We used a youth focused wild berry monitoring program that spanned urban and rural Alaska to test this method across diverse age levels and learning settings.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Katie SpellmanDouglas CostChristine Villano
In this study, we examined how two different CCS models, a contributory design and a co-created design, influenced science self-efficacy and science interest among youth CCS participants.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Sarah ClementKatie SpellmanLaura OxtobyKelly KealyKarin BodonyElena SparrowChristopher Arp
The Arctic Harvest-Public Participation in Scientific Research (which encompasses the Winterberry Citizen Science program), a four-year citizen science project looking at the effect of climate change on berry availability to consumers has made measurable progress advancing our understanding of key performance indicators of highly effective citizen science programs.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Angela LarsonKelly KealyMakaela Dickerson
This project builds off prior work conducted for the Science Center Public Forums project (NA15SEC008005) where eight forums were held at different sites across the US related to four climate hazards (drought, sea level rise, extreme heat, and extreme precipitation).
The project team published a research synopsis article with Futurum Science Careers in Feb 2023 called “How Can Place Attachment Improve Scientific Literacy?”
An adapted three-dimensional model of place attachment is proposed as a theoretical framework from which place-based citizen science experiences and outcomes might be empirically examined in depth.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Julia ParrishYurong HeBenjamin Haywood
resourceevaluationProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
This document is the final evaluation report for the Teen Science Cafes for Advancing STEM in Rural Places project.
A Teen Science Café is a free, regularly occurring event during the school year in which a local scientist, engineer, or STEM expert discusses their field experiences with the teen attendees. Ideally, a Teen Leader cohort, under the mentorship of an Adult Leader, organizes and implements each Café.
The Teen Science Café Network is a community of practice linking the various youth-serving organizations, institutions, community settings, and individuals that host Teen Science
For some rural communities, the outdoor recreation ecosystem is an integral part of the STEM learning ecosystem that connects rural youth with STEM and STEM career pathways. Landowners and forest managers construct and fly drones to inventory, map, and monitor resources. Hatcheries monitor fish levels and sustain populations for recreational fisheries. Backcountry skiers depend on snow science and avalanche forecasts to assess conditions. Outdoor recreation that youth in rural communities are currently engaging in can be sources of opportunities and experiences for cultivating their STEM identities and career aspirations. Existing studies have shown the promise of specific, one-time interventions and discrete activities, none have situated activities in a broader ecosystem framework comprising a nascent and growing economic sector that is currently shaping rural communities.
This Pilot and Feasibility project brings together CAST, a non-profit education research organization, the University of New Hampshire (UNH), and outdoor-recreation and informal STEM community-based youth-serving organizations in New Hampshire (NH). In particular, this study will investigate the contributions of youth's participation in (or aversion of) outdoor recreation on developing high school aged students' STEM identities and considerations of careers in STEM through outdoor recreation. Researchers seek to address three questions: How can outdoor recreation be used as an informal STEM learning context to broaden participation for underrepresented rural youth who face known barriers to the traditional learning experiences necessary for developing positive STEM identities? How can outdoor recreation be used to increase the STEM career pathways for underrepresented rural youth? How do people in different positions in the STEM ecosystem view STEM as part of the future OR economy? In this qualitative dominant research study, investigators will employ experience sampling to involve 30 youth and 10 adults in rural communities in collecting their moments of engaging in outdoor recreation, and photovoice to encourage them to examine and reflect on these moments. Another group of 20 youth and 30 adults from the community will be interviewed to consider how members of the community perceives viability of outdoor recreation as a part of future STEM career pathways.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Amanda BastoniSam Catherine JohnstonAndrew CoppensJayson Seaman
Researchers and practitioners have identified numerous outcomes of place-based environmental action (PBEA) programs at both individual and community levels (e.g., promoting positive youth development, fostering science identity, building social capital, and contributing to environmental quality improvement). In many cases, the primary audience of PBEA programs are youth, with less attention given to lifelong learners or intergenerational (e.g., youth and adult) partnerships. However, there is a need for PBEA programs for lifelong learners as local conservation decisions in the United States
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that over 41 million people connect to nature through birding. Learning about birds in their natural environments offers opportunities for informal engagement in STEM by a broad range of individuals and groups. Birders often engage in scientific data gathering and analyses, geolocation and remote sensing, and phenology. They also become aware of ecological changes in bird habitats and migratory patterns due to rising temperatures and climate-related events like sea level rise, droughts, fires, and extreme weather. As such, the birding community is an ideal network to better understand and communicate the impacts of climatological changes on bird populations to the public. With this Innovations in Development project, the National Audubon Society will develop a new avian-focused, conservation and climate science community science curriculum for its Nature Centers, and test the effectiveness of the curriculum in educating the public about avian-focused conservation and climatological changes through guided nature experiences. Birding can serve as a pivotal entrée for young people into STEM fields and careers. Through its programs and partnerships, Audubon will leverage its national network to ensure that through this project a more diverse group of voices, particularly young adults and young adults of color, become involved in asking critical questions and developing solutions to address important environmental issues of the future. If successful, the broader impacts of this project on capacity building and public engagement could be far-reaching and long-lasting.
Over the three-year project duration, Audubon will bring educators from its nationwide network of thirty-four Nature Centers (including urban, suburban, and rural sites), together with over 510 young adults (ages 18-25) from its network of college campus chapters. An evidence-based curriculum and community science activities will be created and tested, relying heavily on a team of experts in ornithology, climate science research, STEM curriculum design, diversity, and informal science education. College students will advise on the design of content and activities to effectively interest and engage young adults. These students will be recruited from the new Audubon Campus Chapters Program, which includes 111 college and university campuses, among them, 19 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). The target population will be surveyed to also understand their current and likely participation in guided nature experiences and knowledge base in climate science. Current best practices in guided nature experiences will be gathered from across the Audubon network. The implementation efforts will result in a national STEM model, with train-the-trainer guides and workshops for informal science educators and public engagement opportunities focused on improving the state and condition of avian habitats and communities through climate science research. An external evaluation will be conducted and will include data collection methods such as retrospective pre and post surveys, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and an embedded assessment to determine impact. The findings will be used to iteratively refine the evidence-based curriculum and measure STEM learning outcomes for the guided nature experience participants. The evaluation will address four areas: (1) fidelity of program implementation to promote accountability; (2) formative evaluation to understand needs and interests of young adults (ages 18-25), and subsequently inform program design; (3) outcomes for Center educators, to inform iterative improvement; and (4) outcomes for program participants, to contribute to the growing knowledge base on effective practices for STEM learning in informal settings.
This Innovations in Development project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments. This includes providing multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences, advancing innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and developing understandings of deeper learning by participants.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
DATE:
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Loren SmithMark ScallionHeather Starck
In October 2017, the PBS NewsHour team produced a week and a half of opioid-related content, including several online explainers, which presented the opportunity for a natural experiment for the Experiments in Transmedia project.
Knology (formerly New Knowledge Organization Ltd.) conducted a two-wave research study to advance understanding of the youth audience’s knowledge and news consumption on the topic.
The first wave of the study, conducted in September 2017, provides a baseline. The content aired in October 2017, and the second wave of the study, conducted in November 2017, asked a