Presentation on NSF funded Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (DRL-0940143), presented at the CAISE Convening on Organizational Networks, November 17th, 2011.
Annotated, integrated, illustrated practical instructions result in higher levels of performance on task; lower completion time, task difficulty, and perceived cognitive load; higher relative efficiency score and post-test scores than the conventional instructions; and makes practical work instructions easier to understand for students with no prior knowledge of the subject matter.
Transitioning from textbook-style problems to ""real-world"" physics problem-solving requires participants to set limiting assumptions. In textbook-style questions these assumptions aren't necessary because all the numerical values are provided by the textbook. However, in real-world challenges this is often not the case. The article has implications for educators who are thinking about how to use real-world problems in their work.
In this paper, the learning resources and museum visit that formed part of an undergraduate teaching sequence on the special theory of relativity are described and discussed. Findings highlight the importance of integrating pre- and post-visit activities, although the methods used to evaluate the impact of the experience do not offer conclusive results.
This study reports on how high school students use scientifically correct language to articulate the concept of ‘force’. Although the analysis is somewhat complex, the importance of this study is its research of how the students engage with scientific concepts and language, and moreover, how they use and apply it.
The formal introduction of learners to scientific phenomena is accompanied by the need to reconcile what they are being taught in classrooms with their informal or pre-existing conceptualizations of the same phenomena. Reconciled formal and informal conceptualizations represent what the authors of this study refer to as “conceptual continuity,” which, they argue, is an important asset for science educators seeking to support students’ conceptual development. In this paper, authors studied the ways in which high-school baseball players expressed their understanding of how curveballs curve using
The EDC Center for Children and Technology (CCT), a nonprofit international research organization, conducted the formative evaluation of the first year's implementation of the Be A Scientist! (BAS) project. The goal of this five-year afterschool family science program project is to provide quality science and engineering courses to underserved families in New York City and Los Angeles. It targeted underserved first graders and their families in the Spring 2010. Guiding by formative research questions (e.g., X) and using multi-method research approach (e.g., X), CCT researchers uncovered
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 Museum of Science (MOS) seeks to establish a Network, a national infrastructure designed to foster public awareness, engagement and understanding of nanoscale science and engineering (NSE). As part of this undertaking, MOS will create a set of interactive, media-based and discourse-based educational productes based on NSE; generate new knowledge about design for learning and produce a sustainable network that involves inromal educators and researchers. Core partners are the Exploratorium and the Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM). This project will establish for the first-time an open national network that links science centers across the nation, focusing for this award on the development and delivery of exhibits and programs addressing the interdisciplinary content areas of NSE. In addition, the Network will establish ties and collaborative relationships with university-based NSE research centers, including MRSEC's and NSEC's. An educational research and development component will address the challenges of public understanding of a difficult-to-grasp emerging field. Project deliverables will be created primarily at three sites. The Center for NISE Research at the Exploratorium will collect, develop and disseminate knowledge about how to communicate to target audiences. The NISE Center for Public Engagement at MOS will develop a network media framework for dissemination to other science centers, network radio (with WBUR), and produce forums for dialogue and deliberation with adult audiences. The NISE Center for Exhibit and Program Production and Dissemination at SMM will develop interactive exhibits, exhibition packages for distribution, and immersive media environments programs. Development of deliverables will involve the following science-technology center partners: Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), OR; New York Hall of Science, NY; Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, TX; Museum of Life and Science, NC; Sciencenter, NY; and Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC). NSE research partners include Main Street Science, Cornell University; Materials Research Society; University of Wisconsin Madison, MRSEC Interdisciplinary Education Group; and Purdue University, Envision Center for Data Perceptualization. The resulting Network and the knowledge gained as a result of this project are intended to produce a dramatic improvement in the capacity of the science center field to engage and educate the public about NSE, both in quality and quantity. By Year Five, there are expected to be NSE exhibits and activities at some 100 sites across the nation. In addition, the NSE research community should gain a deeper appreciation of the role that science centers can play as intermediaries in conveying scientific research to the public.
The idea that there are models in existence for electricity and how to improve its generation and utilization is an important quest in light of our resources. This CRPA project will stimulate the target audience\'s thinking by describing the relationships between electricity, nanoscience, and superconductivity. An audience of 4th-8th graders, parents, and teachers will come away from watching the video with a new sense of science and its possibilities. This project is a collaboration between physics faculty, educators at the University of Kansas Natural History Museum, a communications professional, and the Bazillion Pictures of Kansas City, Missouri along with independent evaluators. An animated video of 8-10 minutes is intended to engage, entertain, and provoke thought on how electricity works and how it could be used/generated in nano-molecules to derive superconductivity. Most individuals turn on the electrical switch and use the result without the slightest understanding of how electricity arrived at the switch, how it was generated and what resources are needed for it to be there at the "flip of a switch." Further, most do not consider or have sufficient background knowledge to understand how the efficiency and use of this resource might be improved. This project could bridge this gap which if successful would be highly transformative in the public understanding of science.
The New York Hall of Science, in collaboration with the Tufts Center for Engineering Education, the Learning Games Network, and New York City departments of education and of parks and recreation, is creating and testing two innovative science games to support student learning about frictional force and linear motion. SciGames integrates rigorous, highly motivating, data collection activities conducted in museum and playground settings, with in-depth data analysis and additional scientific investigation in the classroom. The primary goals of the SciGames project are to increase student motivation and interest in science and improve student learning about core physical science concepts. This exploratory project targets underrepresented urban students and their teachers from 20 schools in New York City (NYC) and through its partnership with NYC department of parks and recreation has great potential for scale-up throughout NYC, as well as dissemination to other urban communities. The SciGames model creates experiences for students that build on the positive, fun, free-choice learning characteristics of informal settings; promotes learning through repeated game-like experimentation and play; and supports students' sustained interest and learning in science classrooms where core concepts are formalized. The project is based on four design principles: (1) SciGames turns students' informal experiences into a game, (2) SciGames makes science content an integral part of game play, (3) SciGames generates data for further analysis during game play, and (4) SciGames, through the use of digital apps, supports students inquiring into data back in their classrooms. Researchers are developing the games using rigorous, well constructed, iterative cycles of design, development, testing, evaluation, and revision with different groups of NYC students and teachers. Pre and post data on students\' science learning and affect are being used to inform the design cycles. Over a two-year period, SciGames will produce two science games and associated digital apps, and a portable kit that supports game implementation, data collection and analysis. SciGames is an important experiment, combining the informal, engaging aspects of play with more formal science investigation to encourage and sustain the interest, participation, and learning of underrepresented students in STEM. This project has the potential to transform how we think of and structure science learning for middle school students.
WGBH is requesting funds to produce a four-hour NOVA television special with accompanying Web and outreach activities about the pervasive role of materials in our lives. The overarching goals of the project are to: 1) enhance public engagement in and understanding of materials science, including appreciation of its effects on society; 2) promote collaboration among educators, scientists and community-based organizations to reach a broad audience; and 3) create effective methods of expanding informal science learning that can be evaluated for their lasting impact on the field. The mini-series, "STUFF: The Materials that Shape our World," will offer an appreciation of the human and scientific factors that drive innovation in materials science, from ancient breakthroughs to today's explosion of biological and nanomaterials. The four episodes, themed around "Stronger," "Smaller," "Smarter" and "Cleaner" will provide a clear focus on the interdisciplinary nature of materials science and showcase dramatic stories of past inventions and exciting new discoveries. The NOVA team in association with the Materials Research Society (MRS) will produce the series. The "STUFF" series is anticipated to be broadcast on PBS in the fall of 2008. WGBH and MRS will work with local PBS stations to train local scientists in public outreach. Multimedia Research will conduct formative evaluation of the project components, and Goodman Research Group will conduct summative evaluation of both the series and the outreach efforts.