While industries such as music, newspapers, film and publishing have seen radical changes in their business models and practices as a direct result of new technologies, higher education has so far resisted the wholesale changes we have seen elsewhere. However, a gradual and fundamental shift in the practice of academics is taking place. Every aspect of scholarly practice is seeing changes effected by the adoption and possibilities of new technologies. This book will explore these changes, their implications for higher education, the possibilities for new forms of scholarly practice and what
In this chapter, we describe a project that addressed the unique professional development needs of docents. The vignette that opened the chapter took place about a year into a NASA-funded school trip project at the museum, at a point when the leadership on this project had undergone a complete turnover, and new leaders were attempting to understand what was happening with the project and what was necessary to move it forward and ensure its success. Elsewhere, we describe the nature of docent change in more detail (Allen & Crowley, 2014). Here, we expand upon the processes our project followed
The Open University's "Innovating Pedagogy Report" is an example of exploring innovative topics while giving oneself permission to be a bit less academic. In the report, authors choose 10 topics and write several pages on each, deliberately avoiding citing papers and supporting each individual point. This third report proposes ten innovations that are already in currency but have not yet had a profound influence on education. You can see a summary of each innovation at the menu on the right. Please contribute your comments on the report and the innovations.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Mike SharplesAnne AdamsRebecca FergusonMark GavedPatrick McAndrewBart RientiesMartin WellerDenise Whitelock
Summative evaluations of museum exhibitions are generally conducted with the aims of measuring whether an exhibition met its goals, identifying areas for improvement, and assessing impact. In many cases, evaluation studies also serve to advance the field by providing lessons for funders, policy makers, or practitioners beyond the project. This report includes details from summative evaluations that included recommendations, particularly those that might be useful for lessons learned and suggestions for improvements to the exhibitions that were evaluated. Using a bottom-up method of review, the
The aim of this study was to explore 22 Web site evaluation reports, or sections of larger evaluation reports centering on a Web site, to identify, define, and provide examples of the range of evaluation focus areas to inform the design of Web site evaluation studies. The sample included a group of reports contributed to the Informalscience.org online database. Prior to this study, staff members at the Science Museum of Minnesota organized and coded the database of evaluation reports as part of the Building Informal Science Education (BISE) project funded by the National Science Foundation
This presentation was given as a preconference workshop at the 6th Annual International Science of Team Science Conference in 2015. It presents tools and resources for implementing effective practices in team science, and introduces tools and resources to help bolster collaboration.
To address the Informal Science Learning for Indigenous communities raises a number of issues. What is “informal” and how does this notion influence the everyday lived lives of Indigenous peoples? Can we separate the informal from the formal, and is the nexus of the two a productive place from which to explore, teach, and pursue science in Indigenous communities? This commissioned paper attempts to begin addressing these questions.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Bryan Mckinely Jones BrayboyAngelina Castagno
This paper, commissioned as part of a consensus study on successful out-of-school STEM learning from the National Research Council's Board on Science Education, explores evidence-based strategies developed in out-of-school time STEM programs for successfully engaging youth from underrepresented demographics in STEM learning.
To this volume on out-of-school STEM learning, we contribute an example of science. Our charge is to discuss what it means for children to be doing science and how educators can assess it. To that end, we’ve chosen an especially clear case. It happens to have taken place in school, but that shouldn’t matter for our purpose here; it’s the substance of the children’s reasoning that we’re assessing as the beginnings of science. We open with the case. We then articulate how it is an example of science, in particular of science as a pursuit. Finally we discuss what this view means for science
The National Research Council’s Committee on Successful Out-of-School STEM Learning has been tasked with writing a consensus report on the value of and evidence for out-of-school STEM learning programs. As part of its charge, the committee has posed the following questions to be addressed in this paper: What evidence is there for the impact of museum- (and other designed setting) managed programs on STEM learning and interest? What is known about the impact and value of such programs on school-age children’s understanding of STEM concepts and practices as well as their interest and engagement
This paper was commissioned by the National Research Council Board on Science Education Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education (DBASSE) as part of a consensus study on Successful Out-of-School STEM Learning. It explores the role of citizen science in youth STEM education, providing examples of projects developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Educational assessment systems are frequently challenged by divergent stakeholder needs. A major insight from experts who work on school assessment systems is the need to clearly articulate and evaluate assessment choices in relation to these distinct goals. The out-of-school STEM ecosystem faces similar challenges. This background paper presents ideas for new assessment methodologies that include biographical and narrative approaches, measures of sustained learning, and social network representations to complement more traditional approaches that capture average effects of a particular