This multimedia project tells the human story of the long, continuing quest to identify, understand, and organize the basic building blocks of matter leading to the Periodic Table of Elements. Project deliverables include a two hour PBS documentary; a website on the Periodic Table and discovery of the elements; a Teacher\'s Guide; and an Outreach Plan led by the St. Louis Science Center and nine other science centers. The target audiences are adults with an interest in science, inner-city youth, and high school chemistry teachers and their students. Partners include Moreno/Lyons Productions, the American Chemical Society (ACS), the Chemical Heritage Foundation; the St. Louis Science Center; and Oregon Public Broadcasting. The national broadcast and outreach activities are intended to complement the International Year of Chemistry (IYC) 2011, furthering the opportunity to enhance the public understanding of chemistry. The goal of the project is to reveal science as an intensely human process of discovery through stories of some of the greatest scientists. The two-hour PBS special will tell a "detective story" of chemistry, stretching from the ancient alchemists to today's efforts to find stable new forms of matter. Among key characters will be Joseph Priestley, Antoine Lavoisier, Humphry Davy, Dmitrii Mendeleev, Marie Curie, Harry Moseley, and Glenn Seaborg. The program will show both their discoveries and the creative process, using reenactments shot with working replicas of their original lab equipment. Interwoven with history will be segments on modern chemical research and the real-world consequences of the discoveries. A two-part Outreach Plan is aimed at engaging inner-city youths through a network of ten science centers led by the St. Louis Science Center and at reaching a broader audience through events, activities, and publications offered by ACS during National Chemistry Week and IYC 2011. The television program is projected to reach three million viewers during its multiple broadcasts over premiere week, increasing to five million or more with subsequent repeat broadcasts and DVD distribution. It is estimated that 6,500 underrepresented urban teens will participate in the hands-on activities in the ten science centers during IYC 2011. The website is intended to become a resource extending the reach and impact of the project for a decade or more. The summative evaluation will assess the extent to which the project accomplishes the goals of enhancing public understanding of chemistry, affecting public attitudes toward chemistry and chemists, and improving the understanding of the nature of science. Three studies will be conducted. The first will be an in-depth evaluation of the program and Web site with a sample of 150 adult PBS viewers using a two-group post-test randomized study design. The second study will evaluate the outreach effort with diverse audiences at the local level prior to and during National Chemistry Week using on site observations, surveys, and interviews to capture participant feedback at local events. The third study will evaluate high school educators' use of the Teacher's Edition & Guide.
'TV411 What's Cooking?' provides adults with low levels of literacy and numeracy with access to a free multi-media resource which delivers mathematics and science content in the form of an online cooking show. This series builds on a prior NSF planning grant (DRL 07-75623) and the research-based design of the TV411 educational materials while addressing biochemical, physical, and mathematical processes that occur in cooking and daily life. The project will be managed by the Education Development Center's Adult Literacy Media Alliance (ALMA) project, in partnership with the Public Internet Channel, a New York-based Head Start Program, and formal education partners. The project's goals are to raise awareness of math and science content in daily life, overcome negative attitudes and behaviors related to science learning, and increase knowledge, vocabulary, and skills related to science and math while building capacity to use informal science education resources. Additional goals are to increase the capacity level of adult educators and informal workshop facilitators to teach basic math and science concepts. Finally, the project is designed to research strategies in which low-literacy adult learners utilize informal math and science resources in a Web 2.0 environment. Deliverables include six video segments that embed basic literacy and numeracy concepts in a cooking show format, 12 interactive web activities including games and simulations, and a reconstructed TV411 Online website with Web 2.0 features. In year 2, Spanish language videos and web lessons, customized toolkits for The Public Internet Channel, workshop materials for parents, and articles and reports for dissemination to education and informal learning networks nationwide are produced. The videos will be distributed on TV411 Online and the Public Internet Channel (pic.tv). The mixed-methods evaluation addresses four impact categories (awareness, engagement, attitudes, and behavior). An embedded evaluation approach will be used to determine knowledge gains, while behavioral and attitudinal questions will be asked separately in two web surveys given to random sample of 500 website visitors. Interviews are used to determine teacher perceptions of usability and effectiveness of materials. 'TV411 What's Cooking?' is projected to attract 1.5 million website visitors in the first year and an additional 500,000 each subsequent year. This well-researched project advances adult literacy and numeracy, while providing students participating in GED, adult basic education, and informal community-based programs with engaging STEM content.
The purpose of this integrated cross media project is to build public knowledge and curiosity about energy science and policy, to encourage audience confidence in its abilities to understand energy related science, and to stimulate exchange between community-based experts. The deliverables include five hour-long radio programs focusing on the interconnected nature of waterways, climate systems, and energy sources; a digital journalism and social network site focusing on energy topics; partner-driven outreach with universities and local public radio stations; and a training workshop for ethnic media partners. The project targets public radio listeners, ethnic media readers, local urban and rural communities, and Internet users. Partner organizations include New American Media, a consortium of ethnic media producers, the University of Texas at Austin (which will provide content expertise as well as outreach assistance), local public radio stations, and scientific organizations. Intended impacts on the general audience include building their knowledge and interest in energy science and policy, and influencing their confidence in understanding energy science, technology and engineering, as well as empowering them to voice their opinions in energy policy discussions and to make changes in their lives that will support a sustainable energy future. It is estimated that five million people will access the radio programs and web content over the sustained life of the project. Professional audience impacts include building science journalism capacity and reciprocal relationships between general and ethnic news media, as well as stimulating exchange between subject experts (e.g., water engineers and geoscientists) and community experts (e.g., community organizers and backyard gardeners) who can inform energy reporting and open new areas of discussion in the energy debate. The evaluation plan uses both quantitative and qualitative data collection and quasi-experimental designs to examine the impact of this project on both public and professional audiences.
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.
MIT Education Arcade, in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution, designed and developed Vanished, an eight-week environmental science game as a new genre called the curated game, a hybrid of museum-going, social networking, and online gaming. Middle school aged participants engaged in Earth systems science to study a range of environmental issues associated with mass extinction. Though the game was structured around a fictional scenario--communication with visitors from the future--it posited a future affected by current environmental issues and conditions, and encouraged participants to apply systems thinking as a means to understand how these current conditions led to environmental disruptions. As part of the game play participants studied, applied, and integrated knowledge and skills from multiple sources, including Earth science, ecology, astronomy, and archaeology, and forensic anthropology. An Advisory Board and contributing scientists were be involved. The project team is currently analyzing data collected from the game to test the hypothesis that the game play would allow youth, ages 11-14, to increase their understanding of the scientific process and increase their motivation to learn more science. This summative evaluation is being conducted by TERC Inc. A Curated Game Handbook will be produced to disseminate project results as a model for new applications of game-based learning. Open source software created as part of the game has been made available, and should enable future developers in informal science education to build directly upon these foundational efforts.
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Eric KlopferConrad LabandeiraScot OsterweilStephanie Norby
This EAGER grant supported initial exploratory work on the utility and feasibility of providing informal science education (ISE) educators with access to current and relevant peer-reviewed research findings. The investigators of the Center for Informal Learning and Schools (CILS) in San Francisco and London and the Learning in Informal and Formal Environments (LIFE) Center at the University of Washington selected some 200 peer-reviewed research studies from published journals and translated them into practitioner-friendly language. The translations sought to explicitly note the relevance of the findings to informal science education contexts. The translated abstracts were posted on a website that was field tested with some 500 ISE practitioners to determine whether the translations and presentations of the research were accessible and usable. The audience during this exploratory phase was educators who design and lead science education programs for children and youth in informal settings such as museums, botanical gardens, youth development organizations, after-school programs, and different media-based contexts, such as web, television, and radio. The research summaries provided these educators, who often do not have access to published research journals, with information about learning progressions, curriculum design and sequencing, use of new media, building on the cultural resources of children, the nature of scientific argumentation, and education policy. The journals covered included those oriented primarily towards researchers (Science Education, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Journal of the Learning Sciences, Studies in Science Education, International Journal of Science Education) as well as practitioners (Curator, Science Communication, Journal for Education in Museums, and Afterschool Matters).
The importance of Ice Stories derives from its creative use of the latest communications media to convey the latest polar research. By teaching scientists to communicate, by establishing a Web site devoted to polar research, Ice Stories humanizes science and brings it to a broad, diverse audience with unprecedented immediacy, thanks to the growth of digital media. This project comes when the stakes—posed by planetary warming— have never been higher, when the techniques of media production have never been more accessible, and when the potential audience—fueled by public concern and IPY activity—has never been larger. The Exploratorium will train scientists as correspondents, shape and channel their work, and create the Web site that will be a major international hub showcasing the range of IPY research and commentary. The training and production phases of the project were field-tested with polar scientists in 2006, and the museum is an experienced producer of Web and live programs from the poles. Ice Stories conceptualizes a new model of communication with great implications for informal science education. Scientists can now bring their research directly to the public, instead of having it filtered through traditional journalistic media. Ice Stories achieves this new model by organizing three innovative components: intensive media training for polar researchers; a museum-based production unit; and the project’s informal-education Web 2.0 portal. Scientist-produced video, audio, photo-essays and blogs will be accessed free via the Web site and such technology platforms as downloadable podcasts, vodcasts, RSS feeds and by posting on popular Web sites and by dissemination through journalistic media. Deliverables include (1.) Correspondent Training—week-long workshops in media for a minimum of 20 scientists in spring and fall 2008. (2.) Productions—STEM content from correspondents, each spending 5-10 hours a week producing from the field. (3.) Media Assets Database—fully accessible correspondent productions plus material from other polar projects and collaborating institutions. (4.) Exhibits—IPY Production Studio at the Exploratorium and project material used internationally in IPY exhibitions. The project design benefits from the museum’s 30 years of making science accessible to visitors, its 22 years of creating professional development courses for educators, and its use of scientists as research guides in previous Webcast projects. Project leaders have polar experience and have collaborative relationships with researchers. Instructors for media workshops include top professionals, and project partnerships encompass major projects at both poles.
The Minnesota Zoo and Eduweb will design and develop "WolfQuest," an online, 3-D, multiplayer videogame based upon the behavior, biology and social structure of the gray wolf. This dynamic interactive experience will allow learners to become a virtual wolf (avatar) to explore gray wolves within an authentic virtual replication of wolf habitat and social structure. The scientifically accurate graphic representations of the virtual environment will afford rich and robust learning of wolf behavior, biology and habitat ecology. Participants are intended to emerge from the learning experience with a clear understanding of wolf conservation issues in the real world. "WolfQuest" is supported by a website that will function as a self-sustaining community of learners who will participate in discussion forums with wolf experts, and receive ongoing gameplay information and interaction with other participants. Additionally, the project website will provide educational guides for parents and teachers, interpretive materials, incentives to reward participants' achievements acquired through "WolfQuest" gameplay and provide a link to informal environmental organizations throughout the country. The national informal education network will afford regional customization of "WolfQuest," as well as provide social interaction among participants and organizations. The national participant network will disseminate and promote the "WolfQuest" game and wolf-related science programs. Two kiosk installations will be deployed at the Minnesota Zoo and the International Wolf Center for extended learning opportunities at those sites. Project assessment will aggregate data on learners' content acquisition, attitudinal change, game engagement and will yield guidelines for the field on effective practices in development of science education games, along with appropriate methodologies for evaluating game-based learning.
Independent Production Fund is producing a three-part public television series focusing on the latest research in the science of music. The programs will explore how cutting-edge science is revealing new connections between music and the human mind and body, the natural world and the cosmos. The series will follow researchers from a variety of fields including physiology, neuroscience, psychology, biology, physics and education, as they use groundbreaking techniques and technologies to unravel age-old mysteries about music\'s persistence, universality and emotional power. It will show how these researchers are shedding valuable new light on the way brains work. The impact of the programs will be extended through a content-rich companion web site and innovative formal and informal educational-outreach materials to both middle and high school age students, as well as a complementary radio component. Mannes Productions will produce the series; Goodman Research Group will conduct formative evaluation and Rockman et al will conduct summative evaluation.
SciGirls TV Series, Website and Outreach is a transmedia project to encourage and empower girls to pursue careers in STEM. It is the first television series on PBS designed specifically for middle school girls, ages 8 - 12. The approach is based on gender research and best practices for STEM education for girls. Each episode features different real girls in active science investigations and engineering projects, while the series is unified by two appealing animated characters. The innovative format of the show forges a unique link to the Website, which is an integral part of the TV show itself. This request will support: * The production of ten new television episodes; * Enhancement of the SciGirls website on pbs.org; * Use of new technologies to create a SciGirls Smartphone app and interactive games; * Expansion of the SciGirls Museum Affiliates collaborative; a new SciGirls Mentorship Program with the AAUW and other professional organizations of scientists and engineers; and development of a new partnership with the Girl Scouts of the USA. The project's strategic partners are the National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP) in Seattle and The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. The NGCP links SciGirls with its network of 500 community-based science programs for girls, and The Franklin Institute helps coordinate the Museum Affiliates, a network of science museums that implements SciGirls outreach activities. The project will also work with the Girl Scouts of America's new "Girl Scout Leadership Experience" program which emphasizes STEM learning. The most significant web component is a social networking feature that allows girls who are interested in science to connect with peers across the nation. To date, there have been over 800,000 unique visitors and 50,000 registered "SciGirls." SciGirls TV is produced by Twin Cities Public Television and distributed by PBS Plus. Launched in February 2010, SciGirls Season One broadcasts reached over 86% of U.S. households. In addition, all programs are streamed on pbskids.org and available on iTunes free of charge. The Spanish version will be distributed on V-me. Two separate project evaluations will be conducted. Dr. Barbara Flagg will evaluate how SciGirls improves girls' knowledge and understanding of science and engineering and gives them greater confidence in their abilities in STEM. Valerie Knight-Williams will investigate the use of SciGirls outreach materials with a national network of after-school educators.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Institute for Learning Innovation, and several environmental organizations are merging existing bird-focused citizen science programs with gardening and online social networking activities to provide older adult learners (age 35 and up) with opportunities to investigate the environmental impacts of implementing landscaping and carbon-reducing practices in their backyards, community gardens, and parks. The YardMap Network project is developing learning resources that will help gardeners, birders, and novices learn bird-habitat improving and carbon-reducing living practices by joining a nationwide ecological social network composed of more than 100,000 people. The goal of the project is to create online learning communities that move people from basic and intermediate levels ecological understanding to advanced levels of understanding by providing experiences whereby YardMappers learn about, design, evaluate, share, and invent conservation practices in their backyards and other green spaces. While developing the network, the project will gather data to test the hypothesis that coupling citizen science activities with social networking technologies to create online learning communities improves participants\' understanding of project-relevant science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The project will track learning outcomes using standard evaluation techniques and by following individuals\' routes of entry, network interactions, mapped garden practices, carbon-neutral behaviors, and their bird monitoring activities. YardMappers will divide naturally into treatment groups, creating a quasi-experimental design to test the importance of social networking for basic, intermediate, and advanced learning outcomes.
WGBH is producing the fifth and sixth seasons of NOVA scienceNOW, a multimedia project that addresses a wide array of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects via multiple platforms. They include national PBS broadcast, the PBS web site, and innovative outreach activities such as an expanded Science Café initiative. Hosted by astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, Season Five will air in 2010; Season Six in 2011. The focus is "stories of transformative research," e.g., nanotechnology, stem cells, quantum computing, as well as clean energy, and climate change. Project goals are to "produce a lasting impact on Americans' appreciation for and understanding of current scientific research," and to encourage an interest in STEM careers among younger viewers. Building upon solid prior work, the proposed project is finding new ways to interweave the television show, web materials, and Science Cafés to provide multiple entry points and pathways for the audience. For example, they will produce 32 web-only scientist profiles supported by a blog and social media tools, and then train these scientists as presenters for the Science Cafés. NOVA is planning a new strategy to maximize carriage and increase audience for the six new programs per year; the programs will run consecutively in the NOVA Wednesday evening primetime slot during the summer. During Season Three, over 2.7 million television viewers per week tuned in NOVA scienceNow, with 62,000 unique visitors to the web site per month and 75 active Science Cafés across the country. The expanded Science Café initiative is designed to become self-sustaining beyond the grant period through new partnerships with groups such as the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, the American Chemical Society, and the Coalition for the Public Understanding of Science. The project will also collaborate with the Association of Science-Technology Centers and science centers around the country to host Science Cafés featuring scientists profiled on the web. Goodman Research Group will assess the reach and effectiveness of Seasons Five and Six. The focal/primary evaluation activity is a viewing and engagement study on the influence of viewing the series along with accessing and participating actively with the increased web and outreach offerings. This study will comprise web-based surveys with adaptive branching patterns, which will include data collection from a variety of participants and will focus on participants? use of the series, website, and outreach. The summative evaluation will measure how the project is reaching these audience segments, while also meeting the overall goals of increasing public understanding of science and engagement in science-related activities.