A partnership between Carthage College and the Appalachian Mountain Club has delivered a successful public education and outreach program that merges natural environment topics and astronomy. Over the four years of activity, over 25,000 people have received programming. The effort has trained nature educators, permanent and seasonal AMC staff, and undergraduate physics and astronomy students to integrate diverse topical material and deliver high quality programming to the lay public. Unique to the program is the holistic nature of the material delivered - an 'atypical' astronomy program. Linking observable characteristics of the natural world with astronomical history and phenomena, and emphasizing the unique sequence of events that have led to human life on Earth, the program has changed attitudes and behaviors among the public participants. Successful interventions have included hands-on observing programs (day and night) that link nature content to the observed objects; table-talk presentations on nature/astronomy topics; dark skies preservation workshops; and hands-on activities developed for younger audiences, including schools, camps, and family groups. An extensive evaluation and assessment effort managed by a leading sociologist has demonstrated the effectiveness of the approach, and contributed to continuous improvement in the program content and methods.
LOOP is a new multiplatform, environmental project designed to help young children, ages 6-8, explore ecosystems and understand the science and systems of the natural world. Built upon a curriculum that moves beyond the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle), the goal is to help lay the foundation for a lifelong interest in the science of sustainability. Deliverables include: a 20-episode television series with animated stories and live-action segments which feature families and children; an online game to immerse players in the same ecosystems seen on television; Loop Live Missions (outdoor science activities); and an afterschool/camp curriculum designed to get children and families outside to explore natural systems. Promotion of LOOP's educational resources will be undertaken through a partner network including the U.S. Forest Service, Children & Nature Network, National Recreation and Park Association, American Camp Association, National Summer Learning Association, Girl Scouts of the USA, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. LOOP is produced by WGBH in Boston and intended for national distribution on PBS. The project design creates an "interactive learning loop" which cycles between the television series, the Website, and outdoor science activities. The intended impacts are to: (1) deliver educational media to the target audience that increases their understanding of science and sustainability issues; (2) model and teach science concepts and scientific habits of mind; and (3) connect children and their families to the natural world. Concord Evaluation Group will be responsible for conducting formative and summative evaluation of the project. The summative evaluation is designed to measure project impacts with respect to change in behavior and attitudes, as well as science learning. The results of the evaluation will inform the curriculum for the current and future seasons of LOOP and contribute to the growing knowledge base of how media can effectively promote and teach substantive science to the young.
This project engages members of racially and economically diverse communities in identifying and carrying out environmental projects that are meaningful to their lives, and adapts technology known as NatureNet to assist them. NatureNet, which encompasses a cell phone app, a multi-user, touch-based tabletop display and a web-based community, was developed with prior NSF support. Core participants involved in programs of the Anacostia Watershed Society in Washington, D.C., and Maryland, and the Reedy Creek Nature Preserve in Charlotte, NC, will work with naturalists, educators, and technology specialists to ask scientific questions and form hypotheses related to urban waterway restoration and preservation of native species. They will then collect and analyze data using NatureNet, requesting changes to the technology to customize it as needed for their projects. Casual visitors to the nature centers will be able to interact with the environmental projects via the tabletop, and those who live farther away will be able to participate more peripherally via the online community. The research project, led by researchers from the University of Maryland, College Park, with collaborators from the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, and the University of Colorado, Boulder, will provide answers to two questions: 1) How do community-driven informal environmental learning projects impact participants, including their motivation to actively participate in science issues via technology and their disposition toward nature preserves and scientific inquiry? and 2) What are the key factors (e.g., demographic composition of participants, geographical location) that influence the development of community-driven environmental projects? Researchers will gather extensive qualitative and quantitative data to understand how community projects are selected and carried out, how participants approach technology use and adaptation, and how informal learning and engagement on STEM-related issues can be fostered over a period of several months and through iterative project cycles. Data will be collected through motivation questionnaires; focus groups; interviews; tabletop, mobile, and website interaction logs; field notes from participatory design and reflection sessions; and project journals kept by nature preserve staff. Through extensive research, iterative design, and evaluation efforts, researchers will develop an innovative model for community-driven environmental projects that will deepen informal science education by demonstrating how members of diverse communities connect environmental knowledge and scientific inquiry skills to the practices, values, and goals of their communities, and how technology can be used to facilitate such connections.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Tom YehMary Lou MaherJennifer PreeceTamara CleggCarol Boston