As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments. This includes providing multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences, advancing innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and developing understandings of deeper learning by participants. The Exploratorium in San Francisco, in collaboration with social science researchers at Arizona State University and Rutgers University, will conduct a two-year Pilots and Feasibility Studies project that will test a new model for integrating museum exhibits with public participation in scientific research, called Exhibit-Based PPSR (E-PPSR). The team will create a mini-exhibition about social psychology that (a) engages science museum visitors in investigating and reflecting on social factors that promote cooperation or not, (b) builds public awareness of the science of social psychology and (c) generates valid data for academic research in this area.
The Exploratorium will build on its long history of creating participatory exhibits that engage visiting groups in social science learning and in self-reflective metacognition. This expands beyond the typical lab-in-the-museum in which individual visitors interact with researchers' laptops or simple props. The model takes the exhibit experiences further, injecting the dimension of public participation in social psychology research. By voluntarily and anonymously contributing demographic and response data, large numbers of people from mixed-age groups will help social scientists gain new insights into cooperation among a broader sample of humanity than are usually studied in university labs. The E-PPSR lab is always available, rather than open only when a researcher is present. The model also incorporates research on learning and assesses the effect of E-PPSR on social science learning experiences. Do museum visitors build greater conceptual understanding of the social science by contributing to real research and seeing their own responses within the larger dataset? Do they attend more deeply to debriefing activities when they have contributed their own data? The three main deliverables include: 1) a prototype Exhibit-based PPSR laboratory at the Exploratorium comprised of one exhibit for gaining informed consent, three 'Data-Catcher' exhibits modified to record anonymous responses when visitors opt-in to contributing to social psychological research, and one debriefing exhibit. A back-end database will send data to the academic researchers; 2) evaluation studies that test the E-PPSR model. The studies will assess the success of debriefing approaches, the effectiveness of recruitment and the impact of E-PPSR on learning. The team will publish a journal article describing the E-PPSR model and academic research findings. The team will also organize a conference session with others in the museum field who manage in-house academic research laboratories; and 3) a report by the academic partners describing the impact of the project on their research program.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments. This includes providing multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences, advancing innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and developing understandings of deeper learning by participants. The Museum of Science, Boston (MOS) and Boston University (BU) will conduct a Pilot and Feasibility Study project that leverages the current Living Laboratory (LL) model and expand it to engage high school students (teens) in experimental psychology research, science communication and science education activities. In LL, which is now an extensive network of museums and university researchers across the country, scientists and museum staff collaborate to engage children in studies on the museum floor and educate caregivers about the research. Multi-site implementation and evaluation of LL has also documented positive impacts for undergraduate researchers. Many sites are eager to extend these benefits to high school students by engaging them as practitioners within the model and by providing them with opportunities to engage in current research, education and communication, thereby helping to foster stronger youth identities with science and its applications in society. This project expands a ten-year LL partnership between MOS and BU to: 1) pilot a program in which high school students both conduct scientific research and engage the public in learning about science; 2) explore strategies for museums and universities to collaboratively engage, support and mentor high school students in science research, communication and education activities; 3) document curricular, other programmatic, and evaluation materials; and 4) convene professional participants to provide feedback on pilot materials, and assess the viability of implementing similar programs at additional sites. Guided by developmental evaluation, these activities will generate knowledge for the field, and act to increase professional capacity to integrate experiences for teens at multiple LL sites in future projects. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
This research brief highlights findings from the proof of concept pilot year of the Child Trends News Service project. It explores what we have learned regarding best practices for communicating with and engaging Latino parents through short messages on research-informed parenting practices. The findings are grounded in research that substantiates the need to amplify access to child development research, particularly among low-income Latino families; and in communication science research that demonstrates the value of the news media as an information source for child development research.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Alicia TorresSelma CaalLuz GuerraAngela Rojas
resourceevaluationWebsites, Mobile Apps, and Online Media
Summary brief describing summative evaluation associated with the MarcellusByDesign component of Marcellus Matters: EASE. Marcellus Matters: Engaging Adults in Science and Energy (EASE) was a program of Penn State University’s Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research (MCOR), in collaboration with other experts across the university. The first year of program activities took place in 2012, and the project continued through September 2016. EASE was a multidisciplinary initiative that provided adults in rural Pennsylvania with opportunities to increase their knowledge of science and energy
Summary brief describing findings from summative evaluation for the Marcellus Citizen Science Network component of the Marcellus Matters: EASE project.
Summative evaluation of one of four pieces of the Marcellus Matters: EASE project. This study examined the effectiveness of a series of environmental planning workshops geared toward local community members in counties across Pennsylvania.
Summative evaluation of one of four pieces of the Marcellus Matters: EASE project. This study examined the effectiveness of a program developed to immerse adult learners in the processes of scientific research by teaching participants to locate and report orphan and abandoned natural gas wells.
Summative evaluation of one of four pieces of the Marcellus Matters: EASE project. This study examined the effectiveness of a ten-week adult/community education program about topics related to natural gas development.
Summative evaluation of one of four pieces of the Marcellus Matters: EASE project. Formative evaluation of one of four pieces of the Marcellus Matters: EASE project. This study examined how effective a series of "Community Conversations" theater and dialogue/discussion events was at a) communicating natural gas development-related science content and community issues, and b) promoting audience members' openness to dialogue about natural gas development-related issues.
Summative evaluation of the Marcellus Matters: EASE project. Marcellus Matters: Engaging Adults in Science and Energy (EASE) was a program of Penn State University’s Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research (MCOR), in collaboration with other experts across the university. The first year of program activities took place in 2012, and the project continued through September 2016. EASE was a multidisciplinary initiative that provided adults in rural Pennsylvania with opportunities to increase their knowledge of science and energy systems and engage in scientific inquiry and investigation