The Masters (MSc) in Science Communication at Dublin City University (Ireland) draws on expertise from several disciplines in human and physical sciences. The programme takes a broad view of communication that includes the various kinds of interaction between institutions of science and of society, as well as the diverse means of exchanging information and ideas. Nearly 200 students from a wide variety of backgrounds have completed the programme since its start in 1996, and they work in many different types of employment, from information and outreach services, to science centres, to
Hidden Universe is a multi-faceted project built around production of a 2D/3D giant screen film. The goal is to inspire, engage, and excite viewers about the mysterious worlds hidden around us and the science and technology that reveal them. The film will illuminate natural wonders that are invisible to the naked eye, such as objects and processes that are too slow, too fast, and too small to be seen without advanced technologies. It will include nanoscience and microbiology research and developing wavelength technologies such as ultrafast lasers. The project will employ cutting-edge
Media MashUp is an IMLS funded project (Grant LG-07-08-0113i) to help libraries build capacity to offer computer-based programs for youth that help foster 21st Century literacy skills. Twenty first Century literacy skills include traditional literacy skills like reading and writing, but also encompass collaborative problem solving, and computer-based skills. As such, libraries and other institutions that help foster a literate public need to adapt to this new reality. While the public audience for this grant is the youth who participate in the Media MashUp programs at these libraries, this
The University of Massachusetts Lowell and Machine Science Inc. propose to develop and to design an on-line learning system that enables schools and community centers to support IT-intensive engineering design programs for students in grades 7 to 12. The Internet Community of Design Engineers (iCODE) incorporates step-by-step design plans for IT-intensive, computer-controlled projects, on-line tools for programming microcontrollers, resources to facilitate on-line mentoring by university students and IT professionals, forums for sharing project ideas and engaging in collaborative troubleshooting, and tools for creating web-based project portfolios. The iCODE system will serve more than 175 students from Boston and Lowell over a three-year period. Each participating student attends 25 weekly after-school sessions, two career events, two design exhibitions/competitions, and a week-long summer camp on a University of Massachusetts campus in Boston or Lowell. Throughout the year, students have opportunities to engage in IT-intensive, hands-on activities, using microcontroller kits that have been developed and classroom-tested by University of Massachusetts-Lowell and Machine Science, Inc. About one-third of the participants stay involved for two years, with a small group returning for all three years. One main component for this project is the Handy Cricket which is a microcontroller kit that can be used for sensing, control, data collection, and automation. Programmed in Logo, the Handy Cricket provides an introduction to microcontroller-based projects, suitable for students in grades 7 to 9. Machine Science offers more advanced kits, where students build electronic circuits from their basic components and then write microcontroller code in the C programming language. Machine Science offers more advanced kits, which challenge students to build electronic circuits from their basic components and then write microcontroller code in the C programming language. Machine Science's kits are intended for students in grades 9 to 12. Microcontroller technology is an unseen but pervasive part of everyday life, integrated into virtually all automobiles, home appliances, and electronic devices. Since microcontroller projects result in physical creations, they provide an engaging context for students to develop design and programming skills. Moreover, these projects foster abilities that are critical for success in IT careers, requiring creativity, analytical thinking, and teamwork-not just basic IT skills.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Fred MartinDouglas PrimeMichelle Scribner-MacLeanSamuel Christy
In the Communities of Learning for Urban Environments and Science (CLUES) project, the four museums of the Philadelphia-Camden Informal Science Education Collaborative worked to build informal science education (ISE) capacity in historically underserved communities. The program offered comprehensive professional development (PD) to Apprentices from 8-11 community-based organizations (CBO), enabling them to develop and deliver hands-on family science workshops. Apprentices, in turn, trained Presenters from the CBOs to assist in delivering the workshops. Families attended CLUES events both at the museums and in their own communities. The events focused on environmental topics that are especially relevant to urban communities, including broad topics such as climate change and the energy cycle to more specific topics such as animals and habitats in urban neighborhoods.
In this article we examine educational assessment in the 21st century. Digital learning environments emphasize learning in action. In such environments, assessments need to focus on performance in context rather than on tests of abstracted and isolated skills and knowledge. Digital learning environments also provide the potential to assess performance in context, because digital tools make it possible to record rich streams of data about learning in progress. But what assessment methods will use this data to measure mastery of complex problem solving -- the kind of thinking in action that
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TEAM MEMBERS:
David Williamson ShafferDavid HatfieldGina Navoa SvarovskyPadraig NashAran NultyElizabeth BagleyKen FrankAndre RuppRobert Mislevy
New technologies, such as multi-touch tables, increasingly provide shareable interfaces where multiple people can simultaneously interact, enabling co-located groups to collaborate more flexibly than using single personal computers. Soon, these technologies will make their way into the classroom. However, little is known about what kinds of learning activities they will effectively support that other technologies, such as mobile devices, whiteboards, and personal computers, are currently unable to do. We suggest that one of the most promising uses of shareable interfaces is to support learning
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Jochen RickYvonne RogersCaroline HaigNicola Yuill
This article draws from the literature on self-determination and Universal Design for Learning principles to set forth the theory that students identified as having learning disabilities may be environmentally disadvantaged and their learning difficulties exasperated by the traditional classroom learning environment. Alternatively, the digital learning environment found in simulation video games is designed so participants can be autonomous, self-directed, goal-oriented and successful. These are, coincidentally, the salient features of a technology-enhanced learning environment designed with
Evidence for the present study derives from a sample of 574 middle-grades students that participated in the River City Project (RCP) in academic year 2006-07. Central to the RCP is an open-ended video-game-like learning innovation for teaching inquiry-based science and twenty-first century skills. Results of investigation into the students' neomillennial learning styles revealed that, on average, students who (1) prefer creating and sharing artifacts through the Internet are well-suited for learning about disease transmission and scientific problem solving skills in the RCP; and (2) students
This paper examines the benefits and obstacles to young people's open-ended and unrestricted access to technological environments. While children and youth are frequently seen as threatened or threatening in this realm, their playful engagements suggest that they are self-possessed social actors, able to negotiate most of its challenges effectively. Whether it is proprietary software, the business practices of some technology providers, or the separation of play, work, and learning in most classrooms, the spatial-temporality of young people's access to and use of technology is often configured
Technology designers are faced with the challenge of accounting for the breadth of children's experiences in their interactions with technology, even as the field of human-computer interaction has maintained a primary focus on "use" as the main interaction paradigm. To address this challenge, I propose that designers account for children's relationships with technology by considering six facets of interactional constructivist development: embodied, situated, dynamic, intentional, social, and moral. To support this proposal, I first review the intellectual development of interactional
In 2007, 270 youth (10-15 years of age) participated in our study designed to assess kids' perceptions about using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to explore underwater habitats and how the ROV could facilitate engagement with the environment. The three programs we conducted were vessel-based and integrated an ROV component into existing environmental education programs. Two were conducted in the Chesapeake Bay near Northeast, Maryland, and one was conducted offshore near Fort Pierce, Florida. Using a mixed-methods approach, respondents indicated significantly more positive perceptions than