JOURNEY TO PLANET EARTH is a new television science series and outreach initiative from Emmy award- winning producers Marilyn and Hal Weiner. With a comprehensive informal and formal education program designed by the Chicago Academy of Sciences, the project will educate and motivate millions of people about the most important health and environmental issues of the 21st century. Against a backdrop of scientific findings illustrating the complexity and fragility of the Earth's natural systems, the series will provide a much needed perspective to help students and the general public understand and cope with the difficulties of developing a global agenda that addresses the health and environmental concerns of the next millennium. JOURNEY TO PLANET EARTH's outreach initiative targets middle-school aged youth in a variety of informal and formal educational contexts, including ten of the country's leading science museums. It is supported by a comprehensive evaluation program and strategic outreach partnerships with organizations such as the North American Association for Environmental Education, the Geological Survey, the International Food Policy Research Institute, the National 4-H, the Department of Agriculture's Classroom Program, the GLOBE Program and AAAS.
The overall goal of this project is to further develop and test one high-potential current health science research dissemination strategy initially prototyped as part of the SEPA Phase I development of the Museum of Science-s Current Science & Technology Center: updateable interactive digital multimedia displays on current research that can be networked to multiple locations, including science museums, libraries, and student centers. This SEPA project aims to broadly disseminate learning resources on nanomedicine research, capitalizing on the momentum provided by the new NSF-funded Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net), also headquartered at the Museum of Science, Boston, which has plans to place exhibits relating to nanotechnology in 100 museums by 2011. In collaboration with the NISE-Net, the SEPA-funded team will: 1) Research, write, and produce four - six multimedia stories about current nanomedicine research, including elements such as researcher profiles, interpretive animations, interactives exploring the basic science, potential for human benefit, and pathways for further inquiry, 2) Prototype an updateable and networkable software interface and a physical digital display kiosk that can serve audiences in science museums, student centers, libraries, and other public locations, 3) Evaluate the effectiveness of interface and story content and make plans for further development and distribution, and 4) Develop additional content production partnerships with research centers and media.
Field trips to science museums can provide students with educational experiences, particularly when museum programs emphasize scientific inquiry skill building over content knowledge acquisition. We describe the creation and study of 2 programs designed to significantly enhance students' inquiry skills at any interactive science museum exhibit without the need for advanced preparation by teachers or chaperones. The programs, called Inquiry Games, utilized educational principles from the learning sciences and from visitor studies of museum field trips. A randomized experimental design compared
A team of researchers and practitioners developed a museum program to coach families in the skills of scientific inquiry at interactive exhibits. The program was inspired by the increasing focus on scientific inquiry in schools and the growing number of open-ended exhibit designs in science museums. The development process involved major decisions in two arenas: which inquiry skills to teach, and what pedagogical strategies to use to teach them. After many rounds of refinement based on evaluation with families, the final program, called Inquiry Games, improved visitors' inquiry behavior in
The Massachusetts Linking Experiences and Pathways Follow-on (M-LEAP2) is a three-year longitudinal empirical research study that is examining prospectively how early formal and informal STEM education experiences are related to gender-based differences in STEM achievement-related choices in middle and high school. M-LEAP2 serves as a complement to - and extension of - a prior NSF-funded study, M-LEAP, which was a largely quantitative research study that followed overlapping cohorts of 3rd - 6th grade female and male students for three years. M-LEAP surveyed over 1,600 students, 627 student-parent pairs, and 134 second parents in 8 diverse public schools across Massachusetts. In contrast, M-LEAP2 is a heavily qualitative three-year study using in-depth interviews with a diverse range of 72 of these students and their families to study how formal and informal science experiences shape the students' science-related beliefs, interests, and aspirations as they progress though middle and high school.
In this article Bell, Tzou, Bricker, and Baines describe how formal and informal educational experiences can merge through three case studies of youth engaged in science and technology. The theory of “cultural learning pathways” reframes our understanding of how, why, and where people learn over time and across spaces that have varying cultural values, everyday practices, and hierarchies of privilege and marginalization.
Many research interventions may show initial positive results, but studies show that these results tend to fade when research structures and supports are removed from the local contexts. In this paper, Gutierrez and Penuel make the case for rethinking what is meant by “rigor” in educational research. To drive truly meaningful and sustainable educational improvement efforts, there is a need for jointly negotiated research that integrates the perspectives, ideas, work, practical considerations, and analysis of educational practitioners. The authors argue that standards for rigorous research
This Barron and Bell article provides a foundational overview for how “cross-setting learning” can equitably engage all youth across formal and informal educational contexts. The paper offers: 1) a review of research; 2) descriptions of supports and challenges to cross-setting learning, including learner interest and identity; and 3) suggestions for research and assessments that capture learning for underrepresented youth.
Educators in informal science are exploring data visualization as a way to involve learners in analyzing and interpreting data. However, designing visualizations of data for learners can be challenging, especially when the visualizations show more than one type of data. The Ainsworth three-part DeFT framework can help practitioners design multiple external representations to support learning.
The overall objective of this planning project was to examine the potential effectiveness of the Signing Science Pictionary (SSP) in increasing the ability of parents and their deaf and hard of hearing children to engage in informal science learning. To achieve this objective, research and development included four goals. 1) Design several SSP-based activities to help family members engage in informal science learning. 2) Examine the potential effectiveness of the SSP in increasing family member’s signed science vocabulary. 3) Find out about the potential effectiveness of the SSP in
The role of informal science institutions in supporting science learning and engagement is becoming increasingly recognised. However, research in this area is published in a variety of journals and can be challenging for practitioners to access and apply. Indeed, it appears that the informal science sector lacks a process by which research can be usefully integrated into practice, and by which practice can inform research. In this paper, we argue that there is a need for research and practice to work together to produce practically relevant and academically credible research. We outline the
This Resource Guide, developed by the California Endowment, was designed to assist foundation staff with evaluations of initiatives and programs working with diverse communities. It has been developed as a “how-to” manual for incorporating a greater multicultural focus when commissioning an evaluation, and also as a resource of ideas for those interested in learning more about the topic.
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
Traci Endo InouyeHanh Cao YuJo-Ann AdefuinChristina JohThe California Endowment