Tapestry: The Institute for Philosophy and Religion will plan the dissemination of the results of a conference entitled "Stories from the Circle: Science and Native Wisdom." "Stories from the Circle," initiated in May 2002, brought together 32 native and non-native leaders in education in native and western science to discuss the range of ideas and practices that constitute Native Science and to consider how native ways of learning may be applied to informal science education. The proposed planning activity would plan multimedia dissemination of conference outcomes.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
Dawn Adams
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The purpose of this project is to enhance African American parental involvement with high school student children by developing skills and strategies for effectively managing the educational careers of their children. It would create a capacity for collaborations with the schools that service African American children by developing the social and organizational infrastructure for continued parental involvement in educational careers. It seeks to increase enrollment and success of Black students in higher-level mathematics and science courses to diminish the race gap in math and science track placements. It uses a quasi-experimental design to implement a series of community workshops designed to enhance knowledge, skills, and strategies for managing placements of children in science and math tracks. The research would create an intervention designed to change the outcome of students. It would conduct ethnographic work to map successful pathways to enrollment in higher-level math courses. It would use findings from these studies to implement workships within the Black communities, and conduct statistical analysis of the growth in achievement as a result of the reduction in course taking.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
Roslyn MickelsonLinwood Cousins
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The Exploratorium will create the "Outdoor Exploratorium," a 10,000-square-foot, open-air exhibit environment comprising 20 to 25 original installations. Each exhibit will allow visitors to interact directly with a variety of elements, that is water, wind, sound, light, and living things, as they exist in the natural world. One of the key components of this project will be the use of "Noticing Tours." Led by staff scientists, artists, educators, exhibit developers, and other "expert noticers," the tours will initiate a dialogue with the visitors as a starting point for exhibit development. To augment visitor learning and unify the museum's entire collection, exhibit text will relate the "Outdoor Exploratorium" experiences to exhibits. The project will culminate in a workbook for the field and two workshops for museum professionals. The Exploratorium Teacher Institute staff will develop two-week institutes that make extensive use of the "Outdoor Exploratorium." Classroom activities and inquiry-based learning experiences will be developed based on the new exhibits.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
Peter RichardsThomas HumphreyThomas RockwellTheodore KoterwasJoyce Ma
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The Vermont Center for the Book is developing "Mother Goose Cares about Math and Science," an integrated curriculum of science process skills and standards-based mathematics concepts for preschool children. A college credit course will be developed for childcare providers based on this curriculum. The course increases science and math literacy and the ability to incorporate NCTM standards, and science process skills, into daily interactions with children. Participants are also provided with the tools to communicate the importance of these concepts to parents. The course will be delivered to 600 childcare workers in Vermont and inner-city Philadelphia over a three-year period. Recruitment will include providers in center-, home- and school-based settings in both urban and rural communities. Participants will be provided with books, Curriculum Guides, tools and manipulatives needed to implement the course pedagogy. Materials to be developed include a seven-segment training, which will be used to disseminate the project nationally. Participants will receive a comprehensive training package that can be used to train their peers.
Family Science: Expanding Community Support for Inquiry-based Science is the University of Washington's innovative five-year plan for reaching youth and families in the Seattle school district. This program represents an enhancement of the NSF-funded Family Science program targeting grades K-5 and expansion of this successful program to include middle and high school students. The proposed activities, Science Explorations, Inquiry Science Conferences and Community Celebrations, are designed to help parents understand inquiry-based science instruction while heightening students' confidence in their ability to understand science processes. The hands-on activities also support and complement Seattle's Local Systemic Change project by enlisting teachers, parents and community members to champion science education outside of the formal school setting. The implementation strategy includes workshops to train Family Science Lead Teachers and Parent/Community Leaders to coordinate Family Science programs. Subsequent partnerships between teachers and community organizations are designed to establish regional clusters of community networks to support programmatic activities during and beyond the funding period. It is estimated that Family Science will result in the presentation of nearly 300 school and community-based events impacting 10,000 individuals.
The Educational Film Center will complete production of a science, engineering, and technology careers exhibit and informal science education project for use in science museums, libraries, schools, and community locations. The twelve additional interactive and linear career profiles to be produced under this grant will bring the total number of careers available in a fully interactive mode to thirty-two. Users will be able to explore each of these careers with first person video profiles of people in science and engineering and animated/reality video simulations of work experiences in these fields. The exhibit also with provide guidance to help users make decisions about education and career choices and will include a database of information about approximately 200 additional science and math-based professions. The project also will undertake the development and testing of eight permanent model Family Outreach Science Career Education Centers in eight cities. These centers will be based on and will expand upon the experience the project had in their earlier model Parent Outreach Science Career Program. Utilization support will be provided through special target leader guides, presentations and workshops at national and regional meetings of user organizations and groups, and a SETQuest bulletin board and e-mail network for the exchange of user science career programming. This project is a collaborative effort among four organizations: The Educational Film Center (EFC) is responsible for management of the project and for the development of production of the software and the documentary video profiles; COMAP is responsible for selecting and hiring content consultants, for formative and summative evaluation, and will jointly market and distribute the material with EFC; The New York Hall of Science is responsible for the exhibit kiosk and graphics, the design and development of the workbook and museum installation print components of the project, and will serve as principal test site for the exhibit; and the AAAS is coordinating the design, implementation, and testing of parent outreach program. All of the organizations will be involved in presentations and dissemination of project information to the informal and formal education communities.
WGBH is producing twelve quarterly television magazine-format programs devoted to the public understanding of current scientific research. The programs will consider the significant areas of on-going research, present the scientists who are conducting the research, portray research as an on-going endeavor and discuss the social impact and ethical implications of major areas of research. Each program will include segments such as the following: Research news update - (5 to 7 mins.) Feature stories about on-going research - 3 (8 to 12 min. each) In-studio discussions following many of the feature stories - ethical, policy and social implications Point/Counterpoint - 2 commentators presenting social, ethical, political and economic aspects of research "Then and Now" segments showing changing nature of scientific research In-studio demonstrations Interstitial moments -- Showcases of interesting and surprising aspects of research Close -- update stories from previous programs, read viewers' input or answer viewers' questions, preview upcoming story. In addition, WGBH will produce three one-hour "Year in Review" programs that report what major research has occurred over the past year and puts it in a context that will help viewers understand the role of current research in all aspects of life. Other major components of the project include on-going collaborations with other Public Understanding of Research Projects, an interactive web site, communication training for scientists to help them explain their work to the public, "Science Cafes" with on-going public programs about cutting-edge research in informal settings, a resource guide for teachers, "Leading Edge" articles in magazines targeted to teens, a "Leading Edge" science contest for students conducted through PBS stations and a station resource kit with information about how to establish local collaborations with researchers, science museums, schools and others.
WGBH is producing a PBS television series, with accompanying web and outreach activities for 9- to 12-year-olds, to inspire a generation of budding engineers. Design Squad: Nate's Roadtrip (working title) will be a 10-part television series that is building on WGBH's prior award-winning work. The series goal is to engender enthusiasm and promote understanding of, and interest in, engineering and technology. Behind the fun that this lively show envisions is a serious educational purpose--to get kids to think like engineers and understand how to use science and technology to solve real-life problems. The television programs will be complemented with an extensive companion web site, as well as materials and training for engineers to mount Design Squad events in public venues and run workshops in schools, afterschool programs and libraries. The web site will create a platform for an online community where young participants will share their own projects, see what others have made, and send in questions to the host. Outreach activities will be supported by WGBH's ongoing relationships in the educational and engineering community, including the Girl Scouts, International Technology Education Association, NASA, and the Intel Computer Clubhouses. Viridian inSight will conduct summative evaluation of the project to measure project impacts including knowledge of science and engineering concepts and the design process; attitudes towards engineering; awareness of and interest in engineering career opportunities; and the extent to which kids perceive engineering as creative, rewarding, and socially relevant. Design Squad: Nate's Roadtrip Video Blog is slated to premiere February 2010 and the television show is slated to premiere in October 2010.
WGBH will produce and distribute 10 new episodes of the award-winning television series "PEEP and the Big Wide World ," which is targeted to preschoolers. In addition, the project will expand the PEEP Web site, and develop and evaluate an online multimedia tutorial to help educators engage preschool children in science. The project's three intended impacts are to (1) engage preschoolers in science explorations that promote positive attitudes and inquiry skills, (2) empower parents to encourage and support their children's science activities, and (3) provide educational resources and professional development for preschool educators via a curriculum that contributes to the emerging field of preschool science education. The project's innovative deliverables include a television show that has a unique style and content, a Web site that is navigable by non-readers, and outreach activities that fulfill an important need for preschool science education. The series is produced by WGBH and broadcast on TLC and Discovery Kids. The project's collaborators, which include organizations such as Head Start, the National Education Association, Countdown to Kindergarten, American Library Association, and Boston Children's Museum, help promote the series' educational goals across different platforms, maximize resources, extend impact and reach underserved audiences. The Goodman Research Group will conduct the project summative evaluation.
National Geographic Television requests $1,121,583 (35%) of a total project budget of $3,192,249, to produce a documentary series in 13 half-hour and one hour-long special, "Facing the Wild: The Crittercam Chronicles," with associated informal science education materials and programs. This project will feature the natural histories of some of the Earth's most enigmatic and charismatic marine species, highlight the groundbreaking technology employed to study these extraordinary creatures and celebrate the scientists who devote their lives to understanding marine creatures. The project's goals include: to educate audiences about the vital importance of the world's oceans to the health of the planet; to celebrate the ingenuity of novel technology developed for science and exploration; to illustrate that many tantalizing mysteries remain yet unsolved and a great deal of exciting science and exploration has yet to be done; to provide viewers with scientific role models and help motivate them to pursue careers in science. Employing cutting-edge remote imaging tools, including "crittercam", and National Geographic's trademark storytelling, Facing the Wild's strong conservation message is designed to appeal to a national and global audience. A robust web site, virtual teacher workshops and Student Ocean Conferences will augment the impact of the series.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
Greg MarshallKeenan SmartBarbara Flagg
This proposal builds upon the current NSF funded POLAR-PALOOZA project (#0632262) extending the "Stories from a Changing Planet" to learners around the world. This project is a tour of seven nations (China, Malaysia, South Africa, Norway, Canada, Mexico, and Australia) featuring stories told by a diverse team of polar researchers who are also compelling storytellers. A museum or science center in each country serves as the host institution and local coordinator for a suite of 1-2 days of additional education and outreach activities. There are presentations for large general audiences, supplemented by small group interactions with community leaders and local media, providing opportunities to interact directly with polar experts in order to learn about these little-understood regions and to appreciate why the Poles and polar research are relevant to their lives. Special workshops for teachers, undergraduates or other audiences take advantage of the researcher's presence on site. At any one international site, no more than 2-3 of the presenters will be Americans with the rest of the team made up of researchers from the region and host nation. In addition to the personal interactions the project will leverage the already-funded POLAR-PALOOZA deliverables, and provide museums and science centers with online access to a growing set of HD videos.
The Museum of Science in Boston is conducting a workshop/symposium that will focus on the question of how best to address the issue of enhancing public understanding of major, on-going research efforts. The workshop will begin a critical discussion among researchers and some of the most prominent practitioners of informal public education in the areas of science, engineering and technology. The discussion will explore possible directions that might be taken in regard to disseminating information about research to the public and in increasing the public's understanding of the role and possible implications of this research. Issues to be examined include: The scope and aspects of research upon which to focus; The present obstacles to public understanding; The advantages and disadvantages of different approaches for disseminating information; Costs and time frames of different approaches; How to encourage and implement collaboration and networking among institutions that have the goal of increasing public understanding. The general goal of the workshop is twofold: to provide feedback that will inform the creation of new programs to address the issue of enhancing public understanding of research and to share ideas among institutions that have a common purpose.