In fall 2019, the Bell Museum received funding via a NASA TEAM II grant to create Mars: The Ultimate Voyage, a full-dome planetarium show and accompanying hands-on activities that focus on the interdisciplinary roles that will be needed to send humans to Mars. This report from Catalyst Consulting Group presents the findings from the summative evaluation completed in March–May 2023.
This poster, which was presented at the Association of Science and Technology Centers Annual Conference on October 22, 2017, compares and contrasts evaluation findings across components of the Beyond Spaceship Earth project at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. The project focuses on educating families and students about life and work aboard the International Space Station and generating interest in STEM topics and careers. Project components reviewed include an exhibit, a space object theater, and workshop-style programs focused on engineering and robotics for both families and school
Moving Beyond Earth Programming: “STEM in 30” Webcasts. The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum (NASM) will develop nine “STEM in 30” webcasts which will be made available to teachers and students in grades 5-8 classrooms across the country. The primary goal of this program is to increase interest and engagement in STEM for students. Formative and summative evaluations will assess the outcomes for the program, which include the following:
Increased interest in STEM and STEM careers, Increased understanding of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), Increased awareness and importance of current and future human space exploration, and Increased learning in the content areas.
This series of live 30-minute webcasts from the National Air and Space Museum and partner sites focus on STEM subjects that integrate all four areas. The webcasts will feature NASA and NASM curators, scientists, and educators exploring STEM subjects using museum and NASA collections, galleries, and activities. During the 30-minute broadcasts, students will engage with museum experts through experiments and activities, ask the experts questions, and answer interactive poll questions. After the live broadcasts, NASM will also archive the webcasts in an interactive “STEM in 30” Gallery.
The purpose of the Lenses on the Sky project is to create diverse skywatching-related experiences for youth across Oregon with a special focus on underserved Hispanic, African American, Native American, and rural communities. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) will create and implement the project in collaboration with Portland’s Rose City Astronomers amateur astronomy club, Rosa Parks Elementary School in Portland, the Libraries of Eastern Oregon (LEO), and ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum in southern Oregon. The goals of the project are for participants to 1) understand the “big idea” that “humans have used observational tools and techniques across culture and time to understand space phenomena”, 2) recognize the relevance, value, and scientific achievements of NASA missions, and 3) be inspired to learn more about topics related to space science, STEM careers, and NASA. Audiences will explore these topics through three main “lenses” or frames: a NASA lens, a tools lens, and a cultural lens. The project will result in 1) a small, permanent, bilingual (Spanish/English) exhibition in OMSI’s free, public spaces adjacent to its planetarium, 2) three observational astronomy events held in Portland, Southern Oregon, and Eastern Oregon, 3) hands-on activities conducted at partner museums/libraries and shared with other educational institutions, 4) an Educator's Guide including lesson plans aligned with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and 5) over 150 email communications to hundreds of recipients featuring space news updates.
Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC), home of the NASA Glenn Visitor Center, is dedicated to sharing NASA content to inform, engage, and inspire students, educators, and the public. To further this goal, GLSC will develop a digital experience focused on collaboration and teamwork, emphasizing the benefits of a systems approach to STEM challenges. At the recently, fully renovated NASA Glenn Visitor Center, GLSC visitors will embark on an exciting mission of discovery, working in teams to collect real data from NASA objects and experiences. Mobile devices will become scientific tools as students, teachers, and families take measurements, access interviews with NASA scientists, analyze results from Glenn Research Center (GRC) test facilities, and link to NASA resources to assemble mission-critical information. This initiative will provide experiences that demonstrate how knowledge and practice can be intertwined, a concept at the core of the Next Generation Science Standards. GLSC’s digital missions will engage students and families in STEM topics through the excitement of space exploration. In addition, this project has the potential to inform the design of future networked visitor experiences in science centers, museums and other visitor attractions.
Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) Howard B. Owens Science Center (HBOSC) will infuse NASA Earth, Heliophysics, and Planetary mission science data into onsite formal and informal curriculum programs to expand scientific understanding of the Earth, Sun, and the universe. The goal of the project is to develop a pipeline of programs for grades 3-8 to enhance teacher and student understanding of NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Earth, Planetary, and Heliophysics science and promote STEM careers and understanding of NASA career pathways using the HBOSC Planetarium, Challenger Center and classrooms. During the school year, PGCPS students in Grades 3 through 8 will experience field trip opportunities that will feature NASA Sun-Earth connection, comparative planetology, Kepler Exoplanet data, and NASA Space Weather Action Center data. PGCPS Grade 3 through 8 teachers will receive summer, day, and evening professional development in comparable earth and space science content both engaging the HBOSC Planetarium and Challenger facility and its resources. The students and teachers in four PGCPS academies (Grades 3 through 8) will serve as a pilot group for broader expansion of the program district-wide. ESPSI will provide opportunities for county-wide participation through community outreach programs that will promote NASA Earth, Heliophysics, and Planetary mission data. Community outreach will be offered through piloting the Maryland Science Center outreach program to four of PGCPS southern located schools and monthly evening planetarium shows along with quarterly family science nights that will include guest speakers and hands-on exhibits from the local science community and Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).
Our Place in Space (OPIS), an inquiry-based curriculum in space science, observation, and exploration for middle school teachers, will be developed by the Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) Chicago, through a committed partnership with the Advanced Concepts Office in NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and with endorsement from the Chicago Public Schools. The goals are to:
Design, test, and deliver OPIS curricula for a year-long course at MSI for science teachers (grades 4-8) that focuses on space observations and explorations using NASA assets and inquiry processes that combine informal learning traditions with the rigor of national and state education standards for middle school science;
Facilitate teachers' use of NASA's digital media and visualization technologies;
Modify and disseminate OPIS curriculum to 248 out-of-school program leaders and 10,440 youth at community sites affiliated with MSI’s Science Minors Clubs located throughout northeastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana.
The MSFC Advanced Concepts Office will coordinate the participation of MSFC scientists who will ensure accuracy of content, keep the curriculum up to date with emerging technologies and discoveries, and mentor OPIS teachers and Science Minors Clubs’ leaders through NASA's Digital Learning Network. The OPIS curriculum is aligned with Next Generation Science Standards, and will enable teachers to integrate instruction in the fundamental principles of space science with cross-cutting concepts while also presenting engineering and design challenges that exercise students' inventiveness, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. Design challenges in OPIS encourage teachers and their students to wrestle with the same engineering problems that intrigue NASA scientists themselves.
The Museum of Aviation: STEM-ulating Georgia's Future Workforce Through Outreach project will build partnerships between the Museum of Aviation, STARBASE, six Georgia school districts, NASA, and volunteer mentors that promote STEM literacy, awareness of NASA's mission, and encourage the pursuit of STEM careers. This goal will be achieved through meeting the following objectives: -Promote lifelong learning by students, educators, and families, using NASA-themed STEM and missions via six outreach programs serving 10,750 participants (including 9,000 students, 1,600 parents, and 150 teachers). -Improve the understanding of NASA's missions, contributions to STEM disciplines and careers by students and faculty in grades pre K-8 by at least 35%. To accomplish the objectives, 6 STEM-based outreach programs will be provided to 12 school districts and will serve students, parents, and teachers. -ACE on the Go - STEM Modules use hands-on interactive activities for 2nd-5th graders -Family STEM Night - provides 2nd-5th graders and their families an opportunity to partake in 15 or more hands-on, interactive experiments that demonstrate STEM principles. -Aviation Outreach - introduces 6th-8th graders to aviation, and to STEM related careers. -STEM Afterschool - 6th-8th graders will learn about forces and motion and how forces make flight possible. -STARBASE 2.0 Afterschool STEM Mentoring Club consists of two components - a STEM Academy and a STEM Mentoring Afterschool Program both for underserved and at-risk youth in grades 6-8. -Teacher Training – STEM Workshops for teachers through the Georgia NASA RERC. This project will help to strengthen Georgia's future workforce by targeting students traditionally underserved and underrepresented in communities and in STEM fields. It will help attract and retain students in STEM disciplines by engaging students in STEM education and exposing them to STEM careers, and connect students, teachers, and families to NASA's mission by building strategic partnerships with formal education providers. The project will also help to strengthen the nation's and NASA's future workforce, attract and retain students in STEM disciplines, and engage Americans in NASA's mission.
The Dynamic Earth: You Have To See it To Believe It is a public exhibition and suite of programming designed to educate and excite K-8 students, teachers, and families about weather and climate science, plate tectonics, erosion, and stream formation. The Dynamic Earth program draws attention to the importance of large-scale earth processes and the human impacts on these processes, utilizing real artifacts, hands-on models, and NASA earth imagery and data. The program includes the exhibition, student workshops, family workshops, annual professional development opportunities for classroom teachers, innovative theater shows, lectures for adults by visiting scientists, and interpretive activities. The Montshire Museum of Science has partnered with Chabot Space and Science Center (CA) and the US Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (NH) on various components. The project has broadened our internal capacity for providing quality earth science programming by greatly expanding our program titles and allowing us to create hands-on materials for use by our educators and to loan to schools in our Partnership Initiative. Programming developed during the grant period continues to reach thousands of students and teachers each year, both on-site and as part of our rural outreach efforts.
Stennis Space Center (SSC) Office of Education and Visitors Center provided relevant education activities and experiences for teachers, students, and the general public. Activities included partnerships with INFINITY Science Center, 4-H of Mississippi, the Boys & Girls Club of America, development and delivery of educator professional development workshops that meet national curriculum standards; inquiry-based activities that emphasized the International Space Station, robotics, aeronautics, and propulsion testing; and development and installation of an interactive exhibit at the Infinity Science Center. The opening of the Infinity Science Center at Stennis Space Center in April 2012 allowed a new opportunity for SSC to partner and expand NASA’s outreach. A commercial-grade playground was professionally installed at the Infinity Science Center, along with OSHA-approved safety matting. The goal of the project was to utilize a commercially available playground and add graphics and quiz-based activities modifications enabling young visitors to INFINITY at NASA Stennis Space Center, the official visitor center for Stennis Space Center, to have an interactive, yet educational, experience.
The primary purpose of the STARS: Strengthening Teaching, Awareness and Resources in Science project from the Challenger Learning Center of the San Joaquin Valley is to build upon the CLC's resources and partnership in order to maximize the impact of informal science education in creating a STEM pipeline for the San Joaquin Valley region. The goals are to promote lifelong learning among the general public regarding STEM fields and NASA's contribution to American society through a series of high-profile community events, strengthen K-12 partnerships to ensure the long-term utilization of the CLC as a STEM education resource, and further develop the CLC's partnership with the University of California Merced to ensure continuity of the STEM pipeline from K-12 to higher education, integrating informal science education to inspire students to pursue STEM learning throughout this progression.
The NASA Science Research Mentoring Program (NASA SRMP) is an established mentoring program that presents the wonders of space exploration and planetary sciences to underserved high school students from New York City through cutting-edge, research-based courses and authentic research opportunities, using the rich resources of the American Museum of Natural History. NASA SRMP consists of a year of Earth and Planetary Science (EPS) and Astrophysics electives offered through the Museum’s After School Program, year-long mentorship placements with Museum research scientists, and summer programming through our education partners at City College of New York and the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. The primary goals of the project are: 1) to motivate and prepare high school students, especially those underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, to pursue STEM careers related to EPS and astrophysics; 2) to develop a model and strategies that can enrich the informal education field; and 3) to engage research scientists in education and outreach programs. The program features five in-depth elective courses, offered twice per year (for a total of 250 student slots per year). Students pursue these preparatory courses during the 10th or 11th grade, and a select number of those who successfully complete three of the courses are chosen the next year to conduct research with a Museum scientist. In addition to providing courses and mentoring placements, the program has produced curricula for the elective courses, an interactive student and instructor website for each course, and teacher and mentor training outlines.