This document is the final evaluation report for the project, which focuses both on formative evaluation of the collaborative+interdisciplinary presentation creation process and summative evaluation of audience learning outcomes.
In this study we test a “Guerilla Science” approach that blends elements of access, by removing barriers to participation, with those of inclusion, by designing participant-centered activities, for reaching an art-interested adult audience at the FIGMENT art festival in New York City.
We examined an approach to reaching audiences who may not ordinarily engage with science. Termed Guerilla Science, this approach blends elements of access, by removing barriers to participation by embedding science into unexpected places, with those of inclusion, by designing activities that speak to the learning identities of participants.
Explora Science Center and Children's Museum of Albuquerque will conduct “Roots: supporting Black scholars in STEAM,” a project to increase Explora’s relationships with and relevance to Albuquerque’s Black communities and increase opportunities for Black students in Albuquerque to pursue STEAM. The project is designed to foster a holistic, place-based approach to K–16 STEAM learning that incorporates a growth mindset and highlights the contributions of community members, particularly Black STEAM professionals. The museum will collaborate on project activities with the Mexico Black Leadership Council, the Greater Albuquerque Housing Partnership/Casa Feliz, the Community School at Emerson Elementary, and Sandia National Laboratories’ Black Leadership Committee.
Operation Full STEAM is an exploratory outreach project of the Cade Museum designed to close achievement gaps for underserved elementary school students in Alachua County, Florida. It provides hands-on learning experiences in science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) for students as they move from second to fifth grade in three Title I schools. The museum is implementing the project in collaboration with the Alachua County School District and corporate and community partners. This phase of the project will see the students through 4th and 5th grade where standard 5th grade science testing in the schools will measure the impact of the program. In addition to improving academic performance, the project aims to cultivate greater interest in STEAM disciplines among students from culturally and socioeconomically diverse backgrounds, inspire the pursuit of further education, and contribute to a more inclusive and equitable innovation economy.
The Jackson Hole Children’s Museum will expand its K–5th grade STEAM programs, which serve more than 1,300 students in Teton County School District #1. The STEAM programs provide inquiry-based, hands-on programming to all K–5 District students in accordance with the Wyoming State Science Standards. An additional 500 students are reached through homeschool groups, summer school, childcare and therapy organizations, and nearby Idaho schools. Each two-hour program opens with interactive, student-centered, scientific method lab stations. Students are then challenged to use newly acquired vocabulary and knowledge to complete a hands-on building project. The program is designed to contribute to increasing science and engineering literacy in the community and to support the development of students’ 21st century skills.
The Making Spaces project aims to contribute to a longer-term vision of a future where all UK makerspaces can be vehicles for social justice, offering spaces and resources for a wide range of communities to enhance and improve their lives, wellbeing and agency through STEM-rich making in ways that feel authentic, respectful and value the wisdom, cultures, needs, values and identities of communities. This vision includes a future where the STEM workforce is diverse and representative, where STEM is used to address key societal challenges and where people can use STEM knowledge, skills and
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Louise ArcherJen DeWittEsme FreedmanKylo Thomas
This project is expanding an effective mobile making program to achieve sustainable, widespread impact among underserved youth. Making is a design-based, participant-driven endeavor that is based on a learning by doing pedagogy. For nearly a decade, California State University San Marcos has operated out-of-school making programs for bringing both equipment and university student facilitators to the sites in under-served communities. In collaboration with four other CSU campuses, this project will expand along four dimensions: (a) adding community sites in addition to school sites (b) adding rural contexts in addition to urban/suburban, (c) adding hybrid and online options in addition to in-person), and (d) including future teachers as facilitators in addition to STEM undergraduates. The program uses design thinking as a framework to engage participants in addressing real-world problems that are personally and socially meaningful. Participants will use low- and high-tech tools, such as circuity, coding, and robotics to engage in activities that respond to design challenges. A diverse group of university students will lead weekly, 90-minute activities and serve as near-peer mentors, providing a connection to the university for the youth participants, many of whom will be first-generation college students. The project will significantly expand the Mobile Making program from 12 sites in North San Diego County to 48 sites across California, with nearly 2,000 university facilitators providing 12 hours of programming each year to over 10,000 underserved youth (grades 4th through 8th) during the five-year timeline.
The project research will examine whether the additional sites and program variations result in positive youth and university student outcomes. For youth in grades 4 through 8, the project will evaluate impacts including sustained interest in making and STEM, increased self-efficacy in making and STEM, and a greater sense that making and STEM are relevant to their lives. For university student facilitators, the project will investigate impacts including broadened technical skills, increased leadership and 21st century skills, and increased lifelong interest in STEM outreach/informal science education. Multiple sources of data will be used to research the expanded Mobile Making program's impact on youth and undergraduate participants, compare implementation sites, and understand the program's efficacy when across different communities with diverse learner populations. A mixed methods approach that leverages extant data (attendance numbers, student artifacts), surveys, focus groups, making session feedback forms, observations, and field notes will together be used to assess youth and university student participant outcomes. The project will disaggregate data based on gender, race/ethnicity, grade level, and site to understand the Mobile Making program's impact on youth participants at multiple levels across contexts. The project will further compare findings from different types of implementation sites (e.g., school vs. library), learner groups, (e.g., middle vs. upper elementary students), and facilitator groups (e.g., STEM majors vs. future teachers). This will enable the project to conduct cross-case comparisons between CSU campuses. Project research will also compare findings from urban and rural school sites as well as based on the modality of teaching and learning (e.g., in-person vs. online). The mobile making program activities, project research, and a toolkit for implementing a Mobile maker program will be widely disseminated to researchers, educators, and out-of-school programs.
The Louisiana Art & Science Museum (LASM) will conduct a three-year program, “Healthy Aging with LASM,” which will serve senior adults in the 11-parish capital region. The museum will implement the program in partnership with the Capital Area Agency on Aging, the East Baton Rouge Parish Council on Aging, the Baton Rouge General Arts in Medicine Program, and Dr. Rebecca Bartlett. Senior adults have faced unprecedented levels of isolation, stress, and health risk due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The museum will present virtual and in-person art and science programming designed to combat isolation, foster meaningful connections, and promote healthy aging. Programming will include virtual field trips, distribution of arts and science virtual reality headsets, and a series of hands-on arts workshops.