This article describes a design-based research (DBR) study conducted as part of a larger initiative, Science on the Move, intended to bring non-facilitated and unexpected science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning experiences to public transit stations. Drawing from prior research on situational interest, pedestrian navigation, and design affordances, the study was intended to (a) support the development of exhibit prototypes in transit stations and (b) build a theoretically-grounded conjecture map of multi-stage visitor attention, including factors which support or discourage
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.
These blog posts were written by researcher Andee Rubin in 2013 & 2014 as a way to provide technical assistance to investigators planning to carry out research in informal settings. The first post provides a history of human subjects protection as it emerged from medical research and thoughts about the application of these principles to informal settings. The second discusses the set of federally-mandated rules that Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) use to protect human subjects and describes how and when researchers need to seek IRB approval for their work. The third describes techniques for
This poster was presented at the 2016 Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) PI Meeting held in Bethesda, MD on February 29-March 2. The third season of the national PBS series, SciGirls, is the first national children’s television series and website designed to engage and educate millions of children about citizen science. In each half-hour episode, a female mentor guides a group of ethnically diverse middle school girls as they learn about citizen science protocols and collect and share data for an established citizen science project. In addition to the videos, the SciGirls website presents
This poster was presented at the 2016 Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) PI Meeting held in Bethesda, MD on February 29-March 2. The project's goal is to develop and refine a set of concepts and issues to guide investigations into how participation in online affinity spaces can promote and enable informal science learning.
This brochure provides overview of work accomplished during the one-year planning grant period, and includes a proposed research agenda related to whole body interaction. The Move2Learn planning effort was a collaboration between museum practitioners and researchers in the United States and the United Kingdom, who represented the spectrum of science education, embodied learning, interactive exhibit designers and technology specialists. The overall goal was to begin the process of identifying relevant research questions related to the design of physical and digital exhibits for young children
This evaluation gathered feedback from adults in response to 18 short format ScienCentral science news videos played on large screens in three areas of Maryland Science Center. Additionally, museum visitors reacted to ideas for museum usage of a handheld device, which would present current science news. The general goals for the evaluation were:
• To determine appeal of large screen video format; • To assess large screen videos with respect to reactions to the science content; • To learn which current science topics visitors are interested in; • To estimate personal impact of viewing large
Dr. Barbara Flagg's paper presented at the one-day symposium, Giant Screen Films and Lifelong Learning, focuses on what evaluations by Multimedia Research have taught us about making giant screen films an entertaining and effective tool for lifelong learning by adult audiences. In summary, giant film audiences are attracted mainly to the format by their expectations of vicarious experiences, vertigo feelings, exquisite cinematography and learning new and unusual information. These educated audiences also expect more from the format in the way of information and storyline than is typically
With funding from the National Science Foundation, NOVA/WGBH Boston with the participation of 14 U.S. and 4 international science museums have produced an IMAX/OMNIMAX film titled, Special Effects. The 40-minute film shows the techniques and methods that special effects filmmakers use along with their understanding of the human visual system to create movie illusions. Multimedia Research implemented a summative evaluation focused on the following major outcomes: To what extent did the program appeal to adult viewers? To what extent did the program achieve its intended viewing goals? What
With funding from the National Science Foundation, NOVA/WGBH Boston with the participation of 14 U.S. and 4 international science museums have produced an IMAX/OMNIMAX film titled, Special Effects. The 40-minute film shows the techniques and methods that special effects filmmakers use to create movie illusions. Multimedia Research implemented a summative evaluation with students focused on the following major outcomes: To what extent did the program appeal to student viewers? To what extent did the program achieve its intended viewing goals? Did the implementation of school-based activities
Dr. Barbara Flagg, Director, Multimedia Research, will conduct exploratory research to assess the feasibility and viability of presenting to the public an on-going review of new findings or issues in major fields of research. This research on the untested idea of providing the public with information about research on a regular, on-going basis through multiple media will provide information about the American public's current science media habits, their awareness of and interest in broad areas of research, and the presentation formats most likely to appeal to and reach the public on a regular basis.
As part of a focus group exploratory study into the feasibility of presenting to the public an on-going review of new findings or issues in major fields of science research, 128 adult participants noted which two of ten contemporary science research areas they were most interested in. Of note is the fact that all classification variables (except gender) were unrelated to topic appeal. Interest in each research topic was not influenced by age; educational level; minority/majority grouping; total household income; occupational status; and perceived need for science knowledge in one's employment