This document provides a brief story about how the Designing our Tomorrow team explored some of their questions about exhibit features by using the C-PIECE Framework: Framework of Collaborative Practices at Interactive Engineering Challenge Exhibits.
This exploratory line of inquiry looked at relationships between exhibit features and visitor groups’ Informed engineering design practices. This brief includes an Introduction, Methods and Findings, Summary, and Implications.
This exploratory line of inquiry was conducted to inform the development of the Designing our Tomorrow exhibit and
This paper provides detailed descriptions of the goals, theoretical perspectives, context, and methods used in A study of collaborative practices at interactive engineering challenge exhibits (the C-PIECE Study), the first of two studies in the Designing Our Tomorrow (DOT) research program. The C-PIECE Study supported foundational and exploratory lines of inquiry related to engineering practices used by families engaging with design challenge exhibits. This paper describes the study background and methods as an anchor to four other products that detail these four specific lines of inquiry and
The purpose of this research was to explore associations between engineering practices included in the C-PIECE framework. In this work, we took particular interest in practices under the Defining a Problem proficiency. Practices under Defining a Problem have great potential to influence the entire exhibit interaction and early observations indicated that visitor groups did not engage frequently in these practices at the informed level, therefore they were seen as an opportunity ripe for study. Through observations, interviews, and video analysis, the DOT research team investigated the
Are you interested in co-creating fun activities that exercise groups’ engineering practices? Are you curious about the types of practices that groups can exercise through exhibits?
The Framework of Collaborative Practices at Interactive Engineering Challenge Exhibits (C-PIECE Framework) provides informal education professionals with a guide when co-developing, designing, facilitating, evaluating and researching engineering design challenge experiences.
This framework was developed with input from inter-generational families, including girls 9 to 14 years old. It was adapted from theory
This paper describes the methodology and the development of the instruments for collecting and analyzing data to better understand 1) what people bring with them to their visit, 2) what people do during a visit, and 3) what people take away from a visit. Elements of what they bring intersect with Knology’s work, and what they do and what they take away intersect with Oregon State University’s work on WZAM3.
COSI’s Center for Research and Evaluation (CRE) led a study was conducted in four phases with three study components. These phases serve to organize the remainder of this report::
This study looks at the types of awe guests feel when they leave art and science cultural institutions of various sizes and context, and how it may be related to what they remember learning. We surveyed 899 guests at the end of their visit and 550 of them again about one week later. Measures included a scale of awe-related perceptions (both positive and negative) along with questions about memories guests have about what they learned during their visit. Results show awe-related perceptions were consistent across institutions with only one significant difference, even when grouped by context
NASA@ My Library is made possible through the support of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Science Mission Directorate as part of its Science Activation program. The project is led by the National Center for Interactive Learning (NCIL) at the Space Science Institute (SSI) in partnership with the American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office, Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI), and Education Development Center (EDC). From 2016-2020, 78 public libraries (75 partner libraries and 3 pilot libraries), 18 State Library Agencies, 6 Portal to the Public Network sites, and 30 NASA-funded scientists participated in the project. More than 225,000 library patrons were reached through their efforts.
In 2021-2022, public libraries, universities, and state library agencies will participate in the project to increase and enhance STEAM learning opportunities in their communities, with an emphasis on reaching audiences underrepresented in STEM education and professions.
Exhibit Design for Girls’ Engagement (EDGE) began as an NSF-funded research project led by the Exploratorium to learn how science museums can better engage girls aged 8–13 with STEM exhibits. Over the course of the research, we identified nine design attributes that were consistently positively related to girls’ engagement with these exhibits. The Exploratorium then went on a three-year journey funded by the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation to explore ways to fold the EDGE design attributes into our exhibits, with a focus on existing exhibits. This was an exciting opportunity to put the EDGE
This brief literature review was composed as a final project for a doctoral level class at the Learning Sciences Research Institute. In this, the background and subsequent issues of applying socio-cultural methods to educational research within museums is explored.
What does it mean for a museum, science center, or other informal science organization to commit to being a more racially equitable institution by treating equity as seriously as something like budgeting--part of every project, and necessary to the functioning of the organization? This project document shares the organizational change processes, tools, and approaches we developed during the RACE Forward project - an action research project designed to empower cross-organizational groups to spark sustainable change in practices, policies, and dispositions across the organization.
This case
This article describes an example of science engagement striving for social justice by invigorating neglected spaces. The pop-up science centre “Knowledge◦Room“ in Vienna encourages learning, participation and engagement and provides accessibility to different groups regardless of their background. Based on a case-study of a bottom-up event at the Knowledge◦Room, we show how science communication can create a trust-based connection with disadvantaged groups in society and inspire their curiosity in science. We argue that science communication can be used as a tool for advancing social justice
Middle Ground, funded by the National Science Foundation, was an outdoor public installation developed by the Exploratorium and located in the Civic Center. This installation focused on the social science of how people think about others, particularly the cognitive basis for biases, judgements, and stereotypes, as well as more pro-social behavior and ways of connecting with others. Garibay Group is currently conducting a summative evaluation. As data are still being collected and analyzed, this report presents select preliminary results about installation-specific outcomes.