Science writers, science producers, and science engagement specialists from KQED Science Deep Look joined a team of researchers from the University of Connecticut, Missouri State University, and Texas Tech University to focus on women’s preferences and identities as related to their science engagement intentions. Findings from this most recent study of the gender disparity in Deep Look viewership suggests that one key piece of the puzzle is related to women’s preferences for images and another key piece of the puzzle is related to the identities that women report as most important to them.
The KQED science digital media team continue their research on gender disparity of their YouTube series Deep Look.
Can videos with titles that pertained to health/home and sex/mating, on average, attach a higher proportion of female viewers?
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Sue Ellen McCannSevda ErisAsheley LandrumSarah MohamadOthello RichardsKristina JanétKelsi OpatSarah MohamadGabriela Quiros
The KQED science digital video team continue their study of gender disparity in viewership for the YouTube series Deep Look.
Below is a summary of the study’s key findings and you can read the complete study attached below.
1. Science curiosity is a key motivator of viewing Deep Look videos; science comprehension is not. You don’t need a Ph.D. in chemistry, just a dash of curiosity to have a look at, and maybe even get hooked on, science videos.
2. Diverging from previous findings — and researchers’ expectations — the gender disparity previously found in Deep Look viewership was not
This poster was presented at the 2021 NSF AISL Awardee Meeting.
Free-choice learning occurs when individuals make choices about what, where, how, and who they participate with in their self-motivated learning activities. This project explores how different people, living in the same geographic region, make plants and gardening a part of their lives. We explore how adult community members choose to participate in their plant and gardening interests, including: the topics and activities that interest them, with whom they participate, where, and which resources they access. This work will
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Elysa CorinJudy KokeDavid MeierAllison HuEric Jones
This Innovations in Development project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to (a) advance new approaches to and evidence-based understanding of the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments; (b) provide multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences; (c) advance innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments; and (d) engage the public of all ages in learning STEM in informal environments.
Increasing greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in science not only presents a social justice goal, but is also vital to the financial and social success of the nation. The stereotype of the older white male scientist has obscured the contributions of women and people of color. This project seeks to remedy these perceptions which are barriers to entry into STEM fields. The project will create a large-scale hub for STEM themed video content on YouTube and other social media platforms, featuring 100+ original STEM videos produced by PBS partners. This hub and accompanying research seeks to identify the characteristics of online STEM content that attract (or fail to attract) underrepresented groups, specifically Black and Hispanic communities as well as women of all races. The objectives of this project are to 1) provide a unified online science-themed hub, PBS Terra, on YouTube and other platforms for hosting, sharing, and distributing digital STEM series from diverse producers from across the PBS system; 2) conduct surveys and focus groups to examine and understand the needs and expectations of women, Black and Hispanic communities and their consumption of STEM video content online and 3) test hypotheses about the communicative strategies of STEM videos that feature Black and Hispanic female scientists. Project collaborators include PBS, researchers at the University of Utah and the University of Georgia, and consultants and advisors with expertise in broadening participation and inclusion in STEM.
Little is known about how or why adult Americans seek science content on YouTube, especially the motivations of adults from underrepresented minorities and females. The key research questions in this project are: 1) Why do Black and Hispanic audiences and women of all races seek science video content online? 2) How does showing Black and Hispanic female scientists in science video content on YouTube impact viewers’ identification with and sense of belonging in STEM? 3) How does the use of humor by Black and Hispanic scientists in YouTube science content affect viewers’ perceptions of the communicator and their engagement with STEM content? 4) How does the appearance and manner of dress of Black and Hispanic scientists in YouTube science content affect viewers’ perceptions in the aforementioned areas? A nationally representative baseline survey will be conducted. A probability sample of 2000 respondents will be obtained including oversampling of Black and Hispanic audiences. To complement findings from the survey, focus groups will be conducted in eight different regions of the country to learn why these targeted audiences do or do not seek science content on YouTube and what motivates them to share the content with their social media network. In addition, an experiment embedded in an online survey will test the hypothesis that greater on-screen representation of women and scientists of color will broaden existing perceptions about scientists. The experiment will consist of a 3 (scientist’s race: Black/Hispanic/White) × 2 (science issue: controversial/non-controversial) × 2 (style: casual/professional) between-subjects design. Survey participants will be randomly assigned to the experimental conditions. These factors (science issue and host appearance) can be altered by content producers to better reach and engage the targeted audiences. The project not only investigates theoretical questions at the intersection of STEM stereotypes and race, but findings related to these experimental conditions will offer practical insight into strategies that can be used by science communication practitioners.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Adam DylewskiSara YeoMichael Cacciatore
This brief focuses on a participatory study with the high school program of the Kitty Andersen Youth Science Center (KAYSC) at the Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM). Young people are organized into teams of up to 20 youth with an adult practitioner who delivers programming based on a STEM content area. Their activities and project-based learning are based in both STEM and social justice, coined in the KAYSC as “STEM Justice.”
As part of our study, we wanted to understand youth and adult needs that exist in an informal STEM education program that weaves equity into its core. This brief
This brief shares youth development insights from a museum-based, informal science learning program that uses STEM as a tool for social justice. Key to the success of this program were young people and adults feeling at home in a welcoming, diverse, and inclusive space; activities that focused on connecting and relationships; a holistically supportive space that attended to family and personal needs; shared norms for conversation and expectations; and science content grounded in young people’s lives, experiences, and communities as well as work with community members.
These needs were
On October 1, 2015, Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) was awarded a 3‑year grant of 2.7 million dollars from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to fund the project Hacking Your Mind (award number 1515520). A major public and social media project, Hacking Your Mind (HYM) planned to engage Americans with the new discoveries being made in the social, behavioral, and economic sciences and the remarkable insights these discoveries offer into how individuals make numerous daily decisions and judgments, as well as the broader impact of this highly personal phenomenon on nearly every aspect of
STEMroller events disrupt stereotypes surrounding STEM professionals within a neglected space in science communication; a sports hall. Roller derby inspired STEMroller, both the do-it-yourself culture and creating a space for women and genderqueer people to be themselves. Over 100 female and non-binary STEM professionals volunteered to put this event together for students aged 11–19. STEMroller includes networking with people from over 30 science, technology engineering and mathematics industries, watching roller derby and trying it out — albeit in socks not on wheels. STEMroller uses a pool
This NOVA multiplatform media initiative consisted of a 2-hour nationally broadcast PBS documentary, Polar Extremes; a 10-part original digital series, Antarctic Extremes; an interactive game, Polar Lab; accompanying polar-themed digital shorts, radio stories, text reporting, and social media content; a collection of educational resources on PBS LearningMedia; and community screening events and virtual field trips for science classrooms. Across multiple media platforms the project’s video content had nearly 13 million views.
The research explored the potential for informal STEM learning
Free-choice and interest-driven learning activities are a highly significant source of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) learning for adults through their lifespans. Gardening is one such activity that is widespread across communities with one in every fifty American adults reporting an interest in gardening/plants and who associate that interest/hobby with science. While the terms interest and hobby are related, the latter refers to something one actively does, not just thinks about doing. Adults who seek out learning and participation opportunities in highly visible community spaces (e.g., gardening clubs, science centers, botanical gardens) are likely to be White and well-educated. Further understanding is needed of when and how community members from other demographic groups access different resources (people, organizations, and places) for information and opportunities, and what influences them to do so. This Pilot and Feasibility Study will explore informal learning networks in Alameda County, California, specifically around gardeners and gardening. Researchers will use surveys, focus groups, and program observations to gather data on how those who pursue self-directed scientific learning about gardening access information. Of interest is how the differential access to and pursuit of information occurs among diverse community members, especially those outside of more established Master Gardener and other organized gardening programs. This research will: 1) contribute to understanding of the resources that interest-driven adult STEM learners access, describing the barriers they perceive and how/if the accessed resources differ by gender, race, or socioeconomics; 2) determine the feasibility of a sampling approach to gather data from individuals in demographic groups who may not have been reached in prior research efforts; and 3) generate insights for informal science education practitioners and researchers about how to better support diverse interest-driven STEM learners. This 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.
It is hypothesized that there is a large percentage of individuals from non-dominant populations engaged in free-choice STEM learning; past efforts have likely under-counted the participation of individuals from these communities. To achieve the research aims the research team will utilize respondent-driven sampling, engaging gardening hobbyists' social contacts to recruit participants, and collect data from diverse (gender, race, socioeconomics) urban gardeners who may be differently connected to STEM learning ecosystem resources/organizations than their highly visible peers. This approach will be used to investigate the behaviors, perceptions, and outcomes related to STEM learning such as development of self-efficacy and science identity. Focus groups will provide context for themes that arise in the survey data and clarify hobbyists' participation preferences and experiences. In situ observations of learning environments comprise the third mechanism for collecting data. All three data sources will support triangulation of results and contribute to the findings. Key outcomes of this project will be to determine if the target population has been reached through the sampling approach, to identify methodological guidelines for sampling with an intent to reach those from populations under-represented in STEM-related free-choice activities, and to clarify which network variables are most useful to study. This research lays the foundation for future work. It is anticipated that the approach developed and tested in this research may be adapted by others in the future and will have the potential to serve as a model for community-based organizations and researchers interested in studying the learning ecosystems of previously hidden populations of participants, including how these individuals perceive and access resources to support their STEM learning.
This Pilots and Feasibility Studies 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.
As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program 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. The project aims to understand ways to empower Latinx families (adult caregivers) to feel confident in their ability to support their middle school-aged girls in science and engineering activities. The project involves seven weeks of family programming around rockets or urban farming, as well as separate conversation groups for adult family members and girls. The project is relevant for several reasons: females and Latinx individuals are both underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) coursework and careers; girls tend to lose interest in STEM by middle school age; and adult family members may have an impact on their children's attitudes and interests. The project partners with school districts and nonprofit organizations in Arizona and California.
This multidisciplinary project's priority is broadening participation, with a focus on increasing Latina girls' science and engineering interests through Family Project-Based Learning Activities, Conversation Groups, and a cultivated Community of Learners. It is based on the frameworks of Social Cognitive Career Theory and Community Cultural Wealth. The project aims to empower families (adult caregivers) to feel confident in their ability to support their daughters in science and engineering activities, which is often low especially among Latinx parents. The project will develop and evaluate two out-of-school enrichment methods for aiding families in encouraging and supporting their daughters in science: Family Problem-Based Learning Activities, which focus on rockets and urban farming, and Conversation Groups, which provide information and discussion for separate groups of parents and girls. A series of pilot studies will be conducted with 80 families to iteratively evaluate and improve the materials and procedure prior to the main study with 180 families, featuring a factorial design with a control group.
The materials developed and research findings may inform similar projects, especially those for students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and projects seeking to enhance the role of families in learning. The hypothesis guiding the project is that the greatest gains will be produced with the synergistic combination of enrichment methods. Another component that can potentially have broad impact is working to create environments where Community Cultural Wealth is recognized and enhanced through interactions of different families, creating Communities of Learners. This can inform projects that recognize the importance of community and/or that seek to use culture as an asset. The proposed study will engage three geographically distributed universities and several community partners. It will also provide university students and community leaders opportunities for work on instructional design, implementation, and research. The team will disseminate their findings and methods through multiple avenues to reach researchers, parents, leaders, curators, and educators in informal and K-12 settings.
This Research in Service to Practice 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.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Katherine Short-MeyersonPeter RilleroPeter MeyersonMargarita Jimenez-SilvaChristopher Edwards