This poster was presented at the 2021 NSF AISL Awardee Meeting.
This project's research questions include:
How and to what extent do Brains On!’s coronavirus-based episodes help children and their families understand and talk about science-related pandemic topics? What kind of conversations are sparked by these episodes?
What kinds of worries and questions do Brains On! listeners have about coronavirus and related aspects of the pandemic? How do children’s worries and questions change over the course of the pandemic?
What resources do caregivers need to answer children’s questions
The goal of this NSF-funded RAPID research project was to advance understanding of how children’s science podcasts can provide families with information to help ease children’s worries during a pandemic by increasing children’s understanding of pandemic-related science concepts and supporting pandemic-related family conversations. Our research was guided by the following questions:
1. How and to what extent do Brains On!’s coronavirus-based episodes help children and their families understand and talk about science-related pandemic topics?
2. What kinds of conversations are
A year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the world continues to struggle with the many ways our lives have changed and the uncertainty that remains about the future. Vaccines are being widely administered, but how and when life will return to “normal” remains unknown. During this time, caregivers continue to seek out information to address the questions, worries, and information needs their children have about this unique moment in their lives. Our NSF-funded RAPID research project has helped to uncover some of these questions, worries, and needs by talking to caregivers of listeners of the children
A year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the world continues to struggle with the many ways our lives have changed and the uncertainty that remains about the future. Vaccines are being widely administered, but how and when life will return to “normal” remains unknown. During this time, caregivers continue to seek out information to address the questions, worries, and information needs their children have about this unique moment in their lives. Our NSF-funded RAPID research project has helped to uncover some of these questions, worries, and needs by talking to caregivers of listeners of the children
With the world in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, children are often having or expressing worries and fears. Their caregivers -- parents and those who are providing direct care for children -- are seeking trusted sources of information to help them explain this disease and help ease children’s worries. This resource guide reflects some of the work of our current NSF-funded research study (NSF#2029209) about the communication needs of children and families during the pandemic, seeking to understand how they are supported in having conversations about the coronavirus and pandemic-related
With funding from NIH SEPA, OMSI is creating a mid-sized travelling exhibition that will promote public understanding of neuroscience research and its relevance to healthy brain development in early childhood.
The purpose of this report is to support the project team by assessing the extent to which the prototype activities, content, and labels tested contributed to visitor engagement, understanding, confidence, and future use of one or more strategies outlined. It was important to the project team that the exhibition be developed in collaboration with the communities for whom it is
This exploratory study aims to better understand how adults engage with science in the context of reallife socio-scientific issues (SSIs). Specifically, we examined how parents engage with the issue of radiation from Wi-Fi routers in schools, an issue encountered by parents across the world. Radiation from wireless internet connection (Wi-Fi) routers is a type of radio frequency electromagnetic radiation. Nowadays, exposure to RF radiation is widespread; from Wi-Fi routers in workplaces, homes, restaurants, and even buses and trains to cell phones and microwave ovens. The proliferation of
As part of a grant from the National Science Foundation, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) developed, implemented, and evaluated the National Center for Blind Youth in Science (NCBYS), a three-year full-scale development project to increase informal learning opportunities for blind youth in STEM. Through this grant, the NCBYS extended opportunities for informal science learning for the direct benefit of blind students by conducting six NFB STEM2U regional programs included programs for blind youth, their parents/caregivers, blind teen mentors (apprentices), and museum educators.
Non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) is an emerging technology for detecting chromosomal disorders in the fetus and mass media may have an impact on shaping the public understanding of its promise and challenges. We conducted a content analysis of 173 news reports to examine how NIPT was portrayed in English-language media sources between January 1 and December 31, 2013. Our analysis has shown that media emphasized the benefits and readiness of the technology, while overlooking uncertainty associated with its clinical use. Ethical concerns were rarely addressed in the news stories, which
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Kalina KamenovaVardit RavitskySpencer McMullinTimothy Caulfield
The explosion at the Fukushima Nuclear Plant highlighted serious social concerns about risk communications; the public found it difficult to take preventive actions based on scientific information of radioactive fallout. We investigated public perception of the risks from low dose radiation and the role of information providers through the Internet survey focusing on parents in four Japanese regional groups. Mothers felt more anxious than fathers in Fukushima but not in further groups, and that the furthest group felt the most ambiguous anxiety. Their anxiety derived from distrust of the
This paper examines the summative evaluations of two exhibits at the Please Touch Museum: "Foodtastic Journey" and "Gateway to China". By contrasting and comparing the most and least engaging components of these two exhibits, a theoretical framework is being built for assessing the effectiveness of exhibits for young children.
In this article, Mary Stewart Miller, evaluator at the Cumberland Science Museum, discusses evaluation methods involving child visitors as well as adults. Stewart Miller shares methodology and findings from an evaluation of the museum's "Brain" exhibit, a study which involved interviewing children ages eight to thirteen.