The Northwest Passage Project explored the changing Arctic through an innovative expedition aboard the Swedish Icebreaker Oden to conduct groundbreaking ocean science research, while it actively engaged 22 undergraduate and graduate students from the project’s five Minority Serving Institution (MSI) partners and 2 early career Inuit researchers in the research at sea. Over 35 hours of training in Arctic research techniques, polar science, and science communication was provided to these participants, who were engaged in the Northwest Passage expedition and worked with the onboard science team
Engineering is arguably one of the most critical skills in any society, from building bridges and homes, to designing cell phones and life-saving medical devices. Yet many Americans do not consider engineering to be essential or relevant to their everyday lives, and may even question its positive impact on society. While there have been gains in the number of women and underrepresented minorities in STEM professions over the past few decades, their numbers in the field remain disproportionately low. The Built World integrated multimedia and research project therefore aims to expand access to engineering content through the lens of “inclusive engineering,” which highlights how problem-solvers of all ages, genders, backgrounds, and perspectives approach and overcome challenges to innovate. The project applies this concept through the creation of Built World, a three-hour documentary series for broadcast on PBS stations nationwide, and a complementary interactive escape game streamed live on Twitch, where individuals of all ages and backgrounds can play and solve engineering challenges together. There is a need for effective remote and virtual interaction to support informal STEM learning, and live streaming game platforms present a promising approach to filling this need. Built World is poised to advance the field through: (1) content - creating high-quality inclusive engineering content across multiple platforms to reach a wide audience (Built World documentary, digital reporting and short form videos, community outreach campaign); (2) applied research - designing and studying how live-streaming, collaborative platforms can serve as safe and inclusive spaces for engineering learning; and (3) best practices - exploring how audiences engage with inclusive engineering on different platforms—a traditional documentary format (Built World) versus an interactive, collaborative space (Twitch game)—and identifying what learning outcomes might be expected on each.
A three-phase research design aims to understand what motivates users to engage with STEM content on Twitch; how to define and measure learning outcomes associated with the platform; and how to mitigate the risk of toxic environments in online communities by fostering safe spaces for a diversity of gamers. Phase 1 informs the initial design of the Twitch game and audience interaction strategies and seeks to answer: What is the best way to measure informal learning on Twitch? What is the best way to design a Twitch channel to create an inclusive space while optimizing learner engagement? Phase 2 is the core focus of the research and uses a semi-experimental design to answer questions such as: Is there evidence of learning on Twitch, and what type of learning is happening? What is the digital culture that emerges? Phase 3 assesses the pairing of the documentary series with the Twitch game to maximize informal STEM learning and is guided by questions such as: How does inclusive engineering content presented on two platforms (Twitch game and Built World series) mediate learning outcomes? How does inclusive engineering content presented on two platforms shape learners’ experiences of inclusivity and belonging? Knowledge generated through the Built World project will offer tools and best practices to other STEM media producers so that they may also leverage live streaming platforms for learning.
In both the STEM media and entertainment sectors women are significantly unrepresented. Women account for only 21% of the upper-level positions in film (directors, writers, executive producers, cinematographers, etc.) according to a recent study. This small conference directly addresses how to expand the volume of STEM focused media and entertainment content centered on women and girls. The Creative Workforce Summit: Women Storytellers Explore STEM will be held in New York City and online (hybrid) in September 2022. The goal of the conference is to 1) encourage an infrastructure of support for the creation and distribution of informal STEM educational film, digital, and television content that is centered on women and girls and 2) to strengthen ties between women in media, entertainment, and women in STEM fields. The agenda includes keynote addresses by thought leaders in STEM disciplines and media, panels of industry leaders, a youth journalist interviews, and film screenings with filmmaker and scientist Q&As. The conference will be a hybrid event to allow for the greatest access to a broader audience. The projected 300 in-person and 1000+ virtual attendees will be drawn from New York Women in Film and Television’s extensive membership and 100+ partner organizations in entertainment and media, including Black Public Media, Brown Girls Doc Mafia, Firelight Media, ReelAbilities, and the National Association of Latino Independent Producers. The conference will be followed by a publication based on the convening featuring the keynotes, abridged panel discussions, additional interviews, and industry representation data analysis. In addition, a curriculum guide for high schools and colleges focused on STEM and film collaborations will be developed and distributed.
A post conference quantitative survey will be conducted with conference participants to gather data on the impacts of the conference. Questions to be asked include: What new professional connections were made by women attending the conference? What was learned related to the craft of STEM related media production and distribution? Were new and meaningful connections made with participants outside the participant’s current field/networks? Additional analysis will be done by the organizers of the conference in planning post-conference strategies for supporting and building the women in STEM infrastructure.
The KQED science news team began a study with Texas Tech University to find out whether stories aimed at generating “awe” would drive deeper engagement with news features. From a preliminary study the team learned people can feel experiences like connectedness and vastness, not only through images but through a written story. The team intended to write their own science stories through an "awe" framework, but the pandemic redirected the team's work, and halted testing of participants’ response to the articles, which would have required the use of Texas Tech's Psychophysiology Lab.
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KQED, the Northern California PBS and NPR member station, and the College of Media & Communication at Texas Tech University have recently completed a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the project Cracking the Code (CTC): Influencing Millennial Science Engagement. The three-year grant provided funding for an unprecedented science media research initiative between science media professionals and science communication academics with the goal of identifying how best to engage younger, more diverse audiences with science media.
This report is the final process
KQED, the Northern California PBS and NPR member station, and the College of Media & Communication at Texas Tech University have recently completed a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the project Cracking the Code (CTC): Influencing Millennial Science Engagement. The three-year grant provided funding for an unprecedented science media research initiative between science media professionals and science communication academics with the goal of identifying how best to engage younger, more diverse audiences with science media.
This is the final outcomes report.
KQED, a San Francisco based public media organization, is interested in broadening participation and attracting and engaging a younger and more diverse audience, especially millennials, for their science media. The KQED science team is one of the largest reporting teams in the West with a focus on science news and it’s YouTube series, Deep Look.
This is a summary of Cracking the Code: Influencing Millennial Science Engagement, a three year media research project supported by NSF. The project brought together KQED science media professionals, academic science media researchers from Texas
This is the third of three guides for media practitioners, evaluators and researchers about some of what was learned through the project Cracking the Code: Influencing Millennial Science Engagement. This guide focuses on steps for conducting media research and research protocals.
This is the second of three guides for media practitioners, evaluators and researchers about some of what was learned through the project Cracking the Code: Influencing Millennial Science Engagement. This guide focuses on ways to identify your missing audience.
This is the first of three guides for media practioners, evaluators and researchers about some of what was learned through the project Cracking the Code: Influencing Millennial Science Engagement. This guide focuses on possible practices for creating an audience research collaboration for media professionals, evaluators and communication researchers.
The series of articles below is a study of Cracking the Code, one of the largest public investments in science media, journalism and science communication research collaborations, a project between KQED, Texas Tech and Yale Universities. KQED has the largest science reporting unit in the West focusing on science news and features including their YouTube series Deep Look.This series was written by Scott Burg from Rockman et al, the project's independent evaluator. Links to the articles in this series are below. The full articles in the series are posted on Medium.
A Three Year Case Study
Families play a vital role in supporting children’s informal science learning. Yet multiple studies have shown that Latinx families, particularly in neighborhoods with a high poverty rate, face many barriers to accessing informal science experiences and environments. Telenovelas, a type of television serial drama watched by Spanish-speaking audiences around the world, may provide an entryway to reaching these families. Prior research has shown that telenovelas can be an effective means of changing adults’ behavior, with potential cascading impacts on children. Education Development Center, Literacy Partners, and Univision will use a culturally responsive approach to broaden participation of Latinx families in informal science learning using La Fuerza de Creer, a popular Spanish-language telenovela that reaches 7 million U.S. viewers. The five-episode telenovela series will model positive informal science interactions between caregivers and their children and provide positive role models of Latinx scientists. The project team will then use the telenovela as the foundation for a five-session workshop series for caregivers to further explore how to engage in these informal science learning opportunities with their children. The La Fuerza-STEM project will build on families’ strengths and interests and tap their power—la fuerza—to engage children in exploring science. This research will examine the relationship between the telenovela/workshops and caregivers’ practices and attitudes towards science. La Fuerza-STEM seeks to expand informal science learning using a culturally grounded strategy to engage an under-served population that is historically under-represented in STEM.
The project will use an iterative research and design process that is guided by the input of both parent and scientific advisory boards. Front-end formative research with approximately 30 Latinx caregivers from under-resourced communities will explore their informal science practices. These experiences will then inform script development for the telenovela. A pre-post comparison group study with 200 caregivers will investigate how caregivers’ attitudes toward science might change as a result of viewing the telenovela. The project will then build a 5-session workshop series around the telenovela and these research findings. Finally, 300 caregivers will participate in a randomized controlled trial to examine the efficacy of the La Fuerza-STEM workshops on changing caregivers’ informal science attitudes and practices. Throughout, the project will address the overarching research question, How can a culturally relevant telenovela be used to improve Latinx caregivers’ science self-efficacy, career awareness, and informal science practices? Project findings and products will be publicly disseminated through publications, conference presentations, and local partner organizations, with an eye toward open access and data sharing. The project will generate knowledge about the effectiveness of embedding informal science content in a culturally-grounded medium—the telenovela—in improving caregivers’ confidence and competence to engage in informal science learning experiences with their children. With an anticipated audience of 7 million, the potential impact of the telenovela on caregivers’ informal science attitudes and practices is enormous. By implementing workshops with local organizations, the project aims to be self-sustaining, building the capacity of community partners to provide families with services targeting informal science knowledge and skills long after the grant has ended.
This Innovations in Development project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program.
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Joy KennedyJessica YoungAlexia RaynalAnthony Tassi