The long-running and highly successful National Public Radio series "Science Friday" is venturing in new directions. Given that basic research underlies all of the technological advances influencing our world and that tax dollars pay for that research, the public needs to be informed about the basics of research. To address this need for public education, "Science Friday" will examine the importance of research as a theme underlying all science and technology changes by: Finding the research roots at the bottom of each story; Exploring the cooperation among corporations, private institutions, and research foundations and illuminating how each plays a role in the research process; Following the research "bumps" along the road to illustrate that research success depends upon failures -- not all research produces positive results; Illuminating the barriers to successful research; Helping listeners understand the thought process of researchers; Scaling the "ivory tower" by enabling listeners to question and talk directly with researchers; and Helping listeners understand the role of basic research in policy-making. Ira Flatow, the host, will take "Science Friday" on the road and produce programs in Oklahoma, Iowa, Michigan, Massachusetts, Arizona and other locations. He also will visit schools and universities and will speak at public events. NPR also will reactivate the "Science Friday Kids Connection" which will take each week's program and its guest scientists directly into classrooms across the country.
Night Fire Films is producing a one-hour show for PBS titled "Breaking the Maya Code," based on the book by Dr. Michael D. Coe. "Breaking the Maya Code" will explore the history of the decipherment of the Maya hieroglyphic script. The 400-year scientific detective story, climaxing in the past thirty years, will be told through footage shot at key locations in Central America, Europe and the United States, together with dramatizations, animation and graphics; archival materials; and interviews with major participants in the decipherment. An outreach campaign, including an extensive web site, will enhance the television viewing experience as well as promote further STEM learning. The program will be produced and directed by David Lebrun; Nicolas Noxon serves as Executive Producer. Michael Coe will serve the project as Principal Advisor, along with an extensive board of advisors of ethnographers, epigraphers, archaeologists, historians, iconographers and others. Multimedia Research will conduct formative evaluation of the program; Knight-Williams Research will conduct summative evaluation of the project. The National Endowment for the Humanities has granted $550,000 toward this project.
MacNeil Lehrer Productions is adding a significant science presence to the nightly "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" program by creating a Science Unit as part of their production staff. Each year for three years, the unit will produce at least 12 long-form documentary reports (8 to 12 minutes each), shorter (4 to 5 minute) videotape background reports to set up studio interviews, and brief (2 minute) news summary reports when appropriate. The NewsHour science production team also would collaborate with the NOVA team at WGBH through such means as production of a NewsHour companion report related to a planned NOVA documentary and use of a NOVA segment as a lead-in to a policy discussion on the NewsHour. Selection of story topics, information about developments in different fields of science, and validation of science content would be guided by a core advisory group that includes: Stephen Sass, Cornell University (Material Science, Nanotechnology) Ken Miller, Brown University (BioScience) Larry Smarr, Director of the California Institute of telecommunications and Information Technology (Infotechnology) Maria Ghirardi, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Energy) John Logsdon, George Washington University (Space) The project will be supported by "The Online NewsHour." This web site will notify viewers via email of upcoming segments; provide public forums with scientists, researchers, ethicists and policy makers; and allow viewers to obtain transcripts of the broadcasts. The forums, conducted after the broadcast, include one or more of the principals who appeared in the program responding to questions and/or issues raised by viewers. Formative evaluation will be conducted by Rockman Et Al and summative evaluation will be conducted by the Goodman Research Group, Inc.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Robert FlynnFranmarie Kennedy
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
This is a two-year planning project that will support planning activities to provide a basis for further STEM education reform in the Greater Mohawk Valley of New York. These include different workshops for school administrators and teachers preparing them to support student research and venues for students to present the results of their research. Perhaps even more importantly it will provide an alternative path for assessment of districts' STEM educational goals. The 25 years of Utica College's support and programming of student research activities will provide a rich background for assessment of the effectiveness of student learning in science, mathematics and technology through such activities.
WGBH is producing four, two-hour programs on the lives of scientists. These programs will be the initial programs in a continuing series of television portraits of distinguished scientists to be broadcast as regular features in the prime-time science series NOVA. The scientists to be covered in the first four programs are Galileo Galilei, Charles Darwin, Marie Curie, and Percy Julian. By illuminating the lives and scientific careers of these important figures, the programs will enhance public understanding of such basic scientific concepts as evolution, the solar system, the chemical bond and the structure of the atom. Ultimately, the programs will give viewers a new perspective on the process of scientific discovery. Ancillary educational support for the programs will include enhanced content on the web site at NOVA Online and classroom support material in the NOVA Teacher's Guide that is mailed to 60,000 teachers nationwide. WGBH also has formed an outreach partnership with the American Library Association to create informal educational resources for use by families, youths, and adults. The core of this special outreach plan is a set of Library Resource Kits that will be available to all 16,000 public libraries. Paula Apsell, Executive Producer for NOVA, will serve as PI for the project. Members of the advisory committee include: Evelyn Fox Keller, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science, MIT; Kenneth R. Manning, Thomas Meloy Professor of Rhetoric and of the History of Science, MIT; Noami Oreskes, Associate Professor of History, University of California, San Diego; Daniel I. Rubenstein, Chair of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University; and Neil D. Tyson, Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium.
Chabot Space and Science Center is developing an exhibit of Chinese astronomical artifacts and organizing a United States tour of the exhibit. "Dragon Skies: Astronomy of Imperial China" consists of 31 exhibit pieces, including seven large astronomical instruments, chronographs, stone carvings and star maps. Many of these artifacts have never before left China. In order to increase the awareness and understanding of students, teachers and the public about Imperial China's rich astronomical achievements, Chabot will develop a variety of interpretive materials and programs that address interests and learning styles, present scientifically and historically accurate information, and serve both informal and formal educational audiences. These materials will include a planetarium show, an audio tour, special signage, multimedia animations/interactive kiosks, a web site, student activities, community events, a science drama program, activities for the general public and a variety of printed materials. Many components will be developed in English, Mandarin and Cantonese.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Alexandra BarnettCynthia AshleyMichael Reynolds
The Hugh Moore Historical Park and Museum will develop an integrated framework of exhibits on the science and technology of canals and inland waterways at the National Canal Museum (NCM) in Easton, PA., which will serve as a model for interdisciplinary public education and exhibit programs at other canal history organizations in more than 28 states, primarily east of the Mississippi River. Representatives from major waterway and industrial history sites and museums across the nation will work with NCM staff and a national advisory panel of leading informal science educators to develop, design and disseminate a series of interactive science exhibits that can travel or be replicated in museums, parks and organizations that interpret inland waterways and related industrial sites
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Edward MooneyRobert RuddKelly Austin
The Independence Seaport Museum will create "Boat Building: Art and Science," a 3,000-square foot permanent exhibit that is designed to educate visitors about the science of boat building and design. Concepts such as buoyancy, water displacement, turbulence and drag will be explored through interactives, maritime artifacts, models and oral histories of tradesmen. By using the principles identified by the Family Science Learning Research Project of the Philadelphia/Camden Informal Science Education Collaborative (PISEC), the exhibit will be user-friendly for families with young children. Visitor workstation topics may include boat building, floating, buoyancy, sails, wind and boat shape. Visitors will use science processes while learning through open-ended play and exploration. Creative programs for families and school groups, as well as curriculum materials will support the exhibit. A website and technical training manual will also be produced. Four phases of evaluation are planned, and include front-end analysis which will incorporate focus groups with children ages 7-12, and formative evaluation using prototypes of interactives. Remedial evaluation will be carried out once the exhibit opens, and summative evaluation will use tracking and exit interviews to assess learning and understanding. The estimated annual audience of over 130,000 visitors will be expanded by replicating and traveling various components to other maritime museums in partnership with the Association of Science and Technology Centers. Evaluation of traveling components will also be undertaken to determine if they present an appropriate model for maritime-based exhibits.
The Great Lakes Story is a 3,000 sq. ft. interactive traveling exhibit based on the highly successful and unique permanent exhibition at the Great Lakes Science Center. Its focus is devoted to highlighting the natural history of the Great Lakes ecosystem. The traveling exhibit will allow even more visitors around the country to understand the beauty, majesty and restoration efforts of this important national resource. Through a planned six-year tour, it is estimated "The Great Lakes Story" will be experienced by as many as three million people. There will be several components, including hands-on exhibits, organized with a centerpiece of a walk-around model of the Great Lakes region, and other interactive components. The four major areas of the exhibit are physical characteristics of the Lakes, the natural cycles and processes which shaped them over time, changes and threats to the Lakes (especially human-induced), and finally, restoration efforts to bring the Lakes back to being the rich and productive ecosystem they should be. Along with these exhibit areas, other project components are educational and marketing materials to ensure that host science centers are able to provide a complete learning experience to their youth, family, and adult audiences around the country.
The Anchorage Museum Association, in collaboration and partnership with the Yup'ik Calista Elders Council, will work in one year to plan exhibits, educational programs and a web site for a traveling exhibition of 19th century Yup'ik technology. The exhibit will combine masterworks from the Berlin Ethnographic Museum with Yup'ik technology from the Smithsonian Institution and present them in ways that will allow Native and non-Native visitors to gain new under-standings of Yup'ik technology from the Yup'ik point of view. The planning process will bring together with Yup'ik elders, scientists and museum professionals for a series of planning meetings, demonstrations of Yup'ik technology and workshops on raw materials and traditional manufacturing techniques, culminating in a exhibit development workshop integrating front-end evaluation, learning goals and design parameters, and formative evaluation planning.
MEDMYST: Dissemination Phase II A Phase I grant, The Reconstructors Investigate Medical Mysteries, from the National Center for Research Resources (R25 RR15295) funded the creation and field-test of innovative web-based materials targeted for middle school students. The product has come to be known as MEDMYST.It is an episodic adventure series with accompanying classroom activities focusing on infectious diseases and the microbes that cause them. The MEDMYST materials consist of: a) web adventures; b) classroom activities; c) MEDMYST Magazine--all designed to engage students in problem-solving activities not likely to be encountered elsewhere. Each of these components is available free of charge on the web site (http://medmyst.rice.edu) and all components are aligned with the National Science Education Content Standards. An extensive field test involving over 700 students from 9 different schools tested the efficacy of these materials. The results, accepted for publication in American Society for Microbiology's Microbiology Education journal, indicated significant learning gains with exposure to the Internet component of the materials. In this Phase II application, the goals are: 1) To create a network of MEDMYST Dissemination Partners and Lead Teachers whose expertise and training will continue beyond the SEPA funding. 2) To amplify teaching of Infectious Disease related concepts though MEDMYST in middle school classrooms by training a minimum of 1200 teachers, who will teach approximately 150,000 students over a two-year period. 3) To evaluate the impact of MEDMYST teacher training and document the adoption process in classrooms. 4) To continue to promote MEDMYST in a variety of educational settings, such as homes, after-school programs, museums, and with links from other web sites. To accomplish these goals, we have formed partnerships with the University of Washington Educational Outreach, The Minnesota Science Museum, the John P. McGovern Museum of Health ad Medical Science, and the American Society for Microbiology.
We propose to leverage the power of the Internet and the appeal of on-line gaming environments for middle school students to create a new type of learning resource in science. Case histories of medical discovery will be transformed into "problem- based" multimedia mysteries for students to solve. Through prior research we have developed and field tested a working model for an adventure series that engages middle school students. We propose to extend the model to new content. Assuming the on-line role of a Reconstructor who seeks lost medical knowledge from the past, students will unravel the origins of specific diseases or medical discoveries. The learning objectives for each episode will be multidisciplinary. The goal is to engage students in constructing their own knowledge by participating in virtual experiments, by helping them establish a context for the discoveries, and by understanding issues involved in forming public health policy. An experienced team representing medicine, biology, history of science, education, and information technology will oversee the project, assuring the integrity of the site content, and incorporating cutting edge technology. A process of iterative prototyping, focusing heavily on teachers and students will be employed to make the resource site exciting, educational, and useful in classrooms, in homes, and in museums. The field tests will be conducted in schools, representing a cross-section of the community, assuring appropriate presentation of materials to target populations.