Research chemists from the Center for Enabling New Technologies Through Catalysis (CENTC) worked collaboratively with the Liberty Science Center (LSC) to develop a hands-on activity to educate visitors about how small molecules derived from petroleum feedstocks are used to make larger molecules that are then utilized in the production of everyday consumer goods. Researchers, faculty, and students provided the chemistry content and LSC worked with Blue Telescope Studios to create a user-friendly program for the Ideum Multitouch Table. The resulting “Molecule Magic,” an engaging and intuitive
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Center for Enabling New Technology Through Catalysis (CENTC)Abby O'Connor
This poster was presented at the 2014 AISL PI Meeting in Washington, DC. It describes an EAGER project that conducts ongoing experiments on the chemical precursors to life as exhibit experiences in partner venues.
A team from Michigan State University, in partnership with six science, art-science, and art museum venues around the country and with the assistance of researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology, is implementing an EAGER project to conduct ongoing experiments on the chemical precursors to life as exhibit experiences for visitors to these venues. The experiments, to be run over the course of several months as the exhibit travels around the country, expand on the 1950s' work of Stanley Miller and Harold Urey, which continues to stimulate new investigations and publications, including experiments being conducted on the International Space Station. The experiments/exhibits share key features across the three different kinds of venues, allowing the team to study and compare the impacts on the various publics of engaging them in real-time science experiments. Two major goals are (1) to explore new ways to attract public interest in science by performing in public settings previously untried experiments on the chemical precursors to life, and (2) to investigate how the context of different kinds of venues and their visitor characteristics affect how visitors interpret the experience and what they learn. The team is also exploring how various data visualization representations can be designed to foster public interest and understanding. The intent is to develop an approach that has potential applications to other STEM content domains and expanding the reach to broader public audiences.
This article reports on part of a larger study of how 11- and 12-year-old students construct knowledge about electricity and magnetism by drawing on aspects of their experiences during the course of a school visit to an interactive science museum and subsequent classroom activities linked to the science museum exhibits. The significance of this study is that it focuses on an aspect of school visits to informal learning centers that has been neglected by researchers in the past, namely the influence of post-visit activities in the classroom on subsequent learning and knowledge construction
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David AndersonKeith LucasIan GinnsLynn Dierking
RK&A was contracted by Liberty Science Center (LSC) to conduct a formative evaluation for the development of a multi-touch table in collaboration with the Center for Enabling New Technologies Through Catalysis (CENTC). The touch table included four stations at which visitors could build molecules for crude oil products like aspirin and plastic water bottles. How did we approach this study? This evaluation explored engagement, usability, and meaning making from the CENTC multi-touch table, which was displayed at LSC in the Energy Quest exhibition. An RK&A evaluator observed and interviewed
The Community STEM Outreach Project at the Saint Louis Science Center (SLSC) received funding from the United States Office of Naval Research (ONR) from October 2010 through September 2013. Klein Consulting, with support from Tisdal Consulting, conducted the evaluation of the three-year project. The original proposal from the SLSC to ONR laid the foundation for the Community STEM Outreach Project by describing the institution and its youth program, the Youth Exploring Science (YES) Program. Plans were underway to reach out to existing and new national partners to document and disseminate a
The National Federation of the Blind (NFB), with six science centers across the U.S., will develop, implement, and evaluate the National Center for Blind Youth in Science (NCBYS), a three-year full-scale development project to increase informal learning opportunities for blind youth in STEM. Through partnerships and companion research, the NCBYS will lead to greater capacity to engage the blind in informal STEM learning. The NCBYS confronts a critical area of need in STEM education, and a priority for the AISL program: the underrepresentation of people with disabilities in STEM. Educators are often unaware of methods to deliver STEM concepts to blind students, and students do not have the experience with which to advocate for accommodations. Many parents of blind students are ill-equipped to provide support or request accessible STEM adaptations. The NCBYS will expose blind youth to non-visual methods that facilitate their involvement in STEM; introduce science centers to additional non-visual methods that facilitate the involvement of the blind in their exhibits; educate parents as to their students' ability to be independent both inside and outside the STEM classroom; provide preservice teachers of blind students with hands-on experience with blind students in STEM; and conduct research to inform a field that is lacking in published material. The NCBYS will a) conduct six regional, two-day science programs for a total of 180 blind youth, one day taking place at a local science center; b) conduct concurrent onsite parent training sessions; c) incorporate preservice teachers of blind students in hands-on activities; and d) perform separate, week-long, advanced-study residential programs for 60 blind high school juniors and seniors focused on the design process and preparation for post-secondary STEM education. The NCBYS will advance knowledge and understanding in informal settings, particularly as they pertain to the underrepresented disability demographic; but it is also expected that benefits realized from the program will translate to formal arenas. The proposed team represents the varied fields that the project seeks to inform, and holds expertise in blindness education, STEM education, museum education, parent outreach, teacher training, disability research, and project management. The initiative is a unique opportunity for science centers and the disability population to collaborate for mutual benefit, with lasting implications in informal STEM delivery, parent engagement, and teacher training. It is also an innovative approach to inspiring problem-solving skills in blind high school students through the design process. A panel of experts in various STEM fields will inform content development. NCBYS advances the discovery and understanding of STEM learning for blind students by integrating significant research alongside interactive programs. The audience includes students and those responsible for delivering STEM content and educational services to blind students. For students, the program will demonstrate their ability to interface with science center activities. Students will also gain mentoring experience through activities paired with younger blind students. Parents and teachers of blind students, as well as science center personnel, will gain understanding in the experiences of the blind in STEM, and steps to facilitate their complete involvement. Older students will pursue design inquiries into STEM at a more advanced level, processes that would be explored in post-secondary pursuits. By engaging these groups, the NCBYS will build infrastructure in the informal and formal arenas. Society benefits from the inclusion of new scientific minds, resulting in a diverse workforce. The possibility for advanced study and eventual employment for blind students also reduces the possibility that they would be dependent upon society for daily care in the future. The results of the proposed project will be disseminated and published broadly through Web sites; e-mail lists; social media; student-developed e-portfolios of the design program; an audio-described video; and presentations at workshops for STEM educators, teachers of blind students, blind consumer groups, researchers in disability education, and museum personnel.
This paper discusses the meaning of conceptual frameworks and the problems that arise when exhibit developers and visitors use different conceptual frameworks to interpret exhibits. The authors draw on experience and evaluation findings from a recent project developing an interactive traveling exhibit about chemistry.
This award is for a Science and Technology Center devoted to the emerging area of nanobiotechnology that involves a close synthesis of nano-microfabrication and biological systems. The Nanobiotechnology Center (NBTC) features a highly interdisciplinary, close collaboration between life scientists, physical scientists, and engineers from Cornell University, Princeton University, Oregon Health Sciences University, and Wadsworth Center of the New York State Health Department. The integrating vision of the NBTC is that nanobiotechnology will be the genesis of new insights into the function of biological systems, and lead to the design of new classes of nano- and microfabricated devices and systems. Biological systems present a particular challenge in that the diversity of materials and chemical systems for biological applications far exceeds those for silicon-based technology in the integrated-circuit industry. New fabrication processes appropriate for biological materials will require a substantial expansion in knowledge about the interface between organic and inorganic systems. The ability to structure materials and pattern surface chemistry at small dimensions ranging from the molecular to cellular scale are the fundamental technologies on which the research of the NBTC is based. Nanofabrication can also be used to form new analytical probes for interrogating biological systems with unprecedented spatial resolution and sensitivity. Three unifying technology platforms that foster advances in materials, processes, and tools underlie and support the research programs of the NBTC: Molecules of nanobiotechnology; Novel methods of patterning surfaces for attachment of molecules and cells to substrates; and Sensors and devices for nanobiotechnology. Newly developed fabrication capabilities will also be available through the extensive resources of the Cornell Nanofabrication Facility, a site of the NSF National Nanofabrication Users Network. The NBTC will be an integrated part of the educational missions of the participating institutions. NBTC faculty will develop a new cornerstone graduate course in nanobiotechnology featuring nanofabrication with an emphasis on biological applications. Graduate students who enter the NBTC from a background in engineering or biology will cross-train in the other field by engaging in a significant level of complementary course work. Participation in the NBTC will prepare them with the disciplinary depth and cross-disciplinary understanding to become next generation leaders in this emerging field. An undergraduate research experience program with a strong mentoring structure will be established, with emphasis on recruiting women and underrepresented minorities into the program. Educational outreach activities are planned to stimulate the interest of students of all ages. One such activity partnered with the Science center in Ithaca is a traveling exhibition for museum showings on the subject of nano scale size. National and federal laboratories and industrial and other partners will participate in various aspects of the NBTC such as by hosting interns, attendance at symposia and scientist exchanges. Partnering with the industrial affiliates will be emphasized to enhance knowledge transfer and student and postdoctoral training. This specific STC award is managed by the Directorate for Engineering in coordination with the Directorates for Biological Sciences, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, and Education and Human Resources.
Too Small to See is a 5,000 square-foot interactive traveling museum exhibition designed to provide hands-on nanotechnology science education to youth age 8 to 13 and adults. It debuted at Disney's Epcot and will reach over three million people during a five-year US tour. This evaluation examines the exhibition’s outcomes and impact on increasing visitors’ awareness of, interest in, engagement with, and understanding of nanoscale science, engineering, and technology. An overarching goal is to document the project’s contribution to the portfolio of federally funded Science Technology
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Douglas SpencerTina PhillipsTori AngelottiShane MurphyFred ConnerCornell University
Front-line educators are arguably critical to the visitor experience at museums and science centers across the country. However, little research exists to inform staff facilitation strategies or professional development efforts. In this article, we describe the results of a qualitative study of 63 staff-family interactions in a science center, focusing particularly on the role of adult family members.We observed three distinct phases of interaction, during which adult family members acted as gatekeepers to deeper staff engagement. The results suggest that in order to successfully facilitate