The goal of our project is to develop strategies that effectively engage autistic adolescents in informal STEM learning opportunities that promote the self-efficacy and interest in STEM careers that will empower them to seek out career opportunities in STEM fields.
The research aims are to:
1. Identify evidence-based strategies to engage autistic youth in informal STEM learning opportunities that are well matched to their attentional profiles:
Hypothesis 1: Pedagogical strategies vary in how engaging they are for people with diverse attentional profiles; people with more focused
Sense-making with data through the process of visualization—recognizing and constructing meaning with these data—has been of interest to learning researchers for many years. Results of a variety of data visualization projects in museums and science centers suggest that visitors have a rudimentary understanding of and ability to interpret the data that appear in even simple data visualizations. This project supports the need for data visualization experiences to be appealing, accommodate short and long-term exploration, and address a range of visitors’ prior knowledge. Front-end evaluation
There is a dearth of prominent STEM role models for underrepresented populations. For example, according to a 2017 survey, only 3.1% of physicists in the United States are Black, only 2.1% are Hispanic, and only 0.5% are Native American. The project will help bridge these gaps by developing exhibits that include simulations of historical scientific experiments enacted by little-known scientists of color, virtual reality encounters that immerse participants in the scientists' discovery process, and other content that allows visitors to interact with the exhibits and explore the exhibits' themes. The project will develop transportable, interactive exhibits focusing on light: how we perceive light, sources of light from light bulbs to stars, uses of real and artificial light in human endeavors, and past and current STEM innovators whose work helps us understand, create, and harness light now. The exhibits will be developed in three stages, each exploring a characteristic of light (Color, Energy, or Time). Each theme will be explored via multiple deliveries: short documentary and animated films, virtual reality experiences, interactive "photobooths," and technology-based inquiry activities. The exhibit components will be copied at seven additional sites, which will host the exhibits for their audiences, and the project's digital assets will enable other STEM learning organizations to duplicate the exhibits. The exhibits will be designed to address common gaps in understanding, among adults as well as younger learners, about light. What light really is and does, in scientific terms, is one type of hidden story these exhibits will convey to general audiences. Two other types of science stories the exhibits will tell: how contemporary research related to light, particularly in astrophysics, is unveiling the hidden stories of our universe; and hidden stories of STEM innovators, past and present, women and men, from diverse backgrounds. These stories will provide needed role models for the adolescent learners, helping them learn complex STEM content while showing them how scientific research is conducted and the diverse community of people who can contribute to STEM innovations and discoveries.
The project deliverables will be designed to present complex physics content through coherent, immersive, and embodied learning experiences that have been demonstrated to promote engagement and deeper learning. The project will research whether participants, through interacting with these exhibits, can begin to integrate discrete ideas and make connections with complex scientific content that would be difficult without technology support. For example, students and other novices often lack the expertise necessary to make distinctions between what is needed and what is extra within scientific problems. The proposed study follows a Design-Based Research (DBR) approach characterized by iterative cycles of data collection, analysis, and reflection to inform the design of educational innovations and advance educational theory. Project research includes conceiving, building, and testing iterative phases, which will enable the project to capture the complexity of learning and engagement in informal learning settings. Research participants will complete a range of research activities, including focus group interviews, observation, and pre-post assessment of science content knowledge and dispositions.
By showcasing such role models and informing about related STEM content, this project will widen perspectives of audiences in informal learning settings, particularly adolescents from groups underrepresented in STEM fields. Research findings and methodologies will be shared widely in the informal STEM learning community, building the field's knowledge of effective ways to broaden participation in informal science learning, and thus increase broaden participation in and preparation for the STEM-based workforce.
This project is funded by the National Science Foundation's (NSF's) Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which supports innovative research, approaches, and resources for use in a variety of learning settings.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Todd BoyetteJill HammJanice AndersonCrystal Harden
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
Glaciers around the world are undergoing dramatic changes. Many people, however, have a limited understanding of the scope of these changes because they are geographically distant and difficult to visualize. Although both digital learning tools and online scientific data repositories have greatly expanded over the last decade, there is currently no interface that brings the two together in a way that allows the public to explore these rapidly changing glacial environments. Therefore, to both improve public understanding and provide greater access to already existing resources, the project team will develop the Virtual Ice Explorer to encourage informal learning about glacial environments. This web application will feature an immersive virtual environment and display a suite of environmental data for an array of Earth's glacial systems. An interactive globe will allow users to select from a collection of sites ranging from polar regions to tropical latitudes. Each featured site will offer users an opportunity to interact with (1) a 3D rendering of the landscape; (2) a local map of the site; (3) historical and contemporary photographs of the site; (4) background information text describing the location, past research, and climate impacts; and (5) available environmental data. One of the most original features of the application will be its realistic, immersive 3D rendering of glacial landscapes by combining very high-resolution digital elevation models and satellite imagery with the application's built-in capabilities for immersive virtual environments. Although immersive environments often require expensive equipment, we are maximizing accessibility by developing the Virtual Ice Explorer to run in a web browser and function across various devices. Thus, the application will be available to anyone with internet access, and they can explore at their own pace.
As part of the successful development of Virtual Ice Explorer, the project team will create a platform for digital elevation models to be visualized and explored in 3D by users within the web application; curate digital elevation models, maps, images, text, and environmental data for inclusion in the web application for up to 11 geographically diverse glaciers/glacial landscapes; iteratively user-test the web application with project partners; and design the architecture of the system to readily scale to a larger collection of glaciers/glacial landscapes. To extend dissemination of the final products, the team has partnered with the U.S. Geologic Survey to showcase four benchmark glaciers in their long-term Glaciers and Climate project. In addition to improving understanding of glacier systems in informal learning environments, the project team will explore applications for spatial learning, employment of 3D environments for educational interventions, and use of Virtual Ice Explorer in formal learning environments. This project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments. This includes providing multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences, advancing innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and developing understandings of deeper learning by participants. The project also has support from the Office of Polar Programs.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Jason CervenecJesse FoxJulien Nicolas
As the world is increasingly dependent upon computing and computational processes associated with data analysis, it is essential to gain a better understanding of the visualization technologies that are used to make meaning of massive scientific data. It is also essential that the infrastructure, the very means by which technologies are developed for improving the public's engagement in science itself, be better understood. Thus, this AISL Innovations in Development project will address the critical need for the public to learn how to interpret and understand highly complex and visualized scientific data. The project will design, develop and study a new technology platform, xMacroscope, as a learning tool that will allow visitors at the Science Museum of Minnesota and the Center of Science and Industry, to create, view, understand, and interact with different data sets using diverse visualization types. The xMacroscope will support rapid research prototyping of public experiences at selected exhibits, such as collecting data on a runner's speed and height and the visualized representation of such data. The xMacroscope will provide research opportunities for exhibit designers, education researchers, and learning scientists to study diverse audiences at science centers in order to understand how learning about data through the xMacroscope tool may inform definitions of data literacy. The research will advance the state of the art in visualization technology, which will have broad implications for teaching and learning of scientific data in both informal and formal learning environments. The project will lead to better understanding by science centers on how to present data to the public more effectively through visualizations that are based upon massive amounts of data. Technology results and research findings will be disseminated broadly through professional publications and presentations at science, education, and technology conferences. The project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments. This includes providing multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences, advancing innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and developing understandings of deeper learning by participants. The project is driven by the assumption that in the digital information age, being able to create and interpret data visualizations is an important literacy for the public. The research will seek to define, measure, and advance data visualization literacy. The project will engage the public in using the xMacrocope at the Science Museum of Minnesota and at the Center of Science and Industry's (COSI) science museum and research center in Columbus, Ohio. In both museum settings the public will interact with different datasets and diverse types of visualizations. Using the xMacroscope platform, personal attributes and capabilities will be measured and personalized data visualizations will be constructed. Existing theories of learning (constructivist and constructionist) will be extended to capture the learning and use of data visualization literacy. In addition, the project team will conduct a meta-review related to different types of literacy and will produce a definition with performance measures to assess data visualization literacy - currently broadly defined in the project as the ability to read, understand, and create data visualizations. The research has potential for significant impact in the field of science and technology education and education research on visual learning. It will further our understanding of the nature of data visualization literacy learning and define opportunities for visualizing data in ways that are both personally and culturally meaningful. The project expects to advance the understanding of the role of personalization in the learning process using iterative design-based research methodologies to advance both theory and practice in informal learning settings. An iterative design process will be applied for addressing the research questions by correlating visualizations to individual actions and contributions, exploring meaning-making studies of visualization construction, and testing the xMacroscope under various conditions of crowdedness and busyness in a museum context. The evaluation plan is based upon a logic model and the evaluation will iteratively inform the direction, process, and productivity of the project.
As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds innovative research, approaches and resources for use in a variety of settings. This study will capitalize on the increased availability and affordability of immersive interactive technologies, such as Augmented Reality devices and virtual characters, to investigate their potential for benefitting STEM learning in informal museum contexts. This project will combine these technologies to create an Augmented Reality experience that will allow middle-school youth and their families to meet and assist a virtual crew on a historic ship at the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia. The players in this game-like experience will encounter technologies from the turn of the 20th century, including steam power, electricity, and wireless communication. Crew members and technologies will be brought to life aboard the USS Olympia, the largest and fastest ship in the US Navy launched in 1892. The historic context will be positioned in relation to current day technologies in ways that will enable a change in interest towards technology and engineering in middle school-age youth. This will result in a testbed for the feasibility of facilitating short-term science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) identity change with interactive immersive technologies. A successful feasibility demonstration, as well as the insights into design, could open up novel ways of fostering STEM interest and identity in informal learning contexts and of demonstrating the impact of this approach. The potential benefit to society will rest in the expected results on the basic science regarding immersive interactive technologies in informal learning contexts as well as in demonstrating the feasibility of the integrated approach to assessment.
This project will use a living lab methodology to evaluate interactive immersive technologies in terms of their support for STEM identity change in middle-school age youth. The two-year design-based research will iteratively develop and improve the measurement instrument for the argument that identity change is a fundamental to learning. A combination of Augmented Reality and intelligent virtual agents will be used to create an interactive experience--a virtual living lab--in an informal museum learning exhibit that enables change interests towards technology and engineering and provides short-term assessment tools. In collaboration with the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia, the testbed for the approach will be an experience that brings to life the technologies of the early 20th century aboard a historic ship. Through the application of Participatory Action Research techniques, intelligent virtual agents interacting with youth and families will customize STEM information relating to the ship's mission and performance. Topics explored will make connections with current day technologies and scientific understanding. Mixed-methods will be used to analyze interactions, interview and survey data, will form the basis for assessing the impact on youth's STEM interests. The elicitation method specifically includes assessment metrics that are relevant to the concept of learning as identity change. This assessment, through immersive interactive technologies, will target the priority areas of engagement in STEM as well as the measurement of outcomes.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Stefan RankAyana AllenGlen MuschioAroutis FosterKapil Dandekar
Changes in household-level actions in the U.S. have the potential to reduce rates of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change by reducing consumption of food, energy and water (FEW). This project will identify potential interventions for reducing household FEW consumption, test options in participating households in two communities, and collect data to develop new environmental impact models. It will also identify household consumption behavior and cost-effective interventions to reduce FEW resource use. Research insights can be applied to increase the well-being of individuals at the household level, improve FEW resource security, reduce climate-related risks, and increase economic competitiveness of the U.S. The project will recruit, train, and graduate more than 20 students and early-career scientists from underrepresented groups. Students will be eligible to participate in exchanges to conduct interdisciplinary research with collaborators in the Netherlands, a highly industrialized nation that uses 20% less energy and water per person than the U.S.
This study uses an interdisciplinary approach to investigate methods for reducing household FEW consumption and associated direct and indirect environmental impacts, including GHG emissions and water resources depletion. The approach includes: 1) interactive role-playing activities and qualitative interviews with homeowners; 2) a survey of households to examine existing attitudes and behaviors related to FEW consumption, as well as possible approaches and barriers to reduce consumption; and 3) experimental research in residential households in two case-study communities, selected to be representative of U.S. suburban households and appropriate for comparative experiments. These studies will iteratively examine approaches for reducing household FEW consumption, test possible intervention strategies, and provide data for developing systems models to quantify impacts of household FEW resource flows and emissions. A FEW consumption-based life cycle assessment (LCA) model will be developed to provide accurate information for household decision making and design of intervention strategies. The LCA model will include the first known farm-to-fork representation of household food consumption impacts, spatially explicit inventories of food waste and water withdrawals, and a model of multi-level price responsiveness in the electricity sector. By translating FEW consumption impacts, results will identify "hot spots" and cost-effective household interventions for reducing ecological footprints. Applying a set of climate and technology scenarios in the LCA model will provide additional insights on potential benefits of technology adoption for informing policymaking. The environmental impact models, household consumption tracking tool, and role-playing software developed in this research will be general purpose and publicly available at the end of the project to inform future education, research and outreach activities.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
David WatkinsBuyung AgusdinataChelsea SchellyRachael ShwomJenni-Louise Evans
The project will research and further develop an interactive platform, Visitor Interactions in Microbiology (VIM), that enables museum visitors to influence and learn about the behavior of live microorganisms. Hands-on museum exhibits encourage visitors to engage with, and manipulate, scientific content. Currently, museum visitors experience microbiology by observing microorganisms through a microscope, through models, or through simulations, all of which limit interactivity. With the VIM platform, visitors draw on a screen or use a Kinect motion sensor to generate microscopic light images. The single celled organisms respond to these images in real-time. Preliminary testing shows that the platform has significant potential to promote prolonged engagement and science inquiry by visitors. The project will develop and research additional technological and design considerations to understand how VIM can be translated into effective museum exhibits. This project is supported by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program which funds research and innovative resources for use in a variety of settings as a part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments.
Project researchers will first compare VIM to existing microscopic exhibits to investigate both advantages as well as limitations with the platform. Based on that research, three iterations of prototypes of VIM and user testing will explore possible extensions of VIM with respect to modes of visitor interactions, types of organisms and types of stimuli. In addition to improving the VIM platform, the knowledge gained from this study will inform a new approach to informal science learning -- an approach that supports self-directed inquiry, interest in microbiology, and interest in underlying technology. The project will produce: (1) research results concerning the potential of VIM and the variety of interaction modes that are effective using the system and (2) an open-source catalogue of hardware, software and protocol instructions that will enable other institutions to take advantage of the research on VIM. Project research findings and resources will be widely disseminated to practitioners via conferences and professional journals. The research will provide the foundation for future work that will include the design of a permanent exhibition.
This project will capitalize on the power of story to teach foundational computational thinking (CT) concepts through the creation of animated and live-action videos, paired with joint media engagement activities, for preschool children and their parents. Exposure at a young age to CT is critical for preparing all students to engage with the technologies that have become central to nearly every occupation. But despite this recognized need, there are few, if any, resources that (1) introduce CT to young children; (2) define the scope of what should be taught; and (3) provide evidence-based research on effective strategies for bringing CT to a preschool audience. To meet these needs, WGBH and Education Development Center/Center for Children and Technology (EDC/CCT) will utilize an iterative research and design process to create animated and live-action videos paired with joint media engagement activities for parents and preschool children, titled "Monkeying Around". Animated videos will model for children how to direct their curiosity into a focused exploration of the problem-solving process. Live-action videos will feature real kids and their parents and will further illustrate how helpful CT can be for problem solving. With their distinctive visual humor and captivating storytelling, the videos will be designed to entice parents to watch alongside their children. This is important since parents will play an important role in guiding them in explorations that support their CT learning. To further promote joint media engagement, hands-on activities will accompany the videos. Following the creation of these resources, an experimental impact study will be conducted to capture evidence as to if and how these resources encourage the development of young children's computational thinking, and to assess parents' comfort and interest in the subject. Concurrent with this design-based research process, the project will build on the infrastructure of state systems of early education and care (which have been awarded Race to the Top grants) and local public television stations to design and develop an outreach initiative to reach parents. Additional partners--National Center for Women & Information Technology, Code in Schools, and code.org (all of whom are all dedicated to promoting CT)--will further help bring this work to a national audience.
Can parent/child engagement with digital media and hands-on activities improve children's early learning of computational thinking? To answer this question, WGBH and EDC/CCT are collaborating on a design-based research process with children and their parents to create Monkeying Around successive interactions. The overarching goal of this mixed-methods research effort is to generate evidence that supports the development of recommendations around the curricular, instructional, and contextual factors that support or impede children's acquisition of CT as a result of digital media viewing and hands-on engagement. Moving through cycles of implementation, observation, analysis, and revision over the course of three years, EDC/CCT researchers will work closely with families and WGBH's development team to determine how children learn the fundamentals of CT, how certain learning tasks can demonstrate what children understand, how to stimulate interest in hands-on activities, and the necessary scaffolds to support parental involvement in the development of children's CT. Each phase of the research will provide rich feedback to inform the next cycle of content development and will include: Phase 1: the formulation of three learning blueprints (for algorithmic thinking, sequencing, and patterns); Phase 2: the development of a cohesive set of learning tasks to provide evidence of student learning, as well as the production of a prototype of the digital media and parent/child engagement resources (algorithmic thinking); Phase 3-Part A: pilot research on the prototype, revisions, production of two additional prototypes (sequencing and patterns); Phase 3-Part B: pilot research on the three prototypes and revisions; and Phase 4: production of 27 animated and live-action videos and 18 parent/child engagement activities and a study of their impact. Through this process, the project team will build broader knowledge about how to design developmentally appropriate resources promoting CT for preschool children and will generate data on how to stimulate interest in hands-on activities and the necessary scaffolds to support parental involvement in the development of children's CT. The entire project represents an enormous opportunity for WGBH and for the informal STEM media field to learn more about how media can facilitate informal CT learning in the preschool years and ways to broaden participation by building parents' capacity to support STEM learning. This project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments. This includes providing multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences, advancing innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and developing understandings of deeper learning by participants.