In collaboration with TERC and informal learning organizations across the United States, COSI’s Center for Research and Evaluation (CRE) is part of an NSF-funded project, Research to Understand and Inform the Impacts of Ambient and Designed Sound on Informal STEM Learning.
An adapted three-dimensional model of place attachment is proposed as a theoretical framework from which place-based citizen science experiences and outcomes might be empirically examined in depth.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Julia ParrishYurong HeBenjamin Haywood
Middle Ground, funded by the National Science Foundation, was an outdoor public installation developed by the Exploratorium and located in San Francisco’s Civic Center. This installation focused on the social science of how people think about others, particularly the cognitive basis for biases, judgements, and stereotypes, as well as more pro-social behavior and ways of connecting with others. Garibay Group conducted a summative evaluation to assess project outcomes.
This poster was presented at the 2021 NSF AISL Awardee Meeting.
This poster describes a newly funded collaborative project (9/2021) to engage Planet Word visitors in language science research.
Engage visitors in domain of science often overlooked in the public imagination (language arts -> language science enthusiasts!)
Diversify participants who contribute data to studies
Provide training in research & science communication to a diverse group of students across a range of institutions, including MSIs, broadening participation in STEM
Lower barrier to entry for other language
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Charlotte VaughnDeanna GagnePatrick PlummerYi Ting Huang
Diversity, Equity, Access and Inclusion (DEAI) work in museums is multifaceted, but typically approached from the perspective of external audiences and outcomes rather than a change in internal organizational culture. This article discusses findings from a research study examining what happened in five US science museums that were making a concerted, officially recognized effort towards internal change, and explores what those findings reveal about field-wide barriers to appreciable systemic change along with the impacts of the current status quo on marginalized staff. This study focused
This poster was presented at the 2021 NSF AISL Awardee Meeting.
The project's goals are to:
Create “data-catcher” exhibits that provide exciting learning experiences about cooperation while allowing visitors to contribute to research in social science.
Build public awareness of the methods of social science.
Generate valid data for academic research.
Assess the impact of public participation in scientific research (PPSR) on visitors’ interest, engagement, and understanding.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Josh GutwillHeike WinterheldLee CronkAthena Aktipis
This award is funded with support from NSF's program for Advancing Informal STEM Education.
This project develops a partnership between language researchers and Planet Word, a new museum devoted to language in Washington D.C., to engage museum visitors in scientific research and outreach. Interested museum visitors from all ages and backgrounds are invited to participate in behavioral research studies on a range of language-related topics. This "living language laboratory" of interactive studies includes accompanying educational demonstrations. These activities will lead to the development of infrastructure and best practices that will allow future language researchers to engage with the public at Planet Word and other similar sites.
The project enhances scientific understanding by engaging visitors in activities that expose them to active science about language as a part of their visit to the museum. For example, the research examines topics from understanding what makes certain American Sign Language signs more learnable, to why it is easier to understand people we know rather than strangers, to whether we think differently when we are reading a text message compared to reading more formal writing. In doing so, the project raises the profile of linguistics among the general public and promotes scientifically informed attitudes about language. The project also provides key opportunities to disseminate research findings of interest to the public and to promote greater interest in STEM topics among museum visitors, as well as student trainees and museum staff. The project creates educational and research opportunities for students, who will be trained in a hands-on course, and will gain first-hand experience with research and outreach in a museum setting. Through the collaborative partnership of researchers from University of Maryland, Howard University, and Gallaudet University, the project broadens participation of underrepresented minority students in the language sciences, seeking to diversify the pipeline of scholars continuing in careers in the language sciences and related STEM fields.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Charlotte VaughnYi Ting HuangDeanna GagnePatrick Plummer
This project investigates long-term human-robot interaction outside of controlled laboratory settings to better understand how the introduction of robots and the development of socially-aware behaviors work to transform the spaces of everyday life, including how spaces are planned and managed, used, and experienced. Focusing on tour-guiding robots in two museums, the research will produce nuanced insights into the challenges and opportunities that arise as social robots are integrated into new spaces to better inform future design, planning, and decision-making. It brings together researchers from human geography, robotics, and art to think beyond disciplinary boundaries about the possible futures of human-robot co-existence, sociality, and collaboration. Broader impacts of the project will include increased accessibility and engagement at two partner museums, interdisciplinary research opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students, a short video series about the current state of robotic technology to be offered as a free educational resource, and public art exhibitions reflecting on human-robot interactions. This project will be of interest to scholars of Science and Technology Studies, Human Robotics Interaction (HRI), and human geography as well as museum administrators, educators and the general public.
This interdisciplinary project brings together Science and Technology Studies, Human Robotics Interaction (HRI), and human geography to explore the production of social space through emerging forms of HRI. The project broadly asks: How does the deployment of social robots influence the production of social space—including the functions, meanings, practices, and experiences of particular spaces? The project is based on long-term ethnographic observation of the development and deployment of tour-guiding robots in an art museum and an earth science museum. A social roboticist will develop a socially-aware navigation system to add nuance to the robots’ socio-spatial behavior. A digital artist will produce digital representations of the interactions that take place in the museum, using the robot’s own sensor data and other forms of motion capture. A human geographer will conduct interviews with museum visitors and staff as well as ethnographic observation of the tour-guiding robots and of the roboticists as they develop the navigation system. They will produce an ethnographic analysis of the robots’ roles in the organization of the museums, everyday practices of museum staff and visitors, and the differential experiences of the museum space. The intellectual merits of the project consist of contributions at the intersections of STS, robotics, and human geography examining the value of ethnographic research for HRI, the development of socially-aware navigation systems, the value of a socio-spatial analytic for understanding emerging forms of robotics, and the role of robots within evolving digital geographies.
This project is jointly funded by the Science and Technology Studies program in SBE and Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) Program in EHR.
The Science Museum of Minnesota will create a 450-square-foot version of its award-winning "RACE: Are We So Different?" exhibition for distribution to rural areas and communities in Minnesota, and adjacent regions in Iowa, eastern North and South Dakota, and northern Wisconsin. The museum will produce four replicas of the exhibition for museums and partner organizations, and collaborate with community groups to develop supporting programming specific to identified community needs. Programs will include facilitated reflective dialogues for groups of adults and students; a leadership institute with representatives from each host community; an educator guide for secondary school teachers; and a variety of workshops and arts presentations to extend conversations about race and racism. Like the original RACE exhibition, these condensed exhibitions will encourage visitors to explore the science, history, and everyday effects of race and racism through a combination of artifacts, historic and contemporary photography, multimedia components, and interactive activities.
The Expanding the Reach: Creating Capacity for Understanding RACE project developed site-specific programming to complement the installation of three small footprint exhibitions of RACE: Are We So Different? in three communities in Minnesota. The goal of the project was to prompt community conversations around topics of race, racism, equity, and the nation’s history, as well as local histories concerning race. Our evaluation questions were: 1) What impact did having the RACE exhibit and associated program have on prompting conversation about race and racism, (a) within institutions and (b)
Production of a mobile-optimized website, a walking tour, and a museum exhibition exploring the history of underground and submerged sites in downtown San Francisco and the Bay.
The Exploratorium seeks support for the production and distribution of San Francisco's Buried History, a project that uses digital technology to engage the public in a physical and virtual exploration of the urban history of Downtown San Francisco. Specifically, Buried History uses a mobile-optimized web site, a walking tour, and accompanying museum exhibit to explore seventeen underground sites that provide fascinating clues as to how the landscape was used and altered over time, as well as to how past inhabitants of the area lived, worked and died. The project will prompt the public to become curious about the rich historical and cultural information right beneath their feet, and the story that information tells of how and why human activity transformed the landscape of San Francisco. In doing so, Buried History will engage users in adopting a more nuanced sense of place—encouraging its audience to learn from historical insights while developing perspectives on contemporary issues.