This Pathways project will develop and evaluate a new model for a STEM career exploration program for at-risk Hispanic youth and their families in New Mexico where 46% of the population is Hispanic. The target audience includes Hispanic youth incarcerated in juvenile detention centers. The Hispanic Communications Network will partner with the Juvenile Justice Division of the New Mexico Children, Youth, and Families Department, Youth Development Inc.; and Youth Works in Santa Fe. STEM professionals from Los Alamos and Sandia labs and private sector companies in New Mexico will participate as role models. The evaluation findings will add to the knowledge base about strategies to increase interest and engagement in pursuing STEM careers among hard-to-reach Hispanic audiences including low income families, gang members and incarcerated youth. The project design includes using two main strategies: family evenings with STEM role models; and a social media and Facebook contest focusing on Green Jobs of the Future. The evaluation will use a mixed-methods approach for gathering data including brief questionnaires after the family evenings, pre-and past-activity surveys, observations, and telephone and online surveys. The evaluation will provide ongoing feedback to the project team on how well the strategies are working. The project will hold 8 family nights, involve approximately 16 STEM professionals (role models), and projects about 16 edited media submissions by the youth teams. Toward the end of the project the evaluation will comment on the viability, efficacy and potential transferability of this model to other communities.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Carlos AlcazarTrinity TreatAlliyah NoorLynn Dierking
The University of Alaska Fairbanks will partner with the National Optical and Astronomy Observatory, the University of Alaska Museum of the North, and the University of Washington-Bothell to bring biomaterials, optics, photonics, and nanotechnology content, art infused experiences, and career awareness to art-interested girls. This full scale development project, Project STEAM, will explore the intersections between biology, physics, and art using advanced technologies at the nano to macro scale levels. Middle school girls from predominately underrepresented Alaskan Native, Native American (Tohono O'odham, Pascula Yaqui) and Hispanic groups, their families, teachers, and Girl Scout Troop Leaders in two site locations- Anchorage, Alaska and Tucson, Arizona will participate in the project. Centered on the theme "Colors of Nature," Project STEAM will engage girls in science activities designed to enhance STEM learning and visual-spatial skills. Using advanced technologies, approximately 240 girls enrolled in the Summer Academy over the project duration will work with women scientist mentors, teachers, and Girl Scout Troop Leaders to create artistic representations of natural objects observed at the nano and macro scale levels. Forty girls will participate in the Summer Academy in year one (20 girls per site- Alaska and Arizona). In consequent years, approximately180 girls will participate in the Academy (30 girls per site). Another 1,500 girls are expected to be reached through their Girl Scout Troop Leaders (n=15) who will be trained to deliver a modified version of the program using specialized curriculum kits. In addition, over 6,000 girls and their families are expected to attend Project STEAM Science Cafe events held at local informal science education institutions at each site during the academic year. In conjunction with the programmatic activities, a research investigation will be conducted to study the impact of the program on girls' science identity. Participant discourse, pre and post assessments, and observed engagement with the scientific and artistic ideas and tools presented will be examined and analyzed. A mixed methods approach will also be employed for the formative and summative evaluations, which will be conducted by The Goldstream Group. Ultimately, the project endeavors to increase STEM learning and interest through art, build capacity through professional development, advance the research base on girls' science identity and inspire and interest girls in STEM careers.
In Defense of Food (IDOF) is a media and outreach project based on Michael Pollan's best-selling book of the same title. Through the lens of food science, IDOF is designed to engage diverse audiences in learning about: (1) how science research is conducted, (2) how research findings are used in media, marketing, and public policy, and (3) how to apply food science research in everyday life. IDOF will be created by Kikim Media, an independent production company, broadcast and distributed by PBS and supported by an extensive outreach campaign and interactive website. The project's educational materials will be developed, in part, by the Teacher's College at Columbia University's Center for Food and Nutrition, with dissemination supported by the Coalition for Science After School and by Tufts University's Healthy Kids Out of School initiative, which involves nine of the leading out of school time (OST) organizations, such as Girl Scouts USA, and the National Urban League. The project advisory committee includes highly respected researchers in food, nutrition, and health. IDOF will use an integrated strategy of learning resources, combining a television documentary with online/social media, community outreach, and youth activities. Knight Williams Research Communications will conduct formative and summative evaluation of all major components of the project. The results will advance the informal science community's understanding of how the combination of a documentary with outreach, website/social media, and afterschool activities impacts motivation and learning. The evaluation study will pay special attention to the degree to which participation in the community events, social media/website, and afterschool activities motivates deeper or extended engagement with the subject. Project evaluation results and educational resources will be widely disseminated to the informal science community. IDOF includes a two-hour documentary film that will be produced in both English and Spanish; a community-level outreach campaign focused on reaching underserved audiences who may not watch public television; a set of activities for use in afterschool programs, youth programs and schools; and an interactive and content-rich website with tightly integrated social media tools. IDOF will be nationally broadcast by PBS; the Spanish-language version of IDOF will be broadcast by Vme Television. The ambitious IDOF educational materials and outreach campaign, combined with interactive web and social media, will reach large and diverse audiences. The intended impacts on audiences include increased knowledge and understanding of the scientific process by learning what food scientists do, what techniques they use, and how scientists arrive at their conclusions; the development of critical thinking skills audiences can use when evaluating messages about food and nutrition in media and advertising and when making decisions about what food to buy and eat; and becoming active learners and consumers regarding food. Evaluation results will be widely disseminated to science media producers and the informal science community via professional publications and presentations at conferences. The ultimate value of the In Defense of Food documentary and learning initiative will be to enhance public understanding of the crucial importance of science in people's everyday lives and in shaping dozens of daily decisions.
Water for Life (WfL) is a full scale development youth and community based program; centered on freshwater literacy, water conservation and rainwater harvesting led by the Pacific Resources for Education Learning (PREL) in Hawaii. The goals of the project are to: (a) promote an understanding of water conservation and stewardship in areas lacking adequate quality water supplies and (b) build local capacity among rural communities to develop and employ site specific freshwater harvesting strategies proven to improve water quality. Rural communities within four Pacific Island entities in the U.S. affiliated Freely Associated States (FAS) will participate in WfL activities. PREL is collaborating with a host of organizations (such as the Federated States of Micronesia National Department of Education, Marshall Islands Conservation Society, and the Micronesian Conservation Trust, etc.) to develop and implement all phases of the initiative. This work is already improving the quality of life for hundreds of people in the FAS through water conversation education and improved water quality in local areas. Working closely with site-embedded PREL staff, Core Teams at each site - consisting of 4-6 local leaders from environmental agencies, water/sanitation systems, and education institutions - participated in a 5-day professional learning immersion in May, 2013, to buld capacities to develop and facilitate water conservation and catchment activities at the four target sites in the FAS. The Core Team members at each site now are recruiting and collaborating with local community members to implement site-specific projects that both educate and provide enhanced access to high quality drinking water. Both adults and youth are now engaging in a spectrum of proejcts that address loca needs and priorities through site-specific service learning activities. The site-specific focus in each locale, determined by the local Core Team, is distinct. In Palau, the Core Team has built broader community awareness of water conservation issues, raised the issue of water security in national conversations, engaged remote communities in improving natural rainwater drainage collection systems, and produced youth-oriented educational materials focused on local sites. In Yap, the Core Team members have collaborated with public utilities to install first-flush diverters into community rainwater catchment systems on Yap proper, and now are installing these devices in rainwater catchment systems on Yap's neighbor islands. In Chuuk, groundwater springs in remote communities are being upgraded for improved storage capacity, protection against contamination, and better public access. In Majuro (RMI), public school rainwater catchment systems are being repaired, repainted, cleaned, and upgraded so that schools can and will provide adequate drinking water to students (and to broader segments of the community during droughts). Broad segments of communities, including school classes and clubs, church and civic groups, etc. are becoming increasingly involved in building better water security and resilience for their communities, in preparation for a predicted drought, predicted to hit in the winter of 2014-2015, brought on by an El Nino event now edevelopig in the eastern Pacific. Water for Life has produced a range of locally relevant educational materials, including books, pamphlets, flyers, etc., some in English and others in local languages. Posters and billboards are being produced to enhance and maintain public awareness. Infrastructure projects are enabling better collection of more, higher quality water for drinking. A full-scale water handbook is under development, and this will serve as a basis for a self-contained water 'course' that will be offered through local community colleges. The experiences of project participants are being captured, analyzed, and reported in front-end, formative, and sumative evaluations conducted by David Heil & Associates. Thousands of individuals, comprising large segments of the participating countries' populations, will be directly impacted by the project. The results will be applicable to other remote and rural communities outside of the Pacific distressed by poor water quality and ineffective freshwater harvesting systems.
The Exploratorium, in collaboration with the Boys and Girls Club Columbia Park (BGC) in the Mission District of San Francisco, is implementing a two-year exploratory project designed to support informal education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) within underserved Latino communities. Building off of and expanding on non-STEM-related efforts in a few major U.S. cities and Europe, the Exploratorium, BGC, and residents of the District will engage in a STEM exhibit and program co-development process that will physically convert metered parking spaces in front of the Club into transformative public places called "parklets." The BGC parklet will feature interactive, bilingual science and technology exhibits, programs and events targeting audiences including youth ages 8 - 17 and intergenerational families and groups primarily in the Mission District and users of the BGC. Parklet exhibits and programs will focus on STEM content related to "Observing the Urban Environment," with a focus on community sustainability. The project explores one approach to working with and engaging the public in their everyday environment with relevant STEM learning experiences. The development and evaluation processes are being positioned as a model for possible expansion throughout the city and to other cities.
Informal science educators play a key role in promoting science literacy, safety, and health by teaching pesticide toxicology to the large, at-risk Latino farmworker population in the United States (US). To understand the experiences of informal science educators and the nature of farmworker education, we must have knowledge of farmworker educators' beliefs, yet little is known about these beliefs and how beliefs about teaching, pesticide risk, and self-efficacy might influence teaching environments and practices and potentially inform the field of informal science education. In this
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Catherine LePrevostMargaret BlanchardW. Gregory Cope
Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF),The STEM Pathways project focused on exploring strategies through which at-risk and incarcerated Hispanic youth could be engaged around STEM careers, understand the education, training, and skills they would need to attain them, and think that such a path was a future possibility. To this end, the project and evaluation teams collaborated on a literature review, the development of a logic model, and the design, implementation, and evaluation of a diverse set of program activities that included media, art, and flash mentoring with STEM role models
This is a collaborative research project between Montana State University (MSU), Bozeman, USA and Gorno-Altaisk State University (GASU), Altai Republic, Russian Federation. In this NSF International Research Experiences for Students project MSU students will travel to the Altai Republic and work with faculty and students at Gorno-Altaisk University to conduct research related to native language use in learning ecological sciences in informal settings. Student researchers will conduct individual studies related to the project theme of science learning in ecological contexts. This project will help students learn how to conduct educational research related to the ecological learning experiences of indigenous youth (ages12-16) and the use and influence of native language in learning about environment. This research directly addresses the results of our prior NSF supported work that identified shared issues of indigenous people, natural resources and the decline of native language use among underserved populations in the Altai and Yellowstone systems. This project contributes significantly to our emerging understanding of science learning in informal settings. It addresses a unique conception of ecological learning in three dimensions; personal, community and cultural perspectives. Research and education objectives align with modern conceptualizations of informal science learning as proposed by the National Academies of Science (2009). The MSU-GASU collaboration provides a holistic view of science learning and will unite diverse intellectual resources and research efforts in unique ecological and social systems. Both the Yellowstone and Altai mountain systems are of global concern as part of worldwide natural and cultural resources impacted by pervasive development, recreation and tourism activities and climate change. The underlying theoretical foundation for learning proposed in this research project is the basis for effective approaches to enable isolated rural populations to contribute traditional knowledge and wisdom to contemporary issues related to world-wide ecological and cultural issues including global climate change. Aspects of sustainability practices that are embedded in the knowledge and social processes of both marginalized and dominant societies will be better understood and taken into consideration for future research and education activities. Research outcomes will contribute to more effective informal, place-based and experiential science learning to help empower communities and decision makers in meeting challenges of sustainability. Inevitably, we expect this work to extend our understanding of science learning related to critical natural and cultural resources and their management. An understanding of how, why and where learning takes place will help extend the US and international research and education agendas related to informal science learning, natural and cultural resource management and sustainability.
Non-technical part.
This is a collaborative research project between Montana State University (MSU), Bozeman, USA and Gorno-Altaisk State University (GASU), Altai Republic, Russian Federation. In this NSF International Research Experiences for Students project MSU students will travel to the Altai Republic and work with faculty and students at Gorno-Altaisk University to conduct research related to native language use in learning ecological sciences in informal settings. Student researchers will conduct individual studies related to the project theme of science learning in ecological contexts. This project we will help students learn how to conduct educational research related to the ecological learning experiences of indigenous youth (ages12-16) and the use and influence of native language in learning about environment. Three cohorts of five MSU students will travel to the Altai Republic for eight weeks in the summers of 2013, 2014 & 2015. MSU students will comprise a research team with GASU science, education and language faculty to conduct research in the city of Gorno-Altaisk, two medium size villages such as Onguday and two small villages such as Karakol. We expect to work with youth in each setting and interview a representative sample at each site. As a research team we expect to gain a better understanding of how indigenous youth use native Altai language in informal settings to learn about environment. We expect to compare sights within the study. As part of our larger research interests in ecological learning and native people, we will conduct a similar comparative study in the Yellowstone Ecosystem with Native American youth. The studies associated with this project will add to our understanding about the extent and nature of native language use to learn science in underserved populations in very sensitive and unique ecological and cultural settings.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Michael BrodyClifford MontagneArthur BangertChristine StantonShane Doyle
This full-scale project addresses the need for more youth, especially girls, to pursue an interest in engineering and eventually fill a critical workforce need. The project leverages museum-based exhibits, girls' activity groups, and social media to enhance participants' engineering-related interests and identities. The project includes the following bilingual deliverables: (1) Creative Solutions programming will engage girls in group oriented engineering activities at partner community-based organizations, where the activities highlight altruistic, personally relevant, and social aspects of engineering. Existing community groups will use the activities in their regular meeting structure. Visits to the museum exhibits, titled Design Your World will reinforce messages; (2) Design Your World Exhibits will serve as a community hub at two ISE institutions (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and the Hatfield Marine Science Center). They will leverage existing NSF-funded Engineer It! (DRL-9803989) exhibits redesigned to attract, engage, and mobilize a more diverse population by showcasing altruistic, personally relevant, and social aspects of engineering; (3) Digital engagement through targeted use of social media will complement program and exhibit content and be an online portal for groups engaged in the project; (4) A community action group (CAG) will provide professional development opportunities to stakeholders interested in girls' STEM identity (e.g. parents, STEM-based business professionals) to promote effective engineering messaging throughout the community and engage them in supporting project participants; and (5) Longitudinal research will explore how girls construct and negotiate engineering-related identities through discourse across the project activities and over time.
The project is designed to engage Hispanic students in grades K-5 in STEM in afterschool programs within community-based organizations (CBOs). The project builds on the foundation of an NSF-supported afterschool science program--APEX (Afterschool Program Exploring Science). In collaboration with National Council of La Raza (NCLR), and ASPIRA, the project adapts APEX into a bilingual English/Spanish format and, using a train the trainer model, disseminates it nationally, using a train the trainer model. Each of the ten local project sites will build on a partnership between a science museum and a CBO affiliate of NCLR or ASPIRA. The project is designed to: (1) Build the organizational capacity of partner science museums to work with CBOs and the Hispanic community. (2) Strengthen links between science museums and Hispanic serving CBOs in their communities. (3) Engage the expertise, involvement, and collaboration of national Hispanic-serving organizations, NCLR and ASPIRA, in STEM education. (4) Increase the engagement of Hispanic children and families in STEM. The project evaluation will investigate how effectively the project builds the organizational capacity of partner museums and CBOs in engaging Hispanic children and families in STEM; the types and strength of science museum/CBO partnerships; the effectiveness of the project in increasing Hispanic student and family engagement in STEM, and the types of contributions the project makes to the field of informal STEM learning. The evaluation will use qualitative and quantitative methods, including surveys, interviews, case studies, social network and collaboration analysis, observations, activity tracking, embedded assessment, photo elicitation, and focus groups.
Techbridge has proposed a broad implementation project that will scale up a tested multi-faceted model that increases girls' interest in STEM careers. The objectives of this project are to increase girls' engineering, technology, and science skills and career interests; build STEM capacity and sustainability across communities; enhance STEM and career exploration for underrepresented girls and their families; and advance research on the scale-up, sustainability, and impact of the model with career exploration. The Techbridge approach is grounded in Eccles' expectancy value model, and helps bridge critical junctures as girls transition from elementary to middle school and middle school to high school, immersing participants in a network of peers and supportive adults. Techbridge targets girls in grades 5-12 with a model that includes five components: a previously tested and evaluated curriculum, career exploration, professional development for staff and teachers, family engagement, and dissemination. The inquiry-based curriculum introduces electrical engineering and computer science through engaging, hands-on units on Cars and Engines, Green Design, and Electrical Engineering. The Techbridge model will be enhanced to include a central repository for curriculum and support materials, electronic girl-driven career exploration resources, an online learning community and video tools for staff, and customized family guides. Project deliverables include the dissemination of the enhanced model to three cities, 24 school sites and teachers, 2,000 girls, and over 600 role models. A supplementary research component will study the broad implementation of the Techbridge model by examining the fidelity of implementation and the program's impact on girls' STEM engagement and learning. The research questions are as follows: (1) To what extent and how do new program sites demonstrate adherence to the Techbridge program model? (2) Do new sites experience similar or increased participant responsiveness to Techbridge programming with regard to scientific learning outcomes, career awareness, attitude and interest in engineering? (3)How are changes experienced by girls sustained over time, if at all? (4) To what extent and how do new sites balance instilling the Techbridge essentials, those critical components Techbridge identifies as essential for success, with the need for local adaptation and ownership of the program? and (5) Given the potential for customization in local communities, do new sites maintain programmatic quality of delivery experienced at the original site? If so, what are elements essential to success regarding quality delivery? The mixed-methods study will include document analysis, embedded assessments, participant survey scales, and observations. Qualitative data methods include interviews with teachers, role models, staff and focus groups with girls. A project evaluation will also be conducted which investigates project outcomes for participants (girls, teachers, role models, and families) and fidelity of the implementation and enhancements at expansion sites, using a quasi-experimental approach. Career and learning outcomes for girls will be determined using embedded assessments, portfolios, surveys, school data, and previously validated instruments such as the Career Interest Questionnaire and the Modified Attitudes towards Science Inventory. The Managing Complex Change model is used as a framework for the project evaluation for the purpose of examining factors related to the effectiveness of scaling. The dissemination of research and evaluation findings will be achieved through the use of publications, blogs, social media, and conferences. It is anticipated that this project will broaden the participation of Hispanic, African-American, and English language learner girls, build capacity for STEM programming and sustainability at the dissemination sites, and disseminate findings to over 1 million educators, researchers, and community members. Broader impacts include contributing to the field's understanding of how virtual role models and field trips can engage young women, increase corporate advocacy, and engage participants in research and dissemination efforts.
This full-scale development project would use a multi-platform approach (TV, Field School, and Web site) to engage public audiences and underserved youth in archaeology research and discovery. The project will advance knowledge and practice in the field of ISE by establishing the utility of archaeology as an entry point to multiple STEM fields showing how it answers important questions about human origins-culture, history, and the natural environment. The target audience includes a broad demographic of viewers who will watch the PBS broadcasts. The other key audience is underserved youth who will participate in the archeology digs and be featured in the national broadcast. They will engage other underserved youth who will have the opportunity to participate in the interactive online virtual field school. Primary organizational partners include the Crow Canyon Archaeology Center in Colorado and other archeology organizations at the 4 field sites. Deliverables include four hours of PBS programming filmed at four archaeological sites telling the stories of diverse cultures (Native American, African American, Hispanic); field schools designed for underrepresented youth both onsite and online; blogs, online discussions, and user-generated videos. The evaluation will determine the impact of the television series, online content, and the on-site Field School on audiences' understanding of, interest in, and interactions around STEM topics within the context of archaeology. Formative evaluation will provide input and help refine the television programs, web site, and field school. The summative evaluation will use a variety of methods and artifacts to determine the degree to which the process of the TV series, web site, and Field School was successful. The television programs are expected to reach 13 million viewers via broadcast, 300,000 via streaming video and 50,000 unique web site visitors. The lessons learned from this project will be disseminated to other media and ISE organizations.