General – Page 3 – Reimagining Equity and Values in Informal Science Education

Using digital media data to inform local TV news reports for parents during the COVID-19 pandemic

Authors: Alicia Torres, Isabel Griffith, Gabriel Pina, Claire Kelley, Sarah Kelley, and Isai Garcia-Baza Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented hardships for families across the globe and has heightened emotional, economic, and educational stressors. In response to widening disparities during the pandemic, Child Trends was awarded a one-year RAPID grant from the National … Read more

Black, Indigenous and other People of Color (BIPOC) Voices: Interview with Morgan Halane

Dr. Morgan Halane is a New York City-based biologist with a focus on plant immunity. Dr. Halane is a co-founder of Black Botanists Week and has worked for Aanika Biosciences and the National Park Service. Please tell us how you first became curious or excited about nature, or science? I’ve been excited about nature and … Read more

BIPOC Voices: Interview with Wendy Smythe

Author: Wendy F. Smythe, Ph.D. (K’ah skaahluwaa) Xaadas Nation (Haida). Ga gúudaas gúust uu díi k’wáalaagang (Eagle Moiety) of the Sdast’as clan (Fish egg house). Were there early experiences that sparked your interest in STEM, and ultimately your career path? I have always existed in what academia refers to as “the field”; however, it wasn’t … Read more

RAPID: How People Learn Rapidly: COVID-19 as a Crisis of Socioscientific Understanding and Educational Justice and Equity

Authors: Angela Calabrese Barton, Leslie Rupert Herrenkohl & Elizabeth Davis (University of Michigan) Introduction From news and governmental outlets to social media, Americans have had differing access to scientific information about the COVID-19 pandemic with differing opportunities for and contexts within which to sense-make and produce new insights around such information. Yet, there have been few … Read more

RAPID: Supports and Challenges in an Educational Crisis: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Youth STEM Pathways

Authors: Preeti Gupta, Rachel Chaffee, Karen Hammerness, Anna MacPherson, Tim Podkul (with alumni co-research fellows Lucie Lagodich & Mahmoud Abouelkheir) Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has had a deeply disruptive impact on the lives and learning experiences of college students across our nation. As campuses shuttered and moved to online and hybrid learning experiences, students faced challenges accessing the resources their academic institutions provided, including housing, food, … Read more

A year into the COVID-19 pandemic: What are children’s questions, worries, and information needs?

Authors: Amy Grack Nelson, Evelyn Christian Ronning, Scott Van Cleave, Choua Her As we pass the one year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world continues to struggle with the many ways our lives have changed and the uncertainty that remains about the future. Vaccines are being widely administered, but how and when life will … Read more

Equity in Informal Science Institutions: Insights and Practical Suggestions for Organizational Change

When it comes to equity, there is no neutral ground. As our society faces twin crises—the global COVID-19 pandemic, with its glaring health inequities, and the chronic racial injustice embedded in our social system—museums, science centers, and other informal science organizations have a role to play in creating a better and more just world. Often, … Read more

BIPOC Voices: Interview with Shay Saleem

Ms. Shay Saleem is the Manager of Teen Leadership Programs at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. In her conversation with CAISE, she reflected on how her informal and formal STEM learning experiences prepared her to design and implement youth programs that leverage community networks and empower girls to authentically engage with STEM. As … Read more

Informal STEM Learning at Biological Field Stations

Co-authored by Rhonda Struminger, Jill Zarestky, Rachel A. Short, Lauren Vilen, A. Michelle Lawing. Introduction Biological field stations are living laboratories where researchers study topics from animal migration patterns to biodiversity health and, as part of their work, often engage with informal STEM education. The oldest biological field stations (BFSs) have been around for more … Read more

BIPOC Voices: Black Love: Learning to Teach from Within

Ti’Era Worsley is a third-year doctoral student at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro who researches informal science education with middle-school aged youth in STEM. Ti’Era works with historically marginalized youth in informal makerspaces at a local Boys and Girls Club and refugee center. Ti’Era’s current research interests include looking at how a politicized … Read more