In collaboration with TERC and informal learning organizations across the United States, COSI’s Center for Research and Evaluation (CRE) is part of an NSF-funded project, Research to Understand and Inform the Impacts of Ambient and Designed Sound on Informal STEM Learning.
In collaboration with TERC and informal learning organizations across the United States, COSI’s Center for Research and Evaluation (CRE) is part of an NSF-funded project, Research to Understand and Inform the Impacts of Ambient and Designed Sound on Informal STEM Learning.
This poster was presented at the 2021 NSF AISL Awardee Meeting.
Programming includes
Neighborhood Walks led by teams of scientists/engineers and artists
Community Workshops, Local Artist Projects, and Youth Mentorship focused on neighborhood and citywide water issues
Intergenerational participation, from seniors and adult learners to young adults, teens, and middle schoolers
This article describes a design-based research (DBR) study conducted as part of a larger initiative, Science on the Move, intended to bring non-facilitated and unexpected science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning experiences to public transit stations. Drawing from prior research on situational interest, pedestrian navigation, and design affordances, the study was intended to (a) support the development of exhibit prototypes in transit stations and (b) build a theoretically-grounded conjecture map of multi-stage visitor attention, including factors which support or discourage
This poster was presented at the 2014 AISL PI Meeting in Washington, DC. It describes an exhibit developed for bus transit stations designed to reach underrepresented groups in Portland.
This poster was presented at the 2014 AISL PI Meeting held in Washington, DC. The goal of the project is to establish practices for combining public participation in scientific research (citizen science) with DNA-based species identification (DNA barcoding) to scale-up and improve the accuracy of research projects that monitor animal and plant species in the sea and on land as they respond to climate and environmental changes.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Mount Desert Island Biological LaboratoryKaren James
This study of American adults’ attitudes towards children’s experiences in nature was based on survey data from 2,138 people who participated in an independently commissioned, online consumer survey in February 2010. The Encouraging Children’s Nature Experiences Scale (EC-NES) was created to assess adult attitudes and beliefs surrounding encouragement of children’s nature experiences. While a great deal of empirical research has already been undertaken to demonstrate the value and impact of these experiences, not all of the research has been adopted by the public. The EC-NES scale was designed
This nationwide study sought to detect and evaluate the shifting priorities of today's attractions visitors and how their needs and wants drive their behavior. The data revealed trends in how people view, plan for, and react to their world as they travel throughout the country. The research compares recent findings to pre-recession studies to track key shifts in consumer behavior in the post-recession era.
In this paper, researchers at the University of Queensland discuss findings from investigations on conservation learning at two Queensland ecotourism sites—a three hour whale watching cruise operating from the Gold Coast and turtle viewing at Mon Repos Turtle Rookery, Bargara. The researchers present a set of five challenges they faced in this research, as a warning to all who might dare to attempt similar studies. Their experience has demonstrated that the famous adage of show business, “Never work with children or animals” can indeed apply in wildlife tourism research.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Karen HughesRoy BallantyneJan Packer
This article summarizes methodology and key findings from research to determine the effectiveness of several aspects of the Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve on Lake Erie visitor center for providing public information about the value of estuaries. Researchers investigated how knowledge and attitudes of adults change with each visit, the factors that contribute to differing visitor experiences, how types of exhibits, readability, and placement relate to knowledge changes, and if a computer can serve as a testing device in a visitor center.
EDX Exhibits approached Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) to test prototypes for exhibits being developed for a new welcome center at the Big Cypress National Preserve. The formative evaluation, which took place during the summer, followed a front-end evaluation conducted during the spring. All data was collected at the Oasis Visitor Center at the Big Cypress National Preserve in south Florida. Having conducted a front-end evaluation that explored Big Cypress visitors' perceptions of and familiarity with ideas that would be explored in the exhibits, RK&A identified concepts that were most
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Randi Korn & Associates, Inc.EDX ExhibitsBig Cypress National Preserve Visitor Center
The article is a summary of the comments and discussions a session at the 2006 AAM conference that addressed what museums in the fields of art, history, and science might learn from each other and how museums might benefit from "cross-pollination." Panel participants were Eric Siegel, Executive Vice President for Programs and Planning at the New York Hall of Science, Benjamin Filene, Director of the Public History Program at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, Deborah Schwartz, President of the Brooklyn Historical Society, and Jennifer MacGregor, Curator of Visual Arts at Wave Hill.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Eric SiegelBenjamin FileneDeborah SchwartzJennifer MacGregor