The New England Wild Flower Society will develop an engaging, easily accessible curriculum of introductory online courses in botany, plant ecology, and native plant horticulture, which will be made available to conservation and educational organizations throughout the Northeastern U.S. via a new digital portal. These comprehensive classes in plant science will be available online for diverse lifelong learners and will incorporate classroom, online, and field participation by students; foster connections among students and mentors; and create a rich suite of learning opportunities.
The L.C. Bates Museum will provide 1,700 rural fourth grade students and their families museum-based STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) educational programming including integrated naturalist, astronomy, and art activities that explore Maine's environment and its solar and lunar interactions. The project will include a series of eight classroom programs, family field trips, TV programs, family and classroom self-guided educational materials, and exhibitions of project activities including student work. By bringing programs to schools and offering family activities and field trips, the museum will be able to engage an underserved, mostly low-income population that would otherwise not be able to visit the museum. The museum's programming will address teachers' needs for museum objects and interactive explorations that enhance student learning and new Common Core science curriculum objectives, while offering students engaging learning experiences and the opportunity to develop 21st century leadership skills.
This document presents an overview of the quantitative survey data findings from the SL+ Equity Pathways in Informal Science Learning project. Further qualitative analysis on some of the open response data is yet to be completed. Findings are grouped into four areas: about the individuals taking part in the survey; their definitions and understanding of equity and related terms; their current equity practice; and their practices around equity work including reading, talking with colleagues and evaluation.
This Research & Practice Agenda is a synthesis of findings from the Youth Access & Equity in Informal Science Learning (ISL) partnership, a UK-US researcher-practitioner project, funded by the Science Learning+ Initiative. Activities included a survey administered in the UK and US with 134 ISL researchers and/or practitioners; workshops with 111 participants in both the UK and US; a literature review; and a joint UK/US workshop conducted in the UK. This set of activities generated a range of data, resources and raised questions, both research questions and questions of practice, which we have
This infographic reports findings from the Youth Access & Equity in Informal Science Learning (ISL) project, a UK-US researcher-practitioner partnership funded by the Science Learning+ Phase 1 scheme. Our project focuses on young people aged 11-14 primarily from under-served and non-dominant communities and includes researchers and practitioners from a range of ISL settings: designed spaces (e.g. museums, zoos), community-based (e.g. afterschool clubs) and everyday science spaces (e.g. science media).
This briefing paper reports findings from the Youth Access & Equity in Informal Science Learning (ISL) project, a UK-US researcher-practitioner partnership funded by the Science Learning+ Phase 1 scheme. Our project focuses on young people aged 11-14 primarily from under-served and non-dominant communities and includes researchers and practitioners from a range of ISL settings, including designed spaces (eg museums, zoos), community-based (e.g. afterschool clubs) and everyday science spaces (e.g. science media).
This briefing paper reports findings from the Youth Access & Equity in Informal Science Learning (ISL) project,
a UK-US researcher-practitioner partnership funded by the Science Learning+ scheme. Our project focuses on young people aged 11-14 primarily from under-served and non-dominant communities and includes researchers and practitioners from a range of ISL settings: designed spaces (e.g. museums, zoos), community-based (e.g. after school clubs) and everyday science spaces (e.g. science media).
The Clay Center for Arts and Sciences of West Virginia will create professional learning communities of teachers and after-school staff serving 7th grade students at seven partner schools using digital storytelling as a tool to explore energy-related topics impacting their communities. West Virginia's role as a leading coal producer and the impact of natural gas drilling served as strong influencing factors in the creation of this STEAM project, titled emPOWERed Stories. Students will create an exhibit that incorporates these digital stories. The results will inform the broader field on ways to better blend formal and informal education experiences to become more potent learning environments.
The Strybing Arboretum and Botanical Gardens will link and integrate its digital geographic information system (GIS) to its plant collections database, making possible the creation of GIS-derived applications that will ultimately impact all areas of the museum's operations. Following the system integration, the institution will develop applications and train staff members on how to develop GIS-derived applications tailored to enhance the learning experiences of visitors and program participants. The integrated database will serve as a resource that will positively impact learning experiences for the gardeners who maintain the plant collections, visitors to the garden, participants in education programs, and people accessing information online. The project will also help demonstrate the potential of spatial data to benefit collections-management activities and public programming.
The New York City Department of Education will build a digital gateway for students and teachers called “Project ECS@ESC: Encouraging Connections through STEM” at the Environmental Study Center. This will offer rich and engaging experiential environmental science programs for students and teachers at all grade levels. The project will develop a digital depository of educational materials and digital resources that connect instructional content and programs. Educators and students will access the instructional resources beyond the walls of ESC, facilitating STEM-focused inquiry experiences in the classroom and utilizing instructional materials, e-content, and digital resources. It will also create a digital depository using Springshare’s Libguides, an online content management system, to provide e-content focused on STEM topics and themes.
The Richmond Public Library will create The Richmond Digital Health Literacy Project to provide low-income residents with tools and skills needed to access online information to improve their health. Participants will learn how to gain access to digital reference materials, e-books, mobile library offerings, and other resources. The project will bring together groups of participants around the topic of health information to develop customized online health curricula, provide training to 180 low-income residents in digital health literacy, and supply free broadband and wireless antennae to public computer centers. These activities will enable participants to develop skills and access relevant digital content to improve the health and the overall quality of life of Richmond residents.
Students struggle to learn STEM concepts. The arts have been proposed as a means to engage students in STEM education, resulting in the idea of STEAM. However, STEAM approaches do not always result in learning. A collaboration between a major research university and a small Native arts college in the southwestern United States provided an opportunity for studying the potential for arts to engage students in STEM learning. This study investigates how participating art students (N = 4) solved technological and design production problems when working with immersive technologies in a paid summer