The purpose of this paper is to explore results from a qualitative study of how high school aged BLV youth used spatial language during a virtual engineering experience administered by the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). Findings from this study can provide recommendations to enhance language in curricula that better reflects BLV students' content and may ultimately encourage more BLV students to pursue careers in STEM fields.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Gary TimkoNatalie ShaheenWade GoodridgeTheresa GreenDaniel Kane
The purpose of this research paper is to explore advantages and disadvantages of conducting an engineering experience for blind and low vision (BLV) participants in a virtual/online environment. This experience was designed to expose BLV high school students to engineering content and enhance their spatial ability. Spatial ability is an intelligence generally defined as the ability to generate, retain, retrieve, and transform well-structured visual images and is particularly important to fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). A variety of spatial ability constructs have
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Gary TimkoNatalie ShaheenWade GoodridgeTheresa GreenDaniel Kane
resourceresearchMuseum and Science Center Exhibits
The impetus behind this effort was to create a platform for initial support to TEE professionals who may have a blind and low-vision (BLV) student in their courses. Specific examples, instructions, and applications for many of the commonly-used tools and techniques are included here as part of this overall effort to teach TEE concepts through socially relevant contexts by adapting older methods to facilitate new opportunities in our school systems for BLV youth.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Scott Bartholomew Wade GoodridgeNatalie ShaheenAnne Cunningham
Young adulthood, typically defined as between the ages of 18 and 25, is a critical period of growth during which young people acquire the education and training that serve as the basis for their later occupations and income (Arnett, 2000). The successful transition from adolescence to early adulthood requires youth to have the skills and resources to graduate high school and then go to college or enter the workforce (Fuligni & Hardway, 2004; Lippman, Atienza, Rivers, & Keith, 2008). To accomplish these tasks in advanced urban societies, young adults need a wide range of social, cognitive
This evaluation reports on the Mission: Solar System project, a 2-year project funded by NASA. The goal of the Mission: Solar System was to create a collection of resources that integrates digital media with hands-on science and engineering activities to support kids’ exploration in formal and informal education settings. Our goal in creating the resources were: For youth: (1) Provide opportunities to use science, technology, engineering, and math to solve challenges related to exploring our solar system, (2) Build and hone critical thinking, problem-solving, and design process skills, (3)
Pipeline for Remote Sensing Education and Application (PRSEA), will increase awareness, knowledge and understanding of remote sensing technologies and associated disciplines, and their relevance to NASA, through a combination of activities that build a “pipeline” to STEM and remote sensing careers, for a continuum of audiences from third grade through adulthood. This program will be led by Pacific Science Center. The first objective is to engage 50 teens from groups underrepresented in STEM fields in a four-year career ladder program; participants will increase knowledge and understanding of remote sensing as well as educational pathways that lead to careers in remote sensing fields at NASA and other relevant organizations. The second objective is to serve 2,000 children in grades 3-5, in a remote sensing-based out-of school time outreach program that will increase the participant’s content knowledge of remote sensing concepts and applications and awareness and interest in remote sensing disciplines. PRSEA’s third objective is to engage 180 youth, grades 6-8, in remote sensing-themed summer intensive programs through which youth will increase knowledge of remote sensing concepts and applications and increase awareness and interest in educational and career pathways associated with remote sensing and NASA’s role in this field. The final objective is to engage 10,000 visitors of all ages with a remote sensing-themed Discovery Cart on Pacific Science Center’s exhibit floor. By engaging in cart activities, we anticipate visitors will increase their level of awareness and interest in the topic of remote sensing and NASA’s role in contributing to this field.
Exoplanets Exploration is an interactive exhibition to explore exoplanets for the primary audience of students grades 5th through 12th with a secondary audience of younger children and adults. The exhibition is located in the astronomy wing of the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery (Dayton, Ohio). The project goals are to provide a STEM base for visitors from which to explore exoplanet discoveries; for them to have a basic understanding of exoplanet missions, instruments used in the discoveries, and the science knowledge necessary to understand the discoveries; to learn about the exoplanet discoveries through hands-on tactile, auditory, visual, and kinesthetic interactive exhibition components; and to challenge visitors to contemplate the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe. Aspects of the exhibition are integrated into space-related programming by linking to school visits, Distance Learning programs, summer Discovery Camps, FIRST LEGO league, and homeschool programming. Components of the exhibition addresse relevant Ohio Academic Content Standards for Earth and Space Science and will evolve to incorporate new Next Generation Science Standards. With the STEM career information presented along with scientific learning, students will be able to visualize the possibilities that NASA and space science represents.
Project LIFTOFF works with local, regional, and national partners to engineer statewide systems for Informal Science Education that inspire: YOUTH to pursue STEM education and careers through increased opportunities for quality, hands-on STEM learning. AFTERSCHOOL STAFF to facilitate STEM learning experiences that contribute to the overall STEM education and aspirations of youth in their programs. PROGRAM ADMINISTRATORS to encourage and support staff in the integration of STEM enrichment into the daily programming. STATE LEADERS to sustain and expand afterschool learning opportunities so that all students have access to engaging STEM experiences outside of the regular school day. Project LIFTOFF is dedicated to the development of the following essential elements of statewide systems for informal science education:
Access to appropriate STEM Curriculum for youth of all ages, abilities, and socio-cultural backgrounds that meets the needs and interests of individual community programs
Systematic STEM Professional Development that matches individual skills in positive youth development with abilities to facilitate discovery and science learning
A diverse Cadres of Trainers who will deliver the professional development, technical assistance and curriculum dissemination in their local communities
Authentic Evaluation of informal science efforts that determine the impacts on youth aspirations and the capacity of youth programs to provide quality STEM experiences
Local STEM education leadership to identify the ways in which collaborative education efforts can advance the development of 21st Century Skills and the preparedness for STEM workforce and higher education
Partnerships in support of youth development and informal science education that convene local, regional, and statewide organizations and stakeholders
To advance national initiatives and states' sySTEM engineering efforts, LIFTOFF coordinates an annual convening, the Midwest Afterschool Science Academy, that brings together national informal science experts, system leaders and youth development professionals to elevate the levels of science after school. The 5th MASA will be in the spring of 2014 in Kansas City, MO
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Missouri AfterSchool NetworkJeff Buehler
This Pathways Project connects rural, underserved youth and families in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho to STEM concepts important in sustainable building design. The project is a collaboration of the Palouse Discovery Science Center (Pullman, WA), Washington State University and University of Idaho, working in partnership with rural community organizations and businesses. The deliverables include: 1) interactive exhibit prototype activities, 2) a team cooperative learning problem-solving challenge, and (3) take-home materials to encourage participants to use what they have learned to investigate ways to make their homes more energy-efficient and sustainable. The project introduces youth and families to the traditionally difficult physics concept of thermal energy, particularly as it relates to sustainable building design. Participants explore how building materials and their properties can be used to control all three types of heat transfer: conduction, convection, and radiation. The interactive exhibit prototypes are coupled with an Energy Efficient Engineering Challenge in which participants, working in cooperative learning teams, use information learned from the exhibit prototype activities to retrofit a model house, improving its energy efficiency. The project components are piloted at the Palouse Discovery Science Center, and then travel to three underserved rural/tribal communities in Northern Idaho and Eastern Washington. Front-end and formative evaluation studies will demonstrate whether this model advances participant understanding of and interest in STEM topics and careers. The project will yield information about ways that other ISE practitioners can effectively incorporate cooperative learning strategies in informal settings to improve the transferability of knowledge gained from exhibits to real-world problem-solving challenges, especially for rural and underserved audiences. This project will also provide the ISE field with: 1) a model for increasing the capacity of small, rural science centers to form collaborative regional networks that draw on previously unused resources in their communities and provide more effective outreach to the underrepresented populations they serve, and 2) a model for coupling cooperative learning with outreach exhibits, providing richer experiences of active engagement.