Over the course of six years (2016–2022), History Colorado, three Ute Tribes, and archaeology and ethnobotany partners undertook an ambitious, highly collaborative project, called Ute STEM, to explore new ways of looking at the field of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) learning. This final report goes into details about the project and lessons learned.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Elizabeth CookSheila GoffKate LivingstonShannon Voirol
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
This report presents findings from the evaluation of four Pulsar Search Collaboratory (PSC) activities: online training, use of website, capstone events at hub institutions, and the PSC summer camp.
DiscoverE hired Concord Evaluation Group (CEG) to conduct an independent evaluation of the Future City program. Future City has been operating since 1992. According to DiscoverE, the Future City program is “a national, project-based learning experience where students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade imagine, design, and build cities of the future. Students work as a team with an educator and engineer mentor to plan cities using SimCityTM software; research and write solutions to an engineering problem; build tabletop scale models with recycled materials; and present their ideas before judges at
Future City, operating since 1992, is “a national, project-based learning experience where students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade imagine, design, and build cities of the future. Students work as a team with an educator and engineer mentor to plan cities using SimCityTM software, research and write solutions to an engineering problem, build tabletop scale models with recycled materials, and present their ideas before judges at regional competitions in January. Regional winners represent their region at the National Finals in Washington, DC in February.
Future City’s cross-curricular
This report presents highlights from a Fall 2020 evaluation conducted with 69 STEAM teachers from across the U.S., all of whom are part of the National Air and Space Museum's Teacher Innovator Institute (TII). Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on classrooms and the museum's teacher PD program, the evaluation in Fall 2020 focused on understanding the conditions, adaptations, challenges, and success stories of this population of teachers from across the country. The findings in this report provide insight into the variations in teaching conditions (depending on geography and urbanity
The Vertically Integrated Science Learning Opportunity (VISLO) program builds upon an existing three-way partnership between (i) faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students form the University Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), (ii) the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CLC) in Lincoln, NE, and (iii) The University of Nebraska State Museum.
VISLO uniquely incorporates vertically-integrated peer instruction across educational levels, including: graduate, undergraduate, middle school, and elementary school. Throughout the program, participants of all identified educational levels had
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) and Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment (BASE) contracted RK&A to conduct an evaluation of their partnership’s progress and outcomes over three years. The goal of the summative evaluation is to explore students, families, and teachers’ perceptions of and relationship to BBG and the BBG-BASE partnership. The evaluation also explored attitudes and understandings of how to engage in nature exploration, scientific inquiry, and environmental stewardship in a meaningful way.
How did we approach this study?
RK&A developed questionnaires to be
Program evaluators from the Education Development Center (EDC) used a mixed-methods, quasi-experimental design to evaluate the impact on girls’ awareness and interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). After the final year of the project, EDC delivered a summative report to Techbridge Girls (TBG), which was based on data collected during the five-year grant period, with a particular focus on the final year that grant funds supported programming (2017-18). Data included pre- and post-surveys with TBG participants and comparison students, participant focus groups, and
The summative evaluation documents and articulates what SCIENCES has improved or changed, and in what ways. The final design of the summative evaluation was based on findings from the front-end and formative evaluations, including using participatory evaluation techniques to engage community members in discussing their experience with the programs and assessment of community needs and assets at the close of the project.
The goal of the summative evaluation was to address discrete program impacts in the context of the project, as well as the cross-program impact of providing a thematically