During the first EU-funded project EUSCE/X (European Science Communication Events / Extended), a "White Book" was developed in 2005, containing the experiences of exploring 21 European science engagement events like science festivals. The White Book has 13 chapters ranging from "purpose and philosophy" across "management", "education", "funding" to "European dimension".
How can professional learning for out‐of‐school staff be organized to promote equity in STEM learning? This is the question a group of out-of‐school educators and educational researchers gathered to discuss at the Exploratorium on January 30‐31, 2015. The meeting was sponsored by the Research+Practice Collaboratory, an NSF-‐funded project that develops and tests new models for integrating research and practice perspectives for the improvement of science and mathematics education. Four big ideas for supporting equity-oriented facilitation emerged from the group's discussions: (1) Seeing
This book offers museum learning researchers and practitioners--educators, explainers, and exhibit developers--a new approach for fostering group inquiry at interactive science exhibits. The Juicy Question game, developed at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, engages group members in a simple process of inquiry that helps them work together interrogate exhibit phenomena more deeply. and widens their both families and student field trip groups. The approach is easy to implement and yields clear results. The results are summarized in a set of practice principles that can be used by other
On June 20-22, 2008, the Philadelphia/Camden Informal Science Education Collaborative (PISEC) conducted the Bridges Conference for museum/community partnership programs that serve families. The conference was funded by a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant (DRL# 0734835), which covered planning, implementation, evaluation and dissemination. The Bridges Conference was designed to bring together professionals involved with long-term museum/community relationships, and to offer opportunities to share and develop new strategies to (1) address practical issues inherent in funding, developing
The following are interviews with people whose long-term involvement with the PISEC program has been life-changing. Most started as participants, with or without friends and family, and over time became PISEC leaders. Most of those profiled here are parents. Because PISEC programs are geared to families, these parents brought their children to events starting at a very young age. As their children grew up in PISEC, they too, became involved with the program. In some cases, children took on leadership roles of their own; in other cases, children’s interest in science activities and studies grew
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Philadelphia-Camden Informal Science Education Collaborative (PISEC)Minda BorunBarbara Martin KellyLisa Jo Rudy
PISEC is a four-museum partnership focused on education - the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Franklin Institute Science Museum, the New Jersey State Aquarium, and the Philadelphia Zoo. One of PISEC's Initiatives, Community Connections, forged a long-term relationship between museums and urban community organizations to help families learn more about the science education resources available to them in and around their neighborhoods. This document explores the Community Connections initiative, presenting insights and next steps related to the program.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Philadelphia-Camden Informal Science Education Collaborative (PISEC)Kathleen WagnerMinda BorunJean FerraroJulie Johnson
The Exploratorium's Going APE project (APE=Active Prolonged Engagement) developed 30 exhibit designs to encourage visitors to become more cognitively engaged with exhibits--to use exhibits as tools for self-directed exploration, rather than as authoritative demonstrations. To do this, the staff drew on work in the fields of education, visitor research, human factors engineering, computer interface design, and interactive exhibit development at other museums. The project also integrated evaluative research into exhibit development to maximize possibilities for visitor-authored questions
What happens if we put ‘the public’ at the centre of our efforts to conceptualise, conduct and evaluate publicly engaged research? This Open University pamphlet outlines a public-centric approach to engagement you can make use of in your own settings. Drawing on insights from recent empirical research and key strands of the theoretical literature on the public the pamphlet foregrounds a set of questions you can ask at key stages of the engagement process to help you make choices about how you will engage. The public-centric approach is designed to support researchers working across all
This volume explores how technology-supported learning environments can incorporate physical activity and interactive experiences in formal and informal education. It presents cutting-edge research and design work on a new generation of "body-centric" technologies such as wearable body sensors, GPS tracking devices, interactive display surfaces, video game controller devices, and humanlike avatars. Contributors discuss how and why each of these technologies can be used in service of learning within K-12 classrooms and at home, in museums and online. Citing examples of empirical evidence and
The project, called Experimenting With Storytelling, involved working with four schools in East London and Northamptonshire, United Kingdom. Each after school session, with elementary school children and their parents, consisted of a cultural story or folktale (the ‘storytelling’ part) which had some science in it followed by an associated practical activity (the ‘experimenting’ part).
STARBASE Minnesota strives to increase the knowledge, skills, and interest of inner-city elementary school youth in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) for greater academic and lifelong success. This study examines the potential long-term impacts of participation, including interest and engagement in STEM, academic achievement, high school graduation, and college enrollment.
Project Exploration’s week-long summer Environmental Adventurers program immersed eleven Chicago Public School middle and high school students into the world of urban bees and biodiversity research. We employed a place-based approach to ground learning experiences and exploration within uniquely urban spaces. Students used mobile technology to explore the environment, document native bees, and engage in authentic fieldwork research and data analysis. Students maximized the potential of the technology in ways that forced program leaders to rethink the potential of mobile technology as an
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Jameela JafriGabrielle LyonStephanie MadziarRebecca ToniettoProject ExplorationChicago Botanic GardenNorthwestern University