A growing body of research suggests that many types of institutions and experiences contribute to science and technology learning by the public. These include the formal education system, libraries, science centers, citizen science, after school programs, television programs, film and video, newspapers, radio, books and magazines, the internet, community and health organizations, environmental organizations, and conversations with friends and family. It is also important that research about who learns and how they learn from these institutions and experiences is informed by and discussed within the communities themselves. This project focuses specifically on STEM learning in interactive science centers. It invites science center professionals from around the country to contribute to and share findings from an on-going research study designed to better understand the influence that interactive science centers have on youth and adult's long-term understanding, interest and engagement with science and technology. The pair of workshops supported by this grant will engage science center administrators, educators, exhibition and program designers, evaluators and researchers in two sets of tasks. The first workshop, held prior to the start of the larger research project, will examine and focus the research's overall goals and help frame a set of specific research questions. Although no research study can answer all important issues, the goal of the workshop is to ensure that the planned investigation attempts to address the issues and outcomes considered most critical to the broader science center community. The second workshop will occur after completion of all data collection and initial data analysis. It will engage a broad cross-section of the science center community in discussing findings, brainstormind implications and usage, and developing dissemination strategies to insure that the findings of the research reach the broader science center and policy communities. The goal of these workshops is to use the collective wisdom of dozens of active professionals from across the country to develop a suite of strategies for grounding research in practice, incorporating research results into practice as well as bringing important research findings to a broader national audience.
Nine cultural institutions in one metropolitan community worked together on a study to determine what motivates museumgoers, using John Falk’s visitor-identity model as their theoretical guide and analytical instrument. The results prompted the individual institutions to reflect on their programme development and learning outcomes, their marketing strategies, and their staff professional development.
Teachers’ beliefs are key in determining the effect of professional development (PD) initiatives. In this study, teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs about their ability to teach science and the amount of PD they received were found to be significant and positive predictors of student achievement.
This study examines the effectiveness of a teacher professional development program that sought to address the integration of Native American students’ cultures with classroom science teaching. Informal science education practitioners interested in reaching non-dominant populations can use this study as evidence that professional development focusing on cultural points of intersection has a positive effect.
Museum educators rarely experience ongoing training. They tend to rely on their past experiences of teaching and learning to guide their interactions with learners. Allen and Crowley describe the implementation of a new school trip program that challenged museum educators’ beliefs. The program involved a five-month process of reflective practice and the iterative testing of student-centered, inquiry-based facilitation approaches.
This paper discusses a modification of the Delphi technique as a tool for bridging research and practice. The technique was used to build consensus among a variety of stakeholders on the subject matter of a proposed Ph.D. study, but it could also be used to identify a focus for other research or collaborative projects.
This article reports on a case study of two middle school science teachers who took part in professional development designed to help them enact culturally relevant pedagogy in their classrooms. The long-term and community-oriented aspects of the professional development seemed to play a vital role in supporting the teachers’ success.
Rather than enacting imaginative approaches, some teachers tend to engage in safe but unexciting transmission of science knowledge. This study examined a professional development programme wherein primary school teachers learned the skills and approaches of Dramatic Science. The findings indicate that the programme met its aim of helping teachers become more confident and creative in supporting children’s science learning.
This document evaluates a meeting held by the New Mexico ISE Network (NM ISE Net) to link research and informal education institutions with one another to build capacity for informal science education.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Kirk Minnick
resourceevaluationWebsites, Mobile Apps, and Online Media
The UMass Donahue Institute (UMDI) was contracted to provide formative evaluation services for WGBH’s PEEP and the Big Wide World project development of curriculum units and instructional modules for use by family child care providers (FCCPs). This formative study piloted three 3-week curriculum units focused on three science content areas, integrated with media and professional development materials for family child care settings (videos and a Facilitator’s Guide for trainers) in English and in Spanish. This report describes the methodology used to implement this study and the findings from
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WGBH Educational FoundationUniversity of Massachusetts, Donahue
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
In December, 2013, a group of leaders of six informal science education (ISE) assessment projects met in Palo Alto, CA for a 2-day exploration of the state of the art of measuring the impact of informal STEM education experiences. The goals for the meeting were to explore in depth the technical and practical details of the assessments, share and critique findings, and review plans for ongoing work to validate and refine measures.
This paper summarizes a Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE) convening (June 20-21, 2013) on Evaluation Capacity Building. The convening was designed to facilitate discussion about the resources needed to improve the quality of evaluation in ISE. Participants included evaluators currently practicing in the field, as well as those working in other disciplines; learning researchers; experience and setting designers; organizational leaders; program officers from the National Science Foundation (NSF); other federal funding agencies; and private philanthropic foundations.