This project will develop a comprehensive Space Weather Outreach program to reach students, educators, and other members of the public, and share with them the discoveries from this scientific discipline. The Space Science Institute will capitalize on its prior successes and the success of other education programs to develop a comprehensive and integrated program that has the following five components: (1) the Space Weather Center website that includes online educational games; (2) Small Exhibits for Libraries, Shopping Malls, and Science Centers; (3) After-School Programs; (4) Professional Development Workshops for Educators, and (5) an innovative Evaluation and Education Research project. Its overarching goal is to inspire, engage, and educate a broad spectrum of the public and make strategic and innovative connections between informal and K-12 education communities. Partners include UC Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory; the American Library Association; Macerich: a mall developer with nationwide impact; and the Math, Engineering, Science Achievement program. The project brings together a creative collaboration between exhibit designers, graphic artists, formal/informal educators, and research scientists. The project spans a full spectrum of science communication strategies (formal, informal, and public outreach). The evaluation part of the project will examine how well the project elements work together and a pilot research study will explore the efficacy of online digital games for communicating complex space weather content. Results will be published and the findings presented at professional meetings and online. The three-year project is expected to impact well over two million people, including exhibit and website visitors and outreach visitors at various venues such as libraries and malls.
The scientific community is challenged by the need to reach out to students who have traditionally not been attracted to engineering and the sciences. This project would provide a link between the University of Michigan and the teachers and students of secondary education in the State of Michigan with an initial emphasis on southeast Michigan, through the creation of a range of computer services which will provide interactive access to current weather and climate change information. Taking advantage of a unique computer network capacity within the State of Michigan named MichNet which provides local phone ports in virtually every major city in the state, and the resources available to the university community via the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) UNIDATA program, this project would provide secondary schools with access to a state-of-the-art interactive weather information system. The real-time data available via the system, supplemented by interactive computer modules designed in collaboration with earth science teachers, will provide animated background information on a range of climate and weather related topics. While the principal objective of this project will be to provide educationally stimulating interactive computer systems and electronic weather and climate modules for application in inner city Detroit and its environs, the unique nature of the available computer networking will allow virtually every school system in the state to have access. Subsequently successful completion of this project could eventually make the same systems available to other cities and states.
Three successful marine science curricula and teacher training packages, For Sea, Mare, and Living in Water, developed by the Marine Science Center, the Lawrence Hall of Science, and the National Aquarium in Baltimore, will be refined and enhanced in preparation for the production of two, multimedia compact discs (CD ROM). Advances in CD ROM technology coupled with increasing accessibility to the technology, make the compact disc an effective tool for curriculum development, utilization, and distribution. The compact disc will contain all text and graphic images from the three curricular projects; and, a comprehensive indexing system allowing materials to be utilized in a variety of manners, including thematically and topically, to effect curriculum integration. Training will be provided to an existing cadre of teacher trainers to maximize the implementation of the new curriculum and CD ROM disc.
The Thames Science Center collaborative with the resources of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Wesleyan University and the National Air and Space Museum will design and develop the project, "Shoot For the Moon." This science education project will capitalize on the attraction, familiarity and proximity of the moon using it as a basis to enrich and supplement the eight and ninth grade physical science curriculum. Ten classroom units, complimentary experiments and demonstrations will be developed. "Moonwatch" software and audio visual materials, including an instructional videotape and a multi.image presentation will accompany the units. Sixteen teachers and museum educators will participate in the training, evaluation and testing as the project is integratedinto the curriculum of twelve schools and four museums. The project is designed to be replicated in schools and science centers in different geographical locations nationally. The site for development and testing will be the Thames Science Center, a regional science museum in eastern Connecticut. The science center offers formal science enrichment programs and tours for students and teacher professional development programs throughout the region.
Communicating Ocean Sciences to Informal Audiences (COSIA) is an innovative project that creates unique partnerships between informal science education institutions and local colleges conducting research in ocean sciences, with an emphasis on earth, biological and geochemical sciences. The project enables over 100 undergraduate and graduate students that are enrolled in the Communicating Ocean Sciences college course to create engaging learning activities and teaching kits in conjunction with their informal education partners. Institutional teams include: Long Beach Aquarium and California State University-Long Beach; Hatfield Marine Science Center and Oregon Sea Grant at Oregon State University; Virginia Aquarium and Science Center and Hampton University; Liberty Science Center and Rutgers University; and Lawrence Hall of Science and University of California-Berkeley. Students learn valuable outreach skills by providing visiting families and children with classes, guided tours and interactive learning experiences. Deliverables include a three-day partner workshop, a series of COSIA Handbooks (Collaboration Guide, Informal Education Guide and Outreach Guide), an Informal Science Education Activities Manual and Web Bank of hands-on activities. Strategic impact will be realized through the creation of partnerships between universities and informal science education institutions and capacity building that will occur as informal science institutions create networks to support the project. It is also anticipated the evaluation outcomes will inform the field abut the benefits of museum and university partnerships. The project will impact more than 30,000 elementary and middle school children and their families, as well as faculty, staff and students at the partnering institutions.
The Astronomical Society of the Pacific requests $1,317,701 over three years to implement its California pilot project to six sites around the country. Each site will establish local, self- sustaining coalitions linking science centers, astronomical institutions, school districts, and community groups. These coalitions will, with training and support from the national Project ASTRO staff, identify, link, and support the astronomer/teacher partners in their area to use the excitement of astronomy to improve the teaching and learning of science in elementary and middle school. A second strand of the project will use the Project ASTRO materials and techniques to train astronomers and teachers at national meetings outside the six sites to set up individual ASTRO partnerships on their own. Materials to be produced include a: Project ASTRO Coalition Manual; Training Manual; update to the Resource Notebook for the Teaching of Astronomy. Target audiences are students in grades 4-9.
This five-year project is designed to provide urban youth in grades 4-8 with innovative, hands-on science experiences in an after-school environment that will enhance their science competencies, while increasing the capacity of after-school leaders. In Years 1-3, nine science modules will be developed, field-tested and evaluated in collaboration with 12 after-school programs in Boston, Massachusetts, serving diverse populations of low-income youth. Each module includes a full color activity book, comprehensive facilitation guide and guidelines that enable students to share results of their investigations on the project website. Topics to be addressed include electricity, planets, invention and habitats. A comprehensive training program will include training for coaches who will provide assistance with the implementation of science modules and offer ongoing professional development for after-school providers. In Years 4-5, the project will be disseminated to after-school programs in Los Angeles, CA, Columbus, OH, and Philadelphia, PA. Additionally, the PI will partner with the National Institute on Out of School Time (NIOST) to disseminate the project nationally using the Cross-Cities Network. All materials will be printed in both English and Spanish, while the website will offer the option of downloading materials in a variety of other languages. It is anticipated this project will serve more than 3,000 youth and 400 after-school providers.
The Lunar and Planetary Institute will expand a successful pilot program in which libraries in Texas and Louisiana are used as community learning centers. The program is two-fold and includes both "Explore!" resource materials and "Fun with Science" modules. "Explore!" materials are a collection of space science posters, brochures, fact sheets, videotapes and references. These resources are disseminated to librarians for use as part of their collections and to support the "Fun with Science" modules. "Fun with Science" consists of eight space science modules that librarians are trained to use in after-school and summer youth programs. Module topics include rocketry, comets, impact cratering, remote sensing and space capsule design. Each year, 3-4 new modules will be produced. Librarians receive training on content, activities and NASA resources in 2-3 day sessions. The dissemination plan would enable the program to expand to include public libraries in Texas, Illinois (Chicago) and South Carolina, as well as school libraries as a secondary audience. Rural sites will be targeted and distance learning will be used for training when possible. CD ROMs containing the modules, training videos and a website will be developed to support this project.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Stephanie ShippPamela ThompsonMary Noel
This project is a collaboration by the Children's Museum, Museum of Science, and Franklin Park Zoo designed to provide hands-on science activities and increase interest in science as a career for children in grades 6-8 who attend community agency after school programs. Groups of 20-25 students will attend 8-week courses at each institution, rotating to all three during the year. After completing the courses, selected students will become interns for summer training and work at the institutions. The goals of the project are to offer engaging science to underserved children and motivate them to further study; to build a bridge to community groups from the three institutions; to bolster science programs at community centers through training their staff; and to create a replicable model for other science centers, children's museums and nature centers to work with community agencies and to involve parents in their children's activities. Videotapes, to be produced by WGBH-PBS will be distributed to science centers: tapes will document finding effective ways to work in the children, the particular experiences of the three institutions, and the children's experiences with and attitudes toward science. A summer institute will be held for museum professionals from other institutions.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Bernard ZubrowskiPaul Evans
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
This is a two-session science communication workshop targeted to undergraduate students participating in university-based research programs such as NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program, which typically occur during the summer months. University faculty and science museum staff integrate the sessions into the research program curriculum to enhance the students’ science communication skills, with an emphasis on professional oral, powerpoint, and poster presentations. Each session takes a half-day, but they can be shortened.
The Museum of Science partnered with the Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing to create a sequence of professional development experiences in science communication and hands-on learning for graduate students and post-docs. The Sharing Science Workshops were intended to help graduate students who work with the CHN program to improve their abilities to present their research to a variety of scientific and nonscientific audiences. The sequence included a half-day "Sharing Science" workshop, a half-day guided "Practicum" with museum visitors, and optional participation in NanoDays events at MOS
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Donahue Institute Research and Evaluation Group
This project's interdisciplinary team will carry out research and training that will identify ways for professionals in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to engage with public audiences that currently lack the community connections, resources, time, or know-how to gain access to science education and to scientists. The project will create real and on-line materials for scientists to convey the excitement, content, and relevance of their own research to public groups whose values, professions, or aesthetic and cultural backgrounds are connected to that research topic. The project will also foster ways for scientists to understand that members of the public can provide valuable input to science. Research and evaluation on the development of this innovative public engagement model "the STEM Ambassador Program (STEMAP)" will be conducted to provide insights into the effectiveness and extensibility of the STEMAP model. This approach integrates three existing elements of science engagement that have previously not been linked: design thinking, informal science education communication skills from museum work, and connecting scientists' research with the existing values of particular community groups. Robust evaluation will enhance effectiveness of in-person and online trainings; research will provide understanding of how different science learning models can be integrated and enhanced for public audiences and for scientists. This project 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. Science and society need innovative and transformative ways to interact synergistically. Given the deep knowledge and contagious passion for their research, STEM professionals can bring unique assets to directly engage public audiences, especially important the traditionally underserved public groups. Members of the public in turn have the potential to provide novel ideas, data, and insights to support researchers. The project's exploratory research will help understand how STEM professionals can broaden participation by themselves engaging unengaged publics with the excitement of science and science knowledge in ways that are congruent with academic rewards. The project team will integrate three existing NSF-funded models: a) Research Ambassador Program, b) Portal to the Public, and c) Design Thinking. A cadre of faculty and graduate students will be trained in "STEM Ambassadors" workshops, in which social scientists and community group representatives will help STEM Ambassadors identify public groups with interests that connect to the scientist's research. Engagement events will occur in community venues, e.g., churches, factories, and day care centers, etc. Case studies and evaluation instruments answer research questions about: the role of empathy in the formation and change of identity; relationships between public audiences, mode of engagement, and identity shifts; and motivational drivers for STEM Ambassadors and public audiences. The intellectual merit is the training and evaluating of 50 STEM Ambassadors (via 100 outreach events involving approximately 5000 individuals from community groups); strategies that encourage STEM professionals to engage with underrepresented publics; and insights on how to integrate multiple education models. STEMAP will disseminate its findings and new resources through the STEMAP website. In addition, the dissemination efforts will be extended through: collaboration with the NSF-funded PoPNet Expansion Project and the Centers for Science and Mathematics Education (CSMEs); presentations at national science professional organizations, such as the AAAS, as well as through the CAISE Wiki and the National Alliance for Broader Impacts (NABI). STEMAP will create a process for other NSF PIs to generate, evaluate, and articulate their research and its applications to public groups that lie far outside academia.