This practitioner guide summarizes lessons learned from a three-year design-based research project focused on using elements of narrative (such as characters, settings, and problem frames) to evoke empathy and support girls' engagement in engineering design practices. The guide includes a summary of the driving concepts and key research findings from this work, as well as design principles for creating narrative-based engineering activities. Six activity case studies illustrate the design principles in action, and facilitation tips and observation tools offer practical guidance in developing
The overall purpose of the Kinetic City (KC) Empower project was to examine how informal science activities can be made accessible for students with disabilities. The premise of this project was that all students, including those with disabilities, are interested in and capable of engaging in science learning experiences, if these experiences are accessible to them. Drawing on resources from Kinetic City, a large collection of science experiments, games, and projects developed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the project researched and adapted five after
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Bob HirshonLaureen SummersBabette MoellerWendy Martin
Afterschool programs have emerged as a dynamic and vibrant setting for innovative STEM education and there has been rapid growth in this field over the past few years. Although many of the statewide afterschool networks are collecting data from afterschool providers in their states on afterschool STEM programming, this report offers the first national look at availability and access to afterschool STEM programs and parental attitudes and expectations for such programs. The America After 3PM survey is the most comprehensive study of how school-age children in the United States spend their after
This is the final report of the Informal Science Education (ISE) supplemental two year NSF grant for the partnership between CCI Solar Fuels and Westside Science Club that ran between October 2012 and July 2014. After a brief program overview and goals, it lists the program components. Then it traces the history of each partner, including a partnership with Wildwood High School in Santa Monica, and LA Makerspace. Each section also briefly outlines the evaluation performed by a professional evaluator. The program will continue with a partnership with a local Pasadena, CA museum called Kidspace
Across the country many schools and communities are trying to create and support efforts to institutionalize partnerships for learning, including those that rethink the use of time across the school day and year, and across the developmental continuum. These partnerships are not merely transactional in nature but rather transformative: partnering entities work together to integrate and complement their services with the shared goal of supporting children’s learning. Referred to by different terms—integrated, expanded, or complementary learning—the concept has one critical element in common
Research in the out-of-school time (OST) field confirms that there is a strong connection between professional development (PD) for staff and positive outcomes for youth. According to Heather Weiss, Founder and Director of the Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP), professional development for those who work with children and youth is fraught with challenges and ripe with opportunity and specifically, the opportunity to increase staff quality, which experts agree is critical to positive experiences for children and youth (Weiss, 2005/2006). However, as Thomas Guskey (1998) states, "For many
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TEAM MEMBERS:
University of PennsylvaniaNancy Peter
STEM Integration in K-12 Education examines current efforts to connect the STEM disciplines in K-12 education. This report identifies and characterizes existing approaches to integrated STEM education, both in formal and after- and out-of-school settings. The report reviews the evidence for the impact of integrated approaches on various student outcomes, and it proposes a set of priority research questions to advance the understanding of integrated STEM education. STEM Integration in K-12 Education proposes a framework to provide a common perspective and vocabulary for researchers
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TEAM MEMBERS:
National Research CouncilMargaret HoneyGreg PearsonHeidi Schweingruber
California's Expanded Learning programs are an integral part of young people's education, engaging them in year-round learning opportunities that prepare them for college, career, and life. This strategic plan was developed by the California Department of Education After School Division (ASD)in collaboration with K-12 educators, program practitioners, and support providers.
This checklist provides a step-by-step process for preparing, leading, and ending an after school science project. The document also includes a partner checklist for science coaches and trainers when instructing adult learners.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
National Partnerships for After School Science 2
This report summarizes the results of a three-year ethnographic study, funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, into how young people are living and learning with new media in varied settings—at home, in after school programs, and in online spaces. The authors present empirical data on new media in the lives of American youth in order to reflect upon the relationship between new media and learning.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
University of California, IrvineMizuko ItoBecky Herr-Stephenson
In this report, the authors review research of afterschool programs and discuss the effects of these programs on participating youth as a means to advance science learning and attitudes toward science. The report analyzes the qualities of programs that yield the best results in terms of comprehension and sustained science learning.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Board on Science EducationSarah Schwartz
How can professional learning for out‐of‐school staff be organized to promote equity in STEM learning? This is the question a group of out-of‐school educators and educational researchers gathered to discuss at the Exploratorium on January 30‐31, 2015. The meeting was sponsored by the Research+Practice Collaboratory, an NSF-‐funded project that develops and tests new models for integrating research and practice perspectives for the improvement of science and mathematics education. Four big ideas for supporting equity-oriented facilitation emerged from the group's discussions: (1) Seeing