Overview
In 2022, we worked with The Wild Center to evaluate its new IMLS-funded climate change exhibition, which used an innovative approach focused on presenting climate solutions through place-based examples and storytelling. Our evaluation came at a time when many museums were wrestling with how to effectively empower visitors to take climate action.
In the early stages of exhibition development, we also conducted audience research using Yale’s Six Americas Short Survey (SASSY) to help The Wild Center understand their audience’s dispositions toward climate change, which they used to
Reflections and Ideas about Collaboration with Integrity explores the work Generations of Knowledge: Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Environmental Science (National Science Foundation DRL-1010559), a six-year collaborative project between OMSI and Native partners from diverse tribes, cultures, and ecoregions that co-created traveling exhibits and programs for science and tribal museums. This legacy document reflects on and shares what we learned on this journey, including our detours and course corrections. The legacy document strongly reflects the work of the whole project both in its
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resourceresearchMuseum and Science Center Exhibits
This resource presents a catalog of 25 unique projects, with short descriptions and details about how each project integrates imagination. To support practitioner use, the projects are indexed by title, contributor, project context and format, project audiences, and imaginative ways of thinking. Projects in this resource were selected from works shared by Unpacking the STEM Imagination Convening participants, and works reviewed as part of a comprehensive literature review on imagination in STEM.
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resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
This resource presents a one-page summary of the methods, results, and conclusions from a comprehensive literature review of 137 pieces of literature addressing the intersections of imagination and STEM. The research questions guiding this comprehensive literature review were: (a) What types of literature address imagination in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education and practice? (b) How does the literature define imagination? (c) How does the literature position the role of imagination in STEM? Details of the literature review results can be found summarized in other
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resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
A brief summary of the results of an analysis of 137 pieces of literature reviewed as part of the project’s comprehensive literature review, focusing specifically on the range of ways imagination is positioned in relation to STEM (as a trait or capability, an outcome, a process, a theoretical framework, or as valuable).
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resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
This resource presents a list of categories of “imaginative ways of thinking” as well as word clouds illustrating the huge range of ways imagination is described in literature at the intersections of imagination and STEM. This resource reflects results from a comprehensive review of 137 pieces of literature addressing the intersections of imagination and STEM.
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resourceevaluationProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
This report describes results of a professional impacts evaluation to understand the impact of the Unpacking the Imagination Convening on its participants. Evaluation Questions were: (1) What, if any, new perspectives on imagination, STEM, and learning did participants gain through the pre conference activities and/or the convening? (2) How, if at all, did participation in the convening impact participants’ awareness of current and recent ISE initiatives in which imagination is a thread? (d) How, if at all, did participation in the convening impact participants’ interest in positioning
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resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
This report presents results of a survey of 101 professionals' perspectives on imagination in STEM, describing the survey’s methods and results. The goal of the survey was to describe the landscape of beliefs about and understandings of imagination in the context of STEM practice and STEM education. Findings suggest that professionals (representing various sectors within or adjacent to STEM education and practice) believe in the power of imagination in STEM; there is an appetite - and need - for more imagination-infused work; and definitions of imagination varied, offering an expansive range
This document categorizes several strategies for fostering imaginative thinking, emergent from our review of literature. Strategies are organized by high-level categories, sub-categories, and specific actions educators or experience designers can take to foster imagination in a range of contexts. The resource also includes relevant citations for further exploration of these strategies. This resource reflects results from a comprehensive review of 137 pieces of literature addressing the intersections of imagination and STEM.
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resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
This resource briefly summarizes the work of the Unpacking the STEM Imagination Convening and associated project research activities, and posits several "imagination problems" emergent from this work: 1) Defining Imagination; 2) Intentionally Addressing Imagination; 3) Fostering Imagination; 4) Addressing The Myth that STEM is Not Imaginative; 5) Buying-in to Imagination in STEM; 6) Un-Privileging Certain Imaginative Ways of Thinking; and 7) Inclusion and Imagination. This resource suggests areas for future research and development in the context of imagination in informal STEM learning
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resourceevaluationProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The National Science Foundation’s Division of Research and Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) has invested in several resource centers and networks in the past several years. In 2010, The National Science Foundation awarded a small Early Concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) grant to bring together the Principal Investigators (PIs) and evaluators of these resource centers to collaborate and share ideas and lessons learned. As part of that EAGER grant, and our participation in the evaluation group, Inverness Research agreed to undertake a very small and limited exploration
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resourceevaluationMuseum and Science Center Programs
For a second year, Kera Collective measured the effectiveness of a summer camp designed by the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum to empower underrepresented youth to succeed in STEAM.
Overview
In the winter, spring, and summer of 2022, Kera Collective again worked with the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum to evaluate the Soaring High Explorers (S.H.E.) Can STEAM Camp, which serves traditionally underserved youth in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. We explored the effectiveness of the camp activities and facilitation strategies to boost participants’