"Have You Spotted Me? Learning Lessons by Looking for Ladybugs" is an innovative citizen science project that targets children from Native American, rural, farming, and disadvantaged communities. While most citizen science efforts target teens and adults, this project enables youth ages 5-11 to contribute to the development of a major ladybug database. Adult mentors in youth programs introduce children to topics such as ladybugs, invasive species, biodiversity, and conservation. Youth not affiliated with a program may participate independently. Project deliverables include a self-contained education program, an Internet portal and project website, a dedicated corps of volunteers, and the largest, accessible biological database ever developed. The database is made more reliable by utilizing records accompanied by an identifiable data image as a certified data point. Partners include the NY State 4-H, South Dakota State 4-H, Migrant Worker Children's Education Program, Cayuga Nature Center, Seneca Nation Department of Education Summer Programs, Seneca Nation Early Childhood Learner Centers After School Program, and the Onondaga Nation After School Program. Strategic impact will be realized through the creation of a citizen science project that provides hands-on interactions, field experiences, and accessible data that creates unique learning opportunities for youth. It is estimated that nearly 10,000 youth will be impacted by this work.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
John LoseyLeslie AlleeLouis HeslerMichael CatanguiJohn Pickering
Bio Med Tech: Engineering for Your Health was a 2,750 square foot exhibition at the Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC) that dealt with issues related to biomedical technology. Partially funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health Science Education Partnership Awards program (NIH/SEPA), the project was developed through a partnership between GLSC and Case Western Reserve University. The SEPA grant also funded a variety of programming activities, including informal Exploration Cart activities in the exhibition, presentations in the exhibition's theater space, and teacher training
This evaluation study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of two design strategies used in Beyond the X-Ray: personal stories which were a part of the Five Windows on the Body and a separate kid area which was implemented in Kid Radiology. Evaluation Questions: 1. How do visitors interact with and use the exhibits in Beyond the X-Ray that were created with the instructional design strategies that are the focus of this evaluation? 2. In what ways, if any, are the exhibits that are designed with the targeted strategies effective at achieving their stated goals? 3. What are the visitors'
Liberty Science Center (LSC) received National Science Foundation (NSF) funding to develop, install and evaluate a 12,800-square foot, two-story permanent exhibition about skyscrapers. Skyscraper! is meant to showcase the architectural design and engineering, physics, and urban-related environmental science of skyscrapers. The Institute for Learning Innovation (ILI), a Maryland-based research and evaluation organization that focuses on lifelong learning in informal or free-choice settings, was contracted to conduct the summative exhibition evaluation. The purpose of the summative evaluation
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Kerry BronnenkantLiberty Science CenterClaudia Figueiredo
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County contracted Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) to conduct a front-end evaluation to inform the reinstallation of the Ancient Latin America Hall. The study was conducted to examine visitors' experiences in the current exhibition, the nature of their connection with the objects on view, and their needs and preferences for interpretation. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 English-speaking and 20 Spanish-speaking visitor groups, using a quota sampling method. Visitors were intercepted as they exited the current Ancient Latin America Hall
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
resourceevaluationMuseum and Science Center Exhibits
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County contracted Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) to conduct concept testing to inform the reinstallation of the Cenozoic/Age of Mammals Hall. The study was designed to examine visitors' perceptions and understanding of potential content, including their engagement with and knowledge of fossils, in general, and fossil mammals, in particular, and their familiarity with climate change. Open-ended, in-depth interviews were conducted with a random sample of English- and Spanish-speaking drop-in Museum visitors as they entered the existing Cenozoic/Age
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Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Grossology Live! was a creative and innovative program that involved unique format, content, and collaboration. The program used live video-conferencing techniques to create two-way interaction between onscreen actors in a colorful Grossology set in the studio in Noblesville, Indiana; uniquely imaginative comedic and musical presentations on the human body; and a live presenter, stage set, and audience at 5 small science or health centers primarily in the mid-west and southeast. The receiving sites were members of the National Association of Health Education Centers (NAHEC), which played a
The intent of this network is to encourage volunteers to get involved with our annual horseshoe crab monitoring program on various reference beaches throughout New York’s Marine District. “Citizen Scientists” will work with trained site coordinators to help collect data on horseshoe crab spawning abundance, size, sex and tag returns around full and new moon evenings from May to July. The data collected through this program is used to assess the status of horseshoe crabs in NY State, and will help determine the management and conservation of this important species throughout the region.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Matthew SclafaniNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation
The Coalition for Watershed Education, consisting of the Land Access Information Association, Great Lakes Children's Museum, Interlochen Public Radio and Northwestern Michigan College Great Lakes Studies Institute will implement a comprehensive science education project for youth and adults. The major components include: Watershed Discovery field experiences, Soundscapes radio broadcasts, Waterscapes exhibits, a project website, and the expanded Great Lakes Coalition for Watershed Education. Watershed Discovery is a field-based experience for youth ages 11-17. Teams of 6-10 youth will work with mentors who specialize in GPS, GIS, geology and geography to research and collect data on the Great Lakes watershed. These students will also use their new knowledge to produce radio segments as part of the Soundscapes component. Youth teams will be trained to interview sources, gather information and write scripts for use on the local National Public Radio affiliate. The Great Lakes Children's Museum will design a permanent, interactive watershed of 1,500 square feet, as well as a traveling exhibit of 500 square feet for visitors ages 7-12. Other deliverables include "A Community Guide to Watershed-based Science Education" (available in print and CD-ROM), a one-day regional dissemination conference, and an interactive website. Strategic impact will be realized through the development of a novel model for watershed education, its subsequent replication and summative evaluation outcomes. It is estimated that over 40,000 children will be reached by this community-wide initiative.
Hopa Mountain, in collaboration with Blackfeet Community College, One Step Further, and Ogala Lakota College, will develop "Native Science Field Centers (NSFC)" to provide year-round informal science education for youth ages 8-18 and adults. Informal science education professionals are also served through the publications and materials designed to support programs targeting Native communities. The "NSFCs" will be located on the Blackfeet, Fort Belknap, and Pine Ridge reservations. The centers will develop "TribalWatch" environmental science programs that will be disseminated to six other tribes in the Missouri River Watershed. The "Tribalwatch" programs create a STEM career ladder for youth and adults to develop scientific expertise, knowledge of monitoring and an understanding of management of local lands. New technologies will be created for the evaluation of Native science programs that incorporate indigenous evaluation methodologies. Key partners include the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), the Field Museum of Natural History and the Science Museum of Minnesota. Deliverables include "Native Science Field Centers, ""TribalWatch" programs and a "TribalWatch" toolkit and training plan. Strategic impact will be realized through capacity building within Native communities, research and documentation of programming practices and dissemination of the toolkit and publications to informal science education professionals, 32 tribal colleges and other educational organizations that serve Native communities. It is anticipated that this project will reach 100,000 Native and non-Native youth, adults and informal science education practitioners in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Bonnie Sachatello-SawyerHelen AugareMichael Fredenberg
Girl Scouts of Western Washington and Seattle University have collaborated to develop an innovative model for science learning in youth programs. By embedding training and support on science inquiry facilitation directly into existing Girl Scout systems, the project is empowering volunteers to effectively facilitate inquiry science explorations with youth. We are engaging a new audience in the delivery of informal science education: volunteers, predominantly adult women and mothers, in community settings beyond typical science environments. New volunteers participate in science inquiry at Girl Scout recruiting events and in their ongoing support meetings, and also receive training through a project-developed curriculum adapted from the NSF-funded Fundamentals of Inquiry. These classes engage volunteers (who may not be science content specialists) in direct experiences with inquiry, and teach them specific skills to help youth plan, carry out, and synthesize learning from inquiry investigations. Science inquiry processes are seamlessly integrated into broader lessons about implementing Girl Scout programming, thus positioning scientific inquiry as a normal, expected part of Girl Scouting. This sustainable, replicable model enables community youth programs to build volunteers' skills to support inquiry, while at the same time increasing the organizational capacity to sustain quality science programming. Three Girl Scout councils are currently replicating the project, and their experiences will inform the final designs of the curriculum and supporting documentation. The project's mixed-methods evaluation is being conducted by Evaluation & Research Associates.
After-School Program Exploring Science (APEX) proposes to develop and implement a training model that will enhance the capacity of community-based after-school programs to provide science-learning opportunities for children ages 5-10. Capacity building will center on expanding the human resource base as well as access to hands-on resources that enable investigative science in informal settings. " APEX" will create a series of engaging hands-on science investigations that will be designed for replication in a wide range of informal learning environments. "APEX" community partners include the YMCA, YWCA and Family Christian Association of America (FCAA). The Miami Museum of Science will also partner with Miami-Dade Public Schools, Florida International University and Miami-Dade College to formalize opportunities for paraprofessionals and pre-service teachers to meet a portion of their certification requirements by leading "APEX" Science investigations in after-school programs thereby providing community-based after-school programs with a more stable workforce while at the same time supporting future teachers in the development of inquiry-based teaching skills. Through "APEX" over 275 after-school provider staff will be trained along with up to 300 pre-service teachers and paraprofessionals. The project will work with 93 after-school programs and impact roughly 7,000 high-need students.