This report grew out of a workshop and follow-up session sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR). The two-day workshop and subsequent meeting sought to develop and validate evaluation practices to assess the value of NSF's investment in broadening participation across all directorates and programs. Invited participants included NSF grantees, professional evaluators, and the policy community (which included representatives from Congress, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NSF staff, and staff from other federal agencies).
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Fitzgerald BramwellPatricia CampbellBeatriz Chu ClewellDarnella DavisNorman FortenberryAntonio GarciaDonna NelsonAdam StollVeronica Thomas
The Golden Gate Bridge Highway Transportation District (GGBHTD), in collaboration with the Consortium of Universities for Research in Earthquake Engineering (CUREE), and in partnership with Princeton University, Stanford University, San Jose State University, the Sciencenter (Ithaca, NY), the Exploratorium (San Francisco), Eyethink, West Wind Laboratory, EHDD Architects, the American Public Works Association, and the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association, is conducting a multi-faceted project about the science and engineering of the Golden Gate Bridge and about how public works facilities around the country can potentially become sites for public understanding of and engagement with science and engineering. GGBHTD, which operates and maintains the bridge, ferries and buses, hosts over 10-million visitors annually to their current visitor center at the south end of the bridge (San Francisco), serves an additional 2-million users of their ferries, and hosts a popular Web site (http://goldengatebridge.org/). The project deliverables are scheduled to coincide in 2012 with the 75th anniversary of the 1937 opening of the bridge. Educational products include: outdoor exhibits at the Golden Gate Bridge; exhibits about the bridge on the District's ferries; indoor exhibits at the Exploratorium; an expanded Web site with educational material about the bridge; an international conference in San Francisco around the time of the anniversary about public works as sites for informal science education; educational documents and a professional development program for public works staff from around the country; and a suite of publications for the public and professionals on public works research. The project involves a coordinated evaluation effort. Front-end and formative evaluation activities are being conducted by Inverness Research Associates. Summative evaluation will be conducted by David Heil & Associates.
Cosmic Serpent - Bridging Native and Western Science Learning in Informal Settings is a four-year collaboration between the Indigenous Education Institute and the University of California-Berkeley targeting informal science education professionals. This project is designed to explore the commonalities between western science and native science in the context of informal science education. The intended impacts are to provide informal science education professionals with the skills and tools to gain an understanding of the commonalities between native and western worldviews; create regional networks that bridge native and museum communities; develop science education programs in which learners cross cultural borders between western science and indigenous peoples; and meet the needs of diverse audiences using culturally-responsive approaches to science learning. Participants are introduced to topics in physical, earth, space, and life science, using an interdisciplinary approach. Deliverables include professional development workshops, peer mentoring, museum programs for public audiences, a project website, and media products for use in programs and exhibits. Additionally, regional partnerships between museums and native communities, a legacy document, and a culminating conference jointly hosted by the National Museum of the American Indian and the Association of Science and Technology Centers will promote future sustainability. Strategic impact is realized through participants' increased understanding of native and western science paradigms, museum programs that reflect commonalities in the two approaches, partnerships between museums and native communities, and increased institutional capacity to engage native audiences in science. This project directly impacts 270 informal educators at 96 science centers and tribal/cultural museums nationally while the resulting programs will reach an estimated 200,000 museum visitors.
This collaboration between the Franklin Institute and the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation identifies the role of crucial intermediaries in the science learning of children and points to the opportunities offered through a museum and library partnership to provide engaging science resources in under-resourced communities where many adults lack science expertise and confidence. Through an emphasis on literacy and science, LEAP into Science builds the capacity of after school leaders, teens and parents to be competent science learners and facilitators and to connect science centers, parents and libraries in support of the science learning and achievement of children. Project features include a workshop model for families with K-4 children, enrichment sessions for after school students, family events at the museum, professional development for library and after school youth staff, and a national expansion conference. The conference introduces the project to potential national implementation sites. Case studies of sites from this conference inform a research study investigating the obstacles, modifications and necessary support to initiate and sustain the program model. The formative and summative evaluation measure the impact of this program on children, parents, librarians, and teen workers at the libraries. Fifty-three Philadelphia libraries in addition to libraries in three cities selected from the implementation conference have a direct program impact on 10,000 people nationally, including 300 after school facilitators and children's librarians.
Citizen science projects engage members of the general public in professionally directed research and participatory action research projects that investigate local environmental issues. The Cornell University - Laboratory of Ornithology is requesting funding to support a national conference and the development of a web-based Citizen Science Toolkit to inform these programs. The Toolkit will provide a framework for scientists and educators to develop, implement and evaluate independent citizen science projects. Deliverables include an invitational conference where best practices will be identified, in addition to the electronic toolkit that will include a Citizen Science Manual and instruments for assessing the effectiveness of projects. A virtual community of educators that develop and implement citizen science projects in a variety of STEM areas will be created. It is anticipated this work will improve the quality of citizen science projects across the country.
This project is designed to improve communication between scientists and the public focusing on the role of evidence in science. It is a two-year project that includes: 1) implementing a national survey on the public use of science web sites; 2) conducting a national Science Education Outreach Forum bringing together scientists and informal science educators; 3) implementing workshop sessions at a national conference to disseminate lessons learned from the survey and Forum; and 4) developing a prototype website on the role of evidence that will be evaluated for audience engagement and understanding. This project builds on the Exploratorium's prior NSF-funded project (ESI#9980619) developing innovative strategies using the Internet to link scientists and the public using Webcasts, annotated datasets and interactive web resources. Project collaborators include the Pew Internet and American Life Project, Palmer Station, Scripps Oceanographic Institute, FermiLab and the Society of Hispanic Physicists among others. The research and evaluation of the project has the potential for strategic impact by providing new information and models on how science centers can more effectively use the Internet to improve communication between scientists and the public while engaging learners more effectively.
The Franklin Institute (TFI), in collaboration with the Institute for Learning Innovation (ILI), will conduct a research effort that explores the role that informal science learning plays in supporting girls' long-term interest, engagement and participation in science communities, hobbies and careers. Five longstanding programs for girls, begun 5-20+ years ago, will be the focus of the proposed study and include the National Science Partnership (NSP), Girls at the Center (GAC), Wonderwise, and Women in Natural Sciences (WINS). The selected study projects have access to girl participants who are high-school aged or older and represent diverse race, ethnicity and SES. A national Research Advisory Council will ground the investigation and review the findings at each stage of the research. The Community of Practice (CoP) literature (Lave and Wenger, 1991) will provide the theoretical frame for the overarching research question. Findings will document long-term impacts of girls' participation in identified informal science programs, determine how informal contexts in general contribute to girls' science learning and achievement, and develop a model for understanding the impact of informal science learning initiatives. Deliverables will include specific examples of informal learning experiences that support girls' long-term participation in science and evidence of the types of influences, including significant adults and particular activities, that contribute to girls' trajectories of participation. Dissemination tools will be a national conference, a research monograph and a series of workshops conducted in conjunction with professional conferences for informal science educators. By better understanding the impact of informal programs in science, specifically and more generally, and by developing and demonstrating an effective model for understanding such impact across projects, the proposed research stands to inform the field and provide a base for future project development and research efforts. The research results will improve the understanding of practice in these arenas and will document the significant role that informal programs place in influencing girls' vocational and avocational choices and participation in STEM fields. The study will also demonstrate the applicability of the CoP research model and its lessons to other informal science programs.