Informal environments—or out-of-school-time (OST) settings—play an important role in promoting science learning for preK–12 students and beyond. The learning experiences delivered by parents, friends, and educators in informal environments can spark student interest in science and provide opportunities to broaden and deepen students’ engagement; reinforce scientific concepts and practices introduced during the school day; and promote an appreciation for and interest in the pursuit of science in school and in daily life. NSTA recommends strengthening informal learning opportunities for all preK
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TEAM MEMBERS:
National Science Teachers Association
The Please Touch Museum is requesting $684,602 for the development of educational resource materials in science and mathematics for four-year old children, and training for their parents and teachers in Head Start and other daycare programs. This 44 month project will develop, test, and produce six materials-based science and math activity kits, science training workshops for parents and daycare educators, and related family materials and events. It will culminate in a national dissemination program to promote more effective preschool science and math education through materials- based science inquiry and increased professional relations between educators in youth museums and daycare centers.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Marzy SykesRenee HenryTracey Prendergast
The Wildlife Conservation Society is developing and implementing a five-year science program for 420 parents and 210 teachers of children in grades K-8. Linked directly with school curricula and the new National Science Education Standards, the program will bridge the gap between parents and schools, and position the Zoo as a partner and intermediary to help parents and teachers improve the quality and quantity of science education. The program consists of four interrelated components: 1) A series of workshops that will prepare the 420 parents and 210 teachers to work in teams for better and more widely available science education; 2) A series of education projects that will enable workshop participants to teach thousands of other parents and educators about the importance of science literacy, the need for active parental engagement in children's education, and the crucial role that informal science institutions play in augmenting formal science instruction; 3) A series of four Science Advocacy Fairs at the Zoo that are expected to raise the visitor's consciousness on a large scale about the above issues; and 4) A symposium for educators from schools and informal science centers in the region to disseminate successful methods for involving parents in science education.
The New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science proposed to develop an outreach science and mathematics program with a parent involvement and teacher enhancement professional development component. The goals of the project are as follows: (1) to involve parents in their children's education; (2) to promote a positive attitude on behalf of parents and students toward science and mathematics; (3) to increase teachers' level of comfort in teaching science; and (4) to enhance teacher's confidence in the hands-on approach as an effective method for teaching science. The objectives for the parent component of this project are: acquaint parents with the national and state science education goals and standards; introduce parents to activities that can be done at home with children; and provide families with materials and activity sheets that can be used at home. The objectives for the teacher component of this project are: (1) to provide teachers with opportunities for increased communication with parents about science literacy for children; (2) provide professional development for teachers on the use of hands-on science activities in the classroom; and (3) to providing bilingual activity guides and kits containing materials to encourage science learning. The methods for implementing this project will be varied according to the needs of the target audiences. Parents and children will be engaged through parent workshops and multi-aged children's activities conducted at the museum by experienced science educators. The professional development for teachers' component of this project will include an extensive summer workshop, on-going training/ planning sessions during the school calendar year and session on the uses of the bilingual teaching manuals. The cost sharing for this NSF award is 46.7% of the total project cost.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Madeleine ZeiglerJayne Aubele
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
Under the direction of Kevin Crowley, the Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh will investigate gender bias in parental explanations in informal learning settings. This project, Responding to the Gender Gap in Informal Science Education, will build on previous research at children's museums where the conversations of 338 families with children eight years and younger at sixteen different interactive exhibits were recorded and analyzed. They found that parents were almost three times more likely to use explanations when interacting with boys than girls. In this project they will conduct additional research to isolate the causes and outcomes associated with gender bias in these parental explanations and then they will develop, evaluate, and disseminate a range of low-cost methods to modify science exhibits to support parental explanation to both girls and boys. The latter will take the form of an Explanation Toolbox (XBox) which will be a set of resources to help museums construct and evaluate their own modifications to support non-biased parental explanations, with special attention paid to including explanations for the young girls, in addition to the usual conversations about manipulating the exhibits and about the visual, auditory, and tactile information produced by the exhibit. Results of the research and the toolbox will be broadly disseminated via the World Wide Web and published research reports.
The Liberty Science Center is conducting a one-day symposium to be held immediately prior to the annual meeting of the Giant Screen Theater Association. The purpose of the symposium is to bring together large format film producers, distributors, and theater owners to reflect on the educational aspects and the presentation of science in the large format film medium. Presenters will include producers, science educators and researchers/evaluators who have worked in the medium.
The Education Development Center, Incorporated, requests $2,081,018 to create informal learning opportunities in science, mathematics, engineering and technology utilizing the study of the ancient African civilization of Nubia as context. Educational activities and resources will be developed based on the extensive ongoing archeological research on historical Nubia. The two main components of the project are a traveling exhibit with related educational materials and a website that will provide the target audience an opportunity to access extensive on-line resources and activities. The project will provide community outreach and professional development for educators in museums, community groups, schools and libraries. The project is designed for thirty-six months' duration. In year one, a network of collaborators in the Boston area will focus on research and development; in year two, project materials will be piloted and evaluated in six cities, and on-line professional development programs will be conducted; and in year three, project materials will be disseminated directly to 60 sites and more broadly via the internet.
The Quality Education for Minorities (QEM) Network requests $1,518,318 to develop and pilot, in ten low-income communities, a two-pronged initiative for providing professional development for parents to be stronger advocates for their children in science, mathematics and technology. The objectives for this project are to prepare a cadre of parents (or parent surrogates) at each of ten pilot sites to advocate for a stronger participation in quality science, mathematics, and technology education for their own and other children; to establish an information and support network from which parents can retrieve educational resources via QEM's Website, an 800-telephone number, fax, and e-mail, and regular postal service. The pilot sites are Lowndes County, AL; targeted communities in Cleveland and Florence, SC; seven public housing communities in Atlanta, GA, Baltimore, MD, Chicago, IL, New York (Brooklyn and Jamaica), Norfolk, VA, and Tallahassee, FL. The Community Service Centers (CSC's) established on neighboring college campuses serve the seven public housing communities with support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, with technical assistance provided by the QEM Network. The participating neighboring colleges are Clark-Atlanta University, Morgan State University, Chicago State University, New York City Technical College, York College, Norfolk State University, and Florida A&M University.
The Pacific Science Center is requesting $800,000 over three and one-half years to develop a national model which would enable community agencies to incorporate science education into their programs. Through thirteen-week training programs, and developing Community Center Workshops, individuals from community organizations will acquire the skills necessary to become advocates and providers for science enrichment. A number of community-based organizations which serve primarily minority clients have agreed to collaborate with the Museum.
The Louisville Science Center will develop "The World We Create", a 13,000 sq. ft. exhibit which will transform their second floor to an active learning environment where visitors can explore the simplest element of the creative process to the most sophisticated networks available to our society. The activities will be organized into five core exhibit areas: New Way Tunnel, Think Tank, Inventor's Garage, Chemistry Kitchen, and Tech World and will reinforce educational reform activities in math, science, problem- solving, team cooperation, and decision making. In addition to the large number of interactives, there is a substantial technology/telecommunications component known as the Tech Forum. This will serve at the home site for the Kentucky TeleLinking Network (KTLN). The educational objectives of the exhibit were developed under the guidance of prominent formal educators in the state and they address both the education reform goals of the state and national science and math standards. The exhibit has also been developed with direct participation of a number of private sector partners. It is an impressive community effort. The exhibit is scheduled to open in March, 1997.
The Massachusetts SSI (Project PALMS) will conduct this project in partnership with MITS (the Museum Institute for Teaching Science, Inc.) and will develop, demonstrate the effectiveness of, and disseminate a locally-driven model for parental involvement in mathematics, science, and technology education. The model builds on the SSI structure by starting with parents who are active in PALMS District Leadership Teams for Systemic Change (approximately 2900 parents). These parents will have opportunities for additional training with materials such as Project PRISM, EQUALS, AAAS, etc. These support the new State frameworks and assessments developed through he SSI, and are also in support of the high quality curriculum materials recommended for implementation in schools. Parents will then develop local plans for engaging other parents in their communities. Materials will be developed, including a manual on How to Build Coalitions to Engage Community Members in Mathematics, Science, and Technology Reform. In addition, materials will be developed and outreach activities will be conducted to include activities for parents and children (estimated to reach an additional 21,000 parents) held in nontraditional environments such as subways, laundromats, health clinics, and malls. Products will include a manual on building coalitions to engage communities in supporting mathematics and science reform, and a collection of field-tested prototype outreach activities. Findings will be disseminated through the Eisenhower Consortia, National PTA, Urban League, and National Council of La Raza.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Thomas NoonanMary Jane SchmittPendred Noyce
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The World Congress of Science Producers is an annual event of leading broadcasters and independent science producers from around the world. This year's congress is being planned and osted by WGBH. For this Congress, WBGH will add two new dimensions to the meeting: 1) involve working scientists in the meeting to increase the dialogue and contact between broadcast journalists and scientists, and 2) partially support attendance by individuals who are either are considering entering science journalism or are newly involved in the field. Sessions that include scientists include: an exploration of the most important science stories that journalists should be covering, an in-depth analysis of a specific science issue, a discussion of ethical issues related to genome research, legal issues related to science in the courts, an examination of coverage of science vs. pseudo-science, and visualization of science.