The Cyberlearning and Future Learning Technologies Program funds efforts that support envisioning the future of learning technologies and advance what we know about how people learn in technology-rich environments. In this Cyberlearning EAGER project, the project team is developing foundations for using "paper mechatronics" as a learning technology. Paper mechatronics makes possible a craft-oriented approach to engineering and computing education that integrates key concepts from mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, control systems, and computer programming, while using paper as the primary material for learner design, exploration, and inquiry. In this approach, learners will design foldable paper components and assemblies; program motors, sensors and controls; test their ideas iteratively; and share their designs on a website. This paper-based modeling approach to learning concepts in and practices of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, control systems, and computer programming ultimately aims to make it possible for all learners to have exposure to and the opportunity to participate in creative engineering, design, and computer programming.
The approach to learning through designing and making through paper mechatronics is made possible by a convergence of many different technological factors -- the array of small computers, sensors, and actuators that are becoming available at low cost and a size that children can use; availability of a wide variety of manipulable conductive materials (threads, paints, fabrics); low-cost and precise desktop and laser cutters for paper and similar materials; a wide variety of novel paper-like materials; and new ways of interacting with the computer. The approach has its foundations in Papert's constructionism and in the current maker movement, but it has potential beyond constructionism itself, both in practice and with respect to what can potentially be learned about learning and development in in context of its use.
Armory Center for the Arts will develop, deliver, and evaluate "Artful Connections with Science," an innovative new visual arts-science integrated curriculum for the fourth and fifth grade levels in the Pasadena and Los Angeles Unified School Districts. "Artful Connections with Science" will provide support to the education community at a critical juncture as California adopts the Next Generation Science Standards. It will also enable the center to build organizational capacity for the delivery of arts-integration curriculum in multiple districts, thus increasing sustainability and helping to improve lives through the power of art.
The Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI), in collaboration with the Tampa Community Development Corporation (CDC), will create a youth STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) program designed by East Tampa neighborhood participants for the neighborhood. The STEAM program will be a first of its kind in the area and will bring a continuum of experiences in STEAM fields to underserved middle and high school students, as well as volunteer participants, who come from the East Tampa neighborhood. Initial programming topics for career exploration include astronomy/cosmology and space exploration, environmental sciences, engineering, robotics, crime scene forensics, and medical explorations. The project will expand the museum's ability to create a STEAM continuum, increase interest in STEAM careers, and to increase awareness of skills necessary to be successful in STEAM careers.
The Clay Center for Arts and Sciences of West Virginia will create professional learning communities of teachers and after-school staff serving 7th grade students at seven partner schools using digital storytelling as a tool to explore energy-related topics impacting their communities. West Virginia's role as a leading coal producer and the impact of natural gas drilling served as strong influencing factors in the creation of this STEAM project, titled emPOWERed Stories. Students will create an exhibit that incorporates these digital stories. The results will inform the broader field on ways to better blend formal and informal education experiences to become more potent learning environments.
Poets House will plan for a national project that will combine scientific knowledge with the expressive art of poetry. The planning project will lay the groundwork for a five to six city national program that will offer 1) public poetry-and-science programs at libraries and natural history museums; 2) poetry enhanced exhibits at natural history museums and libraries; and 3) self-directed learning through poetry and science resources at public libraries. The planning project will bring together experts in science, natural history museums, libraries, and poetry to share information; test-pilot public programs on both the East and West coasts, including a poetry-enhanced tour of natural history exhibits at the Oakland Museum; and determine the content, protocols and strategy for implementing a multi-city national program.
The Urban Libraries Council (ULC) and the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) will conduct a fifteen-month project designed to increase resources, inspire innovation, and build national awareness of public libraries as leaders in summer learning. ULC and NSLA will increase knowledge of emerging models; deepen connections between library, summer learning, and school leaders; and help build national visibility with local government, school, and library leaders of the role and value of public libraries in summer learning. Project activities include: a national scan of research-based practices, including a survey, site visits, interviews, and a focus group; identification of emerging models that incorporate library-school partnerships as well as science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) learning, connected learning, and family learning; development of an online resource guide; and the building of a library-based peer learning network.
The Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation will create on-the-floor makerspaces in libraries in underserved neighborhoods in North Philadelphia. These spaces will help local residents of all ages to gain access to technology and participatory education, and encourage creative applications and collaborative projects. Mentors will guide multigenerational community members as they create cross-disciplinary, interest-driven electronic art projects; build interest and knowledge in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics), and use tools and skills to create and share artifacts that reflect their identities and communities. Through the act of making, participants of all ages will have the opportunity to design meaningful digital and physical objects that capture the richness and diversity of their neighborhoods. These place-based, interest-driven, and mentor-guided makerspaces will provide a replicable, scalable model for libraries and museums nationally.
This University of Wisconsin System will conduct research to understand how the Madison Public Library (MPL) is building a production-oriented approach to literacy and learning through their maker-focused program, the Bubbler. On a national level, this project speaks to educational research communities, professionals, members of informal learning institutions, and organizers of designed makerspaces. At the local level, it addresses underserved populations in the Madison area and MPL in evaluating and developing the Bubbler. Findings will be shared through conference presentations, journal articles, and networks of library professionals.
This paper presents a novel data analytic approach to collect detailed information from visual artworks. This new method provides researchers with a framework to compare, analyze, and review in a systematic way large quantities of data from visual productions. Drawing on principles of art historical criticism, our research team devised a comprehensive coding scheme that captures both technical and content attributes. The coding scheme is configured to record specific, fundamental features for each artwork, providing an instrument for collecting data and cross-examining codes to reveal content
To address this challenge of depicting a world we can't see, the NISE Network Visualization Laboratory at the Exploratorium invited artists and scientists to explore ways of representing the nanoscale through a series of commissions, installations, and residencies in 2006. Drawing from a spectrum of artistic media and approaches, the results of these experiences are documented in this report. The PDF is a printable, archival document of the ArtNano website that was produced by the Exploratorium for the NISE Network in 2007.
In this article, science center and museum professionals from around the world share ways that they are engaging visitors in hands-on innovation. Work from the following organizations are discussed: Exploratorium, Discovery Center of Idaho, Lawrence Hall of Science, Iridescent, Conner Prairie Interactive History Park, Ideum, Discovery Place, Ontario Science Centre, Bootheel Youth Museum, Science Centre Singapore, Children's Museum of Phoenix, Discovery Museums (Acton, MA), Discovery Center of Springfield, Missouri, Museum of Science, Boston, Questacon--The National Science and Technology
The Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, in partnership with several universities and a science advisory committee of distinguished international researchers in physics and astronomy, is producing "The Matter of Origins," a two-part experimental program that engages the public in explorations of the nature of beginnings and the physics of the origin of matter. Act I takes place in a theater where audiences will experience a dance performance illuminated by video and a vivid soundscape. Act II takes place in an adjacent space where audiences, who will be seated with scientists, historians, philosophers, and religious leaders, can participate in facilitated dialogue about the nature of origins in an immersive environment that incorporates dance, projected images, and provocative questions. The program will be implemented around the country, initially at four universities, with possible expansion to additional venues. The goals of this EAGER project are (1) to develop an innovative model for using dance, digital media, and structured dialogue to attract and engage public audiences in science content and processes and (2) to explore how artistic practices may have broader applications with respect to science learning and research. The intention is to explore how science can be represented in the art and in the experience and not simply interpreted into abstract choreographic expression with a program note. The program elements and outcomes will be evaluated by researchers from Michigan State University who will study impacts on the public and on participating professionals - dancers, scientists, etc. Dissemination of results will be to professional communities in the sciences, arts and informal science education.