A paper inspired by the Summit on Assessment of Informal and Afterschool Science Learning organized by the National Research Council and the Program in Education, Afterschool, and Resiliency (PEAR) at Harvard University. This paper reflects the many ideas that emerged during the Summit and the further work and discussions we have had since with leaders in the field. While this report does not include a transcript nor attribute particular ideas to individuals, it does attempt to share ideas and perspectives that were presented at the Summit. We intended to create a paper that would be most
The Maker Movement is inspiring thousands of young people across the nation to tinker with and tackle problems involving design, engineering and programming. This report from the third Making Meaning Symposium takes a critical look at describing and documenting learning that takes place when young people make. The symposium brought together nearly 150 makers, funders, educational researchers, educators from K–12 and informal settings, museum and community based leaders, and policymakers. The aim of this national symposium was to craft a strategy for documenting the variety of learning and
The National Research Council's Roundtable on Public Interfaces of the Life Sciences held a 2-day workshop on January 15-16, 2015, in Washington, DC to explore the public interfaces between scientists and citizens in the context of genetically engineered (GE) organisms. The workshop presentations and discussions dealt with perspectives on scientific engagement in a world where science is interpreted through a variety of lenses, including cultural values and political dispositions, and with strategies based on evidence in social science to improve public conversation about controversial topics
How can professional learning for out‐of‐school staff be organized to promote equity in STEM learning? This is the question a group of out-of‐school educators and educational researchers gathered to discuss at the Exploratorium on January 30‐31, 2015. The meeting was sponsored by the Research+Practice Collaboratory, an NSF-‐funded project that develops and tests new models for integrating research and practice perspectives for the improvement of science and mathematics education. Four big ideas for supporting equity-oriented facilitation emerged from the group's discussions: (1) Seeing
On June 20-22, 2008, the Philadelphia/Camden Informal Science Education Collaborative (PISEC) conducted the Bridges Conference for museum/community partnership programs that serve families. The conference was funded by a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant (DRL# 0734835), which covered planning, implementation, evaluation and dissemination. The Bridges Conference was designed to bring together professionals involved with long-term museum/community relationships, and to offer opportunities to share and develop new strategies to (1) address practical issues inherent in funding, developing
Citizen Science refers to the general public engagement in scientific research activities when citizens actively contribute to science, either with their intellectual effort, through observation or with their tools and resources. For the last two years, the SOCIENTIZE project has coordinated many agents involved in the citizen science process, setting the basis for this new open science paradigm. The project has setup a network where infrastructure providers and researchers recruit volunteers from the general public to perform science at home. Through SOCIENTIZE, individual citizens have
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Fermin Serrano SanzTeresa Holocher-ErtlBarbara KieslingerFrancisco Sanz GarciaCandida Silva
In late 2012, COMPASS received NSF grant number 1255633, “A Workshop to Explore Building Systemic Communication Capacity for Next Generation Scientists.” Known in shorthand and on twitter as #GradSciComm, the work comprises three major components, culminating in this report: (1) To assess the current landscape of science communication workshops, courses, and trainings available to graduate students in the STEM disciplines; (2) To convene a workshop of science communication trainers, scholars, science society leaders, funders, administrators, and graduate students; and (3) To provide concrete
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Liz NeeleyErica GoldmanBrooke SmithNancy BaronSarah Sunu
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The Broader Impacts Infrastructure Summit, held in Arlington, VA, in April 2014, brough together more than 120 professionals from 80 higher education institutions and nonprofits for wide-ranging discussions on broader impacts focused on institutioinal collaboration, guidance, and accountability. Perspectives on Broader Impacts present some of the highlights from the summit, including perspectives from NSF, perspectives of university leaders, and perspectives of university participants.