In colonial times in New Zealand the portrayal of science to the public had a sense of theatre, with nineteenth and early twentieth century grand exhibitions of a new nation’s resources and its technological achievements complemented by spectacular public lectures and demonstrations by visitors from overseas and scientific ‘showmen’. However, from 1926 to the mid-1990s there were few public displays of scientific research and its applications, corresponding to an inward-looking science regime presided over by the Government science agency, the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
This article examines the public at a science exhibition or festival and tries to determine whether casual visitors are a means of expanding the audience. According to a Swiss survey of public attitudes towards science (2005), the non-public of a science exhibition or festival is distinguished by demographics such as gender and education (more female and less educated), cultural practices (less frequent) and attitudes towards science (less positive). Considering the Swiss science festival of 2009, casual visitors differ from intentional ones in terms of sociodemographic aspects and scientific
This is an efficacy study through which the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, the Denver Zoo, the Denver Botanic Gardens, and three of Denver's urban school districts join efforts to determine if partnerships among formal and informal organizations demonstrate an appropriate infrastructure for improving science literacy among urban middle school science students. The Metropolitan Denver Urban Advantage (UA Denver) program is used for this purpose. This program consists of three design elements: (a) student-driven investigations, (b) STEM-related content, and (c) alignment of schools and informal science education institutions; and six major components: (a) professional development for teachers, (b) classroom materials and resources, (c) access to science-rich organizations, (d) outreach to families, (e) capacity building and sustainability, and (e) program assessment and student learning. Three research questions guide the study: (1) How does the participation in the program affect students' science knowledge, skills, and attitudes toward science relative to comparison groups of students? (2) How does the participation in the program affect teachers' science knowledge, skills, and abilities relative to comparison groups of teachers? and (3) How do families' participation in the program affect their engagement in and support for their children's science learning and aspirations relative to comparison families?
The study's guiding hypothesis is that the UA Denver program should improve science literacy in urban middle school students measured by (a) students' increased understanding of science, as reflected in their science investigations or "exit projects"; (b) teachers' increased understanding of science and their ability to support students in their exit projects, as documented by classroom observations, observations of professional development activities, and surveys; and (c) school groups' and families' increased visits to participating science-based institutions, through surveys. The study employs an experimental research design. Schools are randomly assigned to either intervention or comparison groups and classrooms will be the units of analysis. Power analysis recommended a sample of 18 intervention and 18 comparison middle schools, with approximately 72 seventh grade science teachers, over 5,000 students, and 12,000 individual parents in order to detect differences among intervention and comparison groups. To answer the three research questions, data gathering strategies include: (a) students' standardized test scores from the Colorado Student Assessment Program, (b) students' pre-post science learning assessment using the Northwest Evaluation Association's Measures for Academic Progress (science), (c) students' pre-post science aspirations and goals using the Modified Attitude Toward Science Inventory, (d) teachers' fidelity of implementation using the Teaching Science as Inquiry instrument, and (e) classroom interactions using the Science Teacher Inquiry Rubric, and the Reformed Teaching Observation protocol. To interpret the main three levels of data (students, nested in teachers, nested within schools), hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), including HLM6 application, are utilized. An advisory board, including experts in research methodologies, science, informal science education, assessment, and measurement oversees the progress of the study and provides guidance to the research team. An external evaluator assesses both formative and summative aspects of the evaluation component of the scope of work.
The key outcome of the study is a research-informed and field-tested intervention implemented under specific conditions for enhancing middle school science learning and teaching, and supported by partnerships between formal and informal organizations.
The National Science Festival Network project, also operating as the Science Festival Alliance, is designed to create a sustainable national network of science festivals that engages all facets of the general public in science learning. Science Festivals, clearly distinct from "science fairs", are community-wide activities engaging professional scientists and informal and K-12 educators targeting underrepresented segments of local communities historically underserved by formal or informal STEM educational activities. The initiative builds on previous work in other parts of the world (e.g. Europe, Australasia) and on recent efforts in the U.S. to create science festivals. The target audiences are families, children and youth ages 5-18, adults, professional scientists and educators in K-12 and informal science institutions, and underserved and underrepresented communities. Project partners include the MIT Museum in Cambridge, UC San Diego, UC San Francisco, and the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. The deliverables include annual science festivals in these four cities supported by year-round related activities for K-12 and informal audiences, a partnership network, a web portal, and two national conferences. Ten science festivals will be convened in total over the 3 years of the project, each reaching 15,000 to 60,000 participants per year. STEM content includes earth and space science, oceanography, biological/biomedical science, bioinformatics, and computer, behavioral, aeronautical, nanotechnology, environmental, and nuclear science. An independent evaluator will systematically assess audience participation and perceptions, level/types of science interest stimulated in target groups, growth of partnering support at individual sites, and increasing interactions between ISE and formal K-12 education. A variety of qualitative and quantitative assessments will be designed and utilized. The project has the potential to transform public communication and understanding of science and increase the numbers of youth interested in pursuing science.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
Loren ThompsonJeremy BabendureBen Wiehe
This Full-Scale Informal Science Education award focuses on the physical and social science surrounding the extraction of natural gas from the Marcellus shale formation beneath the surface in north central and western Pennsylvania. The project targets the adult residents of the impacted or soon-to-be-impacted areas of Pennsylvania. This is a complex project involving the disciplines of geology, engineering, chemistry, social science, performance, and land management. Further, the project team includes a mix of physical scientists, educators, theater arts faculty, social scientists and engineers from Pennsylvania State University, the Pennsylvania State Cooperative Extension Service, and Juniata College. The project addresses several potential barriers to communication of science to the public. The proposal team provides four entry points for citizens of rural Pennsylvania to engage in learning about energy, its needs in the Nation, the economics behind these needs, the geology of the shale deposit and how to have productive discussions and make decisions using science-based evidence. The project will engage a multitude of communication mechanisms such as forums, community meetings, theater performances, data centers, blogs and workshops. The Pennsylvania State Extension will play a central role in working at the local level. The project is a complex effort wherein the residents of north central and western Pennsylvania will learn about the science and policies of natural gas extraction and how to derive and use scientific information for decision making. The proposal team will learn how to work and communicate with rural citizens. Further, the team will derive a variety of models from these activities that are likely to be adaptable for use in other areas of the Nation that have natural gas deposits.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
Michael ArthurDouglas MillerJo BrasierRenae Youngs
Journey to Space will be a large-scale traveling exhibition that simulates a journey to the International Space Station (ISS), allows visitors to explore the physical properties of low gravity environments, and introduces some of the engineering and technology that makes it possible to live and work in space. A collaborative project led by the Science Museum of Minnesota joined by the California Science Center and the three other members of the Science Museum Exhibit Collaborative, the exhibition will encourage museum visitors 1) to immerse themselves in the sights, sounds, and smells that astronauts experience traveling to, and living in, space; 2) to engage as problem solvers with some of the unique engineering challenges that must be solved to support living and working in space; and 3) to experience life aboard the International Space Station interpreted through the voices of engineers, scientists, and astronauts. In addition to the exhibition, the project will include a public website and a two-year youth program for underserved teens that will result in a three-day Celebration of Space Exploration Chautauqua aimed especially at underserved families in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. The exhibition will tour to twelve major science museums across North America and reach upwards of three and a quarter million families, adults, teachers, and students over six years.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
Eric JollyPaul MartinJ. Shipley Newlin
This technical report summarizes the statistical analyses used to determine how well the Measuring Activation (MA) instrument developed through the Science Learning Activation Lab project gathers appropriate information about the five dimensions of activation. The MA instrument was designed to evaluate the impact of science-learning programs and experiences on activation, and contains a series of survey items organized around five identified dimensions of activation. The five dimensions of activation are: fascination, values, perceived autonomy, competency beliefs, and scientific sensemaking.
Presentation on NSF grant DRL-0840333 (""National Science Festival Network"") presented at the CAISE Convening on Organizational Networks, November 17th, 2011."") presented at the CAISE Convening on Organizational Networks, November 17th, 2011.
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
The NSF-funded 400 Years of the Telescope project was a unique partnership among a public television station, a production studio, two planetariums and a leading astronomical society in the United States. Its five main components included a one-hour PBS documentary, a 22-minute planetarium program, a website with astronomical infromation, "star parties"(nighttime astronomical viewing events) and promotional events hosted by PBS affiliate stations. The summative evaluation focused on three main evaluation questions: 1) What are the individual and cumulative impacts of the menu of deliverables
The objective of this youth media project is to provide 14-24 year olds with training and hands-on experience in engineering, and the physical and biological sciences. The project is designed around core practices that engage youth in original research and inquiry through experimentation, development, and creative use of new technologies and tools to communicate STEM to the public. Youth Radio project participants in Oakland, CA, Atlanta, GA and Washington, DC include 540 youth, 80% of whom are low-income and/or youth of color, plus another 400 youth via off-site outreach in schools and community centers. Core deliverables include: (1) "Brains and Beakers," eight live events per year where a visiting STEM researcher brings his/her work out of the lab and onto the stage at Youth Radio facilities, demonstrating key principles and discoveries and interacting with youth participants; (2) "Youth Radio Investigates," an annual 6-part multimedia series, where youth partner with university and industry-based researchers to explore the veracity of scientific claims applied to products and services and they use every day; (3) The "Application Development Lab," where youth develop, create and disseminate online embeddable and downloadable applications (12 annually) that serve real needs in youth communities. The digital media produced by the youth will be broadcast by National Public Radio and distributed online through various sites including iTunes and BoingBoing.net, one of the most frequently visited technology-focused sites on the web. Project advisors include STEM researchers in universities as well as highly experienced and successful new media technology developers. Project partners include National Public Radio, KQED, the California Academy of Sciences, and the Oakland Unified School District. This project builds on the successful prior work (NSF #0610272) that initiated a Science and Technology program within the Youth Radio organization. The summative evaluation by Rockman et al will measure how the program affects students' science and technology knowledge, skills, and attitudes. It will build on the evaluation from the prior NSF funded project (#0610272) that highlighted the organizational and staff growth processes as Youth Radio discovered how to design and implement successful, sustainable STEM programs. Rockman will evaluate the new programs (Youth Investigates, Brains and Beakers, and the Application Lab), measuring the following STEM-related student outcomes/impacts: perceptions of selves as producers/creators of science or technology; attitudes toward science and perceptions of scientists; understanding the process of scientific inquiry and research and/or technology skills development; and understanding or interest in careers in science or technology (based on National Research Council report, 2009). Data will be collected from the youth at the Oakland site and from the other Youth Radio bureaus to determine which aspects of the program transfer to multiple sites and which ones are unique to a specific location or set of circumstances. Methods include surveys of student attitudes, participant focus groups, interim assessments, objective skills assessments, and interviews. This project provides an innovative new model for collaborations between STEM researchers and under-represented youth resulting in digital media that impacts the youth as well as the public's understanding and engagement in science.
The Herpetology Education in Rural Places & Spaces (HERPS) project is a four-year full-scale development project designed to engage diverse North Carolina residents from the Central Piedmont, Eastern Piedmont, and Inner Coastal Plain regions of the state in conservation and field experiences focused on herpetology, the study of reptiles and amphibians. The project targets rural underrepresented groups in STEM; predominately African-Americans, Hispanics, and Lumbee Native Americans. The University of North Carolina-Greensboro and its partner organizations, Elon University and University of North Carolina-Pembroke, will partner to develop and implement all phases of the project. Ultimately, the project aims to increase knowledge of and interest in herpetology and related conservation issues, provide authentic research experiences, and better understand identity-related motivations and affordances of the casual, regular, and enthusiastic participant across project strands. HERPS builds on four pilot studies and will engage people of all ages in a broad range of herpetological activities including: (a) an annual herpetology-focused community event (HERPS Celebrations), (b) technology resources such as a project website and customized mobile applications (HERPS Cyberhub), (c) summer and year-long herpetological research experiences (HREs) for high school students and teachers, and (d) in-depth longitudinal herpetological study opportunities (e.g., box turtle study). In addition, there is separate but integrated research stand that will focus on identity and HERPS experiences, as settings for informal science learning. The identity research will study: (a) identity-related motivations and (b) identity-related affordances of casual, regular and enthusiastic participants across threads. In addition, an extensive formative and summative evaluation will be conducted using a mixed methods approach by an external evaluator. Using a multiple-entry-points approach for learning and engagement, this project could serve as a replicable model for similar efforts in other settings. In addition, the results of the identity reseach strand could fill a critical gap in the identity and informal science education research bases. With an average estimated reach of nearly 15,000 people of all ages and diverse backgrounds, the potential broader impacts of this project could be extensive.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
Catherine MatthewsAndy AshTerry TomasekAnn SomersHeidi Carlone