This poster was presented at the 2021 NSF AISL Awardee Meeting.
Dinosaurs of Antarctica is a giant screen film and outreach project that documents the work of NSF-funded researchers on expeditions to Shackleton Glacier during the 2017-2018 field season. This immersive film and companion television special will bring the past to life and engage the public, and particularly students in middle grades (6-9), with polar science through appealing, entertaining media experiences and informal learning programs. The film serves as a companion for the synonymous Antarctic Dinosaurs museum exhibition
Supported in major part by the National Science Foundation, The Human Spark (THS) project includes a three-part national PBS television series hosted by Alan Alda and a multifaceted outreach initiative to engage public television stations and their partner science museums nationwide in order to extend the utilization and impact of the project. As an independent evaluator, Multimedia Research was contracted by Thirteen to capture how the collaboration between television station and science museum outreach grantees and their respective outreach activities meet the stated goals of the outreach
Talk of the Nation: Science Friday is a weekly two-hour science talk show hosted by science correspondent Ira Flatow. This summative evaluation implemented by Multimedia Research involved collecting information via a two-sided one-page mailed survey to minority and white scientists in virtually all of Science Friday's broadcast areas in the lower 48 states. Data were collected from September to June, 1999-2000. The main thrust of this evaluation was to explore possible differences in the way ethnic groups (white, black, Spanish-origin) respond to Science Friday. Scientists were chosen as
This report summarizes findings from a three-year study of the Time Team America: Science of Archeology project, funded by the National Science Foundation. The project included a series of archaeology field schools for youth, four broadcast episodes and a redesigned website with a variety of information and instructional resources. The evaluation included both formative and summative components and a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods including surveys, interviews, and focus groups. Includes interview protocol and survey.
This report presents a summary of findings from our evaluation and conclusions that may carry broader implications. The audience for this report includes The National Science Foundation (NSF) and other funders (particularly science research funders), the leadership and staff of Nanotechnology: the Convergence of Science and Society project partners, and the informal science education field. The main body of the report is organized into two sections. The first section discusses the project's logic model, or theory of action and frames what the project set out to do and how. The project's
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Mark St. JohnPamela CastoriOregon Public BroadcastingJudy Hirabayashi
Cracking the Maya Code is a one-hour PBS/NOVA adaptation of the two-hour feature documentary Breaking the Maya Code, based on the book of the same title by Michael D. Coe. Major funding for the project - which included website, eduational and outreach components - was provided by the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Knight Williams Research conducted a summative evaluation of Cracking the Maya Code. The evaluation examined the appeal, clarity, and educational impact of the program, focusing on educating Viewers about: The basic principles that underlie
Goodman Research Group, Inc. (GRG) conducted summative evaluation of the educational resources kit for Forgotten Genius, a program from the PBS television series Lives in Science. Forgotten Genius explored the life of the scientist Percy Julian, an African American chemist who persevered in the face of racism to become one of the great scientists and inventors of the 20th century. GRG's evaluation focused on how public librarians used and assessed the educational resources kit, as well as their suggestions for revising the kit and conducting future science-related library outreach. The
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Marianne McPhersonJennie MurackIrene F GoodmanWGBH
In 2004, WGBH received partial funding from the National Science Foundation to create Einstein's Big Idea, a two-hour docudrama on Einstein and the history of the formula E=mc2. Based on the book E=mc2, A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation by David Bodanis, the program highlights the stories of those who helped develop the key concepts that make up the equation, with a particular focus on how Einstein pulled together these concepts to create E=mc2. Through these stories, Einstein's Big Idea focuses on four themes that served as learning goals for the project. The four themes are: (1
Situated within the framework of their NSF funded sociolinguistic research, partnering institutions, Gallaudet University and the University of California-Davis, will develop and broadly disseminate a 2-hour DVD that builds knowledge and fosters community awareness, among informal and formal audiences, about the scientific structure and history of American Sign Language (ASL), with an emphasis on Black American Sign Language. Through this Communicating Research to Public Audiences (CRPA) grant, the DVD and its existing companion guidebook will: (a) link ASL to current empirical research; (b) describe the complexities of the science of language development (written and spoken); (c) detail the evolution of Black American Sign Language; (d) provide strong evidence that sociolinguistic variations and dialects are not unique to spoken languages; and (e) foster related discussions in formal and informal settings. The project will involve ASL interpreters and hearing, hearing impaired and deaf local community members, students, and teachers; ranging in age (adolescents to seniors), geographic location within the United States, and socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds. Informal settings such as local community, resource and cultural centers will participate in project dissemination efforts and activities. Formal settings such as postsecondary linguistics courses, deaf studies courses, interpreter training courses, and professional workshops will also serve as secondary venues for project dissemination activities. The research design, videotaped data clips and findings from the seminal sociolinguistic research involving data from 22 study groups at six different sites will be encapsulated and made accessible via the primary deliverable, a 2 hour DVD. Designed for various audiences, the DVD will present the socio-historical significance of the research, data collection and methods employed, and data clips of participants narrating their life experiences. Phonological variables, syntactic & discourse variables, contact phenomena, and lexical variations will also be discussed and illustrated in the DVD. Targeted public and professional audiences will be recruited to receive the DVD, the companion guide book, and other project resources. Project deliverables include a 2 hour DVD, training materials, workshops, and web site enhancements. Through active dissemination efforts, the project intends to reach approximately 29,000 people. The project should: (a) increase knowledge and awareness about the scientific structure and history of ASL, and (b) provide greater access to content- including STEM content-through a broader understanding of geographical and social factors that influence non-spoken language variations, particularly Black ASL. A mixed methods evaluation study will be employed to monitor all aspects of the DVD and training materials development, refinement, and implementation. Focus groups will be conducted and questionnaires will be distributed to collect data and determine the extent to which the project has effectively met its primary goal to share and disseminate its research findings more broadly to public audiences, with a special emphasis on informal audiences and organizations. The project will address a need in the field for research about the scientific structure, history, and socio-cultural factors influencing variations in non-spoken languages, particularly in Black ASL. Broad dissemination of this research could raise public awareness about ASL variations thereby, providing interpreters and a sizable portion of the deaf and hearing communities with valuable insights on ASL that could improve content accessibility among deaf and hearing impaired individuals. The project also highlights an important, overlooked component of American history. In addition, this project would further the ISE program's efforts to diversify its portfolio with respect to content (science of language; linguistics) and target populations (deaf, African-American). The original NSF funded scientific research project and the proposed dissemination efforts, also support ISE's commitment to fund projects with an aim to communicate NSF funded research to informal audiences and within informal settings. With an anticipated reach of 29,000 people, the project?s website, local community events, and linkages with ISE organizations such as The Department of African American Studies Afro-American Studies Resource Center at Howard University in Washington, DC; The Stiles African American Heritage Center in Denver; and The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, NY and professional organizations such as the Gallaudet University Press and the National Association of Black Deaf Advocates (NBDA); will provide multiple opportunities for public engagement in the research and cross-disciplinary, cultural discussions about this work within the context of informal and formal education.
This multimedia project tells the human story of the long, continuing quest to identify, understand, and organize the basic building blocks of matter leading to the Periodic Table of Elements. Project deliverables include a two hour PBS documentary; a website on the Periodic Table and discovery of the elements; a Teacher\'s Guide; and an Outreach Plan led by the St. Louis Science Center and nine other science centers. The target audiences are adults with an interest in science, inner-city youth, and high school chemistry teachers and their students. Partners include Moreno/Lyons Productions, the American Chemical Society (ACS), the Chemical Heritage Foundation; the St. Louis Science Center; and Oregon Public Broadcasting. The national broadcast and outreach activities are intended to complement the International Year of Chemistry (IYC) 2011, furthering the opportunity to enhance the public understanding of chemistry. The goal of the project is to reveal science as an intensely human process of discovery through stories of some of the greatest scientists. The two-hour PBS special will tell a "detective story" of chemistry, stretching from the ancient alchemists to today's efforts to find stable new forms of matter. Among key characters will be Joseph Priestley, Antoine Lavoisier, Humphry Davy, Dmitrii Mendeleev, Marie Curie, Harry Moseley, and Glenn Seaborg. The program will show both their discoveries and the creative process, using reenactments shot with working replicas of their original lab equipment. Interwoven with history will be segments on modern chemical research and the real-world consequences of the discoveries. A two-part Outreach Plan is aimed at engaging inner-city youths through a network of ten science centers led by the St. Louis Science Center and at reaching a broader audience through events, activities, and publications offered by ACS during National Chemistry Week and IYC 2011. The television program is projected to reach three million viewers during its multiple broadcasts over premiere week, increasing to five million or more with subsequent repeat broadcasts and DVD distribution. It is estimated that 6,500 underrepresented urban teens will participate in the hands-on activities in the ten science centers during IYC 2011. The website is intended to become a resource extending the reach and impact of the project for a decade or more. The summative evaluation will assess the extent to which the project accomplishes the goals of enhancing public understanding of chemistry, affecting public attitudes toward chemistry and chemists, and improving the understanding of the nature of science. Three studies will be conducted. The first will be an in-depth evaluation of the program and Web site with a sample of 150 adult PBS viewers using a two-group post-test randomized study design. The second study will evaluate the outreach effort with diverse audiences at the local level prior to and during National Chemistry Week using on site observations, surveys, and interviews to capture participant feedback at local events. The third study will evaluate high school educators' use of the Teacher's Edition & Guide.