Dr. Barbara Flagg, Director, Multimedia Research, will conduct exploratory research to assess the feasibility and viability of presenting to the public an on-going review of new findings or issues in major fields of research. This research on the untested idea of providing the public with information about research on a regular, on-going basis through multiple media will provide information about the American public's current science media habits, their awareness of and interest in broad areas of research, and the presentation formats most likely to appeal to and reach the public on a regular basis.
The current world research agenda is comprehensive. The results of many studies and experiments in which scientists are currently engaged will undoubtedly have profound impacts on the lives of citizens in developed and developing nations. Yet few people even know what research is being conducted, much less understand why it is being done and what the potential implications may be. This is a critical shortcoming of our public information system. Given the frenetic pace of science research in multi-disciplinary fields, it is increasingly vital that the public be made aware of new findings in a
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Hyman FieldPatricia Powell
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
Phylogenetic groupings of organisms are the basis for predictive classifications and biological information systems. Organizing biological knowledge and their parallel hierarchies according to phylogenetic relationships has become increasingly important for many segments of science and society (i.e., genetic databases such as GenBank). Yet, our understanding of the tree of life is still very incomplete at all taxonomic levels because phylogenetic hypotheses are typically characterized by inadequate taxon samples, and the data themselves are often variable across the included taxa with respect to kind, quantity, and quality. In addition, methods of analysis vary in their appropriateness and applicability, thus making comparison of phylogenetic trees difficult. These impediments need to be addressed if we are to have a tree of life for the major groups of organisms within a reasonable time frame. Equally important will be to ensure that phylogenetic knowledge is accessible and useful to researchers, institutions, and the government agencies who need it. This proposal seeks to bring together approximately 25-30 leading systematic biologists and nonsystematists interested in phylogenetic research and informatics (phyloinformatics). The workshop will attempt to identify the research needed to assemble the tree of life and make that information available to the global user community within a reasonable time frame. The workshop will formulate recommendations designed to promote institutional changes within the systematic research community to accelerate phylogenetic understanding, identify research efforts that will result in large-scale increases in phylogenetically informative data and improve data analysis, and specify research, technological advances, and infrastructural needs to store, retrieve, and manipulate large amounts of phylogenetic information and make it widely available.
This volume explores the integration of recent research on everyday, classroom, and professional scientific thinking. It brings together an international group of researchers to present core findings from each context; discuss connections between contexts, and explore structures; technologies, and environments to facilitate the development and practice of scientific thinking. The chapters focus on: * situations from young children visiting museums, * middle-school students collaborating in classrooms, * undergraduates learning about research methods, and * professional scientists engaged in
This seminal book describes the nature and extent of science learning in America with particular attention to the innumerable sources of science education existing outside the formal education system.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Institute for Learning InnovationJohn H Falk
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The Science Museum of Minnesota is requesting $279,577, of a total budget of $339,074, to plan and conduct a four-day international conference exploring issues, current practices and future directions related to furthering public understanding of current research in science and technology. The conference will bring together leading museum professionals, scientific researchers, science journalists, television producers, web developers and others who are already engaged in preliminary work for such an effort and who stand to learn from each other's experiences. The conference will center on the role of museums in informing the public about research, but will include representatives from other media and institutions crucial to its success. The specific goals of the conference are to: Explore challenges and barriers that hinder the development of public understanding of research programs. Identify "best practices" and promising models, tools and technologies for presenting current research to the public. Develop partnership strategies for creating public understanding of research program collaborations across the museum, media and research communities. Identify strategies for selecting significant research stories that are relevant to the public. Develop funding strategies and operational approaches that help sustain a consistent public understanding of research effort. The project will be under the direction of David Chittenden, Vice President for Education at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Advisors to the project include: Carol Lynn Alpert, Museum of Science, Boston; John Beatty, Distinguished Teaching Professor, University of Minnesota; Graham Farmelo, Head of Science Communications, Science Museum of London; Richard Hudson, Twin Cities Public Television, St. Paul; Ken Keller, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota; Rob Semper, The Exploratorium; David Ucko, Koshland Science Center and Science Outreach, National Academy of Sciences; and Bonnie VanDorn, Executive Director, Association of Science-Technology Centers.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
David ChittendenAnne HornickelDonald Pohlman
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is conducting a three-day symposium to consider how to use images to communicate science and technology most effectively. Participants will include scientists, imaging technologists, computer scientists, photographers, science writers, illustrators, computer modelers, mathematicians, and others involved with communicating the basic science and findings from research. The focus of the conference will be on communication -- both from the scientific community to the general public, and within the scientific community. The 300 conference attendees will hear presentations from professionals working in the area. However, they will spend the majority of the time working collaboratively on solutions to model problems such as how to represent the interaction of a receptor with a ligand, how to make visually explicit the passage of time at all scales, and how to explain visually a sequence of events. Those who have committed to attend the conference will participate for several months in a conference web site prior to and after the meeting. The web site will enable participants to "critique" and make modification to various images and text used to communicate science. It also will be used to enable participants to collaborate in working groups on the model problems. The PI's for the project are Boyce Rensberger and Felice Frankel. Rensberger is director of the Knight Science Journalism Fellowships program at MIT. He is a science writer and editor and has worked in these capacities for both the New York Times and The Washington Post. Frankel is Artist-in-Resident and research scientist in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT. She photographs and digitally images research data in science and engineering. She has collaborated with George Whitesides to publish "On the Surface of Things: Images of the Extraordinary in Science."
The MIT Media Laboratory, in collaboration with six museums, will develop the "Playful Invention and Exploration (PIE) Network," with the goal of engaging a broader audience in science inquiry and engineering by enabling more people to create, invent and explore with new digital technologies. PIE museums will integrate the latest MIT technologies and educational research into their ongoing public programs. The museums will organize MindFest events, modeled after a two-day event at MIT in 1999, at which youth, educators, artists, engineers, hobbyists and researchers came together to collaborate on invention projects. The PIE Network will disseminate PIE ideas and activities to educators and families nationally.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Mitchel ResnickNatalie RuskBakhtiar MikhakMike PetrichKaren Wilkinson
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The "Setting A Research Agenda: Parents as Informal Mathematics Educators" conference will convene parents, researchers in parent/child learning, a methodological/research design expert, a developmental psychologist, and representatives from mathematics professional organizations. The goals of the conference include: 1) summarizing the goals, methods and findings of the leading research in parent/child mathematics learning; 2) establishing the agenda for future research in this area; and 3) charting a short- and long-term plan of action to accomplish these research goals.
Oregon State University will expand its successful Master Science Educators program and create a national model for the delivery of natural science education to elementary and middle school youth. Master Science Educators are volunteers who undergo a rigorous 30-hour training and commit to 50 hours of service to a community site, such as a community center, housing project or school. Volunteers work in teams of two so that each site receives 100 hours of service devoted to the research and development of a natural science project. Volunteers and on-site and off-site scientists who act as virtual volunteers, guide youth ages K-8, in the design, development and evaluation of their project. Wildlife habitat projects provide a means for participants to learn inquiry and are tailored to address local science standards. A trainer's guide, a volunteer handbook, a guide for community sites and promotional and training videos will be produced, as well as a web-based science course. It is anticipated that 240 volunteers will be trained to work with over 12,000 youth during the course of the project. Dissemination will occur through the 4-H Extension service, impacting both urban and rural populations.
KY-H.E.R.O.S. (Health Education Rural Outreach Scientists) is a health science education program that partners the largest science center in Kentucky with Science Heroes-- important regional biomedical research scientists. The Science Heroes, their stories and their studies serve as inspiration to our rural audience. The project objectives are to: (1) Convey the relevance of health science research to people's daily lives and promote awareness of healthy lifestyle choices and wellness; (2) Promote understanding of the fundamental principles of the scientifc process and inspire K-12 teachers to incorporate current research into their teaching of health science; and (3) Encourage students to pursue advanced science education and increase awareness of the wide range of health science related careers. The Science Center, working with the distinguished Science Heroes, their research teams and a group of 15 knowledgeable professional advisors will develop the new KY-H.E.R.O.S. science education program. The program will include new hands-on labs and demonstrations, teacher training workshops, career exploration activities, interactive videoconferencing distance learning links, and innovative public programs. Using museum-based exhibits and a wet lab, traveling exhibit components, telelinking (distance learning), an interactive website and printed and electronic materials, we will present information about the work of the Science Heroes and its relevance to the lives of participants. The focus of the program will change every two years to feature three different scientists and their work. A total of nine scientists will be included during the 5 year period covered by the SEPA grant. As the focus changes every two years to a different three scientists, all the programs and exhibits will be changed accordingly. KY-H.E.R.O.S. will be designed to serve audiences composed of school groups on field trips; teachers in workshops; classes in remote areas of the state participatng through videoconferencing; underserved groups including economically disadvantaged, minorities and young women; and the family audience that makes up about 60% of the Science Center's annual attendance. Formative and summative evaluation will be conducted by an outside firm to ensure effectiveness.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Amy LowenBeth Blakeley
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
Working in collaboration with biomedical researchers from universities in the San Francisco area, across the nation, and abroad, the Exploratorium proposes to develop a high-quality microscopic imaging station for use by museum visitors, students, teachers and Internet visitors. This facility will utilize the highest quality optics and state-of-the-art microscopic techniques including biological staining and sophisticated digital recording. A variety of living specimens fundamental to basic biology, human development, the human genome and health-related research will be displayed. The station will be the lively center of the life sciences' area at the Exploratorium, providing educational content, dramatic imagery and regular demonstrations to reach an audience which ranges from the mildly curious to research scientists. In addition, the Exploratorium will be the first public institution, outside of a few research laboratories, to present live microscopic specimens via video and the Internet in real time. (To date, remote microscopes have generally presented inanimate objects or fixed tissue.) In order to increase student accessibility, subject matter for the imaging station will be integrated into the ongoing middle and high school teacher professional development at the museum. Teachers will be able to use the imaging station to conduct their own experiments, develop classroom explorations, take away images, access the website in their classrooms, or share materials with other teachers.