To enhance and build on NSF-funded efforts already underway in the informal science education community, this proposal requests funding to: (1) bring together educators working in informal science environments for a two-day professional development conference that will focus exclusively on climate literacy in all of its dimensions, and (2) provide opportunities for informal science educators to interact on the topic of climate change with scientists and science media who will be participating in the AAAS annual meeting that immediately follows. This Climate Literacy professional development conference will take place on February 17-18, 2010 in San Diego. AAAS will organize the conference in partnership with the Birch Aquarium, the public exploration center for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. In addition to presentations on all aspects of climate literacy and what it entails for educators and for the public, this professional development conference will also provide a variety of hands-on opportunities for participants to apply their new knowledge and skills to their own programs and projects. An expert advisory group will guide the development of the conference program and the selection of speakers and participants, focusing especially on including and serving the needs of informal science educators from institutions of varying sizes and types and serving diverse public audiences.
DATE:
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Jo Ellen RosemanMary Koppal
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of Washington propose a conference, conference proceedings, and book that will build capacity and new collaborations at the intersection of the learning sciences and informal science education. These activities continue to expand on the outcomes of several recent conferences, publications, and projects related to research on the learning sciences and their application to varieties of educational settings. Fifty participants in this initiative will include both emerging and established researchers and practitioners, as well as international professionals.
Understanding the Tree of Life was a 36-month-long conference project that brought together evolutionary biologists, museum educators (including natural history museums, science centers, zoos, aquaria and botanical gardens), and STEM-education/cognitive psychology researchers with the goal of improving both the research agenda and practice of the use of phylogenetic "tree of life" visual representations in museum exhibits on evolution. The project was multi-faceted, incorporating pilot research studies, a planning meeting and a major conference, and evaluation of the conference and impact on professionals. Participants represented several museums and university-based researchers across the country and one in Israel. Four research groups, twenty planning meeting participants, sixty-two conference attendees from thirty institutions, and twelve advisors were involved.
Citizen science projects engage members of the general public in professionally directed research and participatory action research projects that investigate local environmental issues. The Cornell University - Laboratory of Ornithology is requesting funding to support a national conference and the development of a web-based Citizen Science Toolkit to inform these programs. The Toolkit will provide a framework for scientists and educators to develop, implement and evaluate independent citizen science projects. Deliverables include an invitational conference where best practices will be identified, in addition to the electronic toolkit that will include a Citizen Science Manual and instruments for assessing the effectiveness of projects. A virtual community of educators that develop and implement citizen science projects in a variety of STEM areas will be created. It is anticipated this work will improve the quality of citizen science projects across the country.
An Early Concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) has been given to The ASTA Group, LLC to create a blueprint for an International Conference on Cyberlearning that would explore radically different approaches to both formal and informal learning at a national level. The EAGER will bring together essential individuals and organizations across a range of STEM disciplines committed to advancing Cyberlearning for the improvement of STEM education and how to use technology to connect underrepresented groups with resources and tools to which they have never before been exposed. ASTA and the national defense industrial community have encountered and solved many of the same implementation issues arising now in education and have actively sought ways that technology can improve education and training effectiveness, efficiency, and accessibility. The Defense and Defense-related industries operate at the scale necessary for successful transfer of small research projects to wide-scale application. Through ASTA's extensive R&D knowledge of advanced technologies, most specifically their work in multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs), modeling and simulation (M&S), and game-based learning as applied in the military's education, training, and workforce development programs, they will bring the highest level of expertise to the development of a blueprint for an international conference on Cyberlearning that will forge unprecedented partnerships across government, academia, and industry. ASTA and the National Training and Simulation Association (NTSA) as Principal Investigator, will submit a proposal for an international conference in 2010 based upon the blueprint developed by the EAGER grant. It is anticipated that technology will be used during the EAGER phase to plan the conference, disseminate conference-related information, and serve as an interface for activities. A website and/or Internet portal will be established and will be used to facilitate on-going partnerships, monitoring, and information sharing. It may have both public and participant levels of access. Details, as well as partners for development, maintenance, and funding will be determined through the EAGER planning period.
The Conference on Cyberlearning Tools for STEM (CyTSE) brings together scientists, cyberlearning developers, educational researchers, STEM educators (formal and informal), curriculum developers and other stakeholders that contribute to the agenda on K-12 STEM cyberlearning and workforce preparation. Collaborators include Northwestern University, University of Colorado at Boulder, and the WGBH Educational Foundation. This informative meeting will be held as a NSTA pre-conference workshop. The conference plan includes keynote presentations by prominent cyberinfrastructure and cyberlearning professionals, an expert panel on cyberlearning and the future of STEM education, hands-on demonstrations of cyberlearning tools for participants, and interactive poster sessions. Potential tracks for the poster sessions include emerging technologies, design and development, technical challenges and solutions, implementation and integration, and research and evaluation. The second day of the conference will include teacher professional development workshops, as well as in-depth design focus groups, developer integration and interoperability workshops, and a session emphasizing the development of a cyberlearning research agenda. Additional deliverables include a video overview of the conference (for those unable to attend), a white paper proposing a cyberlearning research agenda, and an evaluation study to measure the impact of the conference on participants. A series of post-conference webinars will be hosted by WGBH's Teachers' Domain and publicized on their Facebook, Classroom 2.0, and Science Ning sites to encourage ongoing collaboration. It is anticipated that this two-day conference will bridge gaps between the stakeholder communities and expose important trends and issues that will contribute to a comprehensive research agenda.