Goodman Research Group, Inc. conducted a comprehensive multi-method external evaluation of the first season of the Design Squad TV series and outreach initiative. The broad evaluation goals were to: assess the extent to which children's knowledge, interest, and awareness of engineering increased as a result of watching the Design Squad series, document the implementation of community events resulting form the November 2006 Engineering Summit, and assess the effectiveness of the Afterschool Educators Guide with leaders and students.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Peggy VaughanEmilee PressmanIrene GoodmanWGBH
The evaluation research summarized here focuses on science reports developed by MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. The reports appear on The NewsHour television broadcasts and are archived as streaming video available on the program's Web site (www.pbs.org/newshour/science), which includes enhanced media resources such as audio Podcasts, RSS feeds, transcripts, teacher lesson plans, background reports, slideshows, and interactives. The project's general intention is to produce positive learning outcomes and attitudes towards STEM topics (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and to foster
WGBH is requesting funds to produce a four-hour NOVA television special with accompanying Web and outreach activities about the pervasive role of materials in our lives. The overarching goals of the project are to: 1) enhance public engagement in and understanding of materials science, including appreciation of its effects on society; 2) promote collaboration among educators, scientists and community-based organizations to reach a broad audience; and 3) create effective methods of expanding informal science learning that can be evaluated for their lasting impact on the field. The mini-series, "STUFF: The Materials that Shape our World," will offer an appreciation of the human and scientific factors that drive innovation in materials science, from ancient breakthroughs to today's explosion of biological and nanomaterials. The four episodes, themed around "Stronger," "Smaller," "Smarter" and "Cleaner" will provide a clear focus on the interdisciplinary nature of materials science and showcase dramatic stories of past inventions and exciting new discoveries. The NOVA team in association with the Materials Research Society (MRS) will produce the series. The "STUFF" series is anticipated to be broadcast on PBS in the fall of 2008. WGBH and MRS will work with local PBS stations to train local scientists in public outreach. Multimedia Research will conduct formative evaluation of the project components, and Goodman Research Group will conduct summative evaluation of both the series and the outreach efforts.
WGBH is producing a new PBS television show with accompanying Web and outreach activities for 9- to 12-year-olds, to inspire a generation of budding engineers. "Design Squad" (working title) will be a 13-part television series, which combines the appeal of a game show with the drama of real-world challenges to engender enthusiasm and promote understanding of, and interest in, engineering and technology. Behind all the fun that this lively show envisions lays a serious educational purpose -- to get kids to think like engineers and understand how to use science and technology to solve real-life problems. The television programs will be complemented with materials and training for engineers to mount "Design Squad" events in public venues and run workshops in schools, afterschool programs and libraries, and an extensive companion web site. "Design Squad 's" three intended strategic impacts are to: (1) address a critical need in engineering education and children's television, (2) increase students' knowledge of engineering and the design process and (3) improve the public image of engineering, especially among girls and minorities. The WGBH production team will be lead by Brigid Sullivan and Kate Taylor. The Series Content Director is Dr. Daniel Frey of MIT. Goodman Research Group, Inc. will conduct the evaluation of the project.
Radio Lab will produce 20 hour-long interdisciplinary science programs and 30 shorter features to be aired on NPR news magazine programs on a wide range of core STEM topics exploring how research is done as well as what the scientific results mean to the listener. The programs are co-hosted by Robert Krulwich, science reporter for NPR, and Jared Abumrad, WNYC radio producer and music composer. The programs are using a new, unorthodox format with music, live sounds and conversations between the hosts designed to appeal to young adult listeners who previously thought they did not like science. Each episode is crafted around a scientific finding and aims to connect the scientific inquiry to philosophical and universal implications. Program topics will include biology and neuroscience as well as physics, genetics, chemistry, math and engineering. The program carriage goal is to have the hour-long programs airing on 100 stations reaching three to four million listeners by the end of the project. The shorter segments will be distributed by NPR in its regular news magazine programs. Programs will also be podcast on NPR and WNYC's web sites, as well as through iTunes. The project will also train NPR science reporters on this new approach to science news content.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Ellen HorneJad AbumradRobert KrulwichBarbara Flagg
WGBH Educational Foundation is requesting funds to produce the third and fourth seasons of "NOVA scienceNOW," a multimedia project addressing a wide array of science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects via multiple platforms including national PBS broadcast, the PBS Web site and innovative outreach initiatives. Project goals are to help the general public understand the value and importance of scientific ressearch and to encourage an interest in STEM careers among younger viewers. INNOVATION/STRAGEGIC IMPACT: The series provides a significant opportunity to develop a new format for science journalism building on brand recognition but potentially reaching a broader and more diverse national audience. The new host will be Dr. Neil deCgrasse Tyson, an accomplished astrophysicist and charismatic science communicator whose partipation will help the series reach out to a broader demographic. NOVA is planning a new scheduling configuration for these future seasons to maximize audience for the six new programs per year, i.e. the programs iwll run consecutively in the NOVA slot during June and July. COLLABORATION: NOVA has developed a new consortium of PBS stations to advise on the series and to contribute editorially to the programs. This will give the program greater geographic coverage and will provide local contacts with researchers at major universities and institutions connected to these stations. The project will also partner with the American Library Association and Sigma Xi and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific in the outreach effort. Multimedia Research, Inc. and Goodman Research Group will conduct formative and summative evaluations, respectively.
Twin Cities Public Television is requesting a planning grant to support the development of a new television series called SciGirls and related educational materials, building off the success of SciGirls Outreach and DragonflyTV. The goal of the planning process is to design a television series that could inspire millions of girls across America to discover the excitement of science, technology, engineering and math. The proposed planning phase will include: audience research about the current TV viewing habits of "tween" girls (ages 8-13), meetings of science and education advisors, formative evaluation of sample video segments, development of a treatment and business plan for the series. Barbara Flagg of Multimedia Research will conduct the formative evaluation of the SciGirls TV short video with girls of the target audience in five locations across the country.
WGBH Educational Foundation is requesting funds to produce 20 new shows and new outreach and Web activities for "ZOOM," which will be renamed "Hot Seat." "Hot Seat" is a daily half-hour PBS television series targeted to kids ages 8 to 11. Uniquely by and for kids, the program gives its viewers a chance to explore, to experiment and to share their creativity. The series, along with its far-reaching outreach, offers its audience an innovative curriculum that promotes the acquisition of basic math and science knowledge and the development of problem solving skills called "Habits of Mind." The intended impacts are to: (1) establish a project that uniquely integrates television, the Web and outreach as a model for how media can teach science and math; (2) engage kids and teach them science and math content and process skills; (3) provide curriculum and professional development to organizational partners. Innovation includes developing three new content areas for the series -- Invention, Space Science and Earth Science -- and evolving the project design by incorporating new production techniques that enhance the "reality factor" of the science programming. Outreach for the project will include printed materials for kids, families and educators. A new collaborative partnership is being developed with the American Library Association to help distribute the new afterschool curricula to librarians across the country. "Hot Seat" will support the existing network of "ZOOM" outreach partners and convert the museum "ZOOMzones" to "Hot Seat Spots." "ZOOM" currently is carried by 269 public broadcasting stations and is viewed by 4 million children each week.
EarthTalk, Inc. will develop and air 24 90-second shows per year for three years on the subject of nanotechnology on the Earth & Sky radio program. They will partner with Nano Science and Technology Institute (NSTI), Boston; Nanoscale Science and Technology Facility (CNF), Cornell University; and Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology (CBEN), Houston to identify researchers, advisors and program ideas. Program categories will be Nano 101; Innovations that Could Change the World; Science or Science Fiction; Implications and Ideas; Nano and the Environment; and Listener Questions. The Earth & Sky program currently airs on 685 stations nationwide, making 323 million gross impressions each year; new shows will create some 64 million gross impressions. They will be supplemented by related material on Earth & Sky Online, which receives up to one million page views/month, and a composite of the nano programs onto CD mailed directly to 10,000 teachers yearly.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
William BrittonDeborah ByrdBarbara Flagg
Oregon Public Broadcasting is requesting funds to produce three one-hour nationally broadcast television programs, a project website, community-centered outreach coordinated by AAAS in 7 U.S. cities, a seminar discussion guide and a series of 90-second programs as part of the "Earth &Sky" radio series. The subject and purpose of the project is to attract public interest in nanotechnology by examining the social, ethical, legal and environmental issuers surrounding its application. The television programs will be produced by Fred Friendly Seminars (FFS) and broadcast on PBS. Two science museums, Boston Museum of Science and the South Carolina State Museum, and the University of California, Berkeley, will host the FFS panels. The format of the Seminars is designed to produce thought provoking and nuanced discussions of contemporary issues. Collaborative partners in the project include AAAS, Lawrence Hall of Science and ICAN Productions. The outreach initiative includes outreach to "targeted stakeholders" in 7 US cities, four 90-second radio spots as part of Earth & Sky, a project web site and a Seminar discussion guide. Inverness Research Associates and Edu, Inc. will conduct both formative and summative evaluation of the project components.
This proposal will develop and disseminate locally developed STEM-rich audio programs for the traveling public, in particular vacationing families, using emerging traveler information technologies, traveling festival kits, and an interactive website. The project is linked to the 220-mile Eastern Sierra Scenic Byway that traverses a dramatic landscape, rich in natural resources and unique contributions to scientific research. Collaborators include the Eastern Sierra Institute for Collaborative Education and the University of California at Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Michael CollopyBarbara AndoJacque Ewing-TaylorSusan Szewczak Clark
KQED is requesting funds to produce weekly radio science news reports, a weekly television magazine program, a dynamic online website that supports and extends the broadcast material and to create and maintain an active consortium of 13 participating STEM organizations. The project's working title is "Quest: Exploring Our Natural World." Quest's goals are to raise the profile of STEM issues that affect or occur throughout the Northern California region and activate citizens to discuss and investigate STEM issues. STEM content will include research fields that include Physical Sciences, Life Sciences and Earth Sciences. Most of the stories will include 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. The project design involves innovative use of multiple platforms and collaborative partnerships with local informal educational institutions. The project's 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, Oakland Zoo and The Tech Museum of Innovation. Rockman Et Al will conduct the evaluation of the Quest initiative.