The University of Montana will create “Transforming Spaces” to foster a more inclusive, culturally responsive space for Missoula’s urban Indian population and to better meet the community’s needs. The project will explore cross-cultural, collaborative approaches to STEM and Native Science. In collaboration with Montana’s tribal communities, the museum’s education team and advisory groups will design and implement hands-on activities that engage visitors with Native Science. The project will engage tribal role models and partner with tribal elders to create a library of videos for tribal partners, K–12 schools, and organizations. The project will offer teachers professional development designed to fulfill the statewide mandate of Indian Education for All. The exhibit will connect Native and non-Native museum visitors, close opportunity and achievement gaps, and ensure that all Missoula children feel a sense of belonging in museums, higher education, and STEM.
The Joseph Moore Museum at Earlham College will revise its interpreter training and educational programs to reflect current best practices in participatory STEM education. This project will include strengthening their programs to better prepare undergraduate educators, as well as updating the delivery of their top three requested programs to ensure learner-centered experiences. The project will include the development of a training program modeled on a combination of principles set out by the National Association of Interpretation and the Reflections on Practice program. Undergraduate educators will undergo systematic training in the fundamentals of educational theory and practice and benefit from a program of sustained evaluation and mentorship.
Gateway to Science will partner with the University of Mary Early Childhood Education Program to develop interpretive materials for a new Science First exhibition. Science First will serve young children up to age 5 and their parents, caregivers, and educators. It will increase adults’ knowledge and confidence to facilitate children’s science learning experiences in their daily lives. Adult visitors will gain an increased understanding of how children learn science. The program will equip them to engage young children in science inquiry and to build 21st century skills.
The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum will partner with the Flowing Wells Unified School District on “We Bee Scientists,” a program to engage students in grades K–6 in real-world science by learning about bees—the most important group of pollinators. They plan to create a curriculum and related activities aligned with the Arizona science standards. The program is an expansion of the Tucson Bee Collaborative, which empowers community scientists from “K to grey” to contribute to ecosystem health and understanding through the study of native bees. The museum also will partner with Pima Community College and the University of Arizona on the program, which will involve volunteers and high school, college, and university students in documenting the abundance and diversity of native bees.
The Detroit Zoo will develop an innovative partnership to help underrepresented students achieve success in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) higher education and careers. The “Learning Classroom—Community of Practice” project will bring together the zoo’s informal educators and STEM content experts with partners at the Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program and Oakland University’s School of Education and Human Services in four workshops designed to create a shared language, vision and values around program development and implementation. The group will develop methods for addressing developmental needs of youth while providing science education relating to wildlife conservation and environmental stewardship. They will also build a process for bringing new members into the collaborative with the ultimate goal of delivering large and sustained STEM projects in the metropolitan Detroit area. While focusing on creating a positive impact on STEM achievement and success in Detroit area youth, the project will identify aspects of the process that can be replicable in other regions.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Dianne Miller
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The New Directions in Audience Research Initiative, initially funded by IMLS in 2009, is a special initiative of the University of Washington Museology Graduate Program. New Directions aims to train graduate students in Audience Research & Evaluation within informal learning settings through laboratory style coursework that integrates the strengths of professional and peer mentoring, fieldwork, academics and client-centered experiences. Audience Research & Evaluation is an ever increasing field and one that is integral to all aspects of museum practice. Students who participate in New Directions learn the value of effectively incorporating outcomes based planning and research-based practice into their chosen area of museum practice and become advocates for evaluation within the museum field. Primary partner sites include the Woodland Park Zoo, and the Pacific Science Center who's Evaluation staff assist student teams in designing, implementing and reporting on evaluation projects within their institutions as well as other affiliated partner sites. Past affiliated partner sites include, the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, EMP Museum, Frye Art Museum, Henry Art Gallery, Museum of History and Industry, Northwest African American Museum, Seattle Aquarium, and the Washington Park Arboretum.
The goal of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro's Academic and Cultural Enrichment (ACE) Scholars: New Americans for Community College Librarianship project is to increase the number of immigrants and refugees in community college librarianship. The project includes a recruitment drive, a targeted and focused curriculum that emphasizes multicultural, multilingual, and community engaged librarianship, and a proven practicum model, the Real Learning Connections. The project will result in a sustainable curriculum as well as a multilingual and multicultural cadre of 10 librarians, ready to serve diverse community college students, and ready to work in community college library environments.