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resource research Professional Development, Conferences, and Networks
In this article, Barbara Berry, student in Museum Studies at John F. Kennedy University, provides a "RFP: Go or No Go?" checklist as a tool to stimulate a discussion amongst museum staff about whether to respond to an RFP. Berry outlines the steps to take to evaluate an RFP and tips for crafting responses and moving forward.
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TEAM MEMBERS: Barbara Berry
resource research Professional Development, Conferences, and Networks
In this article, Barbara Punt, Principal of Punt Consulting, outlines ways to write effective Request For Proposals. Punt emphasizes the importance of clearly conveying your request and considering the respondents' point of view.
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TEAM MEMBERS: Barbara Punt
resource research Professional Development, Conferences, and Networks
In this article, Dan Bartlett, Curator of Exhibits at Midway Village & Museum Center, explores his experience preparing RFPs (Request for Proposals). Bartlett describes a "rational, formal process" that can guide others as they plan, prepare, and distribute RFPs.
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TEAM MEMBERS: Dan Bartlett
resource research Professional Development, Conferences, and Networks
In this article, James Jensen, Director of Project Management at Boston Children's Museum, shares thoughts and advice about the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) and Request for Proposals (RFP) processes. Jensen outlines best practices based on his experience at the Boston Children's Museum and the Connecticut Historical Society Museum.
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TEAM MEMBERS: James Jensen
resource research Professional Development, Conferences, and Networks
In this article, Lynne Friman, principal of Envisions Design, Ltd., draws on her experience writing and responding to Request for Proposals (RFPs). Friman presents an outline checklist as well as a list of defined terms to guide you through the process.
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TEAM MEMBERS: Lynn Friman
resource project Media and Technology
The University of Pittsburgh Center for Learning in Out-of-School Environments (UPCLOSE) proposes to redevelop its web-site, http://www.informalscience.org, which has become the primary online resource for researchers and practitioners dedicated to dissemination and development of knowledge about informal science and learning. The redesigned site will include more multimedia elements, an expanded research database and an improved search function. The site will be expanded by adding a quarterly Informal Learning Research newsletter (with the American Educational Research Association), conference reporting, interview articles, monthly evaluation tools and tips articles, Informal Science in the News clipping service, Research Toolkit and a listserv. It also will include digitized resources of the Visitor Studies Association. This web-site will support the continued creation of a cumulative body of empirical research and improve connections between research and practice. In so doing, it will foster the continued development of a community of practice in informal STEM education. This project will significantly enhance a major element of the infrastructure for this field.
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resource project Professional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The SPRY Foundation is requesting funding to organize a conference that will include principal investigators from ISE projects and representatives of the Aging Network to identify strategies to engage older adults in infromal lerning. The conference will present and critique existing programs, discuss new and sustainable models, and encourage the development of a network of ISE providers and organizations that serve older adults. Deliverables include a conference report with recommendations, the "Guide to Including Older Adults in Informal Science Education Programs", post-conference publications and presentations at the Association of Science and Technology Centers Annual Conference and the Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Association of Area Agencies in Aging. Addtionaly, pre-conference surveys will inform the planning process for this innovative meeting.
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TEAM MEMBERS: Russell Morgan
resource project Professional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The Franklin Institute Science Museum is planning, implementing, evaluating and disseminating the results of a 2.5 day conference entitled "Museums and New Family. Audiences - Building Relationships." The conference will be held in Philadelphia and involve a total of 75 professionals representing 25 museum/community programs, local community partners, advisers, and community partnership funders. Growing out of several initiatives over the past decade, the primary goal of the conference is to explore how museums and other informal science education organizations can develop and maintain long-term museum/community relationships to engage underserved families in informal STEM activities. Outcomes will include stronger relationships, a set of best practices and guidelines to be disseminated to the field, and the beginnings of a network.
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TEAM MEMBERS: Minda Borun ANGELA WENGER Ronald Fricke Jacqueline Genovesi
resource project Professional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The Boston Children's Museum will collaborate with Action for Boston Community Head Start Programs and Evergreene Research and Evaluation on an integrated research-to-practice project whose focus is science learning by pre-school age children. It will produce the following deliverables: a research-based Adult-Child Interaction Inventory (ACII) cataloging a spectrum of nonverbal and verbal interactions that occur during science engagement between parents, grandparents, or caregivers and young children; an ACII User Guide for museum professionals detailing how the inventory can be used for exhibit and professional development; a 2,800 sq ft Peep's World permanent exhibition informed by the ACII research; and a best practices survey highlighting effective strategies for eliciting positive adult-child interactions derived from a Community of Practice established by this project. The project will apply the research findings on nonverbal adult-child behavior to designing exhibits eliciting interactions supporting early childhood STEM learning. Project outcomes will benefit museum exhibit and program developers, preshool educators and families with children ages 3 to 5.
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TEAM MEMBERS: Gail Ringel Timothy Porter Ann Marie Stephan Lorrie Beaumont
resource project Professional Development, Conferences, and Networks
Rhode Island Information Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (RI-ITEST) is a comprehensive ITEST project for high school students and teachers. The goal of RI-ITEST is to prepare students from diverse backgrounds for careers in information technologies by engaging them in exciting, inquiry-based learning activities that use sophisticated computational models in support of a revolutionary science curriculum. It advances science education by enhancing the Physics First initiative in Rhode Island through the use of NSF funded student materials based on molecular modeling and promotes IT education by teaching modeling skills and providing students with career and vocational information on the use of computational models. The project provides over 120 hours of credit-bearing activities for 100 teachers and full support for classroom implementation. RI-ITEST is developing an optimal placement of the interactive materials from CC's Science of Atoms and Molecules project in the Physics First courses in Rhode Island; developing IT materials that are coordinated with the student materials that emphasize modeling skills and the career and vocational dimensions of computational modeling; preparing100 diverse Rhode Island science teachers in two cohorts to offer a course in the Physics-Chemistry-Biology sequence; developing materials and supports for using molecular dynamics and related IT materials for teachers in Rhode Island and elsewhere who are not ITEST participants; generating evidence for the effectiveness of the IT-enhanced project materials for increasing student learning and changing student attitudes about science, mathematics, and technology careers; reaching parents, guidance counselors, school administrators, and business partners with information about the project, student productions, and evidence for effectiveness; disseminating materials and findings to other teachers, programs, and districts nationwide.
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TEAM MEMBERS: Daniel Damelin Gerald Kowaiczyk James Magyar
resource project Professional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The Nanoscale Science and Engineering Education (NSEE) Center for Learning and Teaching (NCLT) would focus on the research and development of nano-science instructional resources for grades 7-16, related professional development opportunities for 7-12 teachers, and programs infused with nano-science content for education doctoral students. The Center would bring together educators and scientists from several areas of nano-science and engineering research to collaborate with science teachers and doctoral candidates in education on both the development of the resources and research on their efficacy. The PI has prior experience as director of the Materials World Modules project, an NSF-funded curriculum currently in use in several secondary schools across the country. Lead partners in the proposed Center are Northwestern University, Purdue University, University of Michigan, University of Illinois at Chicago and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Additional partners include Argonne National Laboratory, West Point Military Academy, Alabama A & M University, Fisk University, Hampton University, Morehouse College and University of Texas at El Paso. The additional partners will widen the geographic range of the project, expanding opportunities to reach a diverse and currently underrepresented population of graduate students, teachers and ultimately students. STEM and Education faculty and researchers from the partner institutions would participate in interdisciplinary teams to address the Center's mission: Provide national education leadership and resources for advancing NSEE Create and implement professional development programs in NSEE Use innovative ideas in learning to design instructional materials for grades 7-16 Conduct research relating to integration of NSEE into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.
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TEAM MEMBERS: R. P. H. Chang Thomas Mason Ncholas Giordano Joseph Krajcik
resource project Professional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The Association of Science-Technology Centers, the Institute for Learning Innovation, University of Pittsburgh Center for Learning in Out-of-School Environments, the Visitor Studies Association and other collaborators stewarded development of an Informal Science Education Resource Center (ISERC) to support ongoing improvement of the national infrastructure for informal science education. Activities included a clearinghouse for ISE-funded awards to enable others to learn from and build upon prior work, identification of practices and findings, and leadership development, with emphasis on increasing diversity in the field.
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