Data science is ever-present in modern life. The need to learn with and about data science is becoming increasingly important in a world where the quantity of data is constantly growing, where one’s own data are often being harvested and marketed, where data science career opportunities are rapidly increasing, and where understanding statistics, data sources, and data representation is integral to understanding STEM and the world around us. Museums have the opportunity to play a critical role in introducing the public to data science concepts in ways that center personal relevance, social connections and collaborative learning. However, data science and statistics are difficult concepts to distill and provide meaningful engagement with during the brief learning experiences typical to science museums. This Pilot and Feasibility study brings together data scientists, data science educators, and museum exhibit designers to consider these questions:
What are the important data science concepts for the public to explore and understand in museum exhibits?
How can museum exhibits be designed to support visitors with diverse backgrounds and experiences to engage with these data science concepts?
What principles can shape these designs to promote broadening participation in data science specifically and STEM more broadly?
This Pilot and Feasibility project combines multidisciplinary expert convening, feasibility testing, and early exploratory prototyping around the focal topic of data science exhibits. Project partners, TERC, the Museum of Science, Boston, and The Tech Interactive in San Jose will engage in an iterative process to develop a theoretical grounding and practical guidance for museum practitioners. The project will include two convenings, bringing together teams of experts from the fields of data science, data science education and museum exhibit design. Prior to the first convening, an initial literature summary and a survey of convening participants will be conducted, culminating in a preliminary list of big ideas about data science. Periodically, participants will have the opportunity to rank, annotate and expand this list, as a form of ongoing data collection. During the convenings, participants will explore the preliminary list, share related work from the three disciplines, engage with related data science activities in small groups, and work together to build consensus around promising data science topics and approaches for exhibits. Participant evaluation will allow for iterative improvement of the convenings and the capture of missed points or overlooked topics. After each convening, museum partners will create prototypes that respond to the convening conversations. Prototypes will be pilot tested (evaluated) with an intentionally recruited group of families that includes both frequent visitors and those who are less likely to visit the museum; diversity in terms of race, languages and dis/ability will be reflected in selection. Pilot data collection will consist of structured observations and interviews. Results from the first round of prototyping will be shared with convening participants as a way to modify the list of big ideas and to further interrogate the feasibility of communicating these ideas in an exhibit format. Results from the convenings and from both rounds of prototyping will be combined in a guiding document that will be shared on all three partner websites, and more broadly with the informal STEM learning field. The team will also host a workshop for practitioners interested in designing data science exhibits, and present at a conference focused on museum exhibits and their design.
Assuming that scientific development and artistic research are genetically similar, this article shows the common need of knowledge of art and science, their dialectical and multidirectional relations and the unstable boundaries between them. The fractal art has assimilated the cognitive and perceptive changes in the realm of non-euclidean geometries and has become a precise instrument of "epistemological observation". Artistic practices materialize and communicate the laws of science, while scientific revolutions are in actual facts metaphorical revolutions.
Popularising mathematics requires a preliminary reflection on language and terms, the choice of which results from underlying dynamics. The aim of this article is to start an overall analysis of the conditions influencing this linguistic choice.
The Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) and The Watermen's Museum, Yorktown, VA, will produce an underwater robotics research and discovery education program in conjunction with time-sensitive, underwater archeological research exploring recently discovered shipwrecks of General Cornwallis's lost fleet in the York River. The urgency of the scientific research is based upon the dynamic environment of the York River with its strong tidal currents, low visibility, and seasonal hypoxia that can rapidly deteriorate the ships, which have been underwater since 1781. Geophysical experts believe that further erosion is likely once the wrecks are exposed. Given the unknown deterioration rate of the shipwrecks coupled with the constraints of implementing the project during the 2011-2012 school-year, any delays would put the scientific research back at least 18 months - a potentially devastating delay for documenting the ships. The monitoring and studying of the historic ships will be conducted by elementary through high school-aged participants and their teachers who will collect the data underwater through robotic missions using VideoRay Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) and a Fetch Automated Underwater Vehicle (AUV) from a command station at The Watermen's Museum. Students and teachers will be introduced to the science, mathematics, and integrated technologies associated with robotic underwater research and will experience events that occur on a real expedition, including mission planning, execution, monitoring, and data analysis. Robotic missions will be conducted within the unique, underwater setting of the historical shipwrecks. Such research experiences and professional development are intended to serve as a key to stimulating student interest in underwater archeological research, the marine environment and ocean science, advanced research using new technologies, and the array of opportunities presented for scientific and creative problem solving associated with underwater research. A comprehensive, outcomes-based formative and summative, external evaluation of the project will be conducted by Dr. L. Art Safer, Loyola University. The evaluation will inform the project's implementation efforts and investigate the project's impact. The newly formed partnership between the Waterman's Museum and VIMS will expand the ISE Program's objectives to forge new partnerships among informal venues, and to expand the use of advanced technologies for informal STEM learning. Extensive public dissemination during and after the project duration, includes but is not limited to, hosting an "Expedition to the Wrecks" web portal on the VIMS BRIDGE site for K-12 educators providing real-time results of the project and live webcasts. The website will be linked to the education portal at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, the world's largest organization devoted to promoting unmanned systems and to the FIRST Robotics community through the Virginia portal. The website will be promoted through scientific societies, the National Marine Educators Association, National Science Teachers Association, and ASTC. Links will be provided to the Center for Archeological Research at the College of William and Mary and the Immersion Presents web portal--consultants to Dr. Bob Ballard's K-12 projects and JASON explorations. The NPS Colonial National Historic Park and the Riverwalk Landing will create public exhibits about the shipwreck's archeological and scientific significance, and will provide live observation of the research and the exploration technologies employed in this effort.
Research in experimental and developmental psychology, cognitive science, and neuroscience, suggests that tool fluency depends on the merging of perceptual and motor aspects of its use, an achievement we call perceptuomotor integration. We investigate the development of perceptuomotor integration and its role in mathematical thinking and learning. Just as expertise in playing a piano relies on the interanimation of finger movements and perceived sounds, we argue that mathematical expertise involves the systematic interpenetration of perceptual and motor aspects of playing mathematical
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Ricardo NemirovskyMolly KeltonBohdan Rhodehamel
There is a movement afoot to turn the acronym STEM—which stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—into STEAM by adding the arts. Science educators have finally begun to realize that the skills required by innovative STEM professionals include arts and crafts thinking. Visual thinking; recognizing and forming patterns; modeling; getting a "feel" for systems; and the manipulative skills learned by using tools, pens, and brushes are all demonstrably valuable for developing STEM abilities. And the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts have gotten
The Human Orrery is an innovative outdoor exhibit in the grounds of the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland. Stainless steel disks mark the orbits of the classical planets, two comets, and the dwarf planet Ceres with a high level of precision. The idea is to provide a large-scale interactive educational facility to promote greater public understanding of astronomy, mathematics, and space science. In the Human Orrery, people play the part of planets moving in their orbits. Thus, visitors can learn, through active involvement, about the motions of the planets and the position of the Earth and
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TEAM MEMBERS:
D.J. AsherM.E. BaileyA.A. ChristouM.D. Popescu
Poster on NSF grant DRL-1114663 (3D Visualization Tools For Enhancing Awareness, Understanding, And Stewardship Of Freshwater Ecosystems) from the 2012 ISE PI Meeting.
The University Museum at the University of Arkansas is conducting preliminary planning for expansion of their 1994 pilot project entitled "Women in Science." During this planning phase, the staff will meet regularly with experts and teachers to design an exhibit about non-academic female scientists in Arkansas that will travel throughout Arkansas, outline a workshop for teachers that would help them encourage their female students to participate in math and science, and develop a program that enables female scientists to work with groups of students. At the end of the three and a half month planning stage, a final report will present a plan for the exhibition, gender workshop, and scientist program which identifies personnel, gives models/prototypes, and a budget for each facet of the proposed project.
Innovation spaces are springing up around the world. This phenomenon is driven by emerging technologies in additive manufacturing, by new thinking about learning, by a desire to grow the Michigan economy through the democratization of innovation and entrepreneurship and the need to provide authentic experiences to engage and retain students in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) disciplines and careers. We are presently engaged in the project planning phase of the Innovation 5 concept. Innovation 5 will be a community-based rapid prototyping/additive manufacturing facility that will be housed within and will be integral to the Impression 5 Science Center in downtown Lansing, MI. This space is envisioned to house resources such as rapid prototyping and additive manufacturing equipment, meeting spaces and networking facilities for collaboration, This space will also serve as a core element of the informal learning experience for visitors to the Impression 5 Science Center. Impression 5 is currently planning a dramatic renovation and expansion which provides a window of opportunity for development of this new concept. Innovation 5 is planned to function at the intersection of three major trends in education and economic development; additive manufacturing and rapid prototyping, authentic STEM experiences for students and community based innovation and entrepreneurial support.. Additive Manufacturing/Rapid Prototyping: Additive manufacturing and rapid prototyping are poised to be the next great digital revolution, where the barrier between digital concept and physical object ceases to exist. "Machines that turn binary digits into physical objects are pioneering a whole new way of making things" one that could rewrite the rules of manufacturing in much the same way that the PC laid waste to traditional computing (The Economist Technology Quarterly Dec 1, 2012) This technological revolution is becoming a central feature of a new set of institutions that make these facilities available to entrepreneurs as shared community resources. Global networks are already forming as non-profits such as FabLabs and MakerSpaces, commercial entities like TechShop and at the Federal government level, such as the recently announced National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute. Authentic STEM Experiences for Students: There is increasing recognition that student learning can be dramatically enhanced by enabling students to engage in inquiry-driven work that connects their learning to the real world and that involves collaboration and communication. For example, the National Science Foundation is devoting significant resources to promote the concept of learning through innovation through such programs as the I-Corps. The informal science education community has moved strongly towards becoming a center for STEM learning in conjunction with more traditional learning environments. The National Science Foundation recently changed the name of its Informal Science Education (ISE) division to Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL). The Impression 5 Science Center is also actively pursuing the link between informal education and innovation through its new exhibit, the Build Zone where children are encouraged to create and test new structures in a wide variety of physical formats. Community-based Entrepreneurial Support: The Maker/FabLab culture emphasizes the democratization of these new technologies. We feel that this can be a key contribution of Innovation 5 to the City of Lansing community. The population of the City of Lansing is diverse with a high proportion of members of underrepresented groups. In addition, Lansing is undersupported compared to neighboring communities in terms of access to technology and related educational resources. By becoming the local "on ramp to innovation," Innovation 5 can provide low-cost, easy-entry access to these new technologies for community members, whether as microentrepreneurs or just to access these technologies for personal interest. The goal of the Innovation 5 proposal is to meld these threads into a new type of institution. We view the Innovation 5 space as a graded environment for STEM learning through innovation. The facility is envisaged to have a "front end" that serves as an inviting informal education setting where children and families can learn about and participate in the process of innovation and where they can actually see and interact with, in a controlled fashion, the rapid prototyping facility. The "back end" of the facility will have multiple spaces with various levels of controlled access. There will be a collaboration space with visual global networking capability and access to design tools that will be relatively open. Beyond that area would be a space with rapid prototyping tools that require training and supervision for access and operation. One step beyond this might be small spaces for entrepreneurs to pursue more advanced projects. Students will participate integrally in all aspects of Innovation 5's functioning, from interacting with children in an informal setting to serving as team members in developing products from concept to market. Students will also provide the core of the group managing the facility, with substantial input into the direction Innovation 5 will take. Consistent with this vision, 6 student interns are diligently working this summer as a project planning team. They are focusing on various aspects of the facility, from design and equipment needs to marketing and social media. We anticipate completing the project planning phase this summer, to be followed by focused fundraising efforts to install and maintain Innovation 5. Impression 5 Science Center is strongly supportive of this project and has generously offered to provide ample space within their current building envelope for Innovation 5. With this support as well as financial support already received from Lansing area community, education and economic development groups, we are confident that we are well on our way to creating Innovation 5, the first facility of its kind in the United States, and one that has great potential to be replicated nationally.