September 15th, 2010 - August 31st, 2013 | PROJECT
"Human +" is a collaboration among the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI), NSF Quality of Life Technology Engineering Research Center (QoLT ERC) of the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), and the Institute for Learning Innovation. The project will engage engineers, educators, designers, and people with disabilities in a process of participatory design to create a 2,500 square foot traveling exhibition entitled "Human +". The STEM content is engineering, specifically the extraordinary technological advances being made to enhance human abilities. The project is making three significant contributions to the Informal Science Education (ISE) field: 1) It is a model of close integration of an NSF-funded engineering research center into an ISE project. (2) It engages people with disabilities, both as participants and audiences. (3) It broadens engagement with engineering as a participatory, creative, and socially important ISE undertaking. Project deliverables are: (1) a model for participatory design of ISE activities to generate innovation among engineers, people with disabilities, ISE professionals, and designers; and 2) a 2,500 square-foot traveling exhibition engaging the public in the science, technology, and social issues of human enhancement. Front-end evaluation will be conducted by OMSI to explore pre-existing knowledge and attitudes, integrating significant numbers of people with disabilities including veterans, young people, and older people. Formative evaluation will likewise be integrated with the participatory design process, with prototypes being tested both by audiences and by the core "Human +" participatory design team. Summative evaluation by Institute for Learning Innovation will address both the effectiveness of the participatory design process and the effectiveness of the exhibition in addressing the National Academy for Engineering goals for public understanding of engineering as a creative and socially engaged field. An estimated 700,000 visitors will experience the "Human +" exhibition at OMSI and NYSCI. In addition, OMSI will tour the exhibition through its extensive and diverse network of science centers, with 24 science centers having expressed interest as potential host sites. The Science Friday webcast/podcast will reach an estimated 1.3 million listeners. Public audiences will engage in the topic of engineering and better understand its importance to human existence through experiencing one compelling research area. The project team will work with the Veterans Administration and DARPA to engage veterans with disabilities both as participants and as audiences. The exhibit with its human-focused content will also stimulate interest among older adults and promote the engineering field to groups underrepresented in engineering such as people with disabilities, girls, and minority youth. The project places cutting-edge technology and engineering practice in a profoundly personal context. "Human +" will contribute to the empowerment of the great majority of people who have, or will have, disabilities during their lifetime and for those of us who care for people with disabilities.
Project Website(s)
(no project website provided)
Project Products
http://nysci.org/event/human-plus-real-lives-real-engineering/
Summative Evaluation of Human +
Human +, an Exhibition Reflecting the Voices and Lives of People with Disabilities
Spotlight: Human +
Team Members
Eric Siegel, Principal Investigator, New York Hall of SciencePeggy Monahan, Co-Principal Investigator, New York Hall of Science
Stephen Uzzo, Co-Principal Investigator, New York Hall of Science
Dan Ding, Co-Principal Investigator, University of Pittsburgh
Funders
Funding Source: NSF
Funding Program: ISE/AISL
Award Number: 1010507
Funding Amount: 1899997
Tags
Access and Inclusion: People with Disabilities | Women and Girls
Audience: Evaluators | General Public | Museum | ISE Professionals | Scientists
Discipline: Engineering | Health and medicine | Life science | Technology
Resource Type: Project Descriptions
Environment Type: Broadcast Media | Exhibitions | Media and Technology | Museum and Science Center Exhibits