In this study, we examined how two different CCS models, a contributory design and a co-created design, influenced science self-efficacy and science interest among youth CCS participants.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Sarah ClementKatie SpellmanLaura OxtobyKelly KealyKarin BodonyElena SparrowChristopher Arp
Snow: Tiny Crystals, Global Impact is a 2,500 ft traveling exhibition about: how snow shapes and sustains life on Earth, the impacts of climate change on snow, and the importance of our collective engagement to take action. The exhibition will be installed at OMSI during winter 2021-2022 for summative evaluation and learning research.
This poster was presented at the 2021 NSF AISL Awardee Meeting.
This three-year project focuses on professional research experiences for middle and high school STEM teachers through investigations of the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI). Each year 10 teachers (in diverse fields including biology, chemistry, earth and environmental sciences, and oceanography) and three to five professional paleontologists will participate in a four-phase process of professional development, including: a (1) pre-trip orientation (May); (2) 12 days in Panama in July collecting fossils from previously reported, as well as newly discovered, sites; (3) a post-trip on-line (cyber-enabled) Community of Practice; and (4) a final wrap-up at the end of each cohort (December). In addition, some of the teachers may also elect to partner with scientists in their research laboratories, principally located in California, Florida, and New Mexico. The partners in Panama are from the Universidad Autónoma de Chiriquí (UNACHI), including faculty and students, as well as STEM teachers from schools in Panama. Teachers that participate in this RET will develop lesson plans related to fossils, paleontology, evolution, geology, past climate change, and related content aligned with current STEM standards.
The GABI, catalyzed by the formation of the Isthmus of Panama during the Neogene, had a profound effect on the evolution and geography of terrestrial organisms throughout the Americas and marine organisms globally. For example, more than 100 genera of terrestrial mammals dispersed between the Americas, and numerous marine organisms had their interoceanic distributions cut in half by the formation of the Isthmus. Rather than being considered a single event that occurred about 4 million years ago, the GABI likely represents a series of dispersals over the past 10 million years, some of which occurred before full closure of the Isthmus. New fossil discoveries in Panama resulting from the GABI RET (Research Experiences for Teachers) are thus contributing to the understanding of the complexity and timing of the GABI during the Neogene.
This award is being co-funded with the Office International and Integrative Activities.
This document describes the summative project evaluation of 5 annual cohorts of STE(A)M teachers, mostly from California, Florida, and New Mexico participating in out-of-school authentic research experiences collecting fossils and learning about geology, biology, and the natural history along the Panama Canal, and their experiences with museums and research collections. The STEM content of this project is based on the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI) of animals and plants across the Isthmus of Panama over the past 5 million years. This report also describes the efficacy of sustained
Final External Evaluation Report for Informal STEM Learning at Biological Field Stations, an NSF AISL Exploratory Pathways project, which studied the pedagogical and andragogical characteristics of informal educational outreach activities at field stations. This report summarizes the project team’s major research activities and the contextual factors that supported that work.
Appendix includes interview protocol.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that over 41 million people connect to nature through birding. Learning about birds in their natural environments offers opportunities for informal engagement in STEM by a broad range of individuals and groups. Birders often engage in scientific data gathering and analyses, geolocation and remote sensing, and phenology. They also become aware of ecological changes in bird habitats and migratory patterns due to rising temperatures and climate-related events like sea level rise, droughts, fires, and extreme weather. As such, the birding community is an ideal network to better understand and communicate the impacts of climatological changes on bird populations to the public. With this Innovations in Development project, the National Audubon Society will develop a new avian-focused, conservation and climate science community science curriculum for its Nature Centers, and test the effectiveness of the curriculum in educating the public about avian-focused conservation and climatological changes through guided nature experiences. Birding can serve as a pivotal entrée for young people into STEM fields and careers. Through its programs and partnerships, Audubon will leverage its national network to ensure that through this project a more diverse group of voices, particularly young adults and young adults of color, become involved in asking critical questions and developing solutions to address important environmental issues of the future. If successful, the broader impacts of this project on capacity building and public engagement could be far-reaching and long-lasting.
Over the three-year project duration, Audubon will bring educators from its nationwide network of thirty-four Nature Centers (including urban, suburban, and rural sites), together with over 510 young adults (ages 18-25) from its network of college campus chapters. An evidence-based curriculum and community science activities will be created and tested, relying heavily on a team of experts in ornithology, climate science research, STEM curriculum design, diversity, and informal science education. College students will advise on the design of content and activities to effectively interest and engage young adults. These students will be recruited from the new Audubon Campus Chapters Program, which includes 111 college and university campuses, among them, 19 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). The target population will be surveyed to also understand their current and likely participation in guided nature experiences and knowledge base in climate science. Current best practices in guided nature experiences will be gathered from across the Audubon network. The implementation efforts will result in a national STEM model, with train-the-trainer guides and workshops for informal science educators and public engagement opportunities focused on improving the state and condition of avian habitats and communities through climate science research. An external evaluation will be conducted and will include data collection methods such as retrospective pre and post surveys, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and an embedded assessment to determine impact. The findings will be used to iteratively refine the evidence-based curriculum and measure STEM learning outcomes for the guided nature experience participants. The evaluation will address four areas: (1) fidelity of program implementation to promote accountability; (2) formative evaluation to understand needs and interests of young adults (ages 18-25), and subsequently inform program design; (3) outcomes for Center educators, to inform iterative improvement; and (4) outcomes for program participants, to contribute to the growing knowledge base on effective practices for STEM learning in informal settings.
This Innovations in Development 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.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Loren SmithMark ScallionHeather Starck
This video presents reflections on SCIENCES: Supporting a Community’s Informal Education Needs—Confidence and Empowerment in STEM. SCIENCES brought together Eden Place Nature Center and the Chicago Zoological Society to collaboratively support environmental conservation and lifelong scientific learning in the Fuller Park neighborhood of Chicago.
The SCIENCES project began in 2013 and focused on adapting existing educational programs into a suite of environmentally focused science learning opportunities for professional, student, and public audiences in the Fuller Park neighborhood
The summative evaluation documents and articulates what SCIENCES has improved or changed, and in what ways. The final design of the summative evaluation was based on findings from the front-end and formative evaluations, including using participatory evaluation techniques to engage community members in discussing their experience with the programs and assessment of community needs and assets at the close of the project.
The goal of the summative evaluation was to address discrete program impacts in the context of the project, as well as the cross-program impact of providing a thematically
In The Nature of Community: SCIENCES, we share the lessons learned from an innovative partnership designed to leverage the strengths of two nonprofit organizations—a large cultural institution and a smaller, deeply-rooted community-based organization, both of which offer informal science education expertise.
You’ll read first-hand reflections of how staff members, community leaders and members, children, and adults experienced this partnership: the expectations, surprises, challenges, successes, and lessons learned. We hope the description of this partnership inspires other organizations to
Field stations across the United States provide learning opportunities to the general public through their outreach programming. With approximately 78% and 98% of the US population living within 60 and 120 miles of a field station, respectively, stations have the potential to be key providers of informal STEM education. We surveyed a sample of US biological field stations and asked them to describe their outreach programming and goals. Our findings indicate that field stations prioritize outreach by dedicating personnel and fiscal resources, but such initiatives are highly variable in
Science in the Learning Gardens (henceforth, SciLG) program was designed to address two well-documented, inter-related educational problems: under-representation in science of students from racial and ethnic minority groups and inadequacies of curriculum and pedagogy to address their cultural and motivational needs. Funded by the National Science Foundation, SciLG is a partnership between Portland Public Schools and Portland State University. The sixth- through eighth-grade SciLG curriculum aligns with Next Generation Science Standards and uses school gardens as the milieu for learning. This
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Dilafruz WilliamsHeather Anne BruleSybil Schantz KelleyEllen A. Skinner
This NSF INCLUDES Design and Development Launch Pilot, "Expanding Diversity in Energy and Environmental Sustainability (EDEES)", will develop a network of institutions in the United States mid-Atlantic region to recruit, train, and prepare a significant number of underrepresented, underserved, and underprivileged members of the American society in the areas of alternative energy generation and environmental sustainability. Researchers from Delaware State University (DSU) will lead the effort in collaboration with scientists and educators from the University of Delaware, Delaware Technical Community College, University of Maryland, and Stony Brook University. The program comprises a strong educational component in different aspects of green energy generation and environmental sciences including the development of a baccalaureate degree in Green Energy Engineering and the further growth of the recently established Renewable Energy Education Center at our University. The program comprises an active involvement of students from local K-12 institutions, including Delaware State University Early College High School. The character of the University as a Historically Black College (HBCU) and the relatively high minority population of the region will facilitate the completion of the goal to serve minority students. The program will also involve the local community and the private sector by promoting the idea of a green City of Dover, Delaware, in the years to come.
The goal of EDEES-INCLUDES pilot comprises the enrollment of at least twenty underrepresented minority students in majors related to green energy and environmental sustainability. It also entails the establishment of a baccalaureate degree in Green Energy Engineering at DSU. The program is expected to strengthen the pathway from two-year energy-related associate degree programs to four-year degrees by ensuring at least five students/year transfer to DSU in energy-related programs. The pilot is also expected to increase the number of high school graduates from underrepresented groups who choose to attend college in STEM majors. Based on previous experience and existing collaborations, the partner institutions expect to grow as an integrated research-educational network where students will be able to obtain expertise in the competitive field of green energy. The pilot program comprises a deep integration of education and research currently undergoing in the involved institutions. In collaboration with its partner institutions, DSU plans to consistently and systematically involve students from the K-12 system to nurture the future recruitment efforts of the network. A career in Green Energy Engineering is using and expanding up existing infrastructure and collaborations. The program will involve the local community through events, workshops and open discussions on energy related fields using social networks and other internet technology in order to promote energy literacy.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Aristides MarcanoMohammed KhanGulnihal OzbayGabriel Gwanmesia