PocketMacro is a mobile app designed by The Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University to help users better identify benthic macroinvertebrates commonly found in streams and other waterways. In Summer 2021, the app and other supplemental materials were highlighted during trainings for educators held at the Stroud Water Research Center.
The evaluation team from Rockman et al Cooperative (REA) surveyed and interviewed educators who participated in the summer trainings to determine what they took away from the experience and to gather feedback about the PocketMacro app
This paper reports on a new media-based tool designed to develop new knowledge about joint parent-child participation in science talk and practices using a second screen app synced with a television program, called Splash! Ask-Me: Ocean Adventures (Splash!).[1] With funding from the National Science Foundation, Splash! is an app designed to work in conjunction with a marine science-focused television program, Splash and Bubbles, for children 2-8 years old that premiered nationally on PBS Kids in fall of 2016.
The free app includes a variety of "conversation catalysts" tied to the television
This summative evaluation describes the FOSSIL (Fostering Opportunities for Synergistic STEM with Informal Learners) project activities and outcomes. Over the six-year funding period of this project, we developed a community of practice of more than 10,000 participants (via our web site, social media, and app) who share an interest in fossils and paleontology. This report describes the success and challenges of the FOSSIL project.
Char Associates conducted an evaluation of the four-year, NSF-funded project, Interpreters and Scientists Working on Our Parks (iSWOOP). The project brought interpreters and scientists together in multi-day professional development sessions at five national parks with the purpose of showcasing scientific research that usually goes unseen and unappreciated by park visitors. iSWOOP coordinated the development and delivery of digital libraries including animations, still photos, thermal and high-speed videos, and maps to give visual support to explanations of particular scientific studies. In
Supported by the National Science Foundation, the Global Soundscapes! Big Data, Big Screens, Open Ears project employs a variety of informal learning experiences to present the physics of sound and the new science of soundscape ecology. The interdisciplinary science of soundscape ecology analyzes sounds over time in different ecosystems around the world. The major components of the Global Soundscapes project are an educator-led interactive giant-screen theater show, group activities, and websites. All components are designed with both sighted and visually impaired students in mind. Multimedia
As part of the National Science Foundation (NSF) funding for the In Defense of Food project directed by Kikim Media, the independent evaluation firm Knight Williams Inc.1 conducted a summative evaluation of the project’s key deliverables, which included: a PBS television broadcast program, an outreach effort, and an educational curriculum. This report (Study 2 of 3) focuses on the outreach effort.
National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded an Informal Science Education (ISE) grant, since renamed Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) to a group of institutions led by two of the University of California, Davis’s centers: the Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) and the W.M. Keck Center for Active Visualization in Earth Sciences (KeckCAVES). Additional partner institutions were the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center (ECHO), Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS) at the University of California, Berkeley, and Audience Viewpoints Consulting (AVC). The summative evaluation study was
This summative report evaluates the accessibility and efficacy of a project website as a tool for teaching ecosystem science. Edu ran a qualitative study with twelve participants in order to determine the overall usability and learnability of IntotheRift.org – an online textbook offering a virtual field trip to Lake Tanganyika in East Africa. The goal of the study – identify usability issues and also what currently works well. A learnability study focused on learners’ increase in awareness of ecosystem concepts and research scientists working in Lake Tanganyika. An efficacy study evaluated
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Douglas SpencerSasha MinskyJediah Graham
Roots of Wisdom (also known as Generations of Knowledge; NSF-DRL #1010559) is a project funded by the National Science Foundation that aims to engage Native and non-Native youth (ages 11-14) and their families in Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and western science within culturally relevant contexts that present both worldviews as valuable, complementary ways of knowing, understanding, and caring for the natural world. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) and its partner organizations, The Indigenous Education Institute (IEI), The National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI
Roots of Wisdom (also known as Generations of Knowledge) is a 5-year project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF-DRL #1010559) in support of a cross-cultural reciprocal collaboration to develop a traveling exhibit, banner exhibit, and education resources that bring together Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and western science. The summative evaluation for public audience impacts was conducted by the Lifelong Learning Group (COSI, Columbus, OH), in collaboration with Native Pathways (Laguna, NM).
SciGirls' (Season'Three) is a multimedia project that presents videos and games designed to engage and educate millions of children about citizen science. Multimedia Research, an independent evaluation group, implemented a summative evaluation that assessed a model of citizen science engagement and education that examined the contribution of SciGirls multimedia to preteen girls' experience of citizen science.
In the previous three years, 72 90-second Earth & Sky radio shows have been produced under sponsorship of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The impact of these shows was explored with a posttest-only experimental design comparing a treatment group that listened to nine daily NOAA shows focused on the topic of whales and a control group that listened to nine daily non-NOAA shows about Antarctica. Participants were randomly assigned to groups, which did not differ on the variables of gender, age, ethnicity, education, frequency of hearing Earth & Sky, and interest in hearing