Digital media and technology have become culturally and economically powerful parts of contemporary middle-class American childhoods. Immersed in various forms of digital media as well as mobile and Web-based technologies, young people today appear to develop knowledge and skills through participation in media. This MacArthur Report examines the ways in which afterschool programs, libraries, and museums use digital media to support extracurricular learning. It investigates how these three varieties of youth-serving organizations have incorporated technological infrastructure and digital
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Joan Ganz Cooney CenterBecky Herr-StephensonDiana RhotenDan PerkelChristo Sims
This report summarizes the results of a three-year ethnographic study, funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, into how young people are living and learning with new media in varied settings—at home, in after school programs, and in online spaces. The authors present empirical data on new media in the lives of American youth in order to reflect upon the relationship between new media and learning.
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University of California, IrvineMizuko ItoBecky Herr-Stephenson
Conventional wisdom about young people's use of digital technology often equates generational identity with technology identity: today's teens seem constantly plugged in to video games, social networks sites, and text messaging. Yet there is little actual research that investigates the intricate dynamics of youth's social and recreational use of digital media. This book fills that gap, reporting on an ambitious three-year ethnographic investigation into how young people are living and learning with new media in varied settings—at home, in after school programs, and in online spaces. By
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University of California, IrvineMizuko Ito
This study of American adults’ attitudes towards children’s experiences in nature was based on survey data from 2,138 people who participated in an independently commissioned, online consumer survey in February 2010. The Encouraging Children’s Nature Experiences Scale (EC-NES) was created to assess adult attitudes and beliefs surrounding encouragement of children’s nature experiences. While a great deal of empirical research has already been undertaken to demonstrate the value and impact of these experiences, not all of the research has been adopted by the public. The EC-NES scale was designed
This research proposed a revised theory of how collective environmental identity is associated with engagement with the advancement of pro‐environmental behaviors. The research comprised three activities that examined the experiences of three groups of people who claim zoo visiting as an important part of their life‐story: conservation biologists who describe zoo experiences as having significant formative role in their childhood development of environmental values; parents who prioritize zoo visits as an important cultural experiences for their children; and active zoo volunteers. This
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Wildlife Conservation SocietyJohn Fraser
This Pathways project responds to the high level of public skepticism about climate change science despite strong scientific consensus. In 2010, two George Mason University / Yale University polls became headline news in mainstream media (such as the NY Times and NPR) when they reported that 50% or more of our broadcast meteorologists and TV news directors are skeptical about global climate science. A full 30% of TV broadcast meteorologists, who are largely untrained in disciplines other than meteorology and weather forecasting, denounce anthropogenic global warming (AGW) as a hoax or a scam. Such polls strongly suggest that the general public trusts media statements over scientific facts, despite position statements acknowledging dominantly human responsibility for global warming in the past 50 years from nearly every U.S. professional society dealing with Earth sciences. Climate literacy in citizens and policy makers is essential for advancing responsible public policy on energy legislation, carbon emission reductions, and other climate change issues, and TV broadcast meteorologists have great potential for enhancing that literacy.
Research on cultural cognition suggests that members of the public process science-related information by assessing its coherence with values and commitments that connect them to important affinity groups. This suggests a two-channel science communication strategy that combines information content with cultural meanings selected to promote open-minded assessment of information across diverse groups. Hear about this research and explore public engagement strategies for improving science communication followed by Q & A.
The National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP) seeks to maximize access to shared resources within projects and with public and private sector organizations and institutions interested in expanding girls’ participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Funded primarily by the National Science Foundation, the NGCP is a robust national network of more than 3,000 girl-serving STEM organizations. Currently, 31 Collaboratives, serving 40 states, facilitate collaboration between more than 12,800 organizations who serve more than 7.7 million girls and 4.4 million boys. The NGCP occupies a unique role in the STEM community because it facilitates collaboration with all stakeholders who benefit from increasing diversity and engagement of women in STEM. These stakeholders form Regional Collaboratives, who are connected to local girl-serving STEM programs. Regional Collaboratives are led by leadership teams and advisory boards with representatives from K-12 education, higher education, community-based organizations, professional organizations, and industry. NGCP strengthens the capacity of girl-serving STEM projects by facilitating collaboration among programs and organizations and by sharing promising practice research, program models, and products through webinars, collaboration training, and institutes. This is accomplished through a tested comprehensive program of change that uses collaboration to expand and strengthen STEM-related opportunities for girls and women. In each replication state, the NGCP model creates a network of professionals, researchers, and practitioners, facilitating collaboration within this network, and delivering high-quality research-based professional development. Participating programs can also receive mini-grant funding to develop collaborative STEM-focused projects. To date, over 27,000 participants have been served in 241 mini-grant projects, and over 17,000 practitioners have been served through in-person events and webinars. The NGCP’s collaborative model changes the way practitioners and educators work to advance girls’ participation in STEM. It facilitates the development of practitioners in their knowledge of good gender equitable educational practices, awareness of the role of K-12 education in STEM workforce development, and mutual support of peers locally and across the United States.
The Girls RISEnet project convened an international community to explore the role of science centers in issues of gender equity in STEM learning. This effort resulted in two major products, including this international literature review that synthesizes what is known about how science centers and museums contribute to girls' engagement with STEM, summarizes what is useful for practice, and identifies gaps in the research. In addition, an international survey identified common global themes and issues and began to outline opportunities for science centers and museums to advance gender equity.
In this article, the author shares general research on the subject of transformation in the context of historical/cultural organizations. The author's research examined seven history museums who had undergone various levels of change and transformation and looked for similarities, idiosyncrasies, patterns, and differences across the organizations and their stakeholders' interests. These changes and transformations are presented in a broader context of shifts in the missions and structure of cultural organizations, and presents key understandings for those institutions seeking to undergo change
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Candace Tangorra MetalicAmerican Association for State and Local History
This article discusses the methodology, key findings, and implications of a 1998-1999 evaluation conducted by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum of its educational programming for school groups. The evaluation examined the impact of the school programs as well as guided future programming decisions.
Gateway National Recreation Area (Gateway), a unit of the National Park Service, and Brooklyn College are creating a citizen science field observation program called "Sentinels of Shoreline Change."The project will develop collaborative learning communities around monitoring the resilience of Jamaica Bay, an urban estuary. Participants will provide scientists and resource managers with measures of the bay's resilience to human activities and climate change. The project focuses on 7-12 grade pre-service and in-service teachers, and Brooklyn College undergraduate students, while fostering collaboration between faculty, rangers and staff from the partner institutions and the general public. Gateway is responsible for managing the vast array of cultural and natural resources in Jamaica Bay for the public benefit. They have a history of teacher professional development and collaborations with formal education partners that emphasize authentic science research within the park. Brooklyn College is an urban, public liberal arts college with a diverse student population. It has competitive NCATE certified science teacher education programs; a strong collaborative working relationship between the Earth and environmental sciences and science education departments; and a history of successful place-based science education projects. Science Education for New Engagements and Civic Responsibilities (SENCER) is the funding source for this project which is subcontracted under an NSF grant.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Brooklyn College, CUNYJennifer AdamsBrett BrancoDan Meharg