Informal STEM learning experiences (ISLEs), such as participating in science, computing, and engineering clubs and camps, have been associated with the development of youth’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics interests and career aspirations. However, research on ISLEs predominantly focuses on institutional settings such as museums and science centers, which are often discursively inaccessible to youth who identify with minoritized demographic groups. Using latent class analysis, we identify five general profiles (i.e., classes) of childhood participation in ISLEs from data
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
Remy DouHeidi CianZahra HazariPhilip SadlerGerhard Sonnert
Science outreach represents a strategy that helps to connect scientists with non-specialized audiences in culturally relevant ways, with the overarching goal of bridging science and society. The concept of science outreach dates back to the beginning of modern science research, but in more recent times, science outreach is increasingly seen as a necessary component of the scientific enterprise, particularly in the context of promoting access, equity, and inclusivity. Yet, challenges exist with regard to scaling and sustaining science outreach efforts. As the field of science outreach moves towards professionalization, it is important to understand how science outreach programs and activities are currently viewed among members of the scientific community. The goal of this project is uncover how science outreach is valued among scientific researchers, learn what motivates scientists to participate in science outreach related initiatives, and examine how gender and race influences participation. The results of this project have the potential to raise awareness about the importance of science outreach and ultimately support increased, effective, and sustainable public engagement with science.
The aims of this project will be accomplished through the creation, dissemination, and analysis of a nationwide survey instrument which will be developed with collaborative input from representative members of the growing national science outreach community. The survey instrument will be tailored to query three distinct groups of respondents that exist within the scientific community: 1) Respondents who do not conduct science outreach; 2) Respondents who participate in science outreach with varying frequency; 3) Respondents who practice science outreach as their profession. A large-scale survey will be conducted and the responses will be analyzed and shared with the broad scientific community through peer-reviewed publication, alongside complementary write-ups and future recommendations, which will be shared on free and publicly accessible web platforms.
European Researchers’ Night is an annual pan-European initiative of the European Commission held on the last Friday in September. In 2015, 1.1 million European citizens and 18,000 researchers took part in events organised in more than 300 cities within Europe and neighbouring countries. The objective of European Researchers’ Night is to encourage the wider public to visit research institutes, engage with researchers, and learn more about European research and potential career opportunities. In this paper, European Researchers’ Night in Ireland is considered through the lens of informal
Learn how to create opportunities for young people from low-income, ethnically diverse communities to learn about growing food, doing science, and how science can help them contribute to their community in positive ways. The authors developed a program that integrates hydroponics (a method of growing plants indoors without soil) into both in-school and out-of-school educational settings.
Abstract: We aim to disrupt the multigenerational cycle of poverty in our rural indigenous (18% Native American and 82% Hispanic) community by training our successful college students to serve as role models in our schools. Poverty has led to low educational aspirations and expectations that plague our entire community. As such, its disruption requires a collective effort from our entire community. Our Collective unites two local public colleges, 3 school systems, 2 libraries, 1 museum, 1 national laboratory and four local organizations devoted to youth development. Together we will focus on raising aspirations and expectations in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) topics, for STEM deficiencies among 9th graders place them at risk of dropping out while STEM deficiencies among 11th and 12th graders preclude them from pursuing STEM majors in college and therefore from pursuing well paid STEM careers. We will accomplish this by training, placing, supporting, and assessing the impact of, an indigenous STEM mentor corps of successful undergraduate role models. By changing STEM aspirations and expectations while heightening their own sense of self-efficacy, we expect this corps to replenish itself and so permanently increase the flow of the state's indigenous populations into STEM majors and careers in line with NSF's mission to promote the progress of science while advancing the national health, prosperity and welfare.
Our broader goal is to focus the talents and energies of a diverse collective of community stakeholders on the empowerment of its local college population to address and solve a STEM disparity that bears directly on the community's well-being in a fashion that is generalizable to other marginalized communities. The scope of our project is defined by six tightly coupled new programs: three bringing indigenous STEM mentors to students, one training mentors, one training mentees to value and grow their network of mentors, and one training teachers to partner with us in STEM. The intellectual merit of our project lies not only in its assertion that authentic STEM mentors will exert an outsize influence in their communities while increasing their own sense of self-efficacy, but in the creation and careful application of instruments that assess the factors that determine teens' attitudes, career interests, and behaviors toward a STEM future; and mentors' sense of self development and progress through STEM programs. More precisely, evaluation of the programs has the potential to clarify two important questions about the role of college-age mentors in schools: (1) To what degree is the protege's academic performance and perceived scholastic competence mediated by the mentor's impact on (a) the quality of the protege's parental relationship and (b) the social capital of the allied classroom teacher; (2) To what degree does the quality of the student mentor's relationships with faculty and peers mediate the impact of her serving as mentor on her self-efficacy, academic performance, and leadership skills?
Temple University's "Sisters in Science in the Community (SISCOM)" is a constructivist-based, inclusive youth/community project targeting underrepresented urban middle and high school girls in grades 6-10 and their families; it supports inclusion of girls with disabilities. It engages girls and their parents in hands-on, inquiry-based sports science in after-school, Saturday, and summer programs co-hosted by community-based organizations and Temple University. Girls will also be engaged in student-centered research projects guided by female scientists. With regard to intellectual merit, SISCOM is based on previous research done by Temple on methods for engaging girls and their parents in STEM activities. The infrastructure of research and practices in education will be facilitated through the sharing of information between the network of partners and the national community of formal and informal educators
This project develops an interdisciplinary and transformative in- and out of-school science education and technology program that engages high school aged youth and their teachers in 1) the production of food using hydroponics, and 2) the use of green energy technologies (solar, and wind) to power hydroponic systems. This distinctive program integrates food production, a novel model of parental outreach, a focus on green career development, and an authentic reason (growing their own produce for selling at a market) for learning how and why to use alternative energy technologies. The project creates an approach to sustainability in which students not only give back to their community, but are in a position to provide a continuous revenue stream to the school in order to operate their indoor urban garden indefinitely. The partnership with the Boston Youth Environmental Network provides youth opportunities for summer internships with green energy companies. The project builds upon a learning progressions model in which youth gradually learn about complex scientific systems and economic principles throughout their years in the program. Rather than a onetime experience, youth are engaged in a long-term experience building their knowledge and skills regarding science, economics, and college preparedness. This project has the potential to impact thousands of students informally and over 2000 students (in classrooms) directly with a minimum of 60 students receiving focused and in depth learning experiences during the summer and on weekends during the school year. With the passage of laws encouraging local schools to partner with local farms, the need for locally grown produce will increase; in that context, the program brings the farm to the school in a way that allows food to be grown year round. Thus, a model is developed that any school or informal learning center could adopt to grow their own food while simultaneously creating a living and learning laboratory for youth in their own program.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
George BarnettEric StraussDavid BlusteinCatherine WongElizabeth Bagnani