This report describes results of a professional impacts evaluation to understand the impact of the Unpacking the Imagination Convening on its participants. Evaluation Questions were: (1) What, if any, new perspectives on imagination, STEM, and learning did participants gain through the pre conference activities and/or the convening? (2) How, if at all, did participation in the convening impact participants’ awareness of current and recent ISE initiatives in which imagination is a thread? (d) How, if at all, did participation in the convening impact participants’ interest in positioning
Inverness Research and Oregon State University, with support and input from CAISE, conducted an evaluation of the 2021 NSF AISL Awardee Meeting which was held virtually October 19-21, 2021. The evaluation effort included observing the meeting, participating in debriefing the meeting with CAISE co-PIs, the CAISE equity audit committee, and NSF Program Officers; developing and administering a post-event survey; and analyzing data collected through both the survey and Pathable, the virtual platform.
The meeting specifically focused on inviting and including community partners, and on creating
Funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Access from the Ground Up project at the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo (JMZ) seeks to better serve children with disabilities through a combination of partnerships with community, staff professional development and training, and the development of accessible STEM-focused exhibits and resources at the new JMZ facility, which opened in November 2021. This summative evaluation report seeks to answer the following evaluation questions:
To what extent does the Access from the Ground Up project build or strengthen relationships with
This document is the final evaluation report for the Teen Science Cafes for Advancing STEM in Rural Places project.
A Teen Science Café is a free, regularly occurring event during the school year in which a local scientist, engineer, or STEM expert discusses their field experiences with the teen attendees. Ideally, a Teen Leader cohort, under the mentorship of an Adult Leader, organizes and implements each Café.
The Teen Science Café Network is a community of practice linking the various youth-serving organizations, institutions, community settings, and individuals that host Teen Science
Abstract STEM education programs are often formulated with a "hands-on activities" focus across a wide array of topics from robotics to rockets to ecology. Traditionally, the impact of these programs is based on surveys of youth on program-specific experiences or the youths’ interest and impressions of science in general. In this manuscript, we offer a new approach to analyzing science programming design and youth participant impact. The conceptual framework discussed here concentrates on the organization and analysis of common learning activities and instructional strategies. We establish
Fostering STEAM provided exceptional professional development that was highly rated by participants and contributed to expected participant learning outcomes. The in-person Fostering STEAM workshop reflected professional development best practices. Likewise, the online Fostering STEAM course reflected indicators of effective online continuing education and professional development.
The Fostering STEAM professional development contributed to significant self-reported growth in principles or beliefs related to the Fostering STEAM instructional approach, as well as preparedness to develop and
Inverness Research and Oregon State University, with support and input from CAISE, conducted an evaluation of the 2021 NSF AISL Awardee Meeting which was held virtually October 19-21, 2021. The evaluation effort included observing the meeting, participating in debriefing the meeting with CAISE co-PIs, the CAISE equity audit committee, and NSF Program Officers; developing and administering a post-event survey; and analyzing data collected through both the survey and Pathable, the virtual platform.
This report summarizes the key evaluation findings. It includes the following sections:
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