This study assessed visitor outcomes from attending presentations by members of the National Network for Ocean Climate Change Interpretation [NNOCCI] community of practice at four test aquariums and two control site aquariums where climate change interpretation is delivered by professional environmental educators who have not received NNOCCI training. Four unique self-complete surveys were developed, each collecting comparable demographic data and then each uniquely querying: obligations to act on climate change information for people, animals or the ocean; confidence that actions will result
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New England Aquarium CorporationJohn Fraser
This CRPA award will address the science behind solar energy, its capture, measurements, and uses. It is a collaborative effort between scientists at Portland State University (PSU) and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI). Materials for the OMSI staff will be prepared by the scientists and the OMSI staff will work with the scientists on making presentations to the public. OMSI will translate information from the exhibits, displays, and presentations into Spanish to engage the Hispanic population. Scientific café?s will be part of this engagement. The PI and OMSI museum have had a working relationship for some time adding to the potential success of the project. The PI and his colleagues at PSU have a major effort going in research on photonic science suggesting that this engagement can continue to be updated as the time goes on. The project will be evaluated by the well established evaluation group at OMSI. Further, Spanish speaking public will be embraced with this material as will rural residents from traveling exhibits and displays.
Following on the outcomes of an NSF-funded conference to this project's principal investigator, a team of educators, scientists, and communication experts from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, University of Massachusetts Boston, Hofstra University, the Boston Museum of Science and other professionals is implementing a full-scale development project to investigate the impact of an Out-of-Home Multi-Media (OHMM) exhibit on adults riding Boston's subway system (the "T"). The project's goal is to design, implement, and study the efficacy of an OHMM model for free-choice science learning about our changing climate. A rotating exhibit of twelve specially designed placards, posters, as well as virtual, web-based learning resources linked to the exhibit content will potentially engage over 420,000 adult riders per day along two of the T's four lines. Wireless access throughout light rail systems and the rise of smart phones represent a confluence of factors making an innovative form of engagement possible. The work is positioned to test this new model for informal science education and potentially could be expanded in Boston and into other cities around the country.
Informal Community Science Investigators (iCSI) creates a network of four geographically diverse informal science institutions working together on strategies to engage youth ages 10-13 through location based augmented reality (AR) games played on smartphones. These high-interest, kid-friendly games will be used by families visiting the institutions and by youth who enroll in more intensive summer camp programs. Using AR games, participants will engage in playful but scientifically-grounded investigations drawing on each institution's research, exhibits, and natural spaces. For example, a botanical garden might engage young visitors through AR games with themes related to native and invasive species, while a zoo might create a game experience focusing on illegal wildlife trade. Participants in the iCSI summer camp program will have more intensive experiences, including work with the host institution's scientists, opportunities to develop original augmented reality games, and experiences with game-related service learning and citizen science programs. For both target groups (families and campers), the location specific games build understanding of both the institution's mission and the broader realm of scientific research and application. The project will test the notion of participants as "learner hero," the link between game play and the individual's development of competency, autonomy and the relationship to real world experience, in this case through community action on the subject of the game developed. To that end, participants will be encouraged to extend their involvement through related investigations on site and participation in community activities and projects that can be done at home. Social media tools such as Facebook and web sites managed by the host institutions will provide recognition for this extended engagement, helping participants maintain ties to the program. Additionally, program resources provide assistance to adult family members in nurturing and sustaining youth interest in STEM activities and careers. A major effort of the project will be development of a new software infrastructure called TaleBlazer for the augmented reality game that will enable teachers and students to develop their own game that incorporates real data collection and scientific model building. The new platform will enhance the game play platform MITAR developed with NSF funding.
A multimodal semiotic approach is applied in this chapter to three examples to illustrate how the use of digital technology in museums and galleries can re-mediated the visitor experience (Jewitt, 2009; Kress, 2009). The examples are selected to expand upon the themes raised in Chapter X. They each explore different technologies, contexts and purposes and to illustrate the successful use of digital technology in exhibitions, galleries, or interventions: 1. You Tube and Flickr: The Weather Project by Olafur Eliasson at the Tate Modern Museum; 2. Interactive artefacts, virtual tours and Websites
This article deals with a pioneering project currently being developed, namely, the Exhibition on Testing and Measurement. This interactive traveling exhibition will be presented in science museums in Israel, the United States, and other countries. It has been conceived as an innovative means of familiarizing the public with educational measurement concepts and scientific principles. The exhibition will initiate and encourage a dialogue regarding the social aspects of testing. Science centers and museums can play a vital role in helping to forge a more authentic relationship between science
While the opportunity to engage in scientific reasoning has been identified as an important aspect of informal science learning (National Research Council, 2009), most studies have examined this strand of science learning within the context of physics-based science exhibits. Few have examined the presence of such activity in conjunction with live animal exhibits at zoos and aquariums. A video study of 41 families at four touch-tank exhibits, where visitors can observe and interact with live marine species, revealed that families engaged in making claims, challenging claims, and confirming
Learning involves change in knowledge and understanding; capabilities and skills; ways of thinking–-values, feelings and attitudes; and/or ways of acting-–behaviors. It is a lifelong process that occurs in many different environments. Learning is often described as formal learning (such as that occurring in schools, colleges, and universities) and informal learning (that occurs everywhere else). Although the learning process is the same, there are qualitative differences between formal and informal learning contexts that hinge on the degree of choice participants have to engage in learning
An IMLS (Institute of Museum and Library Services) National Leadership project with University of California Museum of Paleontology (lead), Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, Museum of the Earth and University of Kansas Natural History Museum to create a tree portal website with learning research, curriculum material and guides on how to effectively use and teach about the tree of life for teachers and museum professionals.
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University of California-BerkeleyTeresa MacDonaldRoy CaldwellAnna ThanukosLisa WhiteDavid HeiserRobert Ross
The Decapoda - shrimp, lobsters, and crabs - are an economically important, diverse group of animals whose geologic history extends back 400 million years. Living representatives, numbering over 15,000 species, are global in distribution and nearly ubiquitous in oceanic and non-oceanic environments. They exert a major impact on ecosystems; understanding the dynamics of their fossil record will illuminate their historical impact on ecosystems. We will test the hypothesis that decapods are arrayed in a series of discrete evolutionary faunas; remarkably, the vast array of living and fossil decapods in diverse interrelated groups have exploited four basic body plans repeatedly. Other hypotheses to be tested are that the Decapoda have repeatedly adopted a limited number of baupläne, or generalized architectures, throughout their history; that they have experienced explosive evolutionary radiations followed by periods of no determinable change; and that they are generally resistant to mass extinction events. These hypotheses will be tested using a unique dataset compiled and assessed by the Principle Investigators: a compilation of all fossil decapod species, arrayed in a classification scheme including fossil and living taxa, with geologic and geographic ranges of all species, including a phylogeny (i.e. "family tree") for many sub-groups within the Decapoda. The dataset will be expanded to include ecological data for each taxon and will be entered into the Paleobiology Database, an NSF-supported vehicle for analyzing the fossil record. Employing its methodology, patterns of diversity and macroevolution of the decapods will be generated at levels ranging from the entire Order to species level. This will result in a comprehensive analysis of macroevolutionary patterns of this major group for the first time. Available paleoecological data derived from field studies and published records will be used to determine the effects of various environmental factors such as seafloor conditions, reef development, water depth, and temperature on morphology, extinction survivorship, and diversity. Because decapods have a remarkable range of morphological variation preservable in the fossil record, the diversity of the groups of decapods can be assessed in relation to their morphological characteristics. Defining the history of taxa with specialized morphology will permit recognition of body plans that have been exploited by different decapod groups throughout the history of the clade.
Intellectual merit. This study will provide the most comprehensive analysis of macroevolution of the Decapoda yet conducted, all based upon a unique dataset that is internally consistent by virtue of its having been developed entirely by the investigators. It will document the significance of employing a high resolution, species-level database for interpretation of diversity. The hypotheses and conclusions derived here will provide a model and the foundation for future work on Decapoda, Arthropoda, and macroevolution of well-constrained groups. It will provide a test for the efficacy of PBDB data versus a constrained dataset assessed by specialist systematists.
Broader impacts. The work will introduce undergraduate students at Kent State at Stark, an undergraduate campus, and Kent State at Kent, to research that involves paleoecological, paleogeographical, and functional morphological elements which, in turn, will be communicated to other students. Because decapods are known to virtually everyone, they form an excellent group to use to inform the public about ancient patterns of diversity and the relationship between the morphology of organisms, variations in their environmental requirements, and their adaptability to different physical conditions. This will be conveyed in a professionally constructed display which has the potential to be exhibited in museums and universities around the country. Small kits designed for use in elementary and middle schools will be available to allow students to make their own observations about the adaptations of decapods to their environment and its effect on diversity. Published papers and presentations on results of research at meetings will be prepared throughout the course of the research. Because the study of modern biodiversity is a concern of the general public, presentations to broader audiences as well as geology classes will provide a broad historical context for understanding modern patterns of diversity. Data entered into Paleobiology Database and Ohio Data Resource Commons will be openly available to other researchers and the general public. Combined, the databases will assure archival storage and public access, following a proprietary period.
The Nature Research Center is a project through which the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences provides NASA with a permanent presence through the creation of NASA-themed exhibits in its new wing (the Nature Research Center), hosting special events, educator workshops and special programming, all of which serve the general population and seek to improve understanding of and engagement with science. The lead institution is the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. Goals, expected and actual outcomes are as follows: Exhibits in the new wing were expected to reach 200,000 individuals in its inaugural year; in only 8 months, the Museum has welcomed over 1 million visitors. Astronomy Days’ goal was to reach 20,000 people per year and is on target for meeting this goal. Educator Workshops’ goal was to reach 32 educators per workshop and is on target for meeting this goal. The Museum’s visitor base has demonstrated an insatiable desire for NASA-themed programs. Attendance at Astronomy Days remains impressive and special space events (such as the transit of Venus, or live downlinks with the International Space Station) attract larger-than-expected audiences. The Museum appreciates NASA’s support and is eager to continue providing NASA with an ongoing presence in Raleigh, NC.
The Dynamic Earth: You Have To See it To Believe It is a public exhibition and suite of programming designed to educate and excite K-8 students, teachers, and families about weather and climate science, plate tectonics, erosion, and stream formation. The Dynamic Earth program draws attention to the importance of large-scale earth processes and the human impacts on these processes, utilizing real artifacts, hands-on models, and NASA earth imagery and data. The program includes the exhibition, student workshops, family workshops, annual professional development opportunities for classroom teachers, innovative theater shows, lectures for adults by visiting scientists, and interpretive activities. The Montshire Museum of Science has partnered with Chabot Space and Science Center (CA) and the US Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (NH) on various components. The project has broadened our internal capacity for providing quality earth science programming by greatly expanding our program titles and allowing us to create hands-on materials for use by our educators and to loan to schools in our Partnership Initiative. Programming developed during the grant period continues to reach thousands of students and teachers each year, both on-site and as part of our rural outreach efforts.