In this research study, we explore the ways that youth engage in “interest signaling”, actions youth undertake that communicate their needs in ways that motivate adults and peers to mobilize resources to support them. We highlight how interest signaling is a key factor driving the process of brokering – signals are critical mechanisms for adults to understand what youth interests and expertise are, and, thus, be able to act as effective learning brokers. Through observing after-school digital media-making programs, and interviews we conducted with focal youth, program staff, and other support
This article makes a case for the importance of brokering future learning opportunities to youth as a programmatic goal for informal learning organizations. Such brokering entails engaging in practices that connect youth to events, programs, internships, individuals and institutions related to their interests to support them beyond the window of a specific program or event. Brokering is especially critical for youth who are new to an area of interest: it helps them develop both a baseline understanding of the information landscape and a social network that will respond to their needs as they
Immersion in well-designed outdoor environments can foster the habits of mind that enable critical and authentic scientific questions to take root in students' minds. Here we share two design cases in which careful, collaborative, and intentional design of outdoor learning environments for informal inquiry provide people of all ages with embodied opportunities to learn about the natural world, developing the capacity for understanding ecology and the ability to empathize, problem-solve, and reflect. Embodied learning, as facilitated by and in well-designed outdoor learning environments, leads
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Katherine GillJocelyn GlazierBetsy Towns
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
In May, 2017, the University of Michigan School of Information hosted an NSF-funded workshop on the promise and pitfalls of using digital micro-credentials, also known as digital badges, in the college admission process. Micro-credentials are digital artifacts that can be used to recognize, display, and transmit information about an individual student’s skills, abilities, and knowledge. Modeled on the physical badges used by organizations such as the Boy/Girl Scouts of America, and websites such as Stack Overflow, micro-credentials offer learners a mechanism for displaying and sharing a wider
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Barry FishmanStephanie TeasleySteven Cederquist
"PLUM RX: Researching a new pathway for bringing active science exploration to urban families" is a project that makes use of public media resources to create innovative opportunities to bring environmental science learning to the hard-to-reach audience of urban families. As part of this project, media producers at WGBH and researchers at EDC worked together to: (1) develop a new pathway for bringing active environmental science exploration to urban families with children ages 6-9; (2) expand PLUM LANDING’s media assets to support urban families and informal educators when engaging in
This report looks across multiple phases of work to discuss the PLUM Rx project’s contribution to broader knowledge about supporting children’s active, outdoor science exploration in informal, urban settings. The PLUM LANDING Explore Outdoors Toolkit that resulted from this work is designed for use by outdoor prescription programs and a broad range of informal education programs serving urban children and families. This report describes (1) the rationale for the design principles that guided Toolkit development, (2) the Toolkit components developed in accordance with the design principles; and
Informal Science Education (ISE) and Science Communication (SciComm) are two overlapping but distinct fields that support engagement in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in a variety of settings. Though fluid boundaries and fuzzy definitions make a clear distinction between ISE and SciComm difficult, the two fields nevertheless exhibit strong differences in core values and goals, based in part on different histories, commitments, and trajectories.
The Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE) conducted two kinds of baseline studies that mapped the
Informal Science Education (ISE) and Science Communication (SciComm) are two overlapping but distinct fields that support engagement in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in a variety of settings. Though fluid boundaries and fuzzy definitions make a clear distinction between ISE and SciComm difficult, the two fields nevertheless exhibit strong differences in core values and goals, based in part on different histories, commitments, and trajectories.
The Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE) conducted two kinds of baseline studies that mapped the
Informal Science Education (ISE) and Science Communication (SciComm) are two overlapping but distinct fields that support engagement in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in a variety of settings. Though fluid boundaries and fuzzy definitions make a clear distinction between ISE and SciComm difficult, the two fields nevertheless exhibit strong differences in core values and goals, based in part on different histories, commitments, and trajectories.
This paper summarizes two studies conducted by the Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE):
A survey
This research paper critically explores the common definitions and perceptions of Making that may potentially disenfranchise traditionally underrepresented groups in engineering. Given the aspects of engineering design that are commonly integrated into Making activities, the Maker movement is increasingly recognized as a potentially transformative pathway for young people to developing early interest and understanding in engineering. However, “what counts” as Making can often be focused heavily on electronic-based and computational forms of Making, such as activities that involve 3D printers
This study focused on narrative reflections families recorded shortly after they visited the Tinkering Lab exhibit at Chicago Children’s Museum. They recorded their narrative reflections in a multi-media station called Story Hub. Some families brought the projects they had made in Tinkering Lab with them into Story Hub. We asked if families who had their project with them engaged in more STEM-related talk and associations to prior and future experiences than those who did not.
This study was designed to examine narratives that families recorded shortly after visiting the Tinkering Lab at the Chicago Children’s Museum. We view this work as intersecting with the event memory literature concerning variations in parental reminiscing styles for talking about past events (Fivush, Haden, Reese, 2006). The study also connects with efforts to assess learning in museum settings (Haden, Cohen, Uttal, & Marcus, 2016).
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Lauren PaganoDanielle NesiDestinee JohnsonDiana AcostaCatherine HadenDavid UttalPerla Gamez