This project will expand the functions and applications of FieldScope, a web-based science information portal currently supported by the National Geographic Society (NGS). The goal is to create a single, powerful infrastructure for Public Participation in Science Research (PPSR) projects that any organization can use to create their own project and support their own community of participants. FieldScope currently provides various tools and applications for use by its existing user base that includes the GLOBE project and the Chesapeake Bay monitoring system. The application enables users to contribute volunteered geographic data collection efforts and sharing information among both professional and amateur users. The project would develop and test an enhanced version of the existing FieldScope application. The project supports major programming development for a fully-functional web-based application that would significantly enhance the usability of the current application. Along with programming new features and capabilities, the project involves extensive evaluation of the new capabilities and involves three citizen-based organizations as testbeds.
The project will increase the capability of the existing system to handle large numbers of users and user groups and also increase the number and variety of tools available to any user; provide customization through the adaption of common APIs; and provide for expansion of computer space through use of virtual servers in a cloud computing environment thereby limiting the need for installed hardware. This approach would maximize storage and computing power by being able to call on resources when necessary and scaling back when demand decreases. The platform would include advanced visualization capabilities as part of a suite of analytic tools available to the user. Social networking applications would also be incorporated as a way of enabling communication among users of a particular site. The operation of the portal would be supported by the NGS and made available free of charge to any group of users applying for space. Nominal fees will be applied to large organizations requiring large computing space or additional features. User groups can request NGS supply custom features for the cost of development and deployment.
The evaluation of this project is extensive and focused on formative evaluation as a means to identify user preferences, from look and feel of the site to types of tools desired and types of uses expected. The formative evaluation would be conducted ahead of any commitment to programming and formatting of the features of the site. The project responds to a need expressed throughout the citizen science community for web-based applications that enable individuals to engage in a topic of interest, interact in various ways on such a site including the submission of data and information, analyze the information in concert with others and with working scientists in the field, and utilize state-of-the-art tools such as visualization as a way of making sense of the data being collected. There have been numerous proposals to create similar types of sites from various groups, each based on its own perceived needs and grounded in its own particular discipline or topic. This activity could serve this community more broadly and save similar groups the trouble and expense of creating sites from scratch.
SciGirls CONNECT is a broad national outreach effort to encourage educators, both formal and informal, to adopt new, research-based strategies to engage girls in STEM. SciGirls (pbskids.org/scigirls) is an Emmy award-winning television program and outreach program that draws on cutting-edge research about what engages girls in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) learning and careers. The PBS television show, kids' website, and educational outreach program have reached over 14 million girls, educators, and families, making it the most widely accessed girls' STEM program available nationally. SciGirls' videos, interactive website and hands-on activities work together to address a singular but powerful goal: to inspire, enable, and maximize STEM learning and participation for all girls, with an eye toward future STEM careers. The goal of SciGirls is to change how millions of girls think about STEM. SciGirls CONNECT (scigirlsconnect.org) includes 60 partner organizations located in schools, museums, community organizations and universities who host SciGirls clubs, camps and afterschool programs for girls. This number is intended grow to over 100 by the end of the project in 2016. SciGirls CONNECT provides mini-grants, leader training and educational resources to partner organizations. Each partner training session involves educators from a score of regional educational institutions. To date, over 700 educators have received training from over 250 affiliated organizations. The SciGirls CONNECT network is a supportive community of dedicated educators who provide the spark, the excitement and the promise of a new generation of women in STEM careers. Through our partner, the National Girls Collaborative Project, we have networked educational organizations hosting SciGirls programs with dozens of female role models from a variety of STEM fields. The SciGirls CONNECT website hosts monthly webinars, a quarterly newsletter, gender equity resources, SciGirls videos and hands-on activities. SciGirls also promotes the television, website and outreach program to thousands of elementary and middle school girls and their teachers both locally and nationally at various events.
This project will engage underserved Native and non-native youth and adults in environmental science content and awareness through innovative exhibitions and hands-on activities. Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and western science will be communicated and promoted within culturally relevant contexts as valuable, complementary ways of knowing, understanding, and caring for the world. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), the lead institution, and its partner organizations, The Indigenous Education Institute (IEI), The National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), the Tramastklikt Cultural Institute, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Hibub Cultural Center and Natural History Preserve (Tulalip Tribes) will work collaboratively to develop and deliver all aspects of the project. An estimated 1.5 million Native American and non-Native American youth and adults are expected to be engaged in the project\'s exhibits, website, and activity kits over the five year duration of the project. Native American and non-Native American youth (ages 11-14) and their families from the Portland area and visitors to national science centers, tribal museums, and members of Native American organizations and service providers will be targeted for participation in Generations of Knowledge activities. In addition, the Professional Collaborative component will bring professionals from the partnering organizations to share resources, professional opportunities, and document their collaborative process. OMSI, project partners, Native scientists, tribal museum partner, exhibit developers, advisors, and members of various Native American communities will work collaboratively to develop four integrated deliverables. Each deliverable will be interconnected and designed to accommodate a variety of venues and audiences. Project deliverables include: (a) a 2,000 sq ft traveling exhibition, (b) a small traveling graphic panel exhibition, (c) an online virtual exhibition, (d) an activity kit for Native youth in informal and formal settings, and (e) opportunities and resources for reciprocal collaboration between ISE and Native American partners through a professional collaborative initiative. IEI and advisors from RMC Research and Native Pathways will conduct the external evaluation using a mixed method, community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach. Formative and summative evaluative data will be used to monitor, assess, and inform the project and the extent to which project goals have been met and the intended impacts achieved. The anticipated project outcomes include (but not limited to): (a) an awareness and understanding of the interconnectedness of TEK and western science, (b) a recognition of the relevancy and value of TEK and western science for understanding and caring for the natural world, (c) intergenerational learning and discussions about related TEK and western science issues, and (d) an increased capacity, supported by evidence, among the project team and partners to facilitate reciprocal collaborative efforts. This project builds on a long history of successful NSF/DRL supported work led by OMSI and IEI. It also extends existing traditional ecological knowledge focused work through a culturally contextualized hands-on traveling and virtual exhibitions, a rigorous professional development component, highly visible national partners (e.g., NMAI), and a national reach to over one million Native American and non-Native American youth and adults over a five year period. The project\'s research and evaluation findings will add to the knowledge base on strategies that can be employed to communicate and promote TEK and western science as complementary, valuable was of understanding and caring for the natural world.
The Herpetology Education in Rural Places & Spaces (HERPS) project is a four-year full-scale development project designed to engage diverse North Carolina residents from the Central Piedmont, Eastern Piedmont, and Inner Coastal Plain regions of the state in conservation and field experiences focused on herpetology, the study of reptiles and amphibians. The project targets rural underrepresented groups in STEM; predominately African-Americans, Hispanics, and Lumbee Native Americans. The University of North Carolina-Greensboro and its partner organizations, Elon University and University of North Carolina-Pembroke, will partner to develop and implement all phases of the project. Ultimately, the project aims to increase knowledge of and interest in herpetology and related conservation issues, provide authentic research experiences, and better understand identity-related motivations and affordances of the casual, regular, and enthusiastic participant across project strands. HERPS builds on four pilot studies and will engage people of all ages in a broad range of herpetological activities including: (a) an annual herpetology-focused community event (HERPS Celebrations), (b) technology resources such as a project website and customized mobile applications (HERPS Cyberhub), (c) summer and year-long herpetological research experiences (HREs) for high school students and teachers, and (d) in-depth longitudinal herpetological study opportunities (e.g., box turtle study). In addition, there is separate but integrated research stand that will focus on identity and HERPS experiences, as settings for informal science learning. The identity research will study: (a) identity-related motivations and (b) identity-related affordances of casual, regular and enthusiastic participants across threads. In addition, an extensive formative and summative evaluation will be conducted using a mixed methods approach by an external evaluator. Using a multiple-entry-points approach for learning and engagement, this project could serve as a replicable model for similar efforts in other settings. In addition, the results of the identity reseach strand could fill a critical gap in the identity and informal science education research bases. With an average estimated reach of nearly 15,000 people of all ages and diverse backgrounds, the potential broader impacts of this project could be extensive.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Catherine MatthewsAndy AshTerry TomasekAnn SomersHeidi Carlone
In this full-scale research and development project, Oregon State University (OSU), Oregon Sea Grant (OSG) and the Hatfield Marine Science Center Visitors Center (HMSCVC) is designing, developing, implementing, researching and evaluating a cyberlaboratory in a museum setting. The cyberlaboratory will provide three earth and marine science learning experiences with research and evaluation interwoven with visitor experiences. The research platform will focus on: 1) a climate change exhibit that will enable research on identity, values and opinion; 2) a wave tank exhibit that will enable research on group dynamics and problem solving in interactive engineering challenges; and 3) remote sensing exhibits that will enable research on visitor interactions through the use of real data and simulations. This project will provide the informal science educaton community with a suite of tools to evaluate learning experiences with emerging technologies using an iterative process. The team will also make available to the informal science community their answers to the following research questions: For the climate change exhibit, "To what extent does customizing content delivery based on real-time visitor input promote learning?" For the wave tank exhibit, "To what extent do opportunities to reflect on and share experiences promote STEM reasoning processes at a build-and-test exhibit?" For the data-sensing exhibit, "Can visitors' abilities to explain or use visualizations be improved by shaping their visual searches of images?" Mixed-methods using interviews, surveys, behavioral instruments, and participant observations will be used to evaluate the overall program. Approximately 60-100 informal science education professionals will discuss and test the viability of the exhibit's evaluation tools. More than 150,000 visitors, along with community members and local middle and high school students, will have the opportunity to participate in the learning experiences at the HMSCVC. This work contributes to the fields of cyberlearning and informal science education. This project provides the informal science education field with important knowledge about learning, customized content delivery and evaluation tools that are used in informal science settings.
LOOP is a new multiplatform, environmental project designed to help young children, ages 6-8, explore ecosystems and understand the science and systems of the natural world. Built upon a curriculum that moves beyond the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle), the goal is to help lay the foundation for a lifelong interest in the science of sustainability. Deliverables include: a 20-episode television series with animated stories and live-action segments which feature families and children; an online game to immerse players in the same ecosystems seen on television; Loop Live Missions (outdoor science activities); and an afterschool/camp curriculum designed to get children and families outside to explore natural systems. Promotion of LOOP's educational resources will be undertaken through a partner network including the U.S. Forest Service, Children & Nature Network, National Recreation and Park Association, American Camp Association, National Summer Learning Association, Girl Scouts of the USA, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. LOOP is produced by WGBH in Boston and intended for national distribution on PBS. The project design creates an "interactive learning loop" which cycles between the television series, the Website, and outdoor science activities. The intended impacts are to: (1) deliver educational media to the target audience that increases their understanding of science and sustainability issues; (2) model and teach science concepts and scientific habits of mind; and (3) connect children and their families to the natural world. Concord Evaluation Group will be responsible for conducting formative and summative evaluation of the project. The summative evaluation is designed to measure project impacts with respect to change in behavior and attitudes, as well as science learning. The results of the evaluation will inform the curriculum for the current and future seasons of LOOP and contribute to the growing knowledge base of how media can effectively promote and teach substantive science to the young.
The project's goal is to facilitate the growth and use of the web site informalscience.org for posting reports of research and evaluation of Informal Science Education (ISE) funded projects. The project leaders will also synthesize the posted evaluation reports of informal science education research and development projects into readable documents. This synthesis will cover all available data from evaluation and research studies reported to informalscience.org across all sectors of ISE (e.g., museums, after school programs, video, radio, film, and technology). The investigators will provide the ISE community with information about these studies through publication on the site, through peer-reviewed publications for a research and evaluation audience, and through communications at conferences focused on ISE policy-makers and ISE practitioners. The report writing will be managed by a small staff of professional researchers and practitioners at the University of Pittsburgh, Minnesota Museum of Science, and Visitors Studies Association. The project will be continually evaluated by a board of advisors that will provide a yearly written report about the web site and synthesis work. The evaluators are researchers familiar with syntheses and meta analysis methods, experts from media, museum, and community programs, and also experts on development and use of professional development web sites. The evaluation will address whether or not the syntheses of evaluation reports was as rigorous as possible given the type of reports that are available. The usefulness of the reports and web site to the field of practice and research will also be a matter for concern by the advisory board. The long term aim of the project is to create a network that promotes deeper connections between evaluation and practice. Also, the network is expected to meet the needs and working styles of the various ISE sectors and to create exchanges and synergies among them. The site is expected to become more usable and useful to the field in each succeeding year, and it is expected to maximize its impact for practitioners, evaluators, policy makers, and funders.
"Ongoing collaboration-wide IceCube Neutrino Observatory Education and Outreach efforts include: (1) Reaching motivated high school students and teachers through IceCube Masterclasses; (2) Providing intensive research experiences for teachers (in collaboration with PolarTREC) and for undergraduate students (NSF science grants, International Research Experience for Students (IRES), and Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) funding); and (3) Supporting the IceCube Collaboration’s communications needs through social media, science news, web resources, webcasts, print materials, and displays (icecube.wisc.edu). The 2014 pilot IceCube Masterclass had 100 participating students in total at five institutions. Students met researchers, learned about IceCube hardware, software, and science, and reproduced the analysis that led to the discovery of the first high-energy astrophysical neutrinos. Ten IceCube institutions will participate in the 2015 Masterclass. PolarTREC teacher Armando Caussade, who deployed to the South Pole with IceCube in January 2015, kept journals and did webcasts in English and Spanish. NSF IRES funding was approved in 2014, enabling us to send 18 US undergraduates for 10-week research experiences over the next three years to work with European IceCube collaborators. An additional NSF REU grant will provide support for 18 more students to do astrophysics research over the next three summers. At least one-third of the participants for both programs will be from two-year colleges and/or underrepresented groups. "