The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), in collaboration with New York University's Institute for Education and Social Policy and the University of Southern Maine Center for Evaluation and Policy, will develop and evaluate a new teacher education program model to prepare science teachers through a partnership between a world class science museum and high need schools in metropolitan New York City (NYC). This innovative pilot residency model was approved by the New York State (NYS) Board of Regents as part of the state’s Race To The Top award. The program will prepare a total of 50 candidates in two cohorts (2012 and 2013) to earn a Board of Regents-awarded Masters of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree with a specialization in Earth Science for grades 7-12. The program focuses on Earth Science both because it is one of the greatest areas of science teacher shortages in urban areas and because AMNH has the ability to leverage the required scientific and educational resources in Earth Science and allied disciplines, including paleontology and astrophysics.
The proposed 15-month, 36-credit residency program is followed by two additional years of mentoring for new teachers. In addition to a full academic year of residency in high-needs public schools, teacher candidates will undertake two AMNH-based clinical summer residencies; a Museum Teaching Residency prior to entering their host schools, and a Museum Science Residency prior to entering the teaching profession. All courses will be taught by teams of doctoral-level educators and scientists.
The project’s research and evaluation components will examine the factors and outcomes of a program offered through a science museum working with the formal teacher preparation system in high need schools. Formative and summative evaluations will document all aspects of the program. In light of the NYS requirement that the pilot program be implemented in high-need, low-performing schools, this project has the potential to engage, motivate and improve the Earth Science achievement and interest in STEM careers of thousands of students from traditionally underrepresented populations including English language learners, special education students, and racial minority groups. In addition, this project will gather meaningful data on the role science museums can play in preparing well-qualified Earth Science teachers. The research component will examine the impact of this new teacher preparation model on student achievement in metropolitan NYC schools. More specifically, this project asks, "How do Earth Science students taught by first year AMNH MAT Earth Science teachers perform academically in comparison with students taught by first year Earth Science teachers not prepared in the AMNH program?.”
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Maritza MacdonaldMeryle WeinsteinRosamond KinzlerMordecai-Mark Mac LowEdmond MathezDavid Silvernail
This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
Scientists and researchers from fields as diverse as oceanography and ecology, astronomy and classical studies face a common challenge. As computer power and technology improve, the sizes of data sets available to us increase rapidly. The goal of this project is to develop a new methodology for using citizen science to unlock the knowledge discovery potential of modern, large data sets. For example, in a previous project Galaxy Zoo, citizen scientists have already made major contributions, lending their eyes, their pattern recognition skills and their brains to address research questions that need human input, and in so doing, have become part of the computing process. The current Galaxy Zoo project has recruited more than 200,000 participants who have provided more than 100 million classifications of galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. This project builds upon early successes to develop a mode of citizen science participation which involves not only simple "clickwork" tasks, but also involves participants in more advanced modes of scientific thought. As part of the project, a symbiotic relationship with machine learning tools and algorithms will be developed, so that results from citizen scientists provide a rich training set for improving algorithms that in turn inform citizen science modes of participation. The first phase of the project will be to develop a portfolio of pilot projects from astrophysics, planetary science, zoology, and classical studies. The second phase of the project will be to develop a framework - called the Zooniverse - to facilitate citizen scientists. In particular, research and machine-learning communities will be engaged to identify suitable projects and data sets to integrate into Zooniverse.
The ultimate goal with the Zooniverse is to create a sustainable future for large-scale, internet-based citizen science as part of every researcher?s toolkit, exemplifying a new paradigm in computational thinking, tapping the mental resources of a community of lay people in an innovative and complex manner that promises a profound impact on our ability to generate new knowledge. The project will engage thousands of citizens in authentic science tasks leading to a better public understanding of science and also, by the engagement of students, leading to interest in scientific careers.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Geza GyukPamela GayChristopher LintottMichael RaddickLucy FortsonJohn Wallin
A partnership between Carthage College and the Appalachian Mountain Club has delivered a successful public education and outreach program that merges natural environment topics and astronomy. Over the four years of activity, over 25,000 people have received programming. The effort has trained nature educators, permanent and seasonal AMC staff, and undergraduate physics and astronomy students to integrate diverse topical material and deliver high quality programming to the lay public. Unique to the program is the holistic nature of the material delivered - an 'atypical' astronomy program. Linking observable characteristics of the natural world with astronomical history and phenomena, and emphasizing the unique sequence of events that have led to human life on Earth, the program has changed attitudes and behaviors among the public participants. Successful interventions have included hands-on observing programs (day and night) that link nature content to the observed objects; table-talk presentations on nature/astronomy topics; dark skies preservation workshops; and hands-on activities developed for younger audiences, including schools, camps, and family groups. An extensive evaluation and assessment effort managed by a leading sociologist has demonstrated the effectiveness of the approach, and contributed to continuous improvement in the program content and methods.
StarTalk Radio will develop a highly innovative new genre of science radio that bridges the intersection between popular culture and science education. Host of the show and project PI is Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, renowned scientist, astrophysicist, popular science author and director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City. The radio programs will combine comedy, references to pop culture, and public fascination with space science to reach an untapped audience for the informal science field--those who listen to commercial talk radio call-in shows. The STEM content will include astronomy, astrophysics, astrobiology, space exploration, earth system science, and associated technologies. Goals and intended outcomes of the project include increasing knowledge and interest of space science topics, and motivating audiences to pursue additional learning acitivities as the result of listening to the programs. This project builds on a previous SGER grant (#0852400) which produced 13 pilot programs and was evaluated by Multimedia Research. Project deliverables include 39 one-hour live call-in shows a year for a total of 117 shows over three years, a website, and a business strategy that projects making the radio programs self-sustaining. Dr. Tyson will be the host, and each program will include a celebrity guest who has a strong interest in science. The target audience for the show is the "blue collar intellectual" audience segment who listens to commercial talk radio, has a high school education or less and is in the 25-44 year old range. It is estimated that there will be one million listeners per week by the end of the project. People with disabilities (deaf and visually impaired) will have access to the products through captioning and other features on the website. Project partners include CBS Radio, CBS/AOL, and Discover Magazine. Formative evaluation of these new shows and website will be conducted by Multimedia Research. The Goodman Research Group (GRG) will conduct the summative evluation to assess the extent to which the project accomplishes the goals and specifically will gather and analyze data on the previously untappped and underserved audiences. The evaluation will examine the differences in impact on Science Novices and Science Enthusiasts, asking questions about how the programs increase awareness of scientific issues, and their effects on society and culture, as well as factual knowledge. Methods include multi-level, quasi-experimental, and longitudinal episode assessments. Potential impacts on the field of informal science education include opening up a new commercial radio audience for informal science learning, increasing knowledge about effective approaches to combining humor and science, and demonstrating an effective business model that results in a self-supporting show about science on commercial radio.
The National Science Festival Network project, also operating as the Science Festival Alliance, is designed to create a sustainable national network of science festivals that engages all facets of the general public in science learning. Science Festivals, clearly distinct from "science fairs", are community-wide activities engaging professional scientists and informal and K-12 educators targeting underrepresented segments of local communities historically underserved by formal or informal STEM educational activities. The initiative builds on previous work in other parts of the world (e.g. Europe, Australasia) and on recent efforts in the U.S. to create science festivals. The target audiences are families, children and youth ages 5-18, adults, professional scientists and educators in K-12 and informal science institutions, and underserved and underrepresented communities. Project partners include the MIT Museum in Cambridge, UC San Diego, UC San Francisco, and the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. The deliverables include annual science festivals in these four cities supported by year-round related activities for K-12 and informal audiences, a partnership network, a web portal, and two national conferences. Ten science festivals will be convened in total over the 3 years of the project, each reaching 15,000 to 60,000 participants per year. STEM content includes earth and space science, oceanography, biological/biomedical science, bioinformatics, and computer, behavioral, aeronautical, nanotechnology, environmental, and nuclear science. An independent evaluator will systematically assess audience participation and perceptions, level/types of science interest stimulated in target groups, growth of partnering support at individual sites, and increasing interactions between ISE and formal K-12 education. A variety of qualitative and quantitative assessments will be designed and utilized. The project has the potential to transform public communication and understanding of science and increase the numbers of youth interested in pursuing science.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Loren ThompsonJeremy BabendureBen Wiehe
The Nature Research Center is a project through which the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences provides NASA with a permanent presence through the creation of NASA-themed exhibits in its new wing (the Nature Research Center), hosting special events, educator workshops and special programming, all of which serve the general population and seek to improve understanding of and engagement with science. The lead institution is the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. Goals, expected and actual outcomes are as follows: Exhibits in the new wing were expected to reach 200,000 individuals in its inaugural year; in only 8 months, the Museum has welcomed over 1 million visitors. Astronomy Days’ goal was to reach 20,000 people per year and is on target for meeting this goal. Educator Workshops’ goal was to reach 32 educators per workshop and is on target for meeting this goal. The Museum’s visitor base has demonstrated an insatiable desire for NASA-themed programs. Attendance at Astronomy Days remains impressive and special space events (such as the transit of Venus, or live downlinks with the International Space Station) attract larger-than-expected audiences. The Museum appreciates NASA’s support and is eager to continue providing NASA with an ongoing presence in Raleigh, NC.
Exploring Ocean Science from Space (EOSS) is an integrated program of marine life exhibits and science programming designed to bring broader awareness of NASA’s ocean research and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) to our staff, volunteers, students, their families and teachers, as well as the visiting public. The Seattle Aquarium was the lead institution, and partnered with NASA and NOAA. The project’s goal to advance NASA’s commitment to share its research through informal education and helping more than 1.5 million people better understand the role of oceans in our earth system while they increase their STEM literacy has been achieved. The project created and implemented a wide range of programs and products including a teen intern program, interpretive programming, special events, Bering Sea Bingo educational game, hands-on activity kits including Wi-Fi enabled tablets to utilize online NASA content for interpretation, exhibit improvements to enhance the learners’ experience, electronic interactive stations, and a self-guided Aquarium workbook.
Our Instrumented Earth: Understanding Global Systems and Local Impacts through the El Nino Story centers on a new production displayed on Science on a Sphere® (SOS), and informal educational program elements to engage learners in the power and purpose of NASA data-gathering tools. Audiences include over two million visitors to partner institutions, serving both urban and rural constituencies that rank among the most diverse in the nation. The Aquarium has partnered with the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) and NASA Goddard Space Center to implement elements of the program, as well as NASA scientists and experts to develop content. There are two main project goals for Our Instrumented Earth: to create a NASA-informed public by creating an SOS production which highlights space technologies and other instruments monitoring Earth; and to enhance the STEM capacity of underserved teachers, parents, and students through teacher professional development and outreach events. Major project deliverables for Our Instrumented Earth include: a brand new SOS film production, an adapted program for the Magic Planet spherical display platform to serve rural communities, professional development workshop for formal teachers, and NASA Night outreach events at the Aquarium.
The Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS) CP4SMP program, Methods of Increasing Awareness of Comparative Planetology and Climate Science with Science On a Sphere in Museum Settings, intended to educate our audiences about planetary exploration missions, illuminate climate science through comparative planetology, and produce new educational materials, interpretation techniques, and knowledge that facilitate more effective informal education on these themes nationally. DMNS was the lead organization on this program, but collaborated closely with other institutions involved in the Science on a Sphere® (SOS) user community. This program achieved its intentions to: (1) boost literacy in climate science, (2) build awareness of NASA’s space science missions and the relevance of NASA Earth observing satellites to contemporary issues of global change, and (3) evaluate the effectiveness of different modes of employing the SOS system with diverse audiences. We capitalized on our unique combination of scientific expertise in planetary science and spacecraft exploration, our considerable experience in digital media development, informal science education, exhibit design, educational research, and museum evaluation. Over the duration of the project we: (1) developed visually exciting and compelling SOS programming on comparative planetology and climate science using NASA mission data; (2) tested different modes of presentation of SOS to determine how this technology can be best utilized in informal science contexts; (3) investigated how visitors perceive and understand scientific data presented on SOS; and (4) created teacher professional development workshops to reach K-12 formal educators both locally and nationally. The DMNS CP4SMP NASA grant created opportunities to positively impact climate literacy for millions of DMNS visitors over the five-year period.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Scott SampsonSteve LeeKa Chun YuEddie GoldsteinAndrea Giron
A Fulldome Planetarium Show for Space Science: A Pilot Project was designed to immerse and engage middle school students (grades 5-8) in space exploration, comparative planetology and the importance of sustainability on our own planet. Morehead Planetarium and Science Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill led the project, which involved the development of a 27 minute fulldome digital planetarium show and supporting curricula. The project included advisors from NASA JPL, UNC’s Physics and Astronomy Department and the Wake County North Carolina Public School System. The show draws on discoveries by the Mars Exploration Rovers, Hubble Space Telescope and other NASA missions to compare and contrast geological, atmospheric, and other physical characteristics of the places visited by the show's main characters. The aims of the show are to provide an engaging learning experience that helps students understand the criteria used to classify Solar System bodies and appreciate the environmental conditions needed to support life as we know it. Further, the show aims to communicate why Earth - with a balance of systems and resources found nowhere else - is an "amazing oasis" in our Solar System. The Standards-Based Learning Activities for Middle School support and extend the content of the Solar System Odyssey show by providing clear, detailed ideas for pre- and post- visit lessons. The lessons center on Teaching about Technology Design, Integrating Science and Language Arts, Teaching about Environmental Systems and include science experiments, creative writing and vocabulary exercises, discussion and engineering design challenges. The lessons reference specific NASA missions, and some of the activities are modeled directly after previously produced NASA educational materials. The show and curricular materials have been translated and are available in Spanish.
The Children’s Museum developed From the Blue Planet to the Red Planet: Exploring Planetary Science to provide opportunities for students in grades 4 through 8, teachers, and families to learn about Mars exploration. The Museum partnered with the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT) on four teacher professional development modules related to aspects of planetary science: soil and plant study, air pressure, robotic exploration, and the comparison of Mars and Earth. Teachers who attended free workshops could bring students to the Museum for classroom and planetarium experiences. The Museum received support from Central Connecticut State University and technical advice from Phoenix Project scientists at JPL. The Museum created a timeline of Mars exploration history with video clips of milestones and an accompanying quiz kiosk. CCAT created virtual Mars drive-through experiences with which visitors could explore the planet. The Travelers ScienceDome Planetarium staff wrote, directed, and animated a full-dome planetarium program about the future study of Mars that was finished in December 2012. For over two years the Museum has sponsored free, monthly Mars Madness programs during which the general public can visit the exhibit, see a Mars-related planetarium program, and test out some of the hands-on activities developed for the school groups. The Museum hoped to reach a diverse audience, especially, those people who might otherwise not afford admission. We have produced four teacher professional development guides with hands-on activities, an exhibit for our facility, a dedicated website, and a planetarium program.
The National Mining Hall of Fame’s newest exhibit, Expanding Boundaries: Harrison Schmitt and the New Mining Frontier is an innovative look at the future of the extraction industry and a unique opportunity to expand the imagination of current and future generations. With the help from the experts at NASA, the new exhibit communicates information to inspire excitement and convey benefits of space exploration as it relates to the mining industry and our everyday lives, as well as to commemorate and honor Harrison Schmitt by sharing his contributions and experiences to foster interest and exploration of STEM disciplines. Through four, user-friendly, interactive displays the exhibit achieves the following objectives: (1) Provide factual information such as the Apollo missions, geology of the moon, theories of the moons origins, cultural interpretations of the moon, and other general moon information. (2) Compare historic earth-based mining, lunar mining, and future prospects for extra-terrestrial mining. (3) Connect with modern, technological sensibility through interactive, educational and gaming elements. (4) Dedicate the exhibit to Harrison Schmitt and celebrate his story through artifacts, audio-visuals, and stories. (5) Display lunar and other extra-terrestrial related minerals (i.e. meteorites, etc.).