Skip to main content
COMMUNITY:
Project Descriptions

Life Changes

February 15, 2006 - December 21, 2010 | Media and Technology, Professional Development, Conferences, and Networks, Exhibitions
The New York Hall of Science is overseeing a complex, four-year applied research and traveling exhibit development project on "precursor concepts" to the theory of evolution. These concepts pertain to key ideas about life -- variation, inheritance, selection, and time (VIST) -- and are organized around the principle that living things change over time. The central research question is: Can informal, museum-based interventions prepare young children (5 -12) to understand the scientific basis of evolution by targeting their intuitive pre-evolutionary concepts? The work involves many collaborators -- museum personnel around the country, university researchers, exhibit designers and evaluators, web designers, the Association of Science-Technology Centers and a number of advisors in the biological sciences, psychology and in informal and formal education. The products include applied research studies that will add to the conceptual change knowledge base in cognitive psychology, a 1,000 square-foot exhibit plus discovery boxes, a section on the UC-Berkeley Understanding Evolution web site, extensive on site and online staff training opportunities for participating museums and others, several dissemination activities including two research symposia, and bilingual (English and Spanish) exhibit materials and family guides. The project is positioned as a new model in informal science education for integrating research, development and evaluation, with applicability beyond the life sciences to other STEM fields.

Funders

NSF
Funding Program: ISE/AISL
Award Number: 0540152
Funding Amount: 2716731

TEAM MEMBERS

  • REVISE logo
    Principal Investigator
    New York Hall of Science
  • Sean Duran
    Co-Principal Investigator
    Miami Science Museum
  • Margie Marino
    Co-Principal Investigator
    North Museum of Natural History & Science
  • Evelyn Evans
    Co-Principal Investigator
    University of Michigan
  • REVISE logo
    Co-Principal Investigator
    New York Hall of Science
  • Discipline: Education and learning science | Life science | Social science and psychology
    Audience: Elementary School Children (6-10) | Middle School Children (11-13) | Museum/ISE Professionals | Scientists | Evaluators
    Environment Type: Media and Technology | Websites, Mobile Apps, and Online Media | Professional Development, Conferences, and Networks | Professional Development and Workshops | Exhibitions | Museum and Science Center Exhibits
    Access and Inclusion: Ethnic/Racial | Hispanic/Latinx Communities | English Language Learners

    If you would like to edit a resource, please email us to submit your request.