The following comprise the CONCLUSIONS of SRA's evaluation: POLAR-PALOOZA toured the United States at a time when the topic of climate change and global warming appeared relatively low on a list of Americans' concerns (Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 2006), with the economy, war, and health care taking precedence. Nevertheless, POLAR-PALOOZA was a powerful format for engaging the public and teachers with science, while also being a rewarding and worthwhile experience for the traveling scientists. PPZA was an ambitious and complex undertaking designed to bring what is
The investigators will collect data on a broad range of informal science education activities of an existing sample of approximately 3,500 adults across the U.S. It will relate these activities to prior forms of science involvement and to various indicators of lifelong STEM learning. The proposed work is an extension of the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY), a study funded by NSF since 1986 and still ongoing. Prior work has tracked two national cohorts of students who were originally representative of public middle and high schools, focusing on their science and mathematics course enrollment, content, achievement, and career choices, and informed by data from their parents and teachers. The project team has maintained very high levels of continued participation by the approximately 5,000 students, now aged 34-38, many of whom have families of their own. The project will extend the planned surveys for 2009 and 2010 to examine how these adults use informal science education resources such as museums, libraries, books, magazines, newspapers, television, and the Internet. The project will provide baseline data on informal science education resource use in the Internet era for a large and diverse sample. It will allow investigation of the relationships of current informal science learning behaviors, both individual and intergenerational, to prior learning variables such as school science achievement, parental involvement, college experience, career choice, and prior use of informal learning resources while respondents were school-aged.
The investigators will collect data on a broad range of informal science education activities of an existing sample of approximately 3,500 adults across the U.S. It will relate these activities to prior forms of science involvement and to various indicators of lifelong STEM learning. The proposed work is an extension of the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY), a study funded by NSF since 1986 and still ongoing. Prior work has tracked two national cohorts of students who were originally representative of public middle and high schools, focusing on their science and mathematics course enrollment, content, achievement, and career choices, and informed by data from their parents and teachers. The project team has maintained very high levels of continued participation by the approximately 5,000 students, now aged 34-38, many of whom have families of their own. The project will extend the planned surveys for 2009 and 2010 to examine how these adults use informal science education resources such as museums, libraries, books, magazines, newspapers, television, and the Internet. The project will provide baseline data on informal science education resource use in the Internet era for a large and diverse sample. It will allow investigation of the relationships of current informal science learning behaviors, both individual and intergenerational, to prior learning variables such as school science achievement, parental involvement, college experience, career choice, and prior use of informal learning resources while respondents were school-aged.
PolarTREC (Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating) is a three-year teacher professional enhancement program that will advance polar science education by bringing K-12 educators and polar researchers together in hands-on field experiences in the Arctic and Antarctic. PolarTREC activities and products will foster the integration of research and education to produce a legacy of long-term teacher-researcher collaborations, improvement of teacher content knowledge and teaching practices, shareable online learning resources based on real-world science, improved student knowledge of and interest in the Arctic and Antarctic, and broad public engagement in polar science. ARCUS will adapt and extend existing Teacher Research Experience (TRE) models and its own experience delivering TREC -- a TRE program supported by NSF for the Arctic -- to develop PolarTREC, a comprehensive, sustained field research experience program for K-12 teachers focusing on IPY science themes at both polar regions. Thirty-six teachers will spend two to six weeks in the Arctic or Antarctic studying a topic relevant to one of the IPY emphasis areas, with "Live from IPY" calls, Internet presentations, and podcasts from the field, daily teacher journals, interactive bulletin boards, photo galleries, online multimedia learning resources and activities, and participation in CARE (Connecting Arctic/Antarctic Researchers and Educators) web-meetings to support translation of experiences into the classroom and beyond. PolarTREC is relevant to the education goals of the IPY by 1) providing a hands-on field research experience that can be realistically implemented in the polar regions; 2) broadly disseminating teacher experiences to students and other professionals; 3) developing a sustainable learning community; and 4) providing clear and appropriate measures of project success through a formative and summative evaluation. Additionally, the PolarTREC evaluation will provide a basis for replicating or expanding the program structure and best practices. PolarTREC will benefit from close coordination with logistics providers and international programs to ensure operational feasibility and an international reach.
CENTC's (Center for Enabling New Technologies Through Catalysis) outreach is focused on partnerships with science centers. Initially we worked with the Pacific Science Center (PSC) to train our students in effective communication of science concepts to public audiences. Later we developed a short-term exhibit, Chemist - Catalysts for Change in the Portal to Current Research space. As part of the CCI/AISL partnership program, we partnered with Liberty Science Center to create an activity on a multi-touch media table, "Molecule Magic." We are currently developing another exhibit with PSC.
The National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN) is a partnership of 13 institutions (Cornell University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Howard University, North Carolina State University (affiliate), Pennsylvania State University, Stanford University, University of California at Santa Barbara, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, University of New Mexico, University of Texas at Austin, and University of Washington) that provides multi-faceted, interdisciplinary, and broadly-accessible infrastructure supporting both near-term and long-term needs identified in the National Nanotechnology Initiative. The partnering facilities are open laboratories providing outstanding service to the external user, comprehensive training and staff support, and support of interdisciplinary and emerging areas of research, with openness to new materials, techniques, and applications.
FETCH with Ruff Ruffman is a daily half-hour PBS television series with accompanying Web and outreach activities targeted to 6- to 10-year olds. The program brings science learning to young children by uniquely blending live-action with animation, game show convention with reality programming, and humor with academics. The intended impacts are to 1) help the target audience develop interest, knowledge and skills necessary to do science; 2) train afterschool leaders to better facilitate science activities with kids; and 3) demonstrate how media can be used to teach substantive science and share the results of project evaluation with others in the field. The requested funds will allow the project to expand the science curriculum with 20 new half-hour episodes and expand the Web site, focusing on three new science themes that highlight topics of interest to this age group. The Web site will include four new science-based Web games that will allow kids to create and post content of their own design and contribute to nationwide data collection. A new FETCH Online Training resource will be created to help afterschool leaders to effectively engage in FETCH's hands-on science activities. American Institutes for Research (AIR) will conduct summative evaluation of the Online Training program.
In this paper, David A. Ucko, President of Museums + more LLC, discusses the impact of NSF's Public Understanding of Science (PUOS) and Informal Science Education (ISE) programs on the field of informal science education. Ucko discusses recent efforts to develop the field through advancing knowledge and practice and building capacity. This paper is based on a paper presented at the 83rd Annual International Conference of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Philadelphia, PA, March 22, 2010.
A BioBlitz is a rapid biological survey of a property in which as many species from as many taxonomic groups as possible are counted during a 24-hour period. It is used to provide a snapshot of wildlife in any area, and identify any rare or endangered species there. As a volunteer you would participate in training to learn how to collect data during the BioBlitz, and on the day of the event you work with experts to identify species. By participating in the BioBlitz, you get the opportunity to meet and spend time with people who are interested in the environment, and learn about critters in Wisconsin!
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Beaver Creek Reserve Citizen Science CenterSarah Braun
A citizen science project designed to monitor the distribution and abundance of bird species throughout the Fresno-Clovis Metro Area in the Central Valley of California.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
California State University, FresnoFresno Audubon SocietyMadhusudan Katti
In this article, Alan Jacobson, President of ex;it and BAJdesign, shares the lessons he learned in Rwanda, while building a memorial to the 1994 Genocide, in which 1,000,000 people died in 100 days. Jacobson recounts his personal journey in Rwanda as well as how this experience reshaped his core design principles.
In this article, Linda Pearcey, museology consultant, explores a recent shift in the Syrian economy, which has led to a reform in the education system with a greater emphasis on cultivating self-motivated, educated youth. As an example of these efforts, Pearcey highlights Massar, a national learning and development project for Syrian youth. Pearcey discusses the overall project as well as the specific physical components of the Massar Discovery Center.
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Linda PearceyNational Association of Museum Exhibition