My Sky is a joint project between Boston Children’s Museum (BCM) and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO). This three-year project was supported by NASA’s NRA/ROSES 2011 (NNX12AB91G) program, and resulted in the creation of My Sky, a 1,500 sq. ft. traveling astronomy exhibit designed for adults and children, ages 5 – 10. My Sky emphasizes authentic experiences that encourage the development of skills and content foundational to later appreciation and understanding of astronomical science. My Sky includes interactive explorations of objects and phenomena visible in the sky, encouraging families to “look up” not only when they visit the exhibit, but as a practice they might adopt in their everyday lives. This is all punctuated by real NASA data and assets, including a 5’ diameter model Moon created using the latest Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter measurements; and high-resolution images from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite. This project also developed a series of public programs, museum staff training programs, and family workshops, all utilizing NASA resources and existing curriculum.
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) contracted Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) to conduct a multi-method summative evaluation of Q?rius, an interactive and experimental learning space that brings the unique assets of NMNH—the science, researchers, and collections—out from behind the scenes. Q?rius is designed as a flexible space for walk-in visitors visiting exhibitions at the Museum as well as a program space. Given the breadth of experiences available in the space, the scope of the evaluation specifically targeted walk-in youth and adult visitors to Q?rius.
The Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo offers a satisfying mix of interactive exhibit experiences, close-up animal viewing, and a warm, welcoming staff in a small-scale setting which makes it easily manageable for families with special needs. In recent years the JMZ has attracted and embraced this audience of often close-knit friends and organizations. In addition to an ongoing dialog with visitors at the institution, on multiple occasions JMZ has invited families to participate in community conversations to share their perspectives, experiences and suggestions.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Wendy MeluchPalo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo
Using families as the analytical focus, this study informs the field of informal science education with a focus on the role of prior experiences in family science conversations during nature walks at an outdoor-based nature center. Through video-based research, the team analyzed 16 families during walks at a nature center. Each family's prior science learning experience provided conversational strategies for learning together as a social group and when making meaning out of observations in the outdoors. This analysis provides three main findings: (1) families frequently tapped into a vast
The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History will enhance its staff capacity and train current educational staff in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education delivery, both of which will increase its ability to deliver interpretive tours and programming around the newly opened permanent exhibition, “Inspiring Minds: African Americans in Science and Technology.” The project will include hiring a full-time STEM educator to work with education and archival staff to create and implement a family learning approach to the sciences in the rich context of African American history and culture. A training facilitator will develop a cohort of STEM interns and train current staff educators to present STEM learning experiences. At the conclusion of the project, the museum will have increased staff capacity and widespread expansion and integration of STEM opportunities for the youth, families, and schools of Detroit.
The L.C. Bates Museum will provide 1,700 rural fourth grade students and their families museum-based STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) educational programming including integrated naturalist, astronomy, and art activities that explore Maine's environment and its solar and lunar interactions. The project will include a series of eight classroom programs, family field trips, TV programs, family and classroom self-guided educational materials, and exhibitions of project activities including student work. By bringing programs to schools and offering family activities and field trips, the museum will be able to engage an underserved, mostly low-income population that would otherwise not be able to visit the museum. The museum's programming will address teachers' needs for museum objects and interactive explorations that enhance student learning and new Common Core science curriculum objectives, while offering students engaging learning experiences and the opportunity to develop 21st century leadership skills.
The Museum of Innovation and Science will deliver hands-on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) experiences to underserved youth and their families in afterschool and out-of-school time in collaboration with the member libraries of the Mohawk Valley Library System. The museum will deliver three STEM programs, astronomy content, and tabletop experiment stations to library visitors at each of the 23 member libraries. This project will help bring STEM awareness and interest to audiences in groups typically underrepresented in the STEM fields.
Natural History museums have identified a need to transform their traditional spaces into vital forces for science education. The Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CMNH) will implement “Seeing as a Scientist,” a design-based research initiative to develop and test gallery interventions that have the potential to increase scientific observation skills for family groups. Working with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Learning in Out-of-School Environments (UPCLOSE), CMNH will pilot a series of quick changes and additions to dioramas and outline expectations for each. Visitors will be observed to measure the degree of engagement in scientific observation (deliberate looking in order to understand visual evidence)--an essential skill for learning across scientific disciplines. The four most promising interventions will be evaluated to determine which are most successful in providing the necessary support for families to establish shared focus and two-way, science-based conversation. The project will include a blog to share information and to disseminate the results to other museums.
This CRPA project is about research on climate change impacts in the Amazonian rain forest and about motivating youth to consider science as a career objective. The project is an exhibit in Biosphere 2 in Arizona wherein a rain forest is maintained and will be used to augment the exhibit of large photos of scientists doing research. Particular attention will be paid to female scientists to motivate young girls. Biosphere 2 and the Girl Scout Council of Southern Arizona will collaborate to attract girls through free admission days to Biosphere 2. These large photos will be equipped with sound and video so that as a visitor approaches the photo, the sounds of the forest as well as the researcher(s) will be heard. At this point the researcher, in the photograph, will begin a monologue with the visitor explaining what scientists are investigating and who the other workers are. In this monologue, the researcher will explain what they are doing specifically, why they are investigating this subject, and what they plan to derive as a scientific result. The exhibit will consist of fifty very large photographs (3x5 feet) with sound access via smart phones and headsets. In addition, there will be hands on equipment and docents for questions and discussion. The venue receives about 100,000 visitors per year consisting mainly of families, tourists, and clubs. Through this exhibit, the researchers intend to motivate youth to develop interests in STEM topics. Girls are the main target audience. For families and tourists, the exhibit communicates the message of how science is being used to determine the effect of climate change on rain forests and how that would affect other aspects of weather and the global environment.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Scott SaleskaBruce JohnsonJoost van HarenJennifer Fields
Currently, many museums present histories of science and technology, but very few are integrating scientific activity--observation, measurement, experimentation-with the time- and place-specific narratives that characterize history-learning experiences. For the Prairie Science project, Conner Prairie is combining proven science center-style activities, developed by the Science Museum of Minnesota, with family-engagement strategies developed through extensive research and testing with audiences in historical settings. The goal of this integration is to create guest experiences that are rich in both STEM and historical content and encourage family learning. One key deliverable of this project is the Create.Connect gallery, which is currently installed at Conner Prairie. Create.Connect allows the project team to evaluate and research hands-on activities, facilitation strategies and historic settings to understand how these elements combine to encourage family conversations and learning around historical narratives and STEM content. For example, in one exhibit area families can experiment with creating their own efficient wind turbine designs while learning about the innovations of the Flint & Walling windmill manufacturing company from Indiana. The activity is facilitated by a historic interpreter portraying a windmill salesman from 1900. The interpreter not only guides the family though the process of scientific inquiry, but shares his historic perspective on wind power as well. Two other exhibit areas invite hands-on exploration of electrical circuits and forces in motion as they connect to stories from Indiana history. Evaluation and research findings from the Create.Connect exhibit will be used to develop a model that can guide other history institutions that want to incorporate STEM content and thinking into their exhibits and interpretation. By partnering with the Science Museum of Minnesota, we will combine the experience of science center professionals and history museum professionals to find the best practices for incorporating science activities into historic settings. To ensure that this dissemination model is informed from many perspectives, Conner Prairie has invited the participation of four history museums: The Museum of America and the Sea, Mystic, Connecticut; the California State Railroad Museum, Sacramento, California; the Wabash County Historical Society, Wabash, Indiana; and the Oliver H. Kelley Farm, Elk River, Minnesota. Each of the four participants will install history-STEM exhibit components which will be connected to location-specific historic narratives. Drawing on the staff experience and talents of participant museums, this project will develop realistic solutions to an array of anticipated barriers. These issues and the resulting approaches will become part of a stronger, more adaptable dissemination model that will support history museums in creating STEM-based guest experiences.
The University of California, Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC), UC Davis W.M. Keck Center for Active Visualization in the Earth Sciences (KeckCAVES), ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center (ECHO), UC Berkeley Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS), and the Institute for Learning Innovation (ILI) will study how 3-D visualizations can most effectively be used to improve general public understanding of freshwater lake ecosystems and Earth science processes through the use of immersive three-dimensional (3-D) visualizations of lake and watershed processes, supplemented by tabletop science activity stations. Two iconic lakes will be the focus of this study: Lake Tahoe in California and Nevada, and Lake Champlain in Vermont and New York, with products readily transferable to other freshwater systems and education venues. The PI will aggregate and share knowledge about how to effectively utilize 3-D technologies and scientific data to support learning from immersive 3-D visualizations, and how other hands-on materials can be combined to most effectively support visitor learning about physical, biological and geochemical processes and systems. The project will be structured to iteratively test, design, and implement 3-D visualizations in both concurrent and staggered development. The public will be engaged in the science behind water quality and ecosystem health; lake formation; lake foodwebs; weather and climate; and the role and impact of people on the ecosystem. A suite of publicly available learning resources will be designed and developed on freshwater ecosystems, including immersive 3-D visualizations; portable science stations with multimedia; a facilitator's guide for docent training; and a Developer's Manual to allow future informal science education venues. Project partners are organized into five teams: 1) Content Preparation and Review: prepare and author content including writing of storyboards, narratives, and activities; 2) 3-D Scientific Visualizations: create visualization products using spatial data; 3) Science Station: plan, design, and produce hands-on materials; 4) Website and Multimedia: produce a dissemination strategy for professional and public audiences; 4) Evaluation: conduct front-end, formative, and summative evaluation of both the 3-D visualizations and science activity stations. The summative evaluation will utilize a mixed methods approach, using both qualitative and quantitative methods, and will include focus groups, semi-structured interviews, web surveys, and in-depth interviews. Leveraging 3-D tools, high-quality visual displays, hands-on activities, and multimedia resources, university-based scientists will work collaboratively with informal science education professionals to extend the project's reach and impact to an audience of 400,000 visitors, including families, youth, school field trip groups, and tourists. The project will implement, evaluate, and disseminate knowledge of how 3-D visualizations and technologies can be designed and configured to effectively support visitor engagement and learning about physical, biological and geochemical processes and systems, and will evaluate how these technologies can be transferred more broadly to other informal science venues and schools for future career and workforce development in these critical STEM areas.
This is a handout from the session "NASA in the Community: Diverse solutions to engaging families/educators" at the 2014 ASTC Conference held in Raleigh, NC. It includes presentation slides and related reference materials about NASA-funded informal education projects.