WNET is producing and evaluating the pilot phase of a multi-media mathematics education project for children aged nine to eleven. The centerpiece of the project will be an animated television series for national broadcast via PBS. In each of the weekly programs, a team of young characters would be drawn into a computer and become protagonists on intriguing missions in locations as varied as a contemporary theme park or the deserts of ancient Egypt. Facing an evil adversary, the young heroes use mathematics to overcome challenges in the course of their travels and adventures. At the end of each episode viewers will be invited to use mathematics to solve a cliffhanger. The series will be supported by a targeted national outreach campaign with cooperating public television stations and three national partners. Ancillary material will consist of an interactive Internet site and print materials including a magazine with activities, puzzles, problems, and comics. The PI for the project will be Ruth Ann Burns, Vice President and Director of Educational Resources Center at WNET. The two key Math Content Directors will be Mari Muri, currently an advisor to the Connecticut State Department of Education, and Carey Bolster, Director of the PBS Mathline K-12 projects. Joel Schneider of Children's Television Workshop will be the Lead Content Advisor. The Series Producer will be Kristin Martin who has most recently served as Lead Producer for The Magic School Bus. Edward Kaskt, a computer animator with extensive experience with Children's Television Workshop, Nickelodeon, ABC, NBC, CBS, and HBO will be the series' Creative Director.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Ruth BurnsCarey BolsterSandra SheppardBarbara Flagg
WNET is conducting a six-month development phase to engage a lead mathematics consultant, an advisory committee, and producers to develop more fully the format, individual program content, and outreach components for a television-based project called Cyberchase, a multi-component project designed to excite, inspire, and involve 9-11 year olds in mathematics. The project currently is planned to include a weekly half-hour television series, a variety of educational print materials, and on-line activities. The series concept revolves around a multi-ethnic group of friends who are hooked on a riveting computer game call Cyberchase. At the start of the show, cast members are pulled into the computer and, with the program's viewers, become protagonists on intriguing missions that demonstrate real world applications of mathematics. A host confronts the players with challenges that must be met in order to progress onto the next adventure. During the planning phase, the project staff will bring scholars, educators, and programmers together in planning sessions to develop and refine program ideas and outreach strategies. The scope of work will include research in three primary areas: Program Content; Program Design (graphics, animation); and Interactivity, Multi-media, and Educational Outreach. The PI will be Ruth Ann Burns, Vice-President and Director of WNET's Educational Resource Center, and Executive Producer of the PBS Mathline Middle School Math Project. The Lead Math Consultant will be Carey Bolster, Director of the Middle School Math Project, a service of PBS Mathline. Sandra Sheppard, WNET's Director of Educational Video Services, will serve as Project Director and supervise all aspects of the research and development phase for the inter-related educational media components of the project. They will work with an advisory committee that includes Solomon Garfunkel, Iris Carl, Jimmie Rios, and Eve Hall.
Night Fire Films is producing a one-hour show for PBS titled "Breaking the Maya Code," based on the book by Dr. Michael D. Coe. "Breaking the Maya Code" will explore the history of the decipherment of the Maya hieroglyphic script. The 400-year scientific detective story, climaxing in the past thirty years, will be told through footage shot at key locations in Central America, Europe and the United States, together with dramatizations, animation and graphics; archival materials; and interviews with major participants in the decipherment. An outreach campaign, including an extensive web site, will enhance the television viewing experience as well as promote further STEM learning. The program will be produced and directed by David Lebrun; Nicolas Noxon serves as Executive Producer. Michael Coe will serve the project as Principal Advisor, along with an extensive board of advisors of ethnographers, epigraphers, archaeologists, historians, iconographers and others. Multimedia Research will conduct formative evaluation of the program; Knight-Williams Research will conduct summative evaluation of the project. The National Endowment for the Humanities has granted $550,000 toward this project.
Building upon extensive prior work, the Institute of Learning Innovation is developing and implementing a conference to bring together media professionals, researchers, and policymakers that work in ISE to reflect upon recent research and develop frameworks for future practice and evaluation. Various media-related groups (print, broadcast, electronic gaming, etc,) usually have professional conferences in isolation from each other with little sharing of information and research findings. Despite the rapid blurring of boundaries between various media types in the marketplace, researchers and practitioners remain within traditional silos. This conference will bring together 80 media practitioners and researchers for a two-day national conference in order to consolidate and synthesize the research-based theories presented in a pre-conference publication. A series of 3 post-web conferences will build on the momentum generated during the initial conference and generate broader participation within the science learning media community. Rockman et al will evaluate the conference and post conference web community.
The Educational Broadcasting Corporation (WNET) is producing 13 half-hour animated television programs to engage youth aged 8-11 in the fun and challenge of mathematics. Cyberchase will encourage viewers to develop and sustain positive attitudes toward mathematics, help increase their mathematics knowledge and skills, and actively involve them in mathematical reasoning and problem solving. The premise of the series is that a dastardly fiend is on a mission to take over cyberspace. Three youngsters are summoned into the cyberworld to stop him. Their only weapon: BRAIN POWER! Repeatedly, the young heroes find themselves in danger and must use math and logic to escape. In addition to the television series, Cyberchase materials and outreach will continue to involve children in mathematics. Outreach components include: A web component that provides mathematical activities and content 100,000 free copies of a Cyberchase magazine An insert in the 4th grade edition of Weekly Reader - reaching 30,000 teachers and 800,000 children. Teachers guide to facilitate classroom use of the series The incorporation of Cyberchase activities into the afterschool and weekend programs of Boys & Girls Clubs, the Urban League, and the AAAS Black Church Project The PI and Co-Executive Producer for the project is Sandra Sheppard, WNET's Director of Educational Video. The Co-Content Directors are Cary Bolster, Director of PBS Mathline's K-12 projects, and Michael Templeton, former Content Director of "The Magic School Bus." The Co-Executive Producer will be Kristin Martin, formerly Executive Producer for "The Magic School Bus." Advisors to the project include Glenda Lappan, Frances Curcio, Joel Schneider, Solomon Garfunkel, Laura Jeffers, Jimmie Rios, Susan Markowitz, Virginia Thompson, Simon Graty, Cyrilla Hergenham, Kay Gilliland, and Deborah Anne Robertson.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Sandra SheppardMichael TempletonBarbara Flagg
The Educational Broadcasting Corporation (WNET, New York) is producing 14 half-hour episodes of "Cyberchase," with accompanying outreach, to extend the new animated television series into a second season. " Cyberchase," which began airing on PBS in January, 2002, engages children ages eight to eleven years old in the fun and challenge of mathematics. Its goal is to demonstrate the usefulness of mathematics and empower children to become mathematical problem-solvers by fostering a positive attitude toward mathematics, reinforcing basic mathematics concepts, modeling reasoning skills and motivating children to approach mathematics with confidence. The funds will also support the design and implementation of an outreach program, including materials for parents; a workshop activity kit for schools, libraries and museums; and ten pilot after-school programs. Specifically, outreach components include: A web component that provides mathematical activities and content for the target audience and their parents; A 12-page Cyberchase Magazine (50,000 copies); A 20-page Teacher's Guide (15,000 copies); Collector Cards (50,000 sets of six cards each); and a Poster Peer review, extensive evaluation and a national advisory board will inform all components.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Sandra SheppardCarey BolsterMichael TempletonBarbara Flagg
Community Television of Southern California (KCET/Los Angeles) proposes to create a national television series supported by outreach activities designed to motivate parents to participate in and support children's learning and enjoyment of mathematics. This proposal requests National Science Foundation funding of $1 million towards a total twenty-two month project costing approximately $1.7 million. The proposed television series Math Smart (working title) will include 5 lively half-hour programs designed specifically to aid parents and other adult family members of children in first through third grade. The series will be offered for broadcast nationally on the Public Broadcasting System (PBS). Videocassettes of the series and an accompanying Resource Guide will also be made available for home use. National promotional and outreach activities will complement the PBS broadcast, including presentations of national educational conferences and one-day orientation workshops for parents and teachers at selected sites. Over the course of the project, process and outcome evaluation will be conducted to ensure the effectiveness of the MATH SMART materials and activities. The primary goal of the MATH SMART Project is to empower parents to participate in and reinforce the learning of mathematics and a vital par t of everyday life. It is from parents that children develop the foundation for their educational success. Unfortunately, many parents do not possess the mathematical skills or confidence needed to help their children. By providing examples of hands-on learning activities which families can do together at home, MATh SMART offers parents the tools to help excite young children about mathematics. While special emphasis will be given to encouraging minority participation, this project seeks to help all parents and other primary caretakers prepare children for the 21st century.
MacNeil Lehrer Productions is adding a significant science presence to the nightly "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" program by creating a Science Unit as part of their production staff. Each year for three years, the unit will produce at least 12 long-form documentary reports (8 to 12 minutes each), shorter (4 to 5 minute) videotape background reports to set up studio interviews, and brief (2 minute) news summary reports when appropriate. The NewsHour science production team also would collaborate with the NOVA team at WGBH through such means as production of a NewsHour companion report related to a planned NOVA documentary and use of a NOVA segment as a lead-in to a policy discussion on the NewsHour. Selection of story topics, information about developments in different fields of science, and validation of science content would be guided by a core advisory group that includes: Stephen Sass, Cornell University (Material Science, Nanotechnology) Ken Miller, Brown University (BioScience) Larry Smarr, Director of the California Institute of telecommunications and Information Technology (Infotechnology) Maria Ghirardi, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Energy) John Logsdon, George Washington University (Space) The project will be supported by "The Online NewsHour." This web site will notify viewers via email of upcoming segments; provide public forums with scientists, researchers, ethicists and policy makers; and allow viewers to obtain transcripts of the broadcasts. The forums, conducted after the broadcast, include one or more of the principals who appeared in the program responding to questions and/or issues raised by viewers. Formative evaluation will be conducted by Rockman Et Al and summative evaluation will be conducted by the Goodman Research Group, Inc.
National Public Radio (NPR) has been awarded a grant of $807,335 in declining amounts over a four year period for production of Science Friday, the weekly two-hour call-in radio show that deals with science topics. Over the four year period, NPR will make an increasingly larger commitment to the total budget of $1,763,768 until they assume total budgetary responsibility for the project in FY 2001. The series' goal is to make science easily accessible to the public and to help them realize the relevance of science and technology to everyday life. The format of the programs enables the public to engage in conversations with scientists and science educators to discuss contemporary science topics. Science issues anticipated to be included in future programs include: science and mathematics education, science literacy, science risk assessment and public policy, and the future of technology. In addition to the broadcast series, NPR will develop a web site for Science Friday which will distribute the radio series on demand via the Internet, bring Science Friday to cities and rural areas where the series is not broadcast, create live Internet chat groups where listeners can meet to discuss the program, provide sound bytes and audio files of guests, and create a "Science Day Book" which will be a calendar of events loaded with science opportunities for people in their own home towns. Science Friday also has established a joint project with Kidsnet, an established computerized clearinghouse for education through the media. Ira Flatow will continue as the series host and producer. Barbara Flagg of Multimedia Research has been engaged to assess the audience impact of the project.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Kevin KloseWilliam BuzenbergBarbara Flagg
Earth Game is a five-day simulation, modeled on the war games the military have staged for a hundred years. An international group of scientists, diplomats and political experts will react to a simulated environmental crisis caused by global climate change. The period of play is 1995 to 2010. The proceedings will be videotaped and edited into four hours of television programming for international broadcast to a general audience in the spring of 1992. Earth Game is a project of WQED with the Smithsonian Institution, the British Broadcasting Corporation, Adrian Malone Productions, and the U.S. Naval War College. The objectives are: 1.) to stimulate greater public and governmental interest in the subject of climate change; 2.) to foster greater understanding of what we do and don't know about the causes of climate change, and 3.) to develop a greater appreciation of the dilemmas posed by the need for political action in the fact of the threats and uncertainties surrounding climate change. Senior Smithsonian scientists, Naval War College game design experts, the distinguished television producer Adrian Malone, and a small group of advisers are planning the event, which is scheduled to take place in Newport, Rhode Island in November 1991 at the historic facilities of the Naval War College.
Ira Flatow has been producing SCIENCE FRIDAY for over a decade. The series is now rated among the top ten news programs carried by NPR and is carried by over 200 stations. In spite of this success, the audience, though large, is limited to those people who can listen on Friday afternoon. In addition, the program is not carried on some stations because it does not fit their weekday program format. However, in conversations with many station managers, Flatow has learned that many stations that do not now carry the series do understand the value of science to their listeners and would include a science program in their schedules if one were made available to them for broadcast on weekends. The purpose of this planning proposal is to develop the parameters for a SCIENCE WEEKEND series. Since weekend programming many times is not like programming on weekdays, it will be necessary to find out more about the length and format that stations most prefer and to establish key partnerships to assure the broadest impact of a weekend program. Specific tasks to be conducted in the planning phase include: 1. Surveying public radio stations about their preferences for format, length, and broadcast day for SCIENCE WEEKEND 2. Identifying key programming elements to be included in a pilot program 3. Recording, editing and producing a pilot program 4. Getting assessments of the pilot from public radio station managers and programmers 5. Evaluating the pilot with members of the target audience 6. Securing a network partner to serve as a distributor for the program 7. Creating partnerships with teaching and other educational institutions to participate in the outreach efforts of the project 8. Developing an evaluation strategy to assess the impact of SCIENCE WEEKEND on the audience
The objective of this award is to inform the public about the science and engineering research that is being conducted to determine the scope and impact of the Gulf oil spill. In response to the this environmental disaster facing the U.S., NSF has funded numerous RAPID awards to send scientists and engineers to the Gulf to research the impact of the spill. MacNeil Lehrer Productions, producer of the PBS NewsHour, will report on this research that is ongoing as a result of the unanticipated and disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The PBS NewsHour team of experienced producers and correspondents will produce at least nine segments for broadcast, along with extensive material for online. All the stories will revolve around scientists and engineers and the work they are doing in the Gulf in response to the spill. The online material will include blogs and additional web-only video reports that will deliver content to augment broadcast coverage. The NewsHour will encourage user engagement through regular posting of stores on social media outlets, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, UStream and Disqus, to help the reporting on the oil spill go viral. The online/on-air correspondent Hari Sreenivasan will conduct web-exclusive interviews with scientists on the forefront of the Gulf research. The NewsHour Extra, the website that reaches 200,000 educators per month, will post the science coverage on the Daily Video Clip Tool, which provides educators resources and lesson plans to help initiate discussions with students about the science, environmental and engineering issues raised by the rapidly-changing story. The new Student Reporting Lab project will locate classrooms in Louisiana to contribute original, youth-focused reporting on the oil spill when school opens in August. The NewsHour will coordinate efforts with PBS stations located in the Gulf to create a synergy and extend the usefulness and life of these efforts. The reach of the PBS NewsHour is significant. The national daily broadcast delivers an audience of approximately 1.1 million viewers. The NewsHour public radio broadcasts reach an average of 63,000 listeners daily across the nation. Outside the U.S., the PBS NewsHour television broadcast is available on the American Forces Television to more than 800,000 military and State department personnel around the world. In addition, audiences across Canada, Australia, Japan and Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America tune into the service via various channels and satellite services. The Online NewsHour visitor numbers exploded in May 2010 to 5+ million monthly pageviews and 1.5+ million unique visitors. The NewsHour Extra website, which targets educators, will provide resources for classroom teachers to discuss the science, environmental and engineering issues raised by the spill. The proposed Student Reporting Lab promises an innovative new addition to the outreach efforts to engage young people in directly reporting on the oil spill and the impact on their communities. The deliverables produced under this award will be consolidated on the NewsHour website (www.pbs.org/newshour) where they will create a permanent record of this critical research for the general public.