This report describes an evaluation of two educational programs that Iridescent offered with a grant from the National Science Foundation. These two programs were developed for youth and their families and were organized around open-ended Engineering Design Challenges. These are hands-on problem-solving activities supported by a web-based platform known as the Curiosity Machine. The Curiosity Machine and the Design Challenges were designed to work together to engage learners in fundamental physics and engineering concepts in fun and open-ended ways, while enhancing their curiosity, creativity
Funded by the National Science Foundation, the Science of Sharing project (SoS) was a collaboration between the Exploratorium, the Museum of Life and Science, Dialogue Social Enterprise and The Heroic Imagination Project. SoS included two major components for members of the public to engage with: a permanent collection of interactive, multi-user exhibits at the Exploratorium, and a series of social-media based activities called Experimonths. SoS exhibits and Experimonths were designed to allow visitors to experiment with cooperation, trust, and social dilemmas, connect those experiences to
Informal environments provide students with unique experiences that allow them to actively participate in activities while promoting a positive attitude toward and an increased interest in science. One way to enhance informal science experiences is through the integration of mobile technologies. This integration is particularly useful in engaging underrepresented students in learning science. Our informal environmental science program engages underrepresented, fifth-grade students in an informal learning environment supplemented with mobile tablet technology (iPads). The purpose of this study
In support of a summative evaluation of SciGirls Season Three, Multimedia Research developed a scale to assess preteen girls’ interest in nature and science. The work was sponsored by Twin Cities PBS under NSF Grant No. 1323713. Multimedia Research developed, piloted, validated and implemented the GINSS: A nine statement Likert scale constructed to reveal girls’ strength of interest in nature and science activities. Researchers and evaluators are encouraged to use this scale to extend its application. Please email if you eventually use the scale in your research or evaluation: Flagg
Goodman Research Group, Inc. (GRG), a research firm in Cambridge, Massachusetts specializing in program evaluation, has been conducting external evaluation of ZOOM for WGBH-TV Boston since 1998. GRG's Season VI evaluation comprised a pilot test to investigate the effectiveness of the new online ZOOMSCITM TRAINING: LEARN TO LEAD SCIENCE ACTIVITIES (ZOOMsci Training), a self-directed, online tutorial designed to help afterschool educators learn how to lead hands-on science activities with kids ages 8 to 11. The goal of the training is to motivate leaders, help them develop science-teaching
In this Connecting Researchers to Public Audiences (CRPA) project, the researchers from Florida State University, in partnership with their local public broadcasting station (WFSU-TV), will engage the audience in an exploration of the ecosystem services of coastal habitats. The main content focus is the important linkages among coastal foundation species (oysters and salt marsh plants), the human and ecological communities they support, and the ecosystem services they provide. In particular, the project illuminates the roles of biodiversity and consume-prey relationships in influencing ecosystem services, while conveying the excitement of ecological research. The complementary target audiences are the general WFSU viewers and listeners, groups that actively use or promote coastal habitats, and graduate students at Florida State University and Florida A&M University. The main deliverables include: 1) a TV documentary, a series of short videos and radio spots; 2) a research blog; and 3) a science communication three-day workshop for current and future researchers to converse with the public about key learning goals. In addition, in year two of the grant, the PIs will deliver a monthly seminar series focused on effective communication skills for scientists. The resulting documentaries will be broadcast by WFSU and offered to other PBS stations via APT and/or NETA. Other materials will be made available via PBS Learning Media and other portals. Community group project collaborators, such as SciGirls and the Science Cafe, will extend the reach and impact of the project. The project design includes formative evaluation which will focus on ways to improve the accessibility and usability of the research blog, and summative evaluation which will review each component of the deliverables. Results of the summative evaluation will be posted on www.informalscience.org. This proposal addresses the communication gap between scientists and the public by simultaneously targeting both audiences with deliverables designed to promote dialogue and understanding. By highlighting compelling natural history information and key ecological concepts associated with current research, the project will provide engaging educational experiences to a wide audience. These activities will not only educate the public about specific research but also demonstrate the process of science. Finally, the proposed seminar for students, along with the other informal learning opportunities throughout the project, will enhance the communication skills and outreach abilities of a diverse group of graduate students.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Randall HughesDavid KimbroRoberto Diaz de Villegas
The Space Science Institute is developing an astronomy educational social game for the Facebook platform. The game uses the "sporadic play" model popular with many Facebook games, in which players take only a few actions at a time, then return to explore the results. Here players will create their own stars and planetary systems that evolve over time at a rate of a million years a minute. Players set systems in motion, revisiting the game over days or weeks to make new choices and alter strategies. The game is in effect an end-to-end solar system simulation, following a star from birth to death. As a result it encompasses a wide variety of core concepts in astronomy, including galactic structure, stellar evolution and lifecycles, planetary formation and evolution, and habitability and "habitable zones." The accompanying research program will examine the effectiveness of this type of game in informal education, and the effects of the social network on meeting the education goals, including viral spread, cooperative play, and discussions about the game and its underlying content in associated online forums.
This Connecting Researchers to Public Audiences project plans to create a multimedia website, Into the Rift, a virtual journey to Lake Tanganyika in East Africa, along with teaching resources and a dissemination campaign. The content will focus on the high freshwater diversity of the 2nd largest lake in the world; the diverse array of cichlid fish in the lake; and the effects of overharvesting and global warming on the lake's ecosystem. The project's intended learning outcomes are that viewers will have enhanced awareness and understanding of: 1) the ecosystem-scale processes that support life in lakes; 2) the importance of intact natural ecosystems for the well-being of human societies; 3) the techniques that scientists use to learn more about the ecosystem-scale movement of matter and energy; and 4) potential career paths in STEM fields. These learning outcomes correlate to the current and proposed science standards, which provide a structure for content development and outcomes assessment. The project will be designed by the collaboration of an ecologist (the PI Dr. Yvonne Vadeboncoeur), education specialist (co-PI Dr. Lisa Kenyon), communication specialist (co-PI Dr. Elliot Gaines) all from Wright State University, and a media lab (Habitat Seven), and informed by formative evaluation conducted by Edu, Inc. The website, hosted by a guide from East Africa along with the PI, will be presented in three languages (Spanish, French, and Swahili) in addition to English. Edu, Inc. will also conduct a summative evaluation of all the components of the project with respect to the four intended learning outcomes and their related concepts as well as analyze the outcomes of the dissemination strategies. This CRPA uses internet technologies to make abstract scientific concepts and a largely inaccessible research location available to a wide audience. The project intends to inform and engage the audience with an aggressive use of social media in addition to the website. Into the Rift will provide material for both the lay audience and classrooms, including access to authentic scientific data to compare the Lake Tanganyika data to environmental data collected from the U.S. Great Lakes. Additional collaborations with established organizations, including Crossing Boundaries, Conservation Bridge and Community Bridges, will expand the reach and impact of the project to diverse audiences. The multi-lingual approach extends the reach to potentially an even greater audience both within and outside the U.S.
This Pathways project will develop and evaluate a new model for a STEM career exploration program for at-risk Hispanic youth and their families in New Mexico where 46% of the population is Hispanic. The target audience includes Hispanic youth incarcerated in juvenile detention centers. The Hispanic Communications Network will partner with the Juvenile Justice Division of the New Mexico Children, Youth, and Families Department, Youth Development Inc.; and Youth Works in Santa Fe. STEM professionals from Los Alamos and Sandia labs and private sector companies in New Mexico will participate as role models. The evaluation findings will add to the knowledge base about strategies to increase interest and engagement in pursuing STEM careers among hard-to-reach Hispanic audiences including low income families, gang members and incarcerated youth. The project design includes using two main strategies: family evenings with STEM role models; and a social media and Facebook contest focusing on Green Jobs of the Future. The evaluation will use a mixed-methods approach for gathering data including brief questionnaires after the family evenings, pre-and past-activity surveys, observations, and telephone and online surveys. The evaluation will provide ongoing feedback to the project team on how well the strategies are working. The project will hold 8 family nights, involve approximately 16 STEM professionals (role models), and projects about 16 edited media submissions by the youth teams. Toward the end of the project the evaluation will comment on the viability, efficacy and potential transferability of this model to other communities.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Carlos AlcazarTrinity TreatAlliyah NoorLynn Dierking
WGBH Educational Foundation will create PEEP'S WORLD/EL MUNDO DE PEEP, a Web-based "Digital Hub," in both English and Spanish, to significantly increase the impact of the extensive collection of proven preschool science and math assets from the Emmy Award-winning TV show PEEP AND THE BIG WIDE WORLD®. This project will: (1) redesign the PEEP Web site, creating interactive media experiences that will contextualize existing content and take advantage of new Web design; (2) provide professional development for preschool educators; and (3) reach a new audience of family childcare educators, one that is woefully underserved when it comes to educational resources about science. Dissemination through a network of national organizations, including National Association of Family Child Care, National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies, National Head Start Association, National Education Association, AVANCE, and Committee for Hispanic Children and Families, will help engage the maximum number of educators and parents in the project. PEEP'S WORLD/EL MUNDO DE PEEP will provide resources for targeted audiences. Specifically these resources will provide: Children with multiple ways to engage with science or math content areas, including interactive games, animated stories, and live-action videos; Parents with guided experiences to facilitate their child's math and science play; Center-based preschool educators with a media-rich, year long science curriculum and professional development materials; and Family childcare educators with curriculum modules, integrated with media, focused on six science content areas, and professional development materials for home-care settings in English and in Spanish. The University of Massachusetts's Donahue Institute will conduct a formative evaluation of the family childcare educator resources: 200 Spanish-speaking and 200 English-speaking educators will pilot the curriculum modules and professional development videos. Concord Evaluation Group, Inc. will conduct a summative evaluation, consisting of a Family Web Site Experiment and a National Observational Study, to assess the extent to which the project is successful at achieving its intended impacts. A multifaceted national dissemination plan will include a robust social media strategy, implemented by a Spanish-speaking online community manager, to reach parents, and collaborations with early childhood education statewide systems to reach educators. The projects intended impacts are to: (1) help English- and Spanish-speaking preschoolers effectively apply science and mathematical inquiry and process skills; (2) empower English- and Spanish-speaking parents to feel more equipped and inclined to facilitate science and math exploration with their preschoolers; and, (3) provide center-based and family childcare educators with resources for incorporating math and science into their curricula and boosting their confidence in teaching these subjects. While many parents know how to read to their children, they do not typically know how to approach science or math investigations with their pre-schoolers. After parents, preschool educators are the most important promoters of a young child\'s learning. Yet, center-based and family childcare educators do not receive significant training in science, and thus lack confidence when conducting preschool science activities. By providing parents and educators resources for approaching preschool science and math, which meet their specific needs, PEEP will help alleviate these challenges.
This Connecting Researchers and Public Audiences project will engage the public in understanding how species are born. The project builds on the PI's NSF-funded research on speciation and signal diversification in Monarcha Flycatchers of the Solomon Islands (NSF CAREER, #1137624). Project deliverables include a one-hour television program, website, and the use of social media. The team proposes to film an engaging tale that weaves historical research with modern molecular techniques to communicate to the public how new species are born. It will also illustrate the process of science and the people behind the research. The potential national audience is large, with a particular effort to reach 18-49 year olds. The program will be nationally distributed by one of the major television or cable channels. The website will provide a video gallery of short videos and photos, a blog from the field, and an in-depth learning section with new research about speciation. Evaluation of the project, conducted by Education Northwest, will focus on changes in audience knowledge and interest about speciation. The findings of the summative evaluation will be made available online at InformalScience.org.
The University of Chicago's Yerkes Observatory, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, the University of North Carolina, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, and 4-H are collaborating to provide professional development to 180 4-H leaders and other informal science educators, and engage 1,400 middle school youth in using research-grade robotic telescopes and data analysis tools to explore the Universe. Youth participating in 4H-based out-of-school programs in Wisconsin, West Virginia and North Carolina are learning about the universe and preparing for STEM careers by conducting authentic astronomy research, completing astronomy-related hands-on modeling activities, interacting with astronomers and other professionals who are part of the Skynet Robotic Telescope Network, and interacting with other youth who part of the Skynet Junior Scholars virtual community. The project is innovative because it is providing a diverse community of 4-H youth (including sight- and hearing-challenged youth and those from underrepresented groups) with opportunities to use high-quality, remotely located, Internet-controlled telescopes to explore the heavens by surveying galaxies, tracking asteroids, monitoring variable stars, and learn about the nature and methods of science. Deliverables include (1) online access to optical and radio telescopes, data analysis tools, and professional astronomers, (2) an age-appropriate web-based interface for controlling remote telescopes, (3) inquiry-based standards-aligned instructional modules, (4) face-to-face and online professional development for 4-H leaders and informal science educators, (5) programming for youth in out-of-school clubs and clubs, (6) evaluation findings on the impacts of program activities on participants, and (7) research findings on how web-based interactions between youth and scientists can promote student interest in and preparedness for STEM careers. The evaluation plan is measuring the effectiveness of program activities in (1) increasing youths' knowledge, skills, interest, self-efficacy, and identity in science, including youth who are sight- and hearing-impaired, (2) increasing educators' competency in implementing inquiry-based instruction and their ability to interact with scientists, and (3) increasing the number of Skynet scientists who are involved in education and public outreach.