Quest, produced by KQED, is a multimedia initiative designed to raise the profile of STEM issues throughout the Northern California region and activate citizens to discuss and investigate them. Led by KQED, Quest is created and maintained by an active consortium of 16 participating informal science education organizations. Based on the successful Quest model, KQED will build on its prior collaborative work to develop regional partnerships with other public broadcasting stations and community-based organizations around the country, making possible a new and innovative partnership in science media production and informal science education. This grant will support a) a growing collaborative of science centers, museums, research institutes, and community-based organizations for editorial development, education outreach, and content creation; b) the production of at least 10 hours of television, weekly radio science news reports, and a dynamic online website that supports and extends the broadcast material; and c) educational resources and professional development workshops. STEM content will encompass research drawn from the physical sciences, life sciences, and earth sciences. Most of the stories will also incorporate content about the technology and engineering used to support scientific endeavors. The KQED Educational Network (EdNet) will administer the community and educational outreach initiatives, including creating viewer/listener guides, developing and delivering workshops, and providing information built around Quest media. Project collaborators include the Bay Institute, California Academy of Sciences, Chabot Space and Science Center, East Bay Regional Park District, Exploratorium, Girl Scouts, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Hall of Science, Museum of Paleontology, Oakland Zoo, and The Tech Museum of Innovation. In expanding the model to regional hubs, Quest will also involve the Coalition for Public Understanding of Science (COPUS), the Encyclopedia of Life, and an array of peer public broadcasting organizations. This project offers a useful and exciting model for public television and radio stations nationally in building community collaborations that advance informal science education. The detailed and informed ways in which the team works with its community partners via multiple platforms are innovative. This proposal builds on prior work in Northern California to explore additional regional partnerships with other public broadcasting stations and community-based organizations, making possible a unique partnership in science media production and informal science education. This project extends reach by developing up to ten regional "hubs" across the country. Evaluation will be conducted by Rockman et al.
This proposal is from a coalition of cross disciplinary investigators at the Lawrence Hall of Science/Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence at the University of California, Berkeley. The investigators intend to create a communications network for ocean sciences in an informal setting to improve the communication of ocean science concepts. The network would foster relationships between ocean and climate scientists in institutions of higher education and build the capacity for educators to communicate with the public about science. The network is intended to impact visitors to informal science centers, docents, educators, and scientists. It would provide experiences with new scientific knowledge about the oceans and promote climate literacy for the landlocked states of the country where ocean sciences are not usual topics for educational programs. The network includes: 1. Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific and University of Southern California; 2. Hatfield Marine Science Center and Oregon Sea Grant at Oregon State University; 3. Virginia Aquarium and Science Center and the Minorities in Marine Science Program, Hampton University; 4. Liberty Science Center and the Institute for Marine Coastal Sciences and Rutgers University; 5. Lawrence Hall of Science and Earth & Planetary Science and Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley; 6. Birch Aquarium at Scripps and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego; and 7. Purdue University. The goal of the project is to help a new generation of scientists and informal educators to better understand and more effectively communicate with the public the essential principles and fundamental concepts of Ocean Literacy, Climate Literacy, and Earth Science Literacy. The content is integral to understanding climate science and the science of climate change such as ocean circulation, causes of sea level rise, the influence of the ocean on weather and climate, the role of the ocean in Earth's energy, water and carbon systems, and the need for continued exploration of the ocean system.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Catherine HalversenCraig StrangLynn Tran
The Astronomical Society of the Pacific, in collaboration with the Institute for Learning Innovation, will implement "Sharing the Universe." This research and implementation project is designed to include both a comprehensive, two-phased research component, as well as a large-scale national dissemination. The intended impacts are to improve the quality and effectiveness of informal science education activities provided by amateur astronomers; increase the frequency of public engagements in astronomy; and broaden the variety of events and diversity of the outreach to include underserved and underrepresented audiences. The project will create a community of practice using club leaders to improve astronomy clubs nationwide through research tools, training and outreach skills. Project deliverables include Phase I research which is designed to gain an understanding of how outreach-orientated clubs function and identify strategies that make successful clubs effective. Phase II will examine a core group of 20 clubs in detail to further understand the outreach culture while using interventions developed from the Phase I results such as a training DVD, Online Resource Library, Outreach Toolkit and a robust community of practice. The final deliverable will be the dissemination of proven strategies and best practices revealed by the research to 200 diverse astronomy clubs across the country. Strategic impact will be realized in increased outreach capacity among amateur astronomers and a strong model for astronomy clubs with proven best practices and resources. It is anticipated this project will reach more than 4,400 amateur astronomers and indirectly impact more than one million Americans in astronomy clubs in four years. Inverness Research will conduct the summative evaluation of the project.
'Be a Scientist!' is a full-scale development project that examines the impact of a scalable, STEM afterschool program which trains engineers to develop and teach inquiry-based Family Science Workshops (FSWs) in underserved communities. This project builds on three years of FSWs which demonstrate improvements in participants' science interest, knowledge, and self-efficacy and tests the model for scale, breadth, and depth. The project partners include the Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California, the Albert Nerken Engineering Department at the Cooper Union, the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History, and the New York Hall of Science. The content emphasis is physics and engineering and includes topics such as aerodynamics, animal locomotion, automotive engineering, biomechanics, computer architecture, optics, sensors, and transformers. The project targets underserved youth in grades 1-5 in Los Angeles and New York, their parents, and engineering professionals. The design is grounded in motivation theory and is intended to foster participants' intrinsic motivation and self-direction while the comprehensive design takes into account the cultural, social, and intellectual needs of diverse families. The science activities are provided in a series of Family Science Workshops which take place in afterschool programs in eight partner schools in Los Angeles and at the New York Hall of Science in New York City. The FSWs are taught by undergraduate and graduate engineering students with support from practicing engineers who serve as mentors. The primary project deliverable is a five-year longitudinal evaluation designed to assess (1) the impact of intensive training for engineering professionals who deliver family science activities in community settings and (2) families' interest in and understanding of science. Additional project deliverables include a 16-week training program for engineering professionals, 20 physics-based workshops and lesson plans, Family Science Workshops (40 in LA and 5 in NY), a Parent Leadership Program and social networking site, and 5 science training videos. This project will reach nearly one thousand students, parents, and student engineers. The multi-method evaluation will be conducted by the Center for Children and Technology at the Education Development Center. The evaluation questions are as follows: Are activities such as recruitment, training, and FSWs aligned with the project's goals? What is the impact on families' interest in and understanding of science? What is the impact on engineers' communication skills and perspectives about their work? Is the project scalable and able to produce effective technology tools and develop long-term partnerships with schools? Stage 1 begins with the creation of a logic model by stakeholders and the collection of baseline data on families' STEM experiences and knowledge. Stage 2 includes the collection of formative evaluation data over four years on recruitment, training, co-teaching by informal educators, curriculum development, FSWs, and Parent Leadership Program implementation. Finally, a summative evaluation addresses how well the project met the goals associated with improving families' understanding of science, family involvement, social networking, longitudinal impact, and scalability. A comprehensive dissemination plan extends the project's broader impacts in the museum, engineering, evaluation, and education professional communities through publications, conference presentations, as well as web 2.0 tools such as blogs, YouTube, an online social networking forum for parents, and websites. 'Be a Scientist!' advances the field through the development and evaluation of a model for sustained STEM learning experiences that helps informal science education organizations broaden participation, foster collaborations between universities and informal science education organizations, increase STEM-based social capital in underserved communities, identify factors that develop sustained interest in STEM, and empower parents to co-invest and sustain a STEM program in their communities.
Taking NPASS (National Partnerships for Afterschool Science) to Scale builds on a previously funded effort (DRL 0515549) designed to provide professional development for out-of-school time (OST) science trainers, administrators, and frontline staff in collaboration with the California School-Age Consortium, the Georgia Afterschool Investment Council, The After-School Institute, Minnesota School Age Child Care Alliance, University of Missouri-Columbia, University of New Hampshire, and the Ohio Child Care Resource and Referral Association. Rutgers University-New Brunswick. The primary target audiences for this project are OST science trainers, administrators of statewide OST networks and frontline staff as well as youth participating in afterschool programs, most of whom are from traditionally underserved and economically challenged groups. Deliverables include three-day, semi-annual train-the-trainer institutes; annual seminars for NPASS leaders; professional development tools; science kits; and the NPASS website. The project design consists of four levels of management and delivery. At Level 1, the NPASS2 primary partners, EDC and the Boston Children's Museum, provide three-day state-based OST Science Trainer Institutes on a semi-annual basis. The Science Trainer Institutes combine hands-on experience with pedagogical training in informal science learning, youth development, and the logistics of working with OST sites. During Level 2, the eight State Leadership Teams recruit two cohorts of OST practitioners to attend Science Trainer Institutes. The new Science Trainers then identify OST sites to attend a series of half-day science trainings in Level 3. Each session introduces and models new science projects for use in afterschool settings, including the NSF-funded Design It! or Explore It! materials. Finally, at Level 4, OST sites serving children from predominantly underserved and underrepresented populations are invited to join the NPASS2 initiative. OST sites receive a materials kit and guide for the activities at each training session. It is estimated that as many as 10 OST state leaders and 100 science trainers will be reached at 750 community sites serving 22,000 youth. The combined intervention has the potential to change the OST landscape. The project evaluation to be conducted by the Goodman Research Group (GRG) employs a longitudinal design to determine participants' growth over time and the magnitude of change among the variables. The formative evaluation is designed to assess the development of the project's deliverables while the summative evaluation focuses on professional audience impacts. The NPASS2 summative evaluation examines the OST science trainers, OST state network administrators, youth workers, and site administrators through a baseline survey, in addition to annual questionnaires and interviews of network administrators and OST site administrators. The pre-post design measures changes in trainers' understanding, attitudes, behavior, and skills related to informal STEM education research or practice. To maximize the efficiency and authenticity of the evaluation, GRG will use the SET/STEM Leader Competencies Rubric currently being developed jointly by EDC in collaboration with the National 4-H Council\'s SET PD Committee.
The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow (CoCoRaHS) network is an existing backyard citizen science project that is enhancing the research efforts of scientists and promoting climate literacy among the public by engaging volunteers in precipitation-monitoring activities. More than 14,000 volunteer citizen scientists of all ages in 50 states currently measure precipitation from their homes, schools, public areas and businesses using rain gauges, snow rulers and hail pads, and then post their data to the CoCoRaHS website. Building on this work, the current Broad Implementation project is enhancing CoCoRaHS' network and making it possible for more people from across the country to monitor precipitation. The enhancements include (1) installing a new generation of data entry, storage, management, analysis and visualization tools, (2) collecting evapo-transpiration data to improve scientists' water cycle models, (3) revising and creating new citizen science training materials (print and multimedia), (4) expanding national collaboration and outreach via integration of social networking and mobile device technologies, and (5) developing a standards-aligned K-12 education outreach component that has a national reach. Citizen scientists are being equipped and trained to be neighborhood climate data analysts and are provided with new tools for data analysis and inquiry learning. The enhancements will allow new collaborations between museums and science centers, targeted outreach to underserved audiences, and recruitment of thousands of new volunteers for the CoCoRaHS network. Through a partnership with the National Association of Conservation Districts, the project will conduct educational outreach to all 3,140 counties in the country. Anticipated results include increased numbers of people, particularly younger people, participating in precipitation-monitoring activities, and increased participant knowledge, skills, interest, and involvement in climate science and scientific inquiry. Building the project's capacity to involve 20,000-50,000 more volunteers across nation will increase the density of precipitation-monitoring stations, providing scientists with higher quality weather data.
The STAR Library Education Network: a hands-on learning program for libraries and their communities, (STAR_Net for short) is led by the National Center for Interactive Learning (NCIL) at the Space Science Institute (PI: Paul Dusenbery). STAR stands for Science-Technology, Activities and Resources. Team members include NCIL staff, the American Library Association (ALA), Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI), and the National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP). STAR_Net is developing two comprehensive, informal education programs: Discover Earth and Discover Tech. The project also includes a comprehensive evaluation plan and a research component that explores how public libraries can serve as a STEM learning center in rural, underserved communities. STAR_Net is supported through a grant from the National Science Foundation. The STAR_Net project includes two traveling library exhibits: Discover Earth: A Century of Change and Discover Tech: Engineers Make a World of Difference. The Discover Earth exhibition features interactive, multimedia displays that allow exhibit visitors to interact with digital information in a dynamic way, encouraging new perspectives on our planet. Discover Tech introduces the many extraordinary ways that engineers solve problems to help people and societies around the world. Similar to a science center experience, visitors and families will be able to explore and tinker with their own engineering solutions. A number of STEM activities and resources will be developed by project staff and by other organizations to help librarians and community partners offer a wide variety of programs for their patrons. Besides the traveling exhibits and programs, STAR_Net also includes library staff training (online and in-person) and a Community of Practice (CoP) for librarians (including non-host librarians) to interact and partner with STEM professionals and organizations. NCI's Kate Haley Goldman and staff from Evaluation and Research Associates are conducting the project's evaluation.
The National Science Festival Network project, also operating as the Science Festival Alliance, is designed to create a sustainable national network of science festivals that engages all facets of the general public in science learning. Science Festivals, clearly distinct from "science fairs", are community-wide activities engaging professional scientists and informal and K-12 educators targeting underrepresented segments of local communities historically underserved by formal or informal STEM educational activities. The initiative builds on previous work in other parts of the world (e.g. Europe, Australasia) and on recent efforts in the U.S. to create science festivals. The target audiences are families, children and youth ages 5-18, adults, professional scientists and educators in K-12 and informal science institutions, and underserved and underrepresented communities. Project partners include the MIT Museum in Cambridge, UC San Diego, UC San Francisco, and the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. The deliverables include annual science festivals in these four cities supported by year-round related activities for K-12 and informal audiences, a partnership network, a web portal, and two national conferences. Ten science festivals will be convened in total over the 3 years of the project, each reaching 15,000 to 60,000 participants per year. STEM content includes earth and space science, oceanography, biological/biomedical science, bioinformatics, and computer, behavioral, aeronautical, nanotechnology, environmental, and nuclear science. An independent evaluator will systematically assess audience participation and perceptions, level/types of science interest stimulated in target groups, growth of partnering support at individual sites, and increasing interactions between ISE and formal K-12 education. A variety of qualitative and quantitative assessments will be designed and utilized. The project has the potential to transform public communication and understanding of science and increase the numbers of youth interested in pursuing science.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Loren ThompsonJeremy BabendureBen Wiehe
This project is being developed for science journalists to increase and improve the reporting of the science of polar environmental change. It is modeled after the existing science journalism program run by the Marine Biological Laboratory since 1986. This project will enable 30 science journalists to travel to the Arctic and ten journalists to Antarctica over three years to study and experience polar research in an intensive, hands-on manner. The program has 3 components: a week long Polar Hands-On course at the Toolik Field Station in Alaska in which the journalists conduct science; a one-week period in which journalists will be teamed to work with polar research scientists; and travel for journalists to travel to Palmer Station in Antarctica to spend two weeks participating in Antarctic research. Journalists will submit regular dispatches about their work in the form of a Polar Science Blog and will produce stories about their experience.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Christopher NeillBruce PetersonJohn HobbieGaius ShaverHugh Ducklow
The Experiential Science Education Research Collaborative (XSci) at the University of Colorado Denver has established a museum educator/theater network of eight museums around the country, pairing larger with smaller institutions. The Association of Science-Technology Centers, the NASA Astrobiology Institute, and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and several other organizations also are collaborators. The primary audience is informal science educators; secondary audiences are museum and science center visitors. The Science Theater Education Programming System (STEPS) is a technology the allows educators to create their own media-enhanced live theatrical presentations of science programs that include dynamic content, interactive virtual characters, and multiple plot-lines and endings to shows. The initial set of theater programs focus on astrobiology, along with a suite of training programs and communication formats for educators. The STEPS technology allows these programs to be delivered both on site and via outreach, depending on the goals of each organization. An in-depth research component is examining the impact of the project\'s designed community of practice structure utilizing team leadership theory in terms of professional identity construction for participating informal educators. Deliverables include: the museum partnership network, the STEPS system and programs, professional development tutorials and workshops, evaluation of the programs, and research products, among others.
Collaboration efforts between educator preparation programs and children's science museums are important in assisting elementary pre-service teachers connect the theory they have learned in their classrooms with the actual practice of teaching. Elementary pre-service teachers must not only learn the science content, but how to effectively deliver that science content to a group of students. One university provided their elementary pre-service teachers with the opportunity to prepare and deliver science lessons to students in a children's science museum in south Texas.
In this commissioned paper from the Climate Change Education Roundtable, Heidi Cullen offers strategies for mainstream media to engage the public around the topic of climate. She offers key strategies such as focusing on storytelling, paying attention to the changing media landscape, and being aware of audience needs.