Based on the premise that one component of NASA's pre-college education program is intended to support and enact school reform, the Committee for the Evaluation and Review of NASA's Pre-College Education Program requested an analysis of how the NASA Explorer School (NES) Model aligns with other national models of school-wide improvement and reform. The purpose and focus of this paper is to summarize key elements of major school improvement and reform models as well as specific content reform models from the literature, and to analyze the extent to which there is alignment between these models
In 2006, the National Research Council initiated a study on Learning Science in Informal Environments. The purpose of the study is to synthesize a range of relevant literatures and recommend strategic directions for future research in the area. In the course of working on this study the Committee has found one of its challenges to be the identification and assessment of evaluation studies of informal science programs, in particular those which have probed science learning outcomes. To that end they commissioned the Institute for Learning Innovation to produce a paper that would help them
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
Research in the out-of-school time (OST) field confirms that there is a strong connection between professional development (PD) for staff and positive outcomes for youth. According to Heather Weiss, Founder and Director of the Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP), professional development for those who work with children and youth is fraught with challenges and ripe with opportunity and specifically, the opportunity to increase staff quality, which experts agree is critical to positive experiences for children and youth (Weiss, 2005/2006). However, as Thomas Guskey (1998) states, "For many
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
University of PennsylvaniaNancy Peter
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
Learning In and Out of School in Diverse Environments is the product of a two-year project during which a panel convened by the LIFE Center (an NSF Science of Learning Center) and the Center for Multicultural Education identified important principles that educational practitioners, policy makers, and future researchers can use to build upon the learning that occurs in the homes and community cultures of students from diverse groups. This report lays out an argument for focusing on cross setting learning as key to equity in STEM education.
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
The LIFE Center (The Learning in Informal and Formal Enivronments Center)University of WashingtonJames BanksKathryn AuArnetha BallPhilip BellEdmund GordonKris GutierrezShirley HeathCarol LeeYuhshi LeeJabari MahiriNa'ilah Suad NasirGuadalupe ValdesMin Zhou
In this paper, research on interest and motivation is revisited in the context of informal science learning (ISL) settings such as museums, out-of school or after-school clubs or groups, science camps, and enrichment programs1. The ISL context differs from traditional school "cookbook" science in a number of critical ways: rather than emphasizing science information, it is designed to engage participants in inquiry-informed and free-choice opportunities to work with authentic science2. Productive participation in the ISL setting should enable the development of scientific literacy and
This paper examines hypothesized outcomes of informal science learning experiences and analyzes the methods used to assess those outcomes. The authors deconstruct several studies on informal science learning to identify strengths and weaknesses and examine the potential of new approaches to informal learning.