Produced by National Geographic Kids and Cricket Moon Media with support from the National Science Foundation, Marine Missions is a free iPad touch screen application for preschoolers. The app is hosted by Jacques, a hermit crab character who guides pre-readers through six ocean missions and the building of a fantasy sea creature. Players steer Jacques’ boat to three green markers to clean up polluted spots in the ocean and three orange markers to complete different water current challenges in which players rescue Jacques’ tools from a whirlpool, run past blowholes, and surf on tidal bores
In 2011, the Space Science Institute (SSI) engaged Insight Evaluation Services (IES) to conduct a summative evaluation of an online, multi-user space science game called MyStar. The game, which was developed with funding from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), was designed to introduce late middle school-early high school students to the basic concepts of stellar and planetary evolution. IES assessed the effectiveness of MyStar in meeting specific learning goals, including in particular (1) The galaxy has “habitable zones” where planetary formation and/or life is more
Rockman et al (REA) conducted an independent summative evaluation of the Eutelelost Tree of Life: Web Module. The Euteleost Tree of Life (EToL) is a collaborative National Science Foundation research project between eight institutions, including Kansas University, to resolve evolutionary relationships within the euteleost fishes. The main aim of the interactive Web module is for users to explore the evolutionary history of fish and how they are related to one another. REA's summative evaluation was designed to (1) gather users' feedback about the website, as well as (2) assess the impact of
This is a descriptive summative evaluation study of visitors’ experiences with the permanent collection at the Detroit Institute of Arts, after the extensive museum-wide visitor-centric renovation and reinstallation that began in 1998 and culminated with a grand opening in 2007. Using a naturalistic methodology, three researchers from Selinda Research Associates made two three-day site visits (in January and March of 2013) and spent over 32 hours observing and interviewing 45 groups (181 individuals). Visitors’ experiences with works of art included stories and storytelling, visiting an old
Over a period of three weeks in October 2012, Marbles Kids Museum conducted focus groups to support the development of a new school readiness-focused exhibit space and programming. Focus groups included parents of children ages 3-5, preschool and early elementary school educators, and staff from community organizations involved in early childhood education in Wake County, NC. Focus groups addressed the following questions: (1) What does school readiness mean to you? (2) What do you envision or expect in a school readiness exhibit space? (3) What school readiness program possibilities can you
This is a presentation about the ScienceCenter Netzwork, a network of science centers and museums in Austria. The presentation was a part of the Summit on Informal Science Networks at the Association of Science-Technology Centers annual conference in Albuquerque, NM.
One method for studying visitors in museums is to audiotape their conversations while videotaping their behavior. Many researchers inform visitors of such recordings by posting signs in the areas under scrutiny. An earlier study tested the assumption that visitors notice, read and understand posted signs (Gutwill, 2003). Interviews revealed that 75 percent of visitors leaving a recording area had read and understood the signs. This article describes our attempt at increasing this percentage by placing additional signs on the exhibit elements being used, as well as on the camera itself
One method for studying visitors in museums is to audiotape their conversations while videotaping their behavior. Many researchers inform visitors of the recordings by posting signs in the areas under scrutiny. This study tests the assumptions underlying that method—that visitors notice, read, and understand such signs. Signs were posted at the entrance to an Exploratorium exhibit which was being audio- and videotaped. Researchers interviewed 213 adult visitors as they exited the exhibit. The interviews revealed that 75 percent of the visitors had read and understood the sign. Of the 52
Across the globe, citizen science projects are becoming increasingly poised to address social and environmental challenges and answer broad scientific questions. Although rapidly increasing in number, these projects need easy-to-use software tools for data management, analysis, and visualization to be successful. This project transforms how citizen science projects unfold locally, regionally, and globally by creating software that supports the full spectrum of project activities. It empowers projects to ask and answer their own local questions while contributing data critical to larger-scale issues. These tools will allow projects to announce training events; track volunteers; create datasheets; enter, review, analyze, and visualize data; publish reports; discover resources; integrate data; and ensure that data are contributed to repositories (e.g., DataONE, NEON, GBIF, HydroShare, and EOL). Tools will be made available to citizen science projects and will be delivered as reusable software elements for use in existing websites; as website features on CitSci.org; and as Application Programming Interface (API) services and mobile applications. The tools will expand the national reach, local appeal, computational abilities, visualization techniques, statistical analysis capabilities, and interoperability of the nations' cyber-infrastructure. Using participatory design and agile methods, the project will: (1) develop reusable software elements that citizen science organizations can embed into their own websites, (2) harden and expand the functionality and capabilities of CitSci.org through new website features, and (3) extend the APIs of CitSci.org and develop associated mobile applications to increase system and tool interoperability. The target user communities will include citizen science project coordinators. It will deliver customizable tools and services related to all project activities and engage projects across a wide array of disciplines. Project coordinators will be able to customize all tools developed to suit their specific project needs. Adoption and use of the tools developed will create a cyber-ready workforce capable of collecting, contributing, and applying high quality ecological, geophysical, social, and human health related observations to solve real-world problems. These broader impacts will help the citizen science community better understand effective models of public engagement to ensure more impactful application of citizen science to societal challenges.
DATE:
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Gregory NewmanStacy LynnMelinda Laituri
The Exploring Engagement and Science Identity Through Participation is a research project that examines the outcomes of various citizen science models for Public Participation in Scientific Research (PPSR). The investigation specifically targets citizen science projects that focus on relationships between science learning and science identity. A mixed-method, meta-analysis approach will be employed. The two primary goals of the study are to better understand science learning and science identify within PPSR contexts and to develop a valid Participant Engagement Metric (PEM) for use within PPSR contexts. Data will be collected and analyzed from several PPSR projects and over 4,000 PPSR participants. The project will address several research questions: (1) What are the dimensions of PPSR engagement and how can we measure them across different project models? The research for this question will include approximately 50 interviews of participants in six primary projects representing a range of PPSR approaches to develop and validate a Participant Engagement Metric (PEM) that will be constructed from the frequency, duration and intensity of involvement in key activities. The project will use a constant comparative method of data analysis (processing of data as they are gathered in order to compare them with emerging categories. The development of the PEM will be one concrete outcome of the proposed research. (2) Within and among projects, what is the relationship between participant engagement and individual learning outcomes? The project will use validated measures of learning outcomes derived from Learning Science in Informal Environments (NRC, 2009) and developed for the DEVISE project described below. The six measures include: Behavior & Stewardship, Skills of Science Inquiry, Knowledge of the Nature of Science, Interest in Science & the Environment, Efficacy, and Motivation. The proposed research will look at how engagement affects learning outcomes, as assessed by these six measures (science interest, efficacy, etc.). The project will conduct participant surveys in the six participating citizen science projects in addition to several other PPSR projects to test the relationship of the PEM and other measures of activity involvement to the learning outcomes measured by the survey instruments developed and validated through a previous project. The data analysis will begin with univariate summary statistics that will provide an overview of the basic dataset. Inferential statistics including multiple regression analysis will be used to test the relationships among the independent variables (type of PPSR project, demographics), PEM as a mediator variable, and the dependent variables. (3) How does degree and quality of participation in scientific research develop and/or reinforce individual science identity? The project will conduct a 3-year longitudinal study using surveys, a series of in-depth interviews, and on-site observations of 36 participants from the six primary projects to understand the development of individual science identity within PPSR environments over time. Quantitative and qualitative data and findings will be "triangulated" to determine if convergent, inconsistent or complementary results can be identified. The project proposes a strong dissemination plan, using these approaches, to present research in journals, disseminate research briefs, host online forums, and launching various listserves and online forums at the citizenscience.org website.
Indianapolis / City as Living Laboratory (I/CaLL) is a city-wide civic collaboration engaging in cross-sector research that builds on prior research in informal science learning in public settings. It extends research in place-based and service learning traditions, and uses the city itself as an informal science learning (ISL) environment for Science and Engineering for Environmental Sustainability learning outcomes. This project is creating place-based science learning experiences as part of public spaces in Indianapolis and establishes the next generation of urban science museums that increase opportunities for learning. The project will develop a self-sustaining program for art/science collaborations as they inaugurate city-sanctioned changeable installations at I/CaLL sites. Data from the project will be used to inform ISL professionals at museums throughout the community and around the country. Thousands of volunteers and their families will help create I/CaLL spaces, engage with communities, and serve as research participants connecting with science learning through site development. The unprecedented scale of this project provides a full measure of informal science service learning at a city scale, offering data that can change how science learning is measured, how people from all walks of life develop science literacy as part of their social public experience, and embodying the concept of the city as a living science learning lab. Broader impacts include the development of the city as an informal science learning environment that will become a new standard for thinking about what cities as cultural units can become as we build a resilient Science and Engineering culture for Environmental Sustainability.
National Parks are full of interesting and unusual STEM features which often intrigue visitors whose questions are answered by park personnel. In addition to the natural features, there are often researchers in the parks gathering data and conducting experiments. Park personnel are not apprised of these studies yet are often questioned about them. This collaborative project's goals are to derive a mechanism to educate the park personnel so they can respond to the visitor's inquiries. Collaborators include the National Park Service (NPS), TERC, Winston-Salem State University, and the park personnel at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. The plan is to work through the park interpreters who are employees of NPS and often are the voice for explaining the park's natural features. For this project, the interpreters and researchers will collaborate on the explanations of the science and TERC will work with the interpreters on interacting or educating the public visitors on the research. This is a pilot study to determine how best to bridge the scientists and their research to the park visitors. Evaluation on all elements in this study will be done by Char Associates and the Institute for Mathematics and Science Education at New Mexico State University. The results of this study are to determine the issues in explaining the research to the park interpreters and thence to the park visitors. If successful, it is anticipated that a model will be developed in collaboration with the NPS for use in other National Parks.