The Science and Math Informal Learning Education (SMILE) pathway is serving the digital resource management needs of the informal learning community. The science and math inquiry experiences offered by science and technology centers, museums, and out-of-school programs are distinct from those found in formal classrooms. Interactive exhibits, multimedia presentations, virtual environments, hands-on activities, outdoor field guides, engineering challenges, and facilitated programs are just some of the thoughtfully designed resources used by the informal learning community to make science and math concepts come alive. With an organizational framework specifically designed for informal learning resources, the SMILE pathway is empowering educators to locate and explore high-quality education materials across multiple institutions and collections. The SMILE pathway is also expanding the participation of underrepresented groups by creating an easily accessible nexus of online materials, including those specifically added to extend the reach of effective science and math education to all communities. To promote the use of the SMILE pathway and the NSDL further, project staff are creating professional development programs and a robust online community of educators and content experts to showcase best practices tied to digital resources. Finally, to guarantee continued growth and involvement in the SMILE pathway, funding and editorial support is being provided to expansion partners, beyond the founding institutions, to add new digital resources to the NSDL.
"Local Investigations of Natural Science (LIONS)" engages grade 5-8 students from University City schools, Missouri in structured out-of-school programs that provide depth and context for their regular classroom studies. The programs are led by district teachers. A balanced set of investigations engage students in environmental research, computer modeling, and advanced applications of mathematics. Throughout, the artificial boundary between classroom and community is bridged as students use the community for their studies and resources from local organizations are brought into school. Through these projects, students build interest and awareness of STEM-related career opportunities and the academic preparation needed for success.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Robert CoulterEric KlopferJere Confrey
Arizona State University (ASU) in collaboration with Arizona Science Center, Boeing, Intel, Microchip, Motorola, Salt River Project, AZ Foundation for Resource Education, AZ Game & Fish Department, US Partnership for the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, Mesa Public Schools, and Boys & Girls Clubs of the East Valley, offer a three-year extracurricular project resulting in IT/STEM-related learning outcomes for 96 participants in grades 7, 8, and 9. The project targets and engages female and minority youth traditionally under-represented in IT/STEM fields in multi-year out-of-school technological design and problem solving experiences. These include summer internships/externships and university research in the science center and industrial settings where participants develop socially responsible solutions for challenging real world problems. The program includes cognitive apprenticeships with diverse mentors, opportunities to practice workplace skills such as leadership, teamwork, time management, creativity and reporting, and use of technological tools to gather and analyze complex data sets. Participants simulate desert tortoise behaviors, research and develop designs to mitigate the urban heat island, build small-scale renewable energy resources, design autonomous rovers capable of navigating Mars-like terrain, and develop a model habitat for humans to live on Mars. Together with their families participants gain first-hand knowledge of IT/STEM career and educational pathways. In addition to youth outcomes, the adults associated with this project are better prepared to positively influence IT/STEM learning experiences for under-represented youth. The evaluation measures participant content knowledge, attitudes and interest in IT/STEM subjects, workplace skills and intentions to pursue IT/STEM educational and career pathways to understand participant reactions, learning, transfer and results. Informal curricula developed through this project, field-tested with youth at Boys & Girls Clubs and youth at Arizona Science Center will be available on the project website.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Tirupalavanam GaneshMonica ElserStephen KrauseDale BakerSharon Robinson-Kurplus
The Learning and Youth Research and Evaluation Center (LYREC) is a collaboration of the Exploratorium, Harvard University, Kings College London, SRI International and UC Santa Cruz. LYREC provides technical assistance to NSF AYS projects, collects and synthesizes their impact data, and oversees dissemination of progress and results. This center builds on the Center for Informal Learning in Schools (CILS) that has developed a theoretical approach that takes into account the particular strengths and affordances of both Out of School Teaching (OST) and school environments. This foundation will permit strengthening the potential of the NSF AYS projects to develop strong local models that can generate valid and reliable data that can guide future investment, design and research aimed at creating coherence across OST and school settings. The overarching questions for the work are: 1. How can OST programs support K-8 engagement and learning in science, and in particular how can they contribute to student engagement with K-8 school science and beyond? 2. What is the range of science learning outcomes OST programs can promote, particularly when in collaboration with schools, IHE's, businesses, and other community partners? 3. How can classroom teachers and schools build on children's OST experiences to strengthen children's participation and achievement in K-12 school science Additionally, the data analysis will reveal: 1. How OST programs may be positioned to support, in particular, high-poverty, female and/or minority children traditionally excluded from STEM academic and career paths; and 2. The structural/organizational challenges and constraints that exist to complicate or confound efforts to provide OST experiences that support school science engagement, and conversely, the new possibilities which are created by collaboration across organizational fields. Data will be gathered from surveys, interviews, focus groups, evaluation reports, and classroom and school data.
This research study involves collaboration between researchers at the University of Maryland, College Park and Bowie State University, an HBCU, to examine a multi-component pre-service model for preparing minority students to teach upper elementary and middle level science. The treatment consists of (1) focused recruitment efforts by the collaborating universities; (2) a pre-service science content course emphasizing inquiry and the mathematics of data management; (3) an internship in an after school program serving minority students; (4) field placements in Prince Georges County minority-serving professional development schools; and (5) mentoring support during the induction year. The research agenda will examine each aspect of the intervention using quantitative and qualitative methods and a small number of case studies.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
James McginnisSpencer BensonScott Dantley
The youth-based ITEST proposal, Invention, Design, Engineering and Art Cooperative (IDEA), will provide 100 students in grades 8-12 from the East Side of St. Paul, Minnesota with IT experiences in engineering and design. The content focus is mechanical and electrical engineering, such as product design, electronics, and robotics with an emphasis on 21st century job skills, including skills in advanced areas of microcontrollers, sensors, 3-D modeling software, and web software development for sharing iterative engineering product design ideas and maintaining progress on student product development. These technologies are practical and specific to careers in engineering and standards for technological literacy. During the three-year project period, a scaffolding process will be used to move students from exploratory activities in Design Teams in the 8th and 9th grades to paid employment experiences in grades 10-12 as part of Invention Crews. All design and product invention work will be directly connected to solving problems for local communities, including families and local businesses. For grades 8 and 9, students will receive 170 total contact hours per year and for grades 10-12, 280 contact hours per year. The participant target goal is 75% participation by girls, and African-American and Latino youth. Students participating in this project are situated within the country's most diverse urban districts with students speaking more than 103 languages and dialects. The schools targeted by this project average 84% of students receiving free or reduced price lunches, and have a population with 81% falling below proficiency in the Grade 8/11 Math MCA-II Test. To achieve the project goals of recruiting underrepresented students, and supporting academic transitions from middle and high school to college and university, the project team aggregated an impressive group of project partners that include schools, colleges, universities, and highly experienced youth and community groups, technology businesses that will provide mentoring of students and extensive involvement by parent and family services. Every partner committed to the project has a longstanding and abiding commitment to serving students from economically challenged areas.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Anika WardKristen MurrayRachel GatesDavid Gundale
The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), in partnership with the Native American Youth Association (NAYA), Intel Oregon, the National Park Service, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, will the expand the existing Salmon Camp Research Team (SCRT), a youth-based ITEST project targeting Native American and Alaskan Native youth in middle and high school. SCRT uses natural resource management as a theme to integrate science and technology and provide students with opportunities to explore local ecosystems, access traditional American Indian/Native Alaskan knowledge, and work closely with researchers and natural resource professionals. The project is designed to spark and sustain the interest of youth in STEM and IT careers, provide opportunities to use IT to solve real world problems, and promote an understanding of the complementary nature of western and native science. The original SCRT project included summer residential programs, spring field experiences, weekend enrichment sessions, parental involvement, college preparatory support, and internship placement. The renewal will increase the IT content for participants by adding an afterschool component, provide opportunities for greater parental involvement, enhance the project website, and develop a SCRT toolkit. Students are exposed to a variety of technologies and software including Trimble GeoExplorer XM GPS units, PDAs with Bluetooth GPS antennae, YSI Multi-Probe Water Quality Field Meters, GPS Pathfinder, ArcMap, ArcPad, Terrasync, and FishXing. It is anticipated that this project will serve 500 students in Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska, proving them with over 132 contact hours.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Travis Southworth-NeumeyerSteven TritzDaniel CalvertNicole Croft
In the Community Science Learning through Youth Astronomy Apprenticeships (YAA) project, underrepresented urban high school youths, working with recent college grads, conducted astronomy investigations, then translated their personal learning and enthusiasm into outreach programs for younger children, families and community members in an astronomy and space science program. Science education centers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Boston community-based after school centers and the Institute for Learning Innovation collaborated.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Irene PorroMary DussaultSusan O'ConnorJohn Belcher
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The Nanoscale Science and Engineering Education (NSEE) Center for Learning and Teaching (NCLT) would focus on the research and development of nano-science instructional resources for grades 7-16, related professional development opportunities for 7-12 teachers, and programs infused with nano-science content for education doctoral students. The Center would bring together educators and scientists from several areas of nano-science and engineering research to collaborate with science teachers and doctoral candidates in education on both the development of the resources and research on their efficacy. The PI has prior experience as director of the Materials World Modules project, an NSF-funded curriculum currently in use in several secondary schools across the country. Lead partners in the proposed Center are Northwestern University, Purdue University, University of Michigan, University of Illinois at Chicago and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Additional partners include Argonne National Laboratory, West Point Military Academy, Alabama A & M University, Fisk University, Hampton University, Morehouse College and University of Texas at El Paso. The additional partners will widen the geographic range of the project, expanding opportunities to reach a diverse and currently underrepresented population of graduate students, teachers and ultimately students. STEM and Education faculty and researchers from the partner institutions would participate in interdisciplinary teams to address the Center's mission: Provide national education leadership and resources for advancing NSEE Create and implement professional development programs in NSEE Use innovative ideas in learning to design instructional materials for grades 7-16 Conduct research relating to integration of NSEE into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
R. P. H. ChangThomas MasonNcholas GiordanoJoseph Krajcik
Red Hills Studios proposes to design and develop BioArcade, a suite of online biology games for youth ages 9 to 13. Unique to the field of educational games is the specialized and innovative modding feature that Red Hills Studio will develop. Modding will allow learners to create their own customized versions of BioArcade games for dissemination to other learners. BioArcade games are intended to encourage extended game play and motivation for learning key biology concepts through exciting interactive game modules developed by a leading group of game developers and science content experts. The underlying educational and scientific framework for BioArcade will be developed collaboratively with Co-PI, Dr. Janis Cannon-Bowers at the University of Central Florida and Roger Bybee at the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS), along with the projects Scientific and Design Advisory Boards. The project will rigorously evaluate modding as a potential new approach in game design. The modding innovation will be studied in a three-condition randomized controlled trial to determine its effectiveness in promoting deep exploration of scientific concepts and increased knowledge gain. Results of the study will be disseminated to the informal learning community through peer-reviewed educational journals, papers, and presentations at science education and game conferences. Extensive formative and summative evaluations, conducted by Knight Williams Research Communications, will provide valuable insight and assessment of the game design approach for science content learning in informal venues. BioArcade will be widely disseminated daily to millions of young learners online through PBSKids: www.pbskids.org/
BRIDGES: Build, Research, Invent, Design, Grow and Explore through Science The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and the Salvadori Center partner in providing BRIDGES [Build, Research, Invent, Design, Grow and Explore through Science], an after-school program using investigations of the built environment to introduce and reinforce STEM concepts and skills. The program highlights engineering concepts and the design process through hands-on investigations of the built environment done in small groups (with an emphasis on collaborative learning). It is co-taught by Salvadori educators in partnership with NYCHA community center instructors. After an intensive 3-day institute to train NYCHA staff, Salvadori staff members meet weekly with the housing authority staff to provide coaching in facilitation skills and to co-teach projects on building scaled bridges, mapping neighborhoods, investigating tension and compression, and more. In subsequent years, NYCHA after-school instructors take over the teaching with on-going support/professional development from the Center. The target audience is young people 8-12 years old enrolled in after-school programs run by the New York City Housing Authority, who gain content understanding and self concept in terms of their attitude and interest in STEM learning. BRIDGES begins with 5 sites serving 150 children in its first year with five sites added annually. By Year 5, BRIDGES serves 625 children at 25 NYCHA community centers. In addition in Years 4 and 5, the project is disseminated in at least two municipalities outside of NYC. In all 775 youth and 60 after-school educators will be directly impacted by this new program. The strategic impact is to provide strategies and evidence of support necessary for effective scale up of this locally successful program and for bringing school-based materials associated with the project into the after-school time experience. A project book, summative evaluation by The After School Corporation (TASC), and a website will be shared with the field on line, through conference presentations, and publications. The Salvadori Center was founded by Dr. Mario Salvadori (1907-1997), Columbia Professor of Civil Engineering & Architecture, in collaboration with City College of New York Schools of Education and Architecture. Its mission is to stimulate and deepen young people's curiosity and knowledge about math, science, arts and the humanities by using the built environment as an entry point for learning. For over 20 years, the Center has offered research-based teacher development and support, including intensive training institutes, workshops and classroom mentoring programs focused on project-based learning. The Center has reached over 125,000 students in New York City public schools, and its books, videos, and construction kits have been distributed nationally and internationally. The Centers staff are all professionally trained architects, engineers, and science and fine arts teachers.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Leonisa Ardizzone
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) will create a 5,000 sq ft traveling exhibition designed to engage families with children ages 10-14 with concepts of algebra. Access Algebra will increase visitor awareness of the role of algebra in everyday life and help them to develop algebraic thinking skills. This exhibition will travel to 21 science centers, reaching some 3.5 million visitors on its national tour. It will be accompanied by an Educator's Guide, Family Guide, and complementary web activities. Access Algebra incorporates testing and implementation of an innovative model for professional development for museum exhibit, program, and interpretive staff. It links the exhibition tour to training at each venue designed to increase knowledge of algebra concepts and to develop facilitation skills in family math learning. The package includes workshops, training DVD, printed guide, Math Toolkit, and website support. Project partners include TERC, Oregon State University College of Education (OSU), and Blazer Boys & Girls Club (BBGC). The BBGC members will participate in exhibit development over an extended (12-week) period, helping to create an exhibition that will engage a target audience of underserved low-income youth. The strategic impact of Access Algebra derives from the development and testing of effective strategies for engaging audiences in exhibit-based informal math learning, along with increasing the capacity of the field for facilitating these kinds of experiences through a new model for professional development.