This ChangeMakers project builds on a 2016 National Academies report finding that scientific literacy can be understood at a community level as opposed to a traditional focus on the individual. This is important since scientific knowledge is often seen as abstract and distant from the daily concerns of average citizens. A community focus shifts the spotlight away from individual learning to collective learning facilitated by trusted cultural institutions serving as social assets. This work brings together scientific expertise and community organizations to advance operational science literacy--scientific ways of problem-solving--for community leaders and functional science literacy--information and skills people can use in their daily lives--among their service populations. This will be done by gathering and sharing knowledge and developing skills and abilities to contribute to the community's overall well-being.
The New England Aquarium (NeAq) and Aquarium of the Pacific (AoP) will apply a community engagement model involving active listening, documentation, alignment of concerns and goals, and co-development of shared solutions that serves the needs of all participants. As part of the Advancing Community Science Literacy (ACSL) project, multi-disciplinary teams from NeAq, AoP and their regional partners will participate in training on the model. They will apply that training to build and implement action plans to advance community-driven responses to local environmental issues. Teams will be assessed with respect to how they use tools from their shared training, along with peer support and coaching, to make progress in engaging diverse community stakeholders. Results of the evaluation will offer insights and recommendations for informal science learning centers to serve their communities more effectively as engagement facilitators and change agents to support science literacy development and action. By applying techniques developed for cultural institutions to communicate about climate science, and combining those with techniques developed for libraries and other organizations to help meet emergent community concerns, such as storm surges and coastal flooding, it is possible to redefine the role informal science learning centers can play as part of a community culture.
ACSL is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program which supports projects that provide multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences, advances innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and develops understandings of deeper learning by participants.
Supporting and sustaining public science literacy and engagement are important goals of informal science education institutions worldwide. Although there is evidence that both science centers and natural history museums positively influence public science literacy and engagement, significant differences exist between these two types of institutions. This international workshop on Integration of Science Centers with Natural History Museums for Imparting Informal Education addresses this issue by convening key science center and natural history museum professionals from 9 countries in South and Southeast Asia, as well as the United States, to explore the strengths and limitations of the assets, philosophies and strategies of these institutions. Beyond the benefits science center and natural history museum professionals attending will receive, the effort will significantly contribute to the broader US and international conversation about the future of science centers and natural history museums, as well as other museum-like, science-rich informal education institutions, in these regions and beyond. In particular, supporting personal and cultural relevance has been a major focus of informal science education organizations globally, and the recommendations that emerge from the meeting will significantly contribute to this dialogue and help to make advances in the disciplinary field of informal science education.
This international workshop, hosted in Malaysia and facilitated by researchers from the Institute for Learning Innovation, convenes 40 science center and natural history museum professionals to explore the affordances and constraints of science centers and natural history museum exhibitions, programs, outreach efforts, websites, etc. The conference is designed to examine the opportunities, challenges and barriers to integrating key design principles that blend the best of science centers and natural history museums, while guiding the creation of new forms of 21st century informal science education institutions. Additional goals explore how to make informal science education institutions in general more relevant to 21st century publics, both culturally and personally, as well as foster intra- and international collaborations between science center and natural history museum professionals. Toward these ends, all conference participants will commit to the completion of pre-conference assignments; active preparation and involvement at the meeting; and, assistance with the dissemination of project findings. The major deliverable will be a Whitepaper describing the outcomes of the meeting and the key design principles that leverage the effectiveness and relevance of each of these institutions. The Whitepaper will be produced in both hard copy and electronic form and more broadly disseminated throughout the natural history museum and science center fields in all participating countries. The electronic form will be hosted and available for download through the website of the Institute for Learning Innovation and the Center for Advancing Informal Science Education (CAISE) with links to all participating institutions. This project is supported jointly by the NSF Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) and the Advances in Informal STEM Education (AISL) program.
As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds innovative research, approaches and resources for use in a variety of settings. The project plans to deliver and improve a constructivist professional development (PD) program called Remake Making for library staff that work with youth in maker spaces. The proposed project will be led by a team at the University of Pittsburgh and builds on a pilot facilitation framework developed in an earlier project by this team. The PD program responds to the rapid growth of makerspaces with a constructivist PD program focused on facilitation. Maker spaces are a new service model in many public libraries, part of a broader shift in general library services. Effective facilitation for learning, like that required in makerspaces, is a relatively new facet of librarianship that is not a consistent part of librarian education or PD. The project will work with two local library systems with libraries that have makerspaces but little to no PD opportunities around facilitation. The project plans to iteratively design and investigate the Remake Making program, its impact on library maker facilitators and their interactions with child and youth learners. This will provide a setting for preliminary research about constructivist PD and the experiences and struggles of staff who facilitate making in libraries within the context of shifting library norms. This project will produce an efficient, maker-friendly PD system for facilitation in makerspaces, applicable to a broad range of informal and formal educators who wish to incorporate facilitated making.
The project plans to conduct an iterative development process involving several cohorts of participants and using multiple data sources which include embedded PD workshop data, participant pre-post surveys, observation of library makerspaces, and interviews/focus groups. A participatory approach will be employed by involving participants in creating and refining research questions within the scope of the project. This approach is designed around inquiry-based improvement, which is experienced by participants as reflective practice or continuous improvement. The proposed project aims to advance knowledge and PD strategies for facilitation in library makerspaces. The research will build knowledge about the efficacy of an innovative constructivist PD program with adaptation as a key feature. The data collected in the context of the development of this innovation will provide opportunities for applied research about informal STEM learning in the context of library maker spaces, and the role that library staff play in facilitating this type of learning.
As part of its overall effort to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning in informal environments. This includes providing multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences, advancing innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and developing understandings of deeper learning by participants. In alignment with these aims, the University of Washington will design and pilot an innovative leadership development program, NextGen Broadening Participation in ISE Professional Learning Program, to develop the leadership capacity of mid-career professionals, primarily from underrepresented groups in STEM, whose work focuses on broadening participation in informal STEM education (ISE). Unlike most existing ISE leadership models, this pathways project will employ a bottom-up, iterative design approach to engage program participants and garner new insights. Formative data and analysis will be used to better understand the broadening participation context, inform the model, and develop strategies and resources necessary to best support a more diversified next generation of ISE leaders. This pilot study is timely and significant. There is currently a substantial dearth of literature on the intersection between broadening participation and mid-level professional leadership development. Likewise, there are few comparable models in the current AISL portfolio. As such, the findings from this pilot will address critical gaps in the AISL portfolio and in the field, at large. It has the potential to markedly transform the capacity and impact of next generation ISE leaders. Over an eighteen-month period, this feasibility study will design, implement and test key aspects of the model to determine its potential for short and long term success. Using a competitive application process, twenty ISE mid-career professionals, who work primarily within broadening participation in STEM contexts, will be recruited to participate in the NextGen Broadening Participation in ISE Professional Learning Program. The year-long program includes four core components: (a) 4-day workshop, (b) four online webinars, (c) pilot projects carried out in participants' home institutions, and (d) poster presentations of projects at a national conference. A small cohort of faculty-mentors -- leaders from both research and practice in ISE broadening participation efforts -- will serve as participant mentors and play an integral role in the design and implementation of the program. Evaluative efforts will focus on documenting the efficacy of the design strategies (ex., recruitment, mentorship, social networking), the interests, needs, and professional growth of participants and the implications for broadening participation in STEM. The evaluation will be informed by data collected via interviews, surveys, focus groups, observations, content analyses of discourse, and participant deliverables. Formative and summative external evaluations will be conducted by the Garibay Group.
The Water for Life project has been an effective, and in some cases an essential vehicle for addressing issues around water quality and retention in island settings where water security is an on-going challenge. The focus on local partnerships was a highly valued attribute of the WfL project, and the informal science and conservation education resources produced and disseminated by the project have had a significant impact on these populations
The Ocean Science project integrates the Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts into a Western Washington region-wide, coordinated program of formal and informal education consisting of: 1. Teacher professional development in the ocean sciences to integrate the Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts into inquiry-based marine science education and instruction; 2. Evaluation and re-alignment of existing Sound Science ecosystems curricula into Ocean Science, incorporating NOAA data and promoting the Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts; 3. Classroom programs, beach field investigations, and on-site programs at the Seattle Aquarium of the Olympic Coast national Marine Sanctuary's Olympic Coast Discovery Center for grades 4-5 students, their parents and teachers; 4. Parent training in ocean science content, the Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts, and inquiry-based methods for supporting their children's science education; 5. Informal education for the general public via an interactive learning station linked to the Window on Washington Waters exhibit and designed to innovatively use NOAA data and information (videos, computer simulations and other creative media) to increase and evaluate ocean literacy in adults and children. Window on Washington Waters displays the outer coast marine environments and sea life of the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.
In 1999 The Ocean Project completed a comprehensive opinion research on public attitudes, perceptions, and knowledge of the ocean ever conducted. The research identified a broad vacuum in public understanding of the ocean; a fundamental issue of ocean literacy. To further increase effectiveness in building ocean literacy, this project updates and expands The Ocean Project's research to create a more highly detailed database of public awareness, knowledge, and attitudes about the ocean and the impact of climate change on the ocean. It develops recommendations to enable free-choice learning educators to improve the ocean and climate literacy of their visitors. The study includes a comprehensive review of existing literature, qualitative and quantitative research, analysis of the data, and publication and broad dissemination, including recommendations for programs and content that build ocean and climate literacy. The work done by The Ocean Project is helping the ocean education community better understand the motivations, psychology, and emotions behind segments of the public's attitudes toward the ocean. These data are essential as the institutions, agencies and organizations of the ocean community work together and independently to engage people, inform decision-makers, and enhance ocean and climate literacy throughout the Nation.
The North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher, along with the North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences, has created a comprehensive, innovative, and engaging approach to inspire ocean stewardship among young people. Through professional development, integration of advanced technology, and targeted presentations to underserved audiences, this project serves to build connections between marine mammals, ocean health, climate change, and people. The project offers an innovative and engaging professional development opportunity, the Marine Mammal Institute (MMI), for 32 grassroots educators in North Carolina, with priority given to representatives from economically depressed areas. Participating educators gather information and gain experience to develop interactive marine mammal activities related to climate and ocean literacy. Upon returning to their home institutions, participants engage teenagers in climate and ocean literacy programming using innovative technology to illustrate climate change impacts on marine mammals.
This collaboration led by three major national aquariums - Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBAq), National Aquarium in Baltimore (NAIB), and New England Aquarium (NEAq) - is developing a leadership initiative to build capacity within aquariums and related informal science education institutions nation-wide, enabling education staff to engage and inspire millions of visitors to take action about climate change and the ocean. The project increases climate literacy among informal science educators by: 1) creating a national network for training, resource sharing and support; 2) developing climate change activity carts to support exhibit interpretation; 3) providing training for youth interpreters; and 4) hosting regional and national summits to strengthen collaboration and showcase and disseminate model programs. Outcomes for educators include increased knowledge of climate change science; knowledge of strategies, tools and materials for educating about climate change; and confidence in their ability to communicate about climate change.
DACUM (Developing A CUrriculuM) was developed in Canada in the 1980s as a tool for industry to improve training. It has been championed in the USA by the Center for Education for Employment at The Ohio State University where they have conducted thousands of DACUMs and trained scores of people to conduct them. As used today, DACUM is a unique, innovative, and very effective method of job, and/or occupational analysis. It is also very effective for conducting process and functional analyses. The DACUM analysis workshop itself involves a trained DACUM facilitator and a committee of 5-12 expert
This review is a short synthesis of some of the literature around learning in adulthood, professional learning, professional learning frameworks, and models of professional learning frameworks. Its primary purpose is to inform the development of an interview protocol for the exploration of building a professional learning framework with a secondary purpose of providing richer shared language and understanding around some of the central constructs of a professional learning framework for the informal science education community and other informal learning environments.
This purpose of this review was to identify characteristics common across professional development frameworks within emerging professions (i.e. fields that are not regulated or licensed) and to identify practices and heuristics from those fields that could inform our work. The review began with; 1) creating a protocol for searching for frameworks; 2) identifying criteria for selection of representative frameworks; and 3) developing strategies for recording and sharing content with the research team. From the initial inventory of frameworks, we articulated a set of criteria for selecting a