This front-end evaluation study is part of Designing Our Tomorrow: Mobilizing the Next Generation of Engineers, a five-year project (2018–2023) led by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) with the support of the National Science Foundation (NSF, DRL-1811617) and project partners: Adelante Mujeres, the Biomimicry Institute, and the Fleet Science Center. The Designing Our Tomorrow (DOT) project seeks to promote and strengthen family engagement and engineering learning via compelling exhibit-based design challenges, presented through the lens of sustainable design exemplified by
This NSF INCLUDES Design and Development Launch Pilot, "Expanding Diversity in Energy and Environmental Sustainability (EDEES)", will develop a network of institutions in the United States mid-Atlantic region to recruit, train, and prepare a significant number of underrepresented, underserved, and underprivileged members of the American society in the areas of alternative energy generation and environmental sustainability. Researchers from Delaware State University (DSU) will lead the effort in collaboration with scientists and educators from the University of Delaware, Delaware Technical Community College, University of Maryland, and Stony Brook University. The program comprises a strong educational component in different aspects of green energy generation and environmental sciences including the development of a baccalaureate degree in Green Energy Engineering and the further growth of the recently established Renewable Energy Education Center at our University. The program comprises an active involvement of students from local K-12 institutions, including Delaware State University Early College High School. The character of the University as a Historically Black College (HBCU) and the relatively high minority population of the region will facilitate the completion of the goal to serve minority students. The program will also involve the local community and the private sector by promoting the idea of a green City of Dover, Delaware, in the years to come.
The goal of EDEES-INCLUDES pilot comprises the enrollment of at least twenty underrepresented minority students in majors related to green energy and environmental sustainability. It also entails the establishment of a baccalaureate degree in Green Energy Engineering at DSU. The program is expected to strengthen the pathway from two-year energy-related associate degree programs to four-year degrees by ensuring at least five students/year transfer to DSU in energy-related programs. The pilot is also expected to increase the number of high school graduates from underrepresented groups who choose to attend college in STEM majors. Based on previous experience and existing collaborations, the partner institutions expect to grow as an integrated research-educational network where students will be able to obtain expertise in the competitive field of green energy. The pilot program comprises a deep integration of education and research currently undergoing in the involved institutions. In collaboration with its partner institutions, DSU plans to consistently and systematically involve students from the K-12 system to nurture the future recruitment efforts of the network. A career in Green Energy Engineering is using and expanding up existing infrastructure and collaborations. The program will involve the local community through events, workshops and open discussions on energy related fields using social networks and other internet technology in order to promote energy literacy.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Aristides MarcanoMohammed KhanGulnihal OzbayGabriel Gwanmesia
The project DIG: Scientists in Alaska's Scenery will perform proof-of-concept on integrating a tourist's visit with place-based stories of meaningful science research in the Arctic. DIG (Digitally Integrated Guide) will widen the general public's interaction with the cultural and natural environment by allowing them to access Web sites and load their handheld mobile devices with engaging descriptions of research. Access can occur before, during, or after their visit - even if the visit takes them far from computers, electricity and the Internet. The creation of user-friendly access to technology and to scientists' stories will provide a new information tool for the public. For these tourists, or others interested in research in Alaska, opportunities to learn directly from the scientists themselves are almost non-existent. Moreover, tourists have no capability to link such research with places they visit. DIG's place-based outreach will be delivered using standard media (broadcast TV, publications) and social media (Web, facebook, twitter, etc.) and mobile devices. DIG demonstration project will join scientists, Alaska Native peoples, tourists, media makers, interpreters and technology experts in inquiry-based learning designed to maximize engagement by the general public. The radically different approach to Arctic-focused science documentary proposed here fosters the close collaboration of the scientist and media maker. Video podcasts (vodcasts) and supporting Web-based materials will be created for three current research projects in Alaska, with a focus on NSF-funded projects. Such projects include anthropology and cultural/linguistic study, paleontology, climate change research, biology, and other areas. Delivery and evaluation will emphasize tourists who visit, or are planning to visit, the National Parks of Alaska. These tourists are accessible to the research team, and they are motivated to seek out information about the places they are visiting. If successful, our approach to science education and outreach will augment their knowledge about research in Alaska, resulting in a deeper and more informed experience.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Gregory NewbyLiz O'ConnellDeborah Perry
In this full-scale research and development project, Oregon State University (OSU), Oregon Sea Grant (OSG) and the Hatfield Marine Science Center Visitors Center (HMSCVC) is designing, developing, implementing, researching and evaluating a cyberlaboratory in a museum setting. The cyberlaboratory will provide three earth and marine science learning experiences with research and evaluation interwoven with visitor experiences. The research platform will focus on: 1) a climate change exhibit that will enable research on identity, values and opinion; 2) a wave tank exhibit that will enable research on group dynamics and problem solving in interactive engineering challenges; and 3) remote sensing exhibits that will enable research on visitor interactions through the use of real data and simulations. This project will provide the informal science educaton community with a suite of tools to evaluate learning experiences with emerging technologies using an iterative process. The team will also make available to the informal science community their answers to the following research questions: For the climate change exhibit, "To what extent does customizing content delivery based on real-time visitor input promote learning?" For the wave tank exhibit, "To what extent do opportunities to reflect on and share experiences promote STEM reasoning processes at a build-and-test exhibit?" For the data-sensing exhibit, "Can visitors' abilities to explain or use visualizations be improved by shaping their visual searches of images?" Mixed-methods using interviews, surveys, behavioral instruments, and participant observations will be used to evaluate the overall program. Approximately 60-100 informal science education professionals will discuss and test the viability of the exhibit's evaluation tools. More than 150,000 visitors, along with community members and local middle and high school students, will have the opportunity to participate in the learning experiences at the HMSCVC. This work contributes to the fields of cyberlearning and informal science education. This project provides the informal science education field with important knowledge about learning, customized content delivery and evaluation tools that are used in informal science settings.
This planning grant deals with helping people in a flood prone area, Lehigh Valley, understand climate change and the impacts it can have on their livelihood. Through a series of town hall type meetings and distributed materials, the Nurture Nature Foundation and scientists will provide perspective on climate change and options now available to them. The target audience will range from teenagers to adults. During these discussions STEM concepts shall be integrated into the materials. An important aspect of this planning project is devising strategies for interactions with the local groups in meetings and for effective displays and exhibits that not only address the flooding/climate change issues but also reflect the STEM principles and concepts that are involved.