This formative evaluation gathered feedback from after-school group leaders and their 3rd-5th grade youth in response to two activities included in the Cyberchase Workshops-In-A-Box. The user-based feedback will assist with the design of new after-school materials. The general goals for the research were:To explore reactions to the workshop guide generally To assess appeal of the two activities To pinpoint difficulties in the implementation of the two activities To estimate comprehension of the activity content.To evaluate leader interest in further activities.Cyberchase is the Emmy Award
WNET planned an initiative to involve museums in the outreach associated with Season V of Cyberchase. A written feedback survey gathered information from 32 museums as to their current practices and recommendations with respect to museum kits, discovery carts, discovery boxes, video screenings and educational computer games. The goal of the survey was to assess the needs of the museums and to guide the development of an outreach plan for Season V. Cyberchase is the Emmy Award-winning mathematics series and website on PBS KIDS GO! using broadcast, web, new media and educational outreach to
To prepare for future summative research on the synergy among multiple educational media, the present pilot research explored real-life use of Cyberchase outreach materials. The present pilot study included: a Web survey of 48 outreach providers (representing over 3000 children in 19 states), follow-up phone interviews with 26 of these providers, and in-person observations at two outreach sites, one in New York and one in Massachusetts. With an eye toward future summative research, the resulting data yield conclusions and implications in two broadly defined areas: providers' use of Cyberchase
Research Questions: (1) To what extent do children's and parent's interest in math and science increase as a result of exposure to one or more of the project's components? (2) To what extent do children and parents want to engage further with Mateo y Cientina after initial exposure to the cartoon through one or more of the project's components? (3) To what extent do parents and children think they've learned new concepts about math and science as a result of completing a Mateo y Cientina activity? (4) To what extent do parents and children gain confidence in their understanding of math and
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Sarah MushlinUniversity of CaliforniaColleen Kuusinen
This report presents a summary of findings from our evaluation and conclusions that may carry broader implications. The audience for this report includes The National Science Foundation (NSF) and other funders (particularly science research funders), the leadership and staff of Nanotechnology: the Convergence of Science and Society project partners, and the informal science education field. The main body of the report is organized into two sections. The first section discusses the project's logic model, or theory of action and frames what the project set out to do and how. The project's
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Mark St. JohnPamela CastoriOregon Public BroadcastingJudy Hirabayashi
On November 4, 2010 The Science Museum of Minnesota, in conjunction with Fresh Energy, held a program about ocean acidification. The program included a dinner reception for VIP guests, a screening of the documentary film A Sea Change, and a panel discussion about ocean acidification. A Sea Change (http://www.aseachange.net/) is a feature-length documentary film about ocean acidification. A Sea Change documents Sven Huseby's worldwide search for more information about ocean acidification. Huseby, a retired history teacher, talks with scientists, policy experts, lawyers, business leaders, and
The NSF-funded 400 Years of the Telescope project was a unique partnership among a public television station, a production studio, two planetariums and a leading astronomical society in the United States. Its five main components included a one-hour PBS documentary, a 22-minute planetarium program, a website with astronomical infromation, "star parties"(nighttime astronomical viewing events) and promotional events hosted by PBS affiliate stations. The summative evaluation focused on three main evaluation questions: 1) What are the individual and cumulative impacts of the menu of deliverables
Goodman Research Group, Inc. conducted a comprehensive multi-method external evaluation of the first season of the Design Squad TV series and outreach initiative. The broad evaluation goals were to: assess the extent to which children's knowledge, interest, and awareness of engineering increased as a result of watching the Design Squad series, document the implementation of community events resulting form the November 2006 Engineering Summit, and assess the effectiveness of the Afterschool Educators Guide with leaders and students.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Peggy VaughanEmilee PressmanIrene GoodmanWGBH
Design Squad, produced by WGBH-Boston (http://www.wgbh.org), premiered on the Public Broadcasting Service in October 2009. Design Squad is a reality television series that encourages kids ages 9-12 years to “show off their smarts as they design and build working solutions for real-world clients—people who are hungry for clever ideas from a new generation of innovators.” Each season, the series culminates in a final episode when the top two scorers compete for a $10,000 college scholarship from the Intel Foundation. The underlying educational goals of Design Squad are to: (1) Increase students'
Listening to the River (LTTR) is a watershed science education project funded by the National Science Foundation. Its aims are to deliver education experiences in the local area, Traverse City, Michigan, and also to develop a model that could be replicated in other locations. Inverness Research was contracted by the Listening to the River project to conduct both formative and summative evaluations. Our work began in 2005 when the project received a planning grant, and continued through the life of the project. Primarily through interviews and product reviews, along with some direct program
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Mark St. JohnHeather MitchellDawn RoblesElizabeth HorschLaura StokesLand Information Access Assocation
WGBH has produced NOVA scienceNOW since 2005, with major funding from the National Science Foundation, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the Alfred. P. Sloan Foundation. NOVA scienceNOW (NsN) is comprised of a science news and magazine television series, a companion website, and a science cafe outreach initiative. All NsN offerings share common goals: (a) increase public awareness and understanding of cutting edge science content, and (b) increase public engagement in science-related activities. Beginning in Season 4 of NOVA scienceNOW (NsN), WGBH increased its efforts to promote the
During fall 1998, KCTS produced 50,000 “Bill Nye Family Fun Science Packets"" that included a family calendar and a ten-minute video. This outreach packet was meant for distribution to families with school-age children and designed to encourage family science activities at home. KCTS distributed these Packets in sets of 25-1,000 to community organizations, PBS stations, and member agencies of the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC). This study focused on capturing information about family and child involvement in science activities before and after they receive the BILL NYE