Described by Wohlwend, Peppler, Keune and Thompson (2017) as “a range of activities that blend design and technology, including textile crafts, robotics, electronics, digital fabrication, mechanical repair or creation, tinkering with everyday appliances, digital storytelling, arts and crafts—in short, fabricating with new technologies to create almost anything” (p. 445), making can open new possibilities for applied, interdisciplinary learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Martin, 2015), in ways that decenter and democratize access to ideas, and promote the construction
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Jill CastekMichelle Schira HagermanRebecca Woodland
"Human +" is a collaboration among the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI), NSF Quality of Life Technology Engineering Research Center (QoLT ERC) of the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), and the Institute for Learning Innovation. The project will engage engineers, educators, designers, and people with disabilities in a process of participatory design to create a 2,500 square foot traveling exhibition entitled "Human +". The STEM content is engineering, specifically the extraordinary technological advances being made to enhance human abilities. The project is making three significant contributions to the Informal Science Education (ISE) field: 1) It is a model of close integration of an NSF-funded engineering research center into an ISE project. (2) It engages people with disabilities, both as participants and audiences. (3) It broadens engagement with engineering as a participatory, creative, and socially important ISE undertaking. Project deliverables are: (1) a model for participatory design of ISE activities to generate innovation among engineers, people with disabilities, ISE professionals, and designers; and 2) a 2,500 square-foot traveling exhibition engaging the public in the science, technology, and social issues of human enhancement. Front-end evaluation will be conducted by OMSI to explore pre-existing knowledge and attitudes, integrating significant numbers of people with disabilities including veterans, young people, and older people. Formative evaluation will likewise be integrated with the participatory design process, with prototypes being tested both by audiences and by the core "Human +" participatory design team. Summative evaluation by Institute for Learning Innovation will address both the effectiveness of the participatory design process and the effectiveness of the exhibition in addressing the National Academy for Engineering goals for public understanding of engineering as a creative and socially engaged field. An estimated 700,000 visitors will experience the "Human +" exhibition at OMSI and NYSCI. In addition, OMSI will tour the exhibition through its extensive and diverse network of science centers, with 24 science centers having expressed interest as potential host sites. The Science Friday webcast/podcast will reach an estimated 1.3 million listeners. Public audiences will engage in the topic of engineering and better understand its importance to human existence through experiencing one compelling research area. The project team will work with the Veterans Administration and DARPA to engage veterans with disabilities both as participants and as audiences. The exhibit with its human-focused content will also stimulate interest among older adults and promote the engineering field to groups underrepresented in engineering such as people with disabilities, girls, and minority youth. The project places cutting-edge technology and engineering practice in a profoundly personal context. "Human +" will contribute to the empowerment of the great majority of people who have, or will have, disabilities during their lifetime and for those of us who care for people with disabilities.
The Science Museum of Minnesota will develop "Buildings: A Traveling Exhibit and Permanent Installation with Education and Outreach Programs". This is a multifaceted project that includes a 5,000 sq. ft. exhibit that will explore the science, technology, and human perception of buildings. The exhibit will tell three stories: 1) buildings must obey physical laws to stay up, 2) buildings are complex operating systems, and 3) buildings reflect and shape the societies that create them. The exhibit will initially be developed as a traveling exhibit that will circulate among the member institutions of the Science Museum Exhibit Collaborative (8 institutions) and then it will be reinstalled in the new SMM $77 million building. Additional partners collaborating on this project include the National Building Museum, the Society of Building Science Educators, Habitat for Humanity International, The ReUse Center, the Vital Signs Program and the Center for City Building Education. Special attention will be given to reaching girls and women and the physically challenged. A broad menu of public programming is planned and school-linked materials will be developed.
Playtime Is Science: A National Model for Parent Involvement In Early Science Education is an innovative parent/child science activity program. The overall goal of the model is to enlarge the potential pool of students who are competent in science and technology to include more girls, children of color, with disabilities, and children from low-income families. By engaging parents in partnership with schools and community organizations, Playtime Is Science will increase the science literacy of young children (ages 4-7) as well as that of their parents and other adults in their lives. This three-year project, built on a successful local model developed in New York City public schools, will include the following activities: training and networking for site liaisons; pilot testing and evaluation at three sites chosen for geographic, racial, ethnic, language, and socioeconomic diversity; materials development and production; a formal research study; and intensive national dissemination of Playtime Is Science materials package. Materials to be developed include 1) four videotapes to provide a visual rendering of the program for parents, teachers, and administrators; 2) a how-to manual providing easy-to-follow instructions for implementing the program; 3) and a home activity booklet for parents illustrating science activities which utilize inexpensive, readily-available materials found in every home.
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
The Educational Film Center (EFC) is developing a science, engineering, and technology careers exhibit for distribution to science museums and technology centers. The core of the exhibit kiosk, with related career graphics surrounds, is SET/QUEST, an interactive multimedia program for both Macintosh and PC/Windows using CD-Rom as the full motion video source. Teens and preteens will enter an interactive exploration of thirty careers with first person video profiles of people in science and engineering; animated/reality video simulations of a work experience in these fields, decision screens, and a database of over 200 more science and math-based professions. The documentary profiles, database, and a personal interest career match component will also be developed in alternative media formats (video, audio, print) for broad distribution to community and youth education networks, schools, and libraries. Specific emphasis in this project is being placed on reaching and attracting female, minority, and disabled youth. A parent outreach component has been developed and will be implemented by the Directorate of Education & Human Resources Programs of AAAS. The concept of the parent effort is to work directly with and through the national offices of four major national organizations with different institutional community roots -- Science Museums, Public Libraries, Schools, and Community Based Organizations -- to involve parents and families with SET Project materials and to provide them with information with which they can foster their children's pursuit of science and math education and careers in these fields. Initial efforts will be conducted in 18 cities. The project is a collaborative endeavor among three organizations: The Educationa l Film Center which will be responsible for management and development/production of the software and documentary video profiles; The New York Hall of Science which will be responsible for the exhibit kiosk and graphics, will design and develop the student workbook and user installation print, will serve as the principal test site for the exhibit, and will advise on software, interactive multimedia design, and installation options; and COMAP which will be responsible for direct involvement of the Advisory Board, for selecting and hiring content consultants, for assuring the accuracy of the science and math content, for formative and summative evaluation, and for developing and preparing community leader and school users guides for publication. Stephen Rabin, President of EFC, will serve as PI for the project.
This proposal requests matching support to create a dynamic science, engineering, and technology careers museum exhibit--SET Careers, for distribution to science museums and technology centers. The exhibit kiosks with related career graphics surrounds, incorporate multimedia platforms, using MacIntosh authoring software to dreate information landscapes' computer motion programs like Quicktime, and Cd-1 or DVI videodisc technology. Yound museum visitors (teens and Preteens) will be invited to enter into an exciting interactive exploration of thirty self-narrated video profiles of people in science and engineering, try our animated/reality video simulations of a work experience in these fields, and obtain additional information from a database of over 200 more science and math-based professions. The videodisc profiles, database, and a personal interests component will also be developed in alternative media formats (video, audio, print, computer disc) for broad distribution to community and youth education networks, schools, and libraries. Specific emphasis in this project is being placed on reaching and attracting female, minority, and disabled youths.