The Bronx Youth Urban Forestry Empowerment Program offered an opportunity for a two month, in-depth and field based urban forestry work experience for low income and largely minority teenagers in the Bronx. The goal of this evaluation is to understand participant outcomes as a result of taking part in this program. Evaluation consisted of: supervisor and NRS research technician’s participant observations that were conveyed over the course of the summer via periodic interview; a pre and post test questionnaire; and weekly public essays. Appendix includes instruments.
This report presents the findings from a summative evaluation of the NSF-funded Wild Music traveling exhibition conducted by Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A), for the Science Museum of Minnesota in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The evaluation documents the exhibition’s impact and effectiveness using timing and tracking observations and onsite exit interviews. Data were collected at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (NCMNS) in July and August 2007 and at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum (PNNM) in March and April 2008.
In evaluating the success of teacher development programs, valid and scalable measures of teaching practice are needed. We have developed and validated the Science Lesson Plan Analysis Instrument (SLPAI) for quantitative evaluation of teacher-generated multiday lesson plans. This paper presents the SLPAI as a complement to surveys and classroom observation, and demonstrates its use in 2 pilot studies. The SLPAI was used formatively to measure the teaching practices of incoming program cohorts and tailor program instruction. It was also used to track changes in teaching practice and pedagogical
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Christina JacobsSonya MartinTracey Otieno
resourceevaluationProfessional Development and Workshops
This professional development event was held on November 6 and 7, 2006, at the Museum of Science, Boston, under the direction of the Museum’s Director for Strategic Projects, Carol Lynn Alpert. This event was sponsored by the Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC) headquartered at Northeastern University and the University of Massachusetts – Lowell, and by the “Science of Nanoscale Systems and their Device Applications” NSF NSEC headquartered at Harvard University. Research and evaluation of the Symposium was funded independently by the
The TEAMS Collaborative received three separate rounds of funding from the National Science Foundation; Inverness Research served as the external evaluator to the project for all three rounds of funding. This summative report details the return on NSF's long-term investment in the TEAMS Collaborative. It outlines the overall contributions of the project to participating museums, individual staff at those museums, and to the larger field of informal science education institutions. It also summarizes the ways in which the TEAMS Collaborative was able to effectively capitalize on NSF's investment
Dinosaurs Alive is a global adventure of science and discovery featuring the earliest dinosaurs of the Triassic Period and those of the Cretaceous "reincarnated" life-sized for the giant IMAX screen. Audiences will journey with some of the world's preeminent paleontologists as they uncover evidence that the descendants of dinosaurs still walk (or fly) among us. From the exotic, trackless expanses and sand dunes of Mongolia's Gobi Desert to the dramatic sandstone buttes of New Mexico, the film follows American Museum of Natural History paleontologists as they explore some of the greatest
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Alice Apley, Ph.D.Kim StreitburgerJenny ScalaMaryland Science Center
The goal of the SISCOM program is to improve science achievement of economically disadvantaged middle school students in science, through the development, implementation, and dissemination of a replicable, model program for use with underserved youth, especially girls, in informal educational settings. A number of programs and interventions geared toward bolstering the STEM interest and achievement of urban youth have been implemented across the country. Key elements that have proven to be successful have been incorporated into the SISCOM program include the longevity of intervention
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Penny L. Hammrich, Ph.D.Kathy Fadigan, Ed.D.Judy Stull, Ph.D.
Goodman Research Group, Inc. (GRG) conducted a comprehensive multi-method external evaluation of the Design Squad PBS television series and its outreach initiative. Design Squad is a live-action reality television series for 9-12 years-olds that aims to provide hands-on experiences and positive images of engineering through design competitions. The broad evaluation goals were to: 1) assess the extent to which children's knowledge, interest, and awareness of engineering increased as a result of watching the Design Squad series, 2) document the implementation of the community events resulting
This report is the third annual report summarizing data collected about the overall impact of the Saint Louis Science Center's educational programs on participants.
The Miami Museum of Science and Planetarium (MMS) received funding from the National Science Foundation in 2004 to develop and implement After-school Programs Exploring (APEX Science). APEX Science is a three-year project designed to enhance the capacity of community-based organizations (CBOs) to deliver quality science after-school programming for children ages 5-10. This report provides the results of the summative evaluation which focused on the extent to which: 1) APEX Science curriculum increases CBO activity leaders' interest, awareness, and appreciation of science and level of comfort
Overall, film viewers and Web site visitors responded positively to the project. Audiences of the film said they were encouraged by and learned the most about the personal stories of amateur astronomers contributing to scientific discovery and were impressed with the visuals presented in the film. Web site visitors consistently liked the design of the site and particularly enjoyed images and tools for viewing the night sky. Study participants said they would encourage further development of the project. They said that while the current design may exclude those who do not already have an
Bio Med Tech: Engineering for Your Health was a 2,750 square foot exhibition at the Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC) that dealt with issues related to biomedical technology. Partially funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health Science Education Partnership Awards program (NIH/SEPA), the project was developed through a partnership between GLSC and Case Western Reserve University. The SEPA grant also funded a variety of programming activities, including informal Exploration Cart activities in the exhibition, presentations in the exhibition's theater space, and teacher training