SETAC is funded by the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union and emerges out of the need to undertake specific action for the improvement of science education. It regards science education as among the fundamental tools for developing active citizens in the knowledge society. SETAC draws on the cooperation between formal and informal learning institutions, aiming to enhance school science education and active citizenship looking further into the role of science education as a lifelong tool in the knowledge society. On the day of the project’s conclusion, 31 October 2010, after two years of work SETAC contributes the following products and results to the field: 1. “Quality Science Education: Where do we stand? Guidelines for practice from a European experience” This is the concluding manifesto that presents the results of the SETAC work in the form of recommendations for practitioners working in formal and informal science learning institutions; 2. “Teaching and Learning Scientific Literacy and Citizenship in Partnership with Schools and Science Museums” This paper constitutes the theoretical framework of the project and innovative ways of using museums for science education and develop new modes of linking formal and informal learning environments; 3. Tools for teaching and learning in science: misconceptions, authentic questions, motivation. Three specific studies, leading to three specific reports, have been conducted in the context of the project, looking in particular into notions with an important role in science teaching and learning. These are on: Children’s misconceptions; Authentic questions as tool when working in science education; Students’ attitudes and motivation as factors influencing their achievement and participation in science and science-related issues; 4. Activities with schools: SETAC developed a series of prototype education activities which were tested with schools in each country. Among the activities developed between the partners, two have been chosen and are available on-line for practitioners to use and to adapt in their own context. These are: The Energy role game, a role game on Energy invites students to act in different roles, those of the stakeholders of an imaginary community, called to debate and decide upon a certain common problem; MyTest www.museoscienza.org/myTest, which aims to encourage students to engage in researching, reflecting and communicating science-oriented topics; 5. European in-service training course for primary and secondary school teachers across Europe. The training course is designed in such a way as to engage participants in debate and exploration of issues related to science education and active citizenship. The course is open to school teachers, headteachers and teacher trainers from all EU-member and associate countries. Professionals interested can apply for a EU Comenius grant. All the products of the project as well as information about the training course are available at the project website, some of them in more than one languages: www.museoscienza.org/setac
Researchers at the U.C. Davis will carry out observations of museum visitors to plan for a study of how visualizations affect visitors of an Earth Sciences exhibit using 3D technology. The researchers will be able to conduct an experimental study about how much participants in an education center learn from the model of earthquakes and of a model of the Lake Tahoe basin. The researchers will conduct a quasi-experiment of a sample of 100 visitors to the center at Lake Tahoe to study their experience with visualization and learning of science. The funding for this phase of the project will include the development of audience surveys, conducting focus groups to develop types of feedback, train staff to conduct data collection, and to conduct a literature review of technology visualization.
Dinosaurs Alive is a global adventure of science and discovery featuring the earliest dinosaurs of the Triassic Period and those of the Cretaceous "reincarnated" life-sized for the giant IMAX screen. Audiences will journey with some of the world's preeminent paleontologists as they uncover evidence that the descendants of dinosaurs still walk (or fly) among us. From the exotic, trackless expanses and sand dunes of Mongolia's Gobi Desert to the dramatic sandstone buttes of New Mexico, the film follows American Museum of Natural History paleontologists as they explore some of the greatest
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Alice Apley, Ph.D.Kim StreitburgerJenny ScalaMaryland Science Center
The goal of the study was to inform an interpretive and master planning process at Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site by documenting visitor motivations, interests, experience, and learning outcomes of four key audiences identified by Eastern State: walk-in visitors (adult only), walk-in visitors (groups with children), prearranged adult tour groups, and school groups. Specifically, the report focuses on the following evaluative questions: 1) Who are the visitors to Eastern State and why do they come? (e.g., entry conditions such as demographics, motivations for their visit, expectations
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Jill SteinEastern State Penitentiary Historic SiteJes A. Koepfler
During the summer of 2007, the Science Museum of Minnesota carried out a summative evaluation of the Kitty Andersen Youth Science Center's Park Crew program. The purpose of the evaluation was to understand how the youth staff implemented activities in the museum's Big Back Yard and what they learned about earth-surface processes, teaching others, and STEM careers. A mixed-methods design was used to gather evaluative data. Data collection methods included observations of youth presenting activities to visitors and pre- and post-interviews with the youth. A total of 11 youth (sophomore through
Sea Studios has undertaken the daunting task of motivating the American public to engage in solving some of the Earth's most challenging problems. Initially, Sea Studios' efforts focused on bringing significant environmental challenges to light. More recently, the organization's work has explored ways of communicating challenges facing natural systems with consequences in seemingly "unrelated" issue areas like poverty, globalization, and health. This task is formidable for a number of reasons. First, many of the problems Sea Studios is addressing are global in nature. As a result they seem
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Topos Research Partnership, LLCSea Studios Foundation
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County contracted Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) to conduct a front-end evaluation to inform the reinstallation of the Ancient Latin America Hall. The study was conducted to examine visitors' experiences in the current exhibition, the nature of their connection with the objects on view, and their needs and preferences for interpretation. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 English-speaking and 20 Spanish-speaking visitor groups, using a quota sampling method. Visitors were intercepted as they exited the current Ancient Latin America Hall
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
resourceevaluationMuseum and Science Center Exhibits
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County contracted Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) to conduct concept testing to inform the reinstallation of the Cenozoic/Age of Mammals Hall. The study was designed to examine visitors' perceptions and understanding of potential content, including their engagement with and knowledge of fossils, in general, and fossil mammals, in particular, and their familiarity with climate change. Open-ended, in-depth interviews were conducted with a random sample of English- and Spanish-speaking drop-in Museum visitors as they entered the existing Cenozoic/Age
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Sugar from the Sun was managed by the Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance (GPCA) and funded, in part, by the National Science Foundation. For this project, a 6,400 square foot living exhibition was built at Garfield Park Conservatory. This exhibition, comprised of five sections, depicted plants' production of sugar from water, air, and sunlight. The exhibition also featured a printed Exhibit Guide and hands-on activities. This study used a naturalistic inquiry methodology. The research question for this study was, As visitors engage with the immersive environments and interpretive messages in
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Eric GyllenhaalGarfield Park Conservatory Alliance
GRG conducted summative evaluation of Ganga, a NSF-funded six-segment series of NPR radio programs about the culture and ecology of the river Ganga in India and Bangladesh and its companion Website. Through a web-based survey, GRG assessed the study participants' knowledge gain from and the satisfaction with the series and the Website. The appendix of this report includes the online survey used in the study.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Irene GoodmanIndependent Broadcasting Associates, Inc.
Watching a long unedited video is usually a boring experience. In this paper we examine a particular subset of videos, tour videos, in which the video is captured by walking about with a running camera with the goal of conveying the essence of some place. We present a system that makes the process of sharing and watching a long tour video easier, less boring, and more informative.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Michael CohenJue WangSuporn Pongnumkul
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History will partner with The Exploratorium and with three smaller science museums that have strong connections to rural and Spanish-speaking populations in Texas: Discovery Science Place, Loredo Children's Museum, and Science Spectrum to develop TexNET, a four-year project modeled on the Exploratorium Network for Exhibit-based Teaching (ExNET). TexNET builds on lessons learned from past exhibit outreach models and addresses the needs of small, rural partners for exhibits and capacity-building workshops. Each small museum partner will host a set of ten exhibits for one year. Exhibit topics are 1) motion, 2) weather and 3) sound. Workshops focus on inquiry learning techniques, science content, programming and workshop design, as well as the institutional needs of each partner. Based on feedback from formative evaluation, the project added three additional partners in its final year, the Children's Museum of Houston, the Austin Children's Museum, and the Don Herrington Discovery Center, and focused its remaining year on building institutional capacity around tinkering. Inverness Research Associates will conduct the project evaluation. They will examine the success of this project by looking at the effectiveness of the TexNET model, the success of the individual exhibit elements to engage rural communities, the effectiveness with which this project has enhanced the abilities of local rural communities to sustain their own educational improvements and the effectiveness of the training components in increasing the capabilities of the local museums to serve their rural audiences.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Charlie WalterSamuel DeanJoe HastingsRobert Lindsey