As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments. This includes providing multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences, advancing innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and developing understandings of deeper learning by participants. This project is a two-day conference, along with pre- and post-conference activities, with the goal of furthering the informal science learning field's review of the research and development that has been conducted on data visualizations that have been used to help the public better understand and become more engaged in science. The project will address an urgent need in informal science education, providing a critical first step towards a synthesis of research and technology development in visualization and, thus, to inform and accelerate work in the field in this significant and rapidly changing domain.
The project will start with a Delphi study by the project evaluator prior to the conference to provide an Emerging Field Assessment on data visualization work to date. Then, a two-day conference at the Exploratorium in San Francisco and related activities will bring together AISL-funded PIs, computer scientists, cognitive scientists, designers, and technology developers to (a) synthesize work to date, (b) bring in relevant research from fields outside of informal learning, and (c) identify remaining knowledge gaps for further research and development. The project team will also develop a website with videos of all presentations, conference documentation, resources, and links to social media communities; and a post-conference publication mapping the state of the field, key findings, and promising technologies.
The initiative also has a goal to broaden participation, as the attendees will include a diverse cadre of professionals in the field who contribute to data visualization work.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds innovative research, approaches and resources for use in a variety of settings. A frequently overlooked but significantly under-represented STEM audience is people who live in rural settings. The proposed conference is the first of its kind to bring together key innovators and experts in rural Informal STEM education, to address this question: How can we build on recent innovations to create more effective and scalable pathways for informal STEM learning in rural communities?
The conference will focus primarily on advancing informal STEM education for rural youth, but will also include some participants who cross boundaries, to situate the work in an ecosystem perspective: informal-formal education, childhood-adult education, rural ecosystems and economic drivers for STEM related jobs. The provisional list of topics will be refined through a pre-conference survey of participants, and will be followed with a report that includes survey responses, conference discussion, and final recommendations by participants. The conference will be held in Washington D.C. to enable policymakers to attend.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
Public engagement with science (PES) is about dialogue between scientific and technological experts and public audiences about societal questions that science can inform but not answer. In making decisions about these kinds of societal questions, social values and personal experience play roles equal to or greater than the one played by science. Rather than focusing exclusively on science itself, PES focuses on discussing problems that communities view as worth solving; the information society needs and wants from scientists; the potential risks, benefits, and consequences of new technologies
Scientists (and engineers) wishing to conduct public engagement do so in the context of established disciplinary norms and complex institutional systems that may support or limit their success. This report seeks to convey the known complexity, unique challenges, and opportunities for universities to better support for scientists in their public engagement work. The report is intended to drive discussion towards deeper exploration and development of actionable next steps.
This is the executive summary of report from Workshop III: Academic Institutions, part of the Support Systems for
Leading science educators from 9 South and Southeastern Asian countries and the U.S. met for three days in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (October 4-6, 2017) in an effort to rethink and re-envision science education in the 21st Century. The attendees of this U.S. National Science Foundation-funded international conference reaffirmed the G8-Science Academies Joint Statement (2011) that education in science must be targeted not only to future scientists, engineers and other specialists in government and industry, but also to the general public, including school-aged children and adults. The attendees at
This is a list of participants who attended the Support Systems for Scientists' Communication and Engagement Workshop IV: Science Engagement Facilitators. This workshop was held on May 2 and 3, 2018 at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, CA.
This is a report from Workshop IV, part of the Support Systems for Scientists' Communication and Engagement workshop series. Workshop IV was held May 2-3, 2018 at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, CA. In this study, researchers sought to explore and understand the mechanisms, motivations, and outcome metrics utilized by individuals and organizations that facilitate scientists’ communication with the public. To capture the full range of engagement methods, facilitators from a wide variety of organizations were contacted and interviewed. After contacting 30 leaders the realm of science
This poster was presented at the 2018 Campus Office of Undergraduate Research Initiatives (COURI) Symposium in El Paso, TX. It describes an ethnographic study into the use of storytelling in science teaching.
This poster was presented at the 2018 Campus Office of Undergraduate Research Initiatives (COURI) Symposium in El Paso, TX. It describes challenges and lessons learned regarding the use of cogenerative dialogues (cogens) in the context of a project-based learning environment.
This poster was presented at the 2018 Campus Office of Undergraduate Research Initiatives (COURI) Symposium in El Paso, TX. It describes an ethnographic study to investigate how an exemplary scientist engaged high school students with humor during a project-based learning science internship.
This poster was presented at the 2018 Campus Office of Undergraduate Research Initiatives (COURI) Symposium in El Paso, TX. It discusses the difficulty faced by high school students in generating project ideas, and seeks to identify different activities and methods that instructors use to facilitate the development of project ideas in a project-based learning internship environment.
Please join us in celebrating Citizen Science Day, which falls this year on Saturday, April 14th. This issue of Connected Science Learning is dedicated to highlighting effective citizen science programs that involve classroom students in collecting data for research scientists, while also engaging them in key STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) content and practices. Students get a “front row seat” to what scientists do and how scientists work, plus develop the reasoning skills and practices used by scientists.