Several instruments have been developed to assess student images of scientists, but most require children to respond in writing. Since not all children can respond appropriately to written instruments. Chambers (1983) developed the Draw-A-Scientist Test (DAST) in which children's drawings are rated according to particular characteristics present or absent in the drawings, allowing researchers to determine the images of scientists children hold. In order to improve the objectivity and interrater reliability of this means of assessment, the authors built upon Chambers' study to develop a
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Kevin FinsonJohn BeaverBonnie Cramond
This article deals with a pioneering project currently being developed, namely, the Exhibition on Testing and Measurement. This interactive traveling exhibition will be presented in science museums in Israel, the United States, and other countries. It has been conceived as an innovative means of familiarizing the public with educational measurement concepts and scientific principles. The exhibition will initiate and encourage a dialogue regarding the social aspects of testing. Science centers and museums can play a vital role in helping to forge a more authentic relationship between science
In mid-2007, the Sciencenter's executive director, Charlie Trautmann, traveled to Europe to survey a wide variety of science museums, centers, and other informal educational organizations and learn how they communicate the subjects of sustainability and global warming to the public. His report includes a new tool, called the "Museum Sustainability Index," which museums can use to assess their own progress in both becoming more sustainable organizations and communicating the science of sustainability to the public.
This paper lays out a theory of (re-)generative learning to explain how families and communities socialize young learners into thinking like scientists and mathematicians. Cultural communities and their families orient their young in varied ways toward the language, behaviors, and self-theories about the future presupposed in the learning of science and mathematics. Certain socialization processes and norms correspond closely with those that scientists and artists use in laboratories, studios, and rehearsals. Certain norms of politeness and patterns of language differ significantly from habits
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.
The purpose of this research study was to investigate: students' schema structure for human evolution; their idiosyncratic conceptual change after visiting a museum exhibition; the role of alternative frameworks during learning; and the function of affect in learning. Thirty eleventh and twelfth grade high school students, eleven males and nineteen females, visited an exhibition on human evolution and participated in an opened-ended pre and post interview and Likert-type questionnaire. The interviews were transcribed, segmented by using shifts in natural language, and pre and post schema
This research illustrates the efficacy of a new approach for collecting and analyzing family conversational data at museums and other informal settings. This article offers a detailed examination of a small data set (three families) that informs a larger body of work that focuses on conversation as methodology. The dialogic content of this work centers on biological themes, specifically adaptation. The biological principle becomes visible when families talk about survival strategies such as breeding or protection from predators. These themes arise from both the family members and the museum
The goal of this project is to advance STEM education in Hawaii by creating a series of educational products, based on NASA Earth Systems Science, for students (grades 3-5) and general public. Bishop Museum (Honolulu HI) is the lead institution. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is the primary NASA center involved in the project. Partners include Hawaii Department of Education and a volunteer advisory board. The evaluation team includes Doris Ash Associates (UC Santa Cruz) and Wendy Meluch of Visitor Studies Inc. Key to this project: the NASA STEM Cohort, a team of six current classroom teachers whom the Museum will hire. The cohort will not only develop curricula on NASA earth science systems but also provide guidance to Bishop Museum on creating museum educational programming that best meets the needs of teachers and students. The overall goal of Celestial Islands is to advance STEM education in Hawaii through the use of NASA Earth Science Systems content. Products include: 1) combined digital planetarium/Science on a Sphere® program; 2) traveling version of that program, using a digital planetarium and Magic Planet; 3) curricula; 4) new exhibit at Bishop Museum on NASA ESS; 5) 24 teacher workshops to distribute curricula; 6) 12 community science events. The project's target audience is teachers and students in grades 3-5. Secondary audiences include families and other members of the general public. A total of 545,000 people will be served, including at least 44,000 students.
The article focuses on the creation and development of an interactive science museum by middle level students as part of informal science education in the U.S. The said project which primarily targets fifth-grade students aimed at maximizing the active engagement of a learner during his or her experience. It also promotes the minimization of lecture-laden instruction while maximizing an experience-based learning system. The project which is adopted in the late part of 2006 help students to review and synthesize information, collaborate with peers, and specialize science topics.
Over the last decade, hundreds of planetariums worldwide have adopted digital “fulldome” projection as their primary projection and presentation medium. This trend has far-reaching potential for science centers. Digital planetarium capabilities extend educational and cultural programming far beyond night-sky astronomy. These “digital domes” are, in essence, immersive visualization environments capable of supporting art and live performances and reproducing archeological sites, as well as journeying audiences through the local cluster of galaxies. Their real-time and rapid-update capabilities
In this paper, we introduce the Exploratory Behavior Scale (EBS), a quantitative measure of young children's interactivity. More specifically, the EBS is developed from the psychological literature on exploration and play and measures the extent to which preschoolers explore their physical environment. A practical application of the EBS in a science museum is given. The described study was directed at optimizing parent guidance to improve preschoolers' exploration of exhibits in science center NEMO. In Experiment 1, we investigated which adult coaching style resulted in the highest level of
The story from the museum may not be read by visitors, who come with their own knowledge and understanding and read a different story in the animals. The visitors read a story which makes sense to them and builds on what they already know and interests them. Increasingly, robotics models are being used in natural history museums, science centers, and zoos to attract visitors and tell some kind of story. What do the visitors actually talk about when looking at such robotic animals? The visitors reported on in this paper were primary school groups and families. Do they talk about similar things