The Kaulele Kapa Exhibit was created to explore the effectiveness of a Hawaiian culture-based framework and approach in increasing learner engagement and depth of knowledge in STEM among Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (NHPI) learners. The exhibit utilized hands-on and interactive activities, coupled with scientific and cultural information, to create relevant learning experiences for these communities. To determine the effectiveness, exhibit attendees were invited to complete a survey that asked about how the exhibit influenced their interest and understanding of STEM and Hawaiian culture
The Lineage project was a collaboration between Twin Cities Public Television and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. The project included creation of a feature-length video program, a Virtual Reality game, and a set of hands-on activities designed for use by multigenerational audiences—all of which were incorporated as part of a series of seven Fossil Festival events at museums and other sites around the United States. This report presents findings from a set of external evaluation studies that examined impacts on families who participated in Fossil Festival events as well
Over the past decade, science festival expos have emerged as popular opportunities for practicing scientists to engage in education outreach with public audiences. In this paper, a partial proportional odds model was used to analyze 5,498 surveys collected from attendees at 14 science expos around the United States. Respondents who report that they interacted with a scientist rated their experiences more positively than those who reported no such interaction on five categories: overall experience, learning, inspiration, fun, and awareness of STEM careers. The results indicate that scientists
This is the protocol for a research project to assess the wants and needs of adults in underserved STEM learning communities -- in our case, the Richmond, VA African American community -- towards the goal of using a community-university partnership to staging STS science cafes that respond to these wants and needs.
This assessment is based on the three vertices of a triangle composed of cognition, observation, and interpretation, all of which converge on the nature of science, the relevance of science to everyday life, and decision-making behaviors.
We chose one measure from Conley, Pintrich, Vekiri, & Harrison (2004). This measure encompasses four dimensions about scientific knowledge -- source, certainty, development and justification -- so we thought it might reveal interesting dimensions of stasis and change in attitudes toward science from formal school environments to informal adult learning
In the spring of 2014, the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net) Public Impacts evaluation team conducted a summative study of NanoDays, a nationwide festival of educational programs about nanoscale science, engineering, and technology. In 2014, NanoDays took place from March 29th – April 6th, 2014. The Network’s goals for NanoDays events led to the following summative evaluation questions: 1. What is the projected public reach of NanoDays events in 2014? 2. Are ‘mature’ NanoDays events successful in providing an engaging experience and promoting learning of nano concepts for
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded OMSI funding during the spring of 2011 to create a 2,000 sq. ft. bilingual (English/Spanish) traveling exhibition exploring current research on the human microbiome and the impact of our resident microorganisms on our health. The exhibition was developed with the support of the J. Craig Venter Institute and other national experts in microbiome research. More information about the exhibition can be found at http://omsi.edu/exhibitions/zoo-in-you/. The Zoo in You Project Goals are to (1) Educate museum visitors and program participants about what
COSI offers special event programming on a monthly basis designed to enhance the guest experience: primarily Science Day and Fun Day special events. Science Days are events that highlight science topics, especially those dealing with our specific areas of focus, and celebrations surrounding events with a science theme, such as Space and Stars Day. On the other hand, Fun Days are events that are appealing to guests and are simple to implement, such as appearances by local sports teams, celebrities, performance groups, etc. COSI would like to better understand the impact special events have in
This report presents findings from Goodman Research Group's evaluation of the following: (1) The NOVA scienceNOW series, including viewer feedback on Season Three and the knowledge gained from viewing the six new episodes, (2) The NOVA scienceNOW website, and (3) Focus groups conducted at the Science Café conference in June 2008. Includes survey.
The National Science Foundation funded Roadside Heritage (RH) to produce three major deliverables during this project: (1) STEM-rich audio stories for the traveling public that highlight the science associated with Highway 395; (2) Traveling festival kits that highlight major STEM features of the Eastern Sierra landscape; and (3) The RH website, a STEM-rich site highlighting the natural and cultural landscape associate with Highway 395. During the project’s final year, WestEd conducted summative evaluation activities targeting each of these deliverables. Appendix contains survey.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Jerome HippsSharon HerpinDonna Winston
This application requested (and received) an exemption from the consent requirement. The key in this application is that all data collection was done anonymously.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
University of California, San DiegoLoren ThompsonJeremy Babendure
Illuminated Verses explored issues of traditional culture and modernity, as well as differences and diversity within the Islamic world, and offers an interpretive bridge to these content areas for both scholarly and general audiences. Through a symposium and a series of pre-events leading up to that program, Poets House and CityLore explored ways of using poetry, discussion and interpretation of poetry to create bridges for intercultural understanding. The symposium and pre-symposium events also served as a springboard to explore the potential for a broader, potentially national, program. This