This is a handout from the session "Dream, Design, Fab! Engaging Youth With Digital Fabrication" at the 2014 ASTC Conference held in Raleigh, NC. The session described the Fab Lab program at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago.
This is a handout from the session "What If There Wasn't a Building? Pecha Kucha" at the 2014 ASTC Conference held in Raleigh, NC. The handout links to a recording of the session.
To better help museum visitors make sense of large data sets, also called “big data”, this study focuses on what museum visitors felt individual layers of a visual (alone and in combination with other layers) were communicating to them as the visual was constructed or deconstructed layer by layer. A second, smaller study, collected data to better understand how adult visitors would construct large data visualizations. This study was concerned with how people make sense of “big data” in their daily lives and how they engage with reference systems. The primary study used four different “big data
To better understand how audiences in public spaces, in this case those in a museum setting, relate to and make sense of the phrases “Big Data” and “Data Visualizations”, this study investigated visitors understanding of these terms. This formative study used intercepts; approaching adult visitors and inviting them to participate in a very brief interview. If the person agreed, they were asked additional questions. The first question asked about awareness of the phrase, “Big Data” or for a very small comparison group, “Data Visualization.” Visitors were then asked “How would you explain “Big
It is all very well to note the hyperbole about patents and ‘intellectual property’ in the recent battles between technology companies such as Apple, Samsung and HTC. But how can museums productively use collection items marked with a patent beyond workaday tasks of identification and cataloguing? We argue that information on patents can enhance visitors’ critical engagement with museum displays; complex ownership claims and counter-claims in patent disputes can underpin lively narratives based around museum objects. Asking why some objects and not others were patented, and how historical
This report from the National Research Council explores how learning changes the physical structure of the brain, how existing knowledge affects what people notice and how they learn, the amazing learning potential of infants, and the relationship between classroom learning and learning in everyday settings such as community and the workplace. It identifies learning needs and opportunities for teachers and provides a realistic look at the role of technology in education.
This project supports the development of technological fluency and understanding of STEM concepts through the implementation of design collaboratives that use eCrafting Collabs as the medium within which to work with middle and high school students, parents and the community. The researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the Franklin Institute combine expertise in learning sciences, digital media design, computer science and informal science education to examine how youth at ages 10-16 and families in schools, clubs, museums and community groups learn together how to create e-textile artifacts that incorporate embedded computers, sensors and actuators. The project investigates the feasibility of implementing these collaboratives using eCrafting via three models of participation, individual, structured group and cross-generational community groups. They are designing a portal through which the collaborative can engage in critique and sharing of their designs as part of their efforts to build a model process by which scientific and engineered product design and analysis can be made available to multiple audiences. The project engages participants through middle and high school elective classes and through the workshops conducted by a number of different organizations including the Franklin Institute, Techgirlz, the Hacktory and schools in Philadelphia. Participants can engage in the eCrafting Collabs through individual, collective and community design challenges that are established by the project. Participants learn about e-textile design and about circuitry and programming using either ModKit or the text-based Arduino. The designs are shared through the eCrafting Collab portal and participants are required to provide feedback and critique. Researchers are collecting data on learner identity in relation to STEM and computing, individual and collective participation in design and student understanding of circuitry and programming. The project is an example of a scalable intervention to engage students, families and communities in developing technological flexibility. This research and development project provides a resource that engages students in middle and high schools in technology rich collaborative environments that are alternatives to other sorts of science fairs and robotic competitions. The resources developed during the project will inform how such an informal/formal blend of student engagement might be scaled to expand the experiences of populations of underserved groups, including girls. The study is conducting an examination of the new types of learning activities that are multiplying across the country with a special focus on cross-generational learning.
As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds innovative resources for use in a variety of settings. This project, "STEM Learning in Libraries: A National Conference on Needs, Opportunities, and Future Directions," brings together libraries, informal educators and STEM education and research organizations to discuss the role of libraries in STEM out-of-school time (OST) education, share existing programs, define library needs, and develop a research and evaluation agenda. To date, there has not been systematic exploration of the ways that STEM programming occurs in libraries nor of their effectiveness when they do happen. This will be the first conference of its kind and stands to have a high degree of visibility and the potential for broad impact. Principal Investigator Paul Dusenbery, Director of the National Center for Interactive Learning (NCIL) and Executive Director of Space Science Institute, will lead an experienced project team that includes Co-PI Keliann LaConte, Lunar Planetary Institute; Susan Brandehoff, Public Programs Office, American Library Association; and Anne Holland, NCIL. The conference sessions will be organized around four strands: (1) showcasing successful STEM programs and reviewing research and evaluation results on informal STEM learning in public libraries; (2) examining the current needs, barriers, and opportunities of public libraries; (3) elucidating the possible future roles of public libraries in the 21st Century; and (4) identifying promising practices and strategies. Beginning with core members comprised of the project team and organizing committees, the project will create a Leadership Forum for library directors, library science educators, and policy makers, as well as STEM professionals and educators. Conference results will be disseminated through a wide variety of organizational websites: NCIL, ALA, LPI, the conference website, the STAR_Net online community, and CAISE. In 2010, there were nearly 1.6 billion visits to 17,000 public libraries. Library audiences are true reflections of the nation's population - they serve all races, ages, economic backgrounds, and regions of the country. The STEM Learning in Libraries conference will give public libraries, STEM organizations, informal educators, and funders an opportunity to begin a dialogue with implications for profoundly impacting the attitudes of millions of Americans toward STEM topics.
During middle school, many young people disengage from and consequently do not achieve in school-based STEM subjects. This phenomenon is more pronounced among young people in low-income communities than elsewhere. Many summer, out-of-school STEM programs are designed to offer young people opportunities to engage in hands-on, inquiry-based learning that promote interest and engagement in STEM. Research on the effect of these types of programs is limited, however. This research project seeks to fill this gap by identifying and studying practices that promote interest and engagement in STEM-related topics. The central goal of the summer STEM Interest and Engagement Study is to identify instructional practices associated with cultivating and sustaining young people's interest and engagement in out-of-school STEM summer learning programs for middle school youth. The project is based on a model of change developed from existing theory and empirical research on the cultivation of youths' interest and engagement in STEM. The project is a descriptive study that will apply multiple data collection and analytic methods, including the Experience Sampling Method (ESM), to determine instructional practices and the resulting interest, engagement, and perceptions of youth as they participate in STEM activities. In addition, survey data provided by program participants will allow the researchers to account for individual differences in preexisting interest and background factors, such as gender and ethnicity, and to measure changes in dispositions toward STEM. By better understanding these connections, practitioners can better understand how the design of their programs may influence the outcome of the participants' experience, including their education and career decisions.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Deborah MoroneyNeil NaftzgerLee ShumowJennifer Schmidt
This Partnerships for Innovation: Building Innovation Capacity (PFI:BIC) project from the University of New Hampshire focuses on a "living bridge", which exemplifies the future of smart, sustainable, user-centered transportation infrastructure. Bridges deliver such a fundamental service to society that they are often taken for granted. Typically, bridges only stir the public's interest when they must unexpectedly be replaced at great cost, or, worse, fail. The Living Bridge project will create a self-diagnosing, self-reporting "smart bridge" powered by a local renewable energy source, tidal energy, by transforming the landmark Memorial Bridge--a vertical lift bridge over the tidal Piscataqua River, with pedestrian access connecting Portsmouth, New Hampshire to Kittery, Maine--into a living laboratory for researchers, engineers, scientists, and the community at large. The Living Bridge will engage innovators in sensor and renewable energy technology by creating an incubator platform on a working bridge, from which researchers can field test and evaluate the impact and effectiveness of emerging technologies. The Living Bridge will also serve as a community platform to educate citizens about innovations occurring at the site and in the region, and about how incorporating renewable energy into bridge design can lead to a sustainable transportation infrastructure with impact far beyond the region. Sustainable, smart bridges are key elements in developing a successful infrastructure system. To advance the state of smart service systems and clean energy conversion, this project team will design and deploy a structural and environmental monitoring system that provides information for bridge condition assessment, traffic management, and environmental stewardship; advances renewable energy technology application; and excites the general public about bridge innovations. This PFI:BIC project is enabled through partnerships between academic researchers with expertise in structural, mechanical and ocean engineering, sensing technology and social science; small businesses with expertise in instrumentation, data acquisition, tidal energy conversion; and state agencies with bridge design expertise. The Living Bridge technical areas are structural health monitoring, tidal energy conversion with fluid-structure interaction measurements, estuarine environmental monitoring, and outreach communication. Sensors will be used to calibrate a three-dimensional analytical structural finite element model of the bridge. The predicted structural response from this model will assess the measured structural response of the bridge as acceptable or not. Instruments installed on the turbine deployment platform will measure the spatio-temporal structure of the turbulent inflow and modified wake flow downstream of the turbine. Resulting data will include turbine performance and loads for use in fluid-structure interaction models. Deployed environmental sensors will measure estuarine water quality; wildlife deterrent sensors will deter fish from the turbine. Hydrophones and video cameras will be used before and during turbine deployment to monitor environmental changes due to turbine presence. Outreach efforts will make bridge data, history, and information about new systems accessible and understandable to the public and K-12 educators, facilitated by an information kiosk installed at the bridge. Public awareness will be assessed with survey methods used in the N.H. Granite State Poll. The lead institution is the University of New Hampshire (UNH) with its departments of Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Sociology, and the Center for Ocean Engineering. Primary industrial partners are a large business, MacArtney Underwater Technology Group, Inc. (Houston, TX) and two small businesses Lite Enterprises, Inc. (Nashua, NH) and Eccosolutions, LLC (New Paltz, NY.) Broader context partners are New Hampshire Department of Transportation, NH Fish & Game Department, NH Port Authority, NH Coastal Program, City of Portsmouth (NH), Sustainable Portsmouth (nonprofit), Maine Department of Transportation; U.S. Coast Guard, Archer/Western (Canton, MA, large business), Parsons-Brinkerhoff (Manchester, NH, large business), UNH Tech Camp, UNH Infrastructure and Climate Network, UNH Leitzel Center for Mathematics, Science and Engineering Education, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Changing Places (a joint Architecture and Media Laboratory Consortium, in Cambridge, MA).
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Erin BellTat FuMartin WosnikKenneth BaldwinLawrence Hamilton
The aim of this project is to create conversations in science museums among scientists, engineers, and public audiences about an emerging research field, synthetic biology. Synthetic biology applies science and engineering to create new biological systems, and re-design existing biological systems, for useful purposes. This is an important new area of research and development that raises societal questions about potential benefits, costs, and risks. Conversations between researchers and public audiences will focus not only on what synthetic biology is and how research in the field is carried out, but also on the potential products, outcomes, and implications for society of this work. Researchers and publics will explore personal and societal values and priorities as well as desired research outcomes so that both groups can learn from each other. Public participants will benefit from knowing about this field of research, and researchers will benefit from hearing public perspectives directly from the public participants. This project will be led by the Museum of Science with partners at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center, the Science Museum of Minnesota, the Ithaca Sciencenter, and several other universities and science museums. It is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments. This includes providing multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences, advancing innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and developing understandings of deeper learning by participants. This project is aimed at pushing beyond traditional modes of communicating with public audiences rooted in "public understanding of science" modalities into the mechanisms and perspectives associated with "public engagement with science" (PES). The project will support informal educational institutions as facilitators of such PES activities through which mutual learning takes place among research experts and various publics. Formative evaluation will support the development of evaluation tools that practitioners can use themselves to measure impacts of public engagement activities on both scientist and public participants. Summative evaluation will measure the impacts of the project on informal science education practitioners and researchers participating in the development of the project. In the first year of the project, two kinds of engagement activities will be tested at eight pilot sites across the U.S. The first kind will be the focus of "showcase" events, in which researchers demonstrate and talk with museum visitors about the basics of synthetic biology and their research work. The second kind will be the focus of "forum" events in which the multi-directional conversations focus on societal implications and participants' priorities for maximizing the benefits of this new field while minimizing the risks. The work of the first year will inform development of a kit of public engagement materials that will support widespread public engagement with synthetic biology in the second year at up to 200 sites across the U.S. Successful practices and infrastructure developed by the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network to support NanoDays events will be use for this broad dissemination of public engagement in synthetic biology in year 2. When the project is complete a set of tools and guides will be provided online for developing, implementing, and evaluating engagement events that bring scientists and publics together, specifically about synthetic biology, but adaptable to other emerging research topics. The informal science education field will have a better understanding of how to get scientists, engineers, and publics to engage together in discussions about the societal implications of emerging technologies, and how to evaluate the quality of that engagement for both the researchers and the publics involved. The project will also provide a sense of informed public views on societal issues related to synthetic biology that emerge through a variety of public engagement activities that take place in science museums.
Many communities across the country are developing "maker spaces," environments that combine physical fabrication equipment, social communities of people working together, and educational activities for learning how to design and create works. Increasingly, maker spaces and maker technologies provide extended learning opportunities for school-aged young people. In such environments participants engage in many forms of communication where individuals and groups of people are focused on different projects simultaneously. The research conducted in this project will address an important need of those engaged in the making movement: evidence leading to a better understanding of how participants in maker spaces engage with science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) as they create and produce physical products of personal and social value. Specifically, this research will generate new knowledge regarding how participants: pose and solve problems; identify, organize and integrate information from different sources; integrate information of different kinds (visual, quantitative, and verbal); and share ideas, knowledge and work with others. To understand and support STEM literacies involved in making, the investigators will study a number of different informal learning sites that self-identify as maker spaces and serve different-aged participants. The project will use ethnographic and design research techniques in three cycles of qualitative research. In Cycle One, the researchers will investigate two adult-oriented maker spaces in order to generate case studies and develop theories about how more experienced adult makers use the spaces and to create case studies of adult maker spaces, and to develop methodological techniques for understanding literacy in maker spaces. In Cycle Two, the study will expand into two out-of-school time youth-oriented maker spaces, building two new case studies and initiating design-based research activities. In Cycle Three, the team will further apply their developing theories and findings, through rapid iterative design-based research, to interventions that support participants' science literacy and making practices in two maker spaces that exist in schools. Through peer-reviewed publications, briefs, conference presentations, presence on websites of local and national maker organizations, project findings will be widely shared with organizations and individuals that are engaged in broadening the base of U.S. science and mathematics professionals for an innovation economy.