Currently, many museums present histories of science and technology, but very few are integrating scientific activity--observation, measurement, experimentation-with the time- and place-specific narratives that characterize history-learning experiences. For the Prairie Science project, Conner Prairie is combining proven science center-style activities, developed by the Science Museum of Minnesota, with family-engagement strategies developed through extensive research and testing with audiences in historical settings. The goal of this integration is to create guest experiences that are rich in both STEM and historical content and encourage family learning. One key deliverable of this project is the Create.Connect gallery, which is currently installed at Conner Prairie. Create.Connect allows the project team to evaluate and research hands-on activities, facilitation strategies and historic settings to understand how these elements combine to encourage family conversations and learning around historical narratives and STEM content. For example, in one exhibit area families can experiment with creating their own efficient wind turbine designs while learning about the innovations of the Flint & Walling windmill manufacturing company from Indiana. The activity is facilitated by a historic interpreter portraying a windmill salesman from 1900. The interpreter not only guides the family though the process of scientific inquiry, but shares his historic perspective on wind power as well. Two other exhibit areas invite hands-on exploration of electrical circuits and forces in motion as they connect to stories from Indiana history. Evaluation and research findings from the Create.Connect exhibit will be used to develop a model that can guide other history institutions that want to incorporate STEM content and thinking into their exhibits and interpretation. By partnering with the Science Museum of Minnesota, we will combine the experience of science center professionals and history museum professionals to find the best practices for incorporating science activities into historic settings. To ensure that this dissemination model is informed from many perspectives, Conner Prairie has invited the participation of four history museums: The Museum of America and the Sea, Mystic, Connecticut; the California State Railroad Museum, Sacramento, California; the Wabash County Historical Society, Wabash, Indiana; and the Oliver H. Kelley Farm, Elk River, Minnesota. Each of the four participants will install history-STEM exhibit components which will be connected to location-specific historic narratives. Drawing on the staff experience and talents of participant museums, this project will develop realistic solutions to an array of anticipated barriers. These issues and the resulting approaches will become part of a stronger, more adaptable dissemination model that will support history museums in creating STEM-based guest experiences.
This poster was presented at the 2014 AISL PI Meeting in Washington, DC. It describes a professional development collaborative research project to explore commonalities between native and western science, infusing an indigenous voice into programs and exhibits focused on environmental change. Native Universe builds on the Cosmic Serpent project.
This poster was presented at the 2014 AISL PI Meeting in Washington, DC. This project seeks to improve public engagement in climate communication by broadcast meteorologists, using scientific methods to identify probable causes for their skepticism and/or reticence, and to test the efficacy of proposed solutions.
This poster was presented at the 2014 AISL PI Meeting. The Prairie Science project is about facilitating learning STEM concepts by integrating a historical perspective (Conner Prairie Museum) and a science center-based perspective (Science Museum of Minnesota).
This preliminary report, prepared by New Knowledge Organization Ltd. in collaboration with Pennsylvania State University, summarizes evaluation results from the development of an online and in-person national training program to support the creation of a National Network for Ocean Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI). The project also explored whether and how training might prove to be an effective and efficient vector for increased public literacy about ocean climate science at a national level.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
New England Aquarium CorporationJohn Fraser
This study assessed visitor outcomes from attending presentations by members of the National Network for Ocean Climate Change Interpretation [NNOCCI] community of practice at four test aquariums and two control site aquariums where climate change interpretation is delivered by professional environmental educators who have not received NNOCCI training. Four unique self-complete surveys were developed, each collecting comparable demographic data and then each uniquely querying: obligations to act on climate change information for people, animals or the ocean; confidence that actions will result
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TEAM MEMBERS:
New England Aquarium CorporationJohn Fraser
This poster was presented at the 2014 AISL PI Meeting held in Washington, DC. The project creates a STEM ecosystem in a severely under-resourced urban community. The Chicago Zoological Society, which operates Brookfield Zoo, is expanding a community partnership with Eden Place Nature Center in Chicago’s Fuller Park Neighborhood and offering a full suite of environmental science learning opportunities for teachers, youth, families, and adults. A research component is led by the University of Illinois at Chicago.
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, understanding the need for policy makers at the national level to entrain the behavioral and social sciences in addressing the challenges of global climate change, called on the National Research Council to organize two workshops to showcase some of the decision-relevant contributions that these sciences have already made and can advance with future efforts. The workshops focused on two broad areas: (1) mitigation (behavioral elements of a strategy to reduce the net future human influence on climate) and (2) adaptation (behavioral and social
This dissertation investigates how teaching in a hands-on science center contributes to re-shaping one’s teaching identity. Situated at the New York Hall of Science (NYHS) in Queens, New York, my research approach is to conduct a critical ethnography where the focus is on improving the teaching and learning of science for all involved. In particular, Explainers, floor staff at NYHS, who are studying to be science teachers, are invited to become co-researchers with me.
Archaeology education activities in informal science learning settings are an underutilized, but effective strategy for teaching science inquiry skills in socially and culturally relevant contexts. This project investigated the potential for archaeological content and inquiry strategies to help informal science learning institutions increase learning with diverse ISE audiences. The project was based on foundational research for the development of a national research framework for archaeology education and a plan for developing high-quality science learning opportunities for under-represented
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Michael BrodyJohn FisherJeanne MoeHelen Keremedjiev
In the United States, African Americans are underrepresented in science careers and underserved in pre-collegiate science education. This project engaged African American elementary students in culturally relevant science education through archaeology and thereby increased positive dispositions toward science. While imagining what the lives of their ancestors were like, students practiced scientific inquiry and used natural sciences to analyze archaeological sites. The project helped to improve science literacy among African American elementary students through archaeological inquiry and
Supervising youth workers is a challenging, demanding job in a complex field. Too frequently youth workers get mired in reacting to the everyday crises that dominate their work, finding it difficult to rise above the daily demands to reach a place where reflection can help guide their work. Strategies based in action research can empower youth work supervisors to invest in their own growth and in the continuous improvement of their programs.