This study compared grandparent-grandchild groups who experienced an informal science exhibition by visiting a museum or by visiting a website. Although intergenerational learning is often the focus of visitor research, few studies have focused specifically on grandparents as an audience. Do they have unique intergenerational needs that museums and websites are not yet supporting? Do they find museums and websites to be good places to learn alongside their grandchildren? Our findings suggested that grandparents prefer museums as locations for intergenerational learning because the museum
The current study compared 90 older adult-child pairs in three different informal settings that focused on the topic of heart health: a museum, the web, and an educational workshop. Pre/post interviews showed that learning in the museum and web was more similar than learning in the workshop condition. Participants learned more about prevention in the workshop, and systems in the museum and web. In addition, older adults in the museum and workshop, reported that they would learn more in the company of children, while older adults would prefer to learn alone while on the web. These findings have
Roto, an exhibition design and production firm, contracted Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) to conduct a front-end evaluation of Speed, an exhibition being developed for The Science Museum of Virginia (SMV) in Richmond, Virginia. RK&A explored visitors’ thoughts, perceptions, and understandings of exhibition concepts related to speed, defined as change over time. How did we approach this study? RK&A worked closely with Roto to identify the goals and objectives for the Speed exhibition. Findings from the front-end evaluation were designed to help Roto and SMV find common ground between
This Pathways Project connects rural, underserved youth and families in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho to STEM concepts important in sustainable building design. The project is a collaboration of the Palouse Discovery Science Center (Pullman, WA), Washington State University and University of Idaho, working in partnership with rural community organizations and businesses. The deliverables include: 1) interactive exhibit prototype activities, 2) a team cooperative learning problem-solving challenge, and (3) take-home materials to encourage participants to use what they have learned to investigate ways to make their homes more energy-efficient and sustainable. The project introduces youth and families to the traditionally difficult physics concept of thermal energy, particularly as it relates to sustainable building design. Participants explore how building materials and their properties can be used to control all three types of heat transfer: conduction, convection, and radiation. The interactive exhibit prototypes are coupled with an Energy Efficient Engineering Challenge in which participants, working in cooperative learning teams, use information learned from the exhibit prototype activities to retrofit a model house, improving its energy efficiency. The project components are piloted at the Palouse Discovery Science Center, and then travel to three underserved rural/tribal communities in Northern Idaho and Eastern Washington. Front-end and formative evaluation studies will demonstrate whether this model advances participant understanding of and interest in STEM topics and careers. The project will yield information about ways that other ISE practitioners can effectively incorporate cooperative learning strategies in informal settings to improve the transferability of knowledge gained from exhibits to real-world problem-solving challenges, especially for rural and underserved audiences. This project will also provide the ISE field with: 1) a model for increasing the capacity of small, rural science centers to form collaborative regional networks that draw on previously unused resources in their communities and provide more effective outreach to the underrepresented populations they serve, and 2) a model for coupling cooperative learning with outreach exhibits, providing richer experiences of active engagement.
The National Resource Center of the 122 Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes (OLLIs), in collaboration with the Exploratorium and three regional OLLI sites at California State University-East Bay, University of South Florida, and University of Missouri-Columbia, explored, via this planning grant, a variety of scenarios for engaging target audiences of "third age" (50+) participants in informal STEM learning activities. Six collaborative partnerships between OLLIs and science centers in Maine, Virginia, California, Oregon, Montana and Pennsylvania were given $1000 each to create, test, and evaluate a STEM program/activity. The collaborative projects supported by the planning grant engaged 1186 older adults in ISE activities. Data collected from the partnership projects, and from national surveys of OLLIs and science centers, from a literature search, and from a CAISE Forum discussion were used to develop a full scale proposal to NSF in 2010 to fund a national Science Education Center for the Third Age. That proposal was declined but has been significantly reworked based on reviewer feedback and further efforts of the planning team and was submitted in its new form for the January 11, 2012 ISE deadline. This new project would be a largely virtual national Center based at the University of Southern Maine. The project would include creation of an interactive website, 30 funded OLLI/ Science Center collaborative partnerships nationwide ($10,000 each to create new ISE activities for older learners), and 3 regional/national summits to share results.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Kali LightfootBette FeltonAracelis RogersLucille Salerno
The Pueblo of Santa Clara's Community Library will continue its important role as a community anchor in fostering 21st-century learning and information use with a range of interactive projects that will engage community members of all ages. Technology Access Nights will foster responsible technology use and awareness among young learners and their families, especially promoting safe social media practices. For hands-on technology learning, youth, elders, and their families will collaborate on two oral history projects. One will gather stories of Santa Clara Pueblo women's achievements and cultural endurance, and the other will document strategies for academic success. Also, a youth mentor/internship initiative will create a cadre of "Bookworm Interns" trained in the Every Child Ready to Read Program®, allowing the interns to practice their new skills during the Summer Reading Program, which will be extended from one to five weeks.