Physical science and engineering remain the least diverse of all STEM fields---with regard to women, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities---across all levels of STEM education and training. SCI-STEPS is an NSF INCLUDES Design and Development Launch Pilot that will address this persistent challenge by developing a complete end-to-end pipeline (or system of pathways) from the beginning of college to the PhD, and then into the workforce. Many isolated efforts to broaden participation have shown promise, but they have not produced big enough impact. SCI-STEPS represents a concerted set of coordinated interventions---consciously facilitated, systemically linked, and purposefully disseminated. SCI-STEPS represents a broad regional network among major research universities, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, comprehensive universities, community colleges, national labs, and major scientific organizations. The goal of the network is to ensure that underrepresented individuals in the physical sciences and engineering can get from their starting point in STEM higher education---freshmen at 2-year or 4-year college---through the higher education pathways leading to an appropriate terminal degree and employment in the STEM workforce.
Women, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities collectively represent the majority of college-age individuals entering higher education with an expressed interest in physical science and engineering. A growing body of research indicates that academic and social integration may be even more influential than academic abilities for retention of students. Thus, interventions aimed at stemming the losses of these individuals must ultimately be aimed at changing the system---including unwelcoming institutional climates, racial/ethnic/gender stereotyping, a lack of mentors with whom to identify, and evaluation methods that emphasize conformity over individual capabilities---rather than changing the individual. The SCI-STEPS pilot focuses effort on institutional readiness for implementation of best practice interventions at four key junctures: (i) college freshman to sophomore; (ii) undergraduate to graduate; (iii) PhD to postdoc; and (iv) postdoc to workforce.The pilot will proceed in three steps: (1) a planning phase, (2) development of an initial end-to-end pathways model with four Juncture Transition teams, and (3) scale-up of the SCI-STEPS "network of networks" with all initial partners. By addressing these objectives through a collective impact framework and embedded research, this pilot will demonstrate how best-practice interventions at each pathway juncture can be dovetailed and scaled up across a broad range of institutional types and across a large but distinct geographical area. Addressing these objectives will thus also serve to advance Broadening Participation efforts at a national scale, by suggesting the forms of institutional partnerships and best-practices that may inform other alliances in other STEM disciplines and/or different regional areas.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Keivan StassunNicole JosephKelly Holley-BockelmannWilliam RobinsonRoger Chalkley
The Center for Children and Technology (CCT) at Education Development Center, Inc., an international nonprofit research and development organization (cct.edc.org), conducted the formative evaluation of the fourth year of the Be A Scientist! (BAS) project. This project, managed by Iridescent—a nonprofit afterschool science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) program (www.iridescentlearning.org), has the goal of providing high-quality afterschool science and engineering courses to underserved families in New York City and Los Angeles. The project aims to enable participants to
Quest, produced by KQED, is a multimedia initiative designed to raise the profile of STEM issues throughout the Northern California region and activate citizens to discuss and investigate them. Led by KQED, Quest is created and maintained by an active consortium of 16 participating informal science education organizations. Based on the successful Quest model, KQED will build on its prior collaborative work to develop regional partnerships with other public broadcasting stations and community-based organizations around the country, making possible a new and innovative partnership in science media production and informal science education. This grant will support a) a growing collaborative of science centers, museums, research institutes, and community-based organizations for editorial development, education outreach, and content creation; b) the production of at least 10 hours of television, weekly radio science news reports, and a dynamic online website that supports and extends the broadcast material; and c) educational resources and professional development workshops. STEM content will encompass research drawn from the physical sciences, life sciences, and earth sciences. Most of the stories will also incorporate content about the technology and engineering used to support scientific endeavors. The KQED Educational Network (EdNet) will administer the community and educational outreach initiatives, including creating viewer/listener guides, developing and delivering workshops, and providing information built around Quest media. Project collaborators include the Bay Institute, California Academy of Sciences, Chabot Space and Science Center, East Bay Regional Park District, Exploratorium, Girl Scouts, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Hall of Science, Museum of Paleontology, Oakland Zoo, and The Tech Museum of Innovation. In expanding the model to regional hubs, Quest will also involve the Coalition for Public Understanding of Science (COPUS), the Encyclopedia of Life, and an array of peer public broadcasting organizations. This project offers a useful and exciting model for public television and radio stations nationally in building community collaborations that advance informal science education. The detailed and informed ways in which the team works with its community partners via multiple platforms are innovative. This proposal builds on prior work in Northern California to explore additional regional partnerships with other public broadcasting stations and community-based organizations, making possible a unique partnership in science media production and informal science education. This project extends reach by developing up to ten regional "hubs" across the country. Evaluation will be conducted by Rockman et al.
The requirement by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that research proposals include plans for "broader impact" activities to foster connections between Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) research and service to society has been controversial since it was first introduced. A chief complaint is that the requirement diverts time and resources from the focus of research and toward activities for which researchers may not be well prepared. This paper describes the theoretical framework underlying a new strategy to pair NSF-funded nano research centres with science museums in
This Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC) is a collaboration among Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of California—Santa Barbara, and the Museum of Science—Boston with participation by Delft University of Technology (Netherlands), the University of Basel (Switzerland), the University of Tokyo (Japan), and the Brookhaven, Oak Ridge, and the Sandia National Laboratories. The NSEC combines "top down" and "bottom up" approaches to construct novel electronic and magnetic devices with nanoscale sizes and understand their behavior, including quantum phenomena. Through a close integration of research, education, and public outreach, the Center encourages and promotes the training of a diverse group of people to be leaders in this new interdisciplinary field.
The Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center entitled New England Nanomanufacturing Center for Enabling Tools is a partnership between Northeastern University, the University of Massachusetts Lowell, the University of New Hampshire, and Michigan State University. The NSEC unites 34 investigators from 9 departments. The NSEC is likely to impact solutions to three critical and fundamental technical problems in nanomanufacturing: (1) Control of the assembly of 3D heterogeneous systems, including the alignment, registration, and interconnection at three dimensions and with multiple functionalities, (2) Processing of nanoscale structures in a high-rate/high-volume manner, without compromising the beneficial nanoscale properties, (3) Testing the long-term reliability of nano components, and detect, remove, or prevent defects and contamination. Novel tools and processes will enable high-rate/high-volume bottom-up, precise, parallel assembly of nanoelements (such as carbon nanotubes, nanorods, and proteins) and polymer nanostructures. This Center will contribute a fundamental understanding of the interfacial behavior and forces required to assemble, detach, and transfer nanoelements, required for guided self-assembly at high rates and over large areas. The Center is expected to have broader impacts by bridging the gap between scientific research and the creation of commercial products by established and emerging industries, such as electronic, medical, and automotive. Long-standing ties with industry will also facilitate technology transfer. The Center builds on an already existing network of partnerships among industry, universities, and K-12 teachers and students to deliver the much-needed education in nanomanufacturing, including its environmental, economic, and societal implications, to the current and emerging workforce. The collaboration of a private and two public universities from two states, all within a one hour commute, will lead to a new center model, with extensive interaction and education for students, faculty, and outreach partners. The proposed partnership between NENCET and the Museum of Science (Boston) will foster in the general public the understanding that is required for the acceptance and growth of nanomanufacturing. The Center will study the societal implications of nanotechnology, including conducting environmental assessments of the impact of nanomanufacturing during process development. In addition, the Center will evaluate the economic viability in light of environmental and public health findings, and the ethical and regulatory policy issues related to developmental technology.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Ahmed BusnainaNicol McGruerGlen MillerCarol BarryJoey Mead
Presentation on NSF funded Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (DRL-0940143), presented at the CAISE Convening on Organizational Networks, November 17th, 2011.
The Museum of Science (MOS) seeks to establish a Network, a national infrastructure designed to foster public awareness, engagement and understanding of nanoscale science and engineering (NSE). As part of this undertaking, MOS will create a set of interactive, media-based and discourse-based educational productes based on NSE; generate new knowledge about design for learning and produce a sustainable network that involves inromal educators and researchers. Core partners are the Exploratorium and the Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM). This project will establish for the first-time an open national network that links science centers across the nation, focusing for this award on the development and delivery of exhibits and programs addressing the interdisciplinary content areas of NSE. In addition, the Network will establish ties and collaborative relationships with university-based NSE research centers, including MRSEC's and NSEC's. An educational research and development component will address the challenges of public understanding of a difficult-to-grasp emerging field. Project deliverables will be created primarily at three sites. The Center for NISE Research at the Exploratorium will collect, develop and disseminate knowledge about how to communicate to target audiences. The NISE Center for Public Engagement at MOS will develop a network media framework for dissemination to other science centers, network radio (with WBUR), and produce forums for dialogue and deliberation with adult audiences. The NISE Center for Exhibit and Program Production and Dissemination at SMM will develop interactive exhibits, exhibition packages for distribution, and immersive media environments programs. Development of deliverables will involve the following science-technology center partners: Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), OR; New York Hall of Science, NY; Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, TX; Museum of Life and Science, NC; Sciencenter, NY; and Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC). NSE research partners include Main Street Science, Cornell University; Materials Research Society; University of Wisconsin Madison, MRSEC Interdisciplinary Education Group; and Purdue University, Envision Center for Data Perceptualization. The resulting Network and the knowledge gained as a result of this project are intended to produce a dramatic improvement in the capacity of the science center field to engage and educate the public about NSE, both in quality and quantity. By Year Five, there are expected to be NSE exhibits and activities at some 100 sites across the nation. In addition, the NSE research community should gain a deeper appreciation of the role that science centers can play as intermediaries in conveying scientific research to the public.
The Review of NISE Network Evaluation Findings: Years 1-5 seeks to investigate the work of the NISE Network since its inception in 2005 and provide an overarching summary of NISE Net Public Impacts evaluation efforts to the NISE Network and the broader ISE field.
The documents that comprise the Inverness Research Summative Report provide a comprehensive and systematic review of the progress made in developing a network organization capable of supporting nanoscience education for the public on a national scale.