEM producers, universities, K-12 schools, and government and foundation stakeholders. The summative evaluation indicated significant impacts on participant's STEM interest, learning, and connections to STEM resources in their community. The number of science festivals across the country is increasing. Consequently this new project will create a professional network with numerous benefits to professionals in the Informal Science Education (ISE) field and other stakeholders including: timely access to information, knowledge and experience related to science festivals; rich relationships to draw on when facing challenges; credibility of the festival concept; ability to partner with multiple festivals and magnify the reach of existing ISE institutions and program; diffusion of knowledge and innovation; and collective intelligence and inclusive consultation. It is expected that the network will involve supporting approximately 50 science festivals during the grant period. A business plan will be developed for long term sustainability of the network and the subsequent growth of science festivals. This is a collaborative proposal with 4 project partners who have distinct roles in creating and sustaining the network: MIT, University of California at San Francisco, University of North Carolina/Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, and The Franklin Institute. MIT's project deliverables include hosting the central management and administrative functions of the network and providing conferences, workshops, individual mentoring of new science festival champions, maintaining the network website, etc. UCSF will develop tools, resources, and linkages to increase participation of scientists in festivals. UNC/Morehead Planetarium and Science Center will provide expertise in statewide festival organizing. The Franklin Institute will help network participants build capacity for engaging low-income families with programming examples, community asset analysis tools, and webinars. This multi-hub approach is a new innovative strategy for creating and sustaining the first ever professional network for science festival organizers. The project evaluation will focus on the network\'s vibrancy, connectivity and effect. Network vibrancy impact data will be collected on how members share goals, enhance leadership, and expand geographic and model diversity. Network connectivity evaluation will study the strength and growth of the relationships within the SFA network. Network effects will study the ways the Science Festival Alliance (SFA) network is achieving science festival organizational capacity looking at increases in the number of science festivals, geographic spread, science festival innovations, and the presence of a SFA sustainability plan. This project will add new knowledge about the impact of networks on the development and impact of science festivals throughout the country.
The Science Source Pathways Project will conduct initial work designing and testing a new model for providing news on STEM related topics to the rural and Native American communities in Montana. This project will enhance understanding of how the communication of scientific research reaches and impacts underrepresented audiences. A collaborative model will be developed between the environmental journalism program at the University of Montana and various local television, radio, and online media outlets that are either operated by or reach Native Americans on reservations and throughout the state. Project deliverables include a survey and analysis of current science reporting reaching this audience; and production and testing of prototype science news stories for dissemination on various platforms (print, radio, TV, web). The development of science news pieces will be led by graduate students in the School of Journalism under the careful guidance and mentorship of experienced professors. This project will enhance the communication and amount of STEM content delivered to underserved groups, and provide diverse opportunities for them to engage in STEM related environmental issues that affect their local communities.
This report outlines the proceedings of the 2011 conference called "Art as a Way of Knowing" hosted by the Exploratorium. The purpose of the conference was to gather a broad range of artists, scientists, and educators to explore the history, practice, and value of the arts as a means of inquiring into the natural world. The conference brought together some 125 leading international thinkers— representing work in education, art and science museums, contemporary art, and interdisciplinary research. In particular, conference participants explored art practice in relation to the field of public
This paper was prepared for the symposium, "Learning Science in Out-of-School Time: Research Directions," presented at the 2011 annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans. The authors discuss research efforts related to the nature of afterschool science offerings in publicly funded afterschool programs for elementary school students in California and the sources of support for science programming and afterschool staff development. Findings from the Afterschool Science Network (ASN) are outlined.
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Barbara MeansAnn HouseCarlin Llorente
A June 2010 report from the Exploratorium's Learning and Youth Research and Evaluation Center (LYREC) highlights trends, questions, and findings related to out-of-school-time science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (OST STEM). Based on an October 2009 meeting, the report aims "to inform the work of OST educators, researchers, and funders." The report notes that "out-of-school-time programs such as summer camps,afterschool programs and Saturday classes provide students with important opportunities to: (1) spark, sustain, and deepen their interest in science, technology, engineering
This PDF contains the proceedings of the 2012 conference, Public Works for Public Learning. The conference reviewed the efforts of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District and their NSF-funded project to promote lifelong learning in a wide variety of informal settings such as the Golden Gate Bridge visitor area. Conference topics focused on how existing structures can be used to develop fun and effective exhibits to educate the public on STEM topics.
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Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
This research study was designed to explore and document the current “landscape” of the informal science education community. The authors outline the theoretical framework used to approach their research, research goals and design, methods, results, and conclusions and recommendations. Based on the authors' preliminary and exploratory investigation, they argue that currently the ISE community does not function as an effective community of practice. However, many of the pieces that are necessary for ISE to become a true community of practice are currently in place. The report raises the