In this chapter, we argue that the understanding of objects that children of different ages brings to the museum setting offers a unique perspective. Little direct work on this topic has been conducted in museums. However, there is a body of related work to be found in contemporary studies of children's emerging understanding of the natural and artificial worlds that can be used to develop a framework for understanding how children might approach the world of museum objects. Recent evidence on the development of children's thinking on this subject is presented in the larger context of the
In this chapter we introduce the notion of islands of expertise, explore links between related socio-cultural and information processing theory, and overview a study of family conversations while parents and children look at authentic and replica fossils in a museum.
Women in the United States are underrepresented in science, mathematics, and engineering (SME) educational programs and careers. One cause is the dramatic and disproportionate loss of women who intended in high school to pursue science-related careers. This article uses the longitudinal survey responses of 320 male and female SME summer program students to assess the ways in which their social relationships and experiences affect their involvement in science and technology. The issues are framed in terms of identity theory. Structural equation models support the identity framework; emotionally
We used meta-analysis to review 55 evaluations of the effects of mentoring programs on youth. Overall, findings provide evidence of only a modest or small benefit of program participation for the average youth. Program effects are enhanced significantly, however, when greater numbers of both theory-based and empirically based "best practices" are utilized and when strong relationships are formed between mentors and youth. Youth from backgrounds of environmental risk and disadvantage appear most likely to benefit from participation in mentoring programs. Outcomes for youth at-risk due to
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
David DuBoisBruce HollowayJeffrey ValentineHarris Cooper
This paper describes the integration of handheld computer technology into an existing web-based educational platform, the Web-based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE) and the synergy it produces. This solution facilitated a research program that explores how handheld computers (PDAs, palmtops, etc.) can expand the scope and functionality of inquiry activities in K-12 science and mathematics curriculum. The paper presents the WISE software and curriculum and explains how combining it with handheld technology creates unique educational opportunities. It then goes on to describe the system that
In April 2001, the Museum of Science in Boston launched the Current Science & Technology Center, an effort to address leading edge research for school and public audiences and to provide depth and context for science and technology stories in the news within a museum context and through various outreach methods. The Museum of Science (MOS), in collaboration with the Institute for Learning Innovation (Institute), has initiated a multi-year evaluation effort designed to support the Current Science & Technology Center and its Health Science Education Partnership through (1) the monitoring and
This guiding question for this evaluation conducted by ILI was to measure the long term impact of the NYHS SCL program on its participants. The SCL participants also known as Explainers are high school and college students who are paid employees for NYHS. Focus was on knowledge development and skill development specifically critical thinking, and problem solving and transfer of those skills to everyday life. The evaluation also attempted to gauge SCL graduates' perception of science and scientists, influence of the program on career planning, leisure time choices with respect to lifelong
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
Martin StorksdieckNew York Hall of ScienceKate Haley-GoldmanMika Cohen Jones
The project includes a simulation based Family Learning Program to be administered through the International Challenger Learning Center (CLC) network. The goal is to develop families' skills in learning as a team through science, math and technology (SMT) in an environment where parents and children are co-travelers in a world of ideas. PACCT is disseminated through ten of the Challenger Learning Centers reaching 22,000 families nationwide. Many of these activities are completed in the home at no cost to the anticipated 12,500 participating families. Through this network of centers, all types of communities are served in many states. The activities include Sim-U-Voyages, where family teams work at home; Sim-U-Challenges, where families create a physical model responding to a challenge; Sim-U-Visits, where families hear from scientists and work as scientists in a team solving a problem; and Sim-U-Ventures, which result in flying a mission. Cost sharing is 8%.
KCTS, Seattle's PBS affiliate, is producing a series of three one-hour prime-time science education television specials starring Bill Nye. The specials will be aimed at a family audience and will be designed to promote informal science learning through an entertaining presentation of science in everyday life. Topics currently being considered for the specials are The Science of Sports, The Science of Learning, and The Science of the Future, thought other topics, such as Pseudo Science, also are being considered. Each program will maintain the entertainment values of enthusiasm for science so prominent in the Bill Nye the Science Guy series but will have a strong narrative element and air of suspense as Bill embarks on a journey of discovery, greater depth of content and presentation, and longer uninterrupted segments. The programs will be supported by a multi-pronged outreach program to reach parents and children through local PBS stations and science museums, community organizations serving disadvantaged populations and, possibly, a tie-in with a national chain of quick family restaurants. Many of the same team that created Bill Nye the Science Guy will work on this project including Bill Nye; Elizabeth Brock, Executive Producer; and Erren Gottlieb and James McKenna, producers. The production team will work with fourteen scientists and science educators who will advise the project on presentation and outreach. This group also will review and comment on all scripts and drafts of outreach material.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
William NyeJames McKennaErren GottliebBurnill ClarkRandy Brinson
The Institute for Learning Innovation, Inc., requests $264,904 to pilot a project for establishing a national program to provide parents and significant other adults with support, training and materials. Also, the project goals will enable parents and other adults to become actively engaged in local science education reform and science literacy for their children. The duration of this project is eighteen months. The cost sharing for this NSF award is 24.6% of the total projected cost of the project. The Institute for Learning Innovation, Inc. will collaborate with the YWCA of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, Boys and Girls Club of Annapolis and the Arundel County Public Schools' Family Involvement Center. Project "ASK with Science" will develop a model program for implementing and disseminating science education materials to young children in underserved communities, thereby creating a grassroots, family-oriented program that can become established in the local communities served by these organizations.
The New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science proposed to develop an outreach science and mathematics program with a parent involvement and teacher enhancement professional development component. The goals of the project are as follows: (1) to involve parents in their children's education; (2) to promote a positive attitude on behalf of parents and students toward science and mathematics; (3) to increase teachers' level of comfort in teaching science; and (4) to enhance teacher's confidence in the hands-on approach as an effective method for teaching science. The objectives for the parent component of this project are: acquaint parents with the national and state science education goals and standards; introduce parents to activities that can be done at home with children; and provide families with materials and activity sheets that can be used at home. The objectives for the teacher component of this project are: (1) to provide teachers with opportunities for increased communication with parents about science literacy for children; (2) provide professional development for teachers on the use of hands-on science activities in the classroom; and (3) to providing bilingual activity guides and kits containing materials to encourage science learning. The methods for implementing this project will be varied according to the needs of the target audiences. Parents and children will be engaged through parent workshops and multi-aged children's activities conducted at the museum by experienced science educators. The professional development for teachers' component of this project will include an extensive summer workshop, on-going training/ planning sessions during the school calendar year and session on the uses of the bilingual teaching manuals. The cost sharing for this NSF award is 46.7% of the total project cost.
This project, Project PARTNERS (Parents: Allies Reinforcing Technology and Neighborhood Educators Reinforcing Science) supports parents and their children in learning the mathematics and science taught in the schools. The Bronx Educational Alliance (BEA), in collaboration with Lehman College, School District Nine, the Bronx High School Superintendency, and the Bronx Federation of High School Parent Association Presidents, provides a four-month Parent Academy twice a year. Thirty-six parents (20 elementary, 6 middle and 10 high school), from 18 Bronx schools in three K-12 corridors with which the BEA Resource/Outreach Center for Parents currently works, participate in each Academy, reaching 360 over five years. Project PARTNERS goals are to: 1) increase student achievement in 18 Corridor Schools through meaningful parental support; 2) provide parent training in Math, Science and Technology and enable parents to understand the New Standards; 3) develop skills to reinforce their children's learning at home; and 4) model how to effectively learn in science-rich informal educational institutions. Parents meet on Saturdays twice a month for six hours. On one Saturday they team with a teacher and child to visit a science rich institution. On the other Saturday they learn to use computer software programs which support MST, and math concepts through games and manipulatives. Incentives for parents include learning computer skills and stipends of $300 upon completion. The BEA Academies coordinate with the BUSI and District's Family Math and Family Science workshops.
DATE:
-
TEAM MEMBERS:
Herminio MartinezMarietta Saravia-Shore