The Curiosity Summer Camp was held in the Redwoods of Huddart Park, Woodside, CA. The camp provided an opportunity for students (ages 4-10) to experience learning in ways that are not always supported by the formal school science curriculum. By focusing on the engineering design process, the children learned to iterate and come back to the same model with a different approach, resulting in development of critical thinking skills and persistence.
We engaged 12 PreK-5 students in a 100-hour hands-on engineering camp. The age cohorts we assessed were: 4-5, 6-7 and 8-10. The sample size was
As part of a grant from the National Science Foundation, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) developed, implemented, and evaluated the National Center for Blind Youth in Science (NCBYS), a three-year full-scale development project to increase informal learning opportunities for blind youth in STEM. Through this grant, the NCBYS extended opportunities for informal science learning for the direct benefit of blind students by conducting six NFB STEM2U regional programs included programs for blind youth, their parents/caregivers, blind teen mentors (apprentices), and museum educators.
The Society for Science and the Public’s Advocate Grant Program provides selected Advocates with funding, resources, and information. Advocates include classroom teachers, school and district administrators, university professors, and informal science educators in community-based programs. The role of the Advocate is to support three or more underserved middle or high school students in the process of advancing from conducting a scientific research or engineering design project to entering a scientific competition. Advocates receive a stipend of $3,000; opportunities to meet and interact with
This summative evaluation study examines visitors' experiences of the "Plastics Unwrapped" exhibit at the Burke Museum of Natural History, Seattle, WA. The exhibit explores the complicated legacy of plastic, and the ways in which it has improved life, but not without serious impact on people and the environment. Within a framework of four evaluation questions, this study used multiple methods to assess what visitors do and where they spend their time in the exhibit, what knowledge they take away, and whether the exhibit impacts visitors' attitude toward plastic and their perception of the
Pushing the Limits: Making Sense of Science (PTL) is an NSF-funded program designed to build the capacity of rural and small libraries to enhance public understanding of science and math. The program provides professional support, technical assistance, and funding for librarians and local science partners to co-facilitate a series of science café-style guided public discussions with adult patrons using books and specially produced video segments. External evaluator Goodman Research Group, Inc. conducted the second formative evaluation, focusing on the professional development (PD) for the
During the spring of 2006, American Institutes for Research (AIR) conducted an evaluation study on behalf of WGBH. The purpose of the study was to gather data related to the effectiveness of the FETCH! Activity Guide, which was designed to extend the teachings of a new children’s show, “FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman.” The Activity Guide was developed for after-school program facilitators and other informal science educators to use at their facilities, either in conjunction with the television show or as stand-alone resources. Appendix includes instruments.
Premiering on PBS in January 2011, Design Squad Nation (DSN) is a 10-part series of TV shows and video blogs that build on the success of the award-winning PBS reality competition series Design Squad to get kids excited about engineering. Concord Evaluation Group (CEG) was hired to conduct an evaluation of DSN in 2011. The evaluation was designed to measure WGBH's success in achieving the following impacts on students and teachers: After using the DSN resources Middle school students will increase their knowledge of science and engineering concepts and the design process. Middle school
The Salmon Camp Research Team (SCRT) project was created to address the under-representation of Native Americans in information technology (IT) and IT-intensive professions in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) partnered with the Native American Youth and Family Association (NAYA) under renewed National Science Foundation funding to strengthen community involvement and work directly with students year round. The 2007-2008 evaluation of the project found evidence of effective implementation and data on important student
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Phyllis AultOregon Museum of Science and Industry
How People Make Things is an exhibition that helps families talk together and learn about the making of everyday objects. The goal of the project was to create a learning environment that mediates difficult manufacturing concepts for parents, and scaffolds the development of family conversations about the processes of making both inside and outside the museum. A visit to the exhibition would be deemed successful if visitors demonstrated changes in what they knew and how they talked about objects and manufacturing processes. A model of change describing how families might build such an