National Science Festival Network

May 15th, 2009 - April 30th, 2013 | PROJECT

The National Science Festival Network project, also operating as the Science Festival Alliance, is designed to create a sustainable national network of science festivals that engages all facets of the general public in science learning. Science Festivals, clearly distinct from "science fairs", are community-wide activities engaging professional scientists and informal and K-12 educators targeting underrepresented segments of local communities historically underserved by formal or informal STEM educational activities. The initiative builds on previous work in other parts of the world (e.g. Europe, Australasia) and on recent efforts in the U.S. to create science festivals. The target audiences are families, children and youth ages 5-18, adults, professional scientists and educators in K-12 and informal science institutions, and underserved and underrepresented communities. Project partners include the MIT Museum in Cambridge, UC San Diego, UC San Francisco, and the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. The deliverables include annual science festivals in these four cities supported by year-round related activities for K-12 and informal audiences, a partnership network, a web portal, and two national conferences. Ten science festivals will be convened in total over the 3 years of the project, each reaching 15,000 to 60,000 participants per year. STEM content includes earth and space science, oceanography, biological/biomedical science, bioinformatics, and computer, behavioral, aeronautical, nanotechnology, environmental, and nuclear science. An independent evaluator will systematically assess audience participation and perceptions, level/types of science interest stimulated in target groups, growth of partnering support at individual sites, and increasing interactions between ISE and formal K-12 education. A variety of qualitative and quantitative assessments will be designed and utilized. The project has the potential to transform public communication and understanding of science and increase the numbers of youth interested in pursuing science.

Project Website(s)

(no project website provided)

Project Products

www.sciencefestivals.org
Cambridge Science Festival Summative Evaluation Executive Summary
The Science Festival Alliance: Creating a Sustainable National Network of Science Festivals Summary of Year 1 Findings
The Science Festival Alliance: Creating a Sustainable National Network of Science Festivals Year 2 Summative Evaluation
The Science Festival Alliance: Creating a Sustainable National Network of Science Festivals Summative Evaluation
National Science Festival Network presentation
2012 Science Festival Alliance Annual Report

Team Members

Loren Thompson, Principal Investigator, University of California-San Diego
Jeremy Babendure, Co-Principal Investigator, University of California-San Diego
Ben Wiehe, Contributor, MIT Museum

Funders

Funding Source: NSF
Funding Program: ISE/AISL
Award Number: 0840333
Funding Amount: 1023669

Tags

Audience: Adults | Educators | Teachers | Elementary School Children (6-10) | Families | Middle School Children (11-13) | Scientists | Youth | Teen (up to 17)
Discipline: Computing and information science | Ecology | forestry | agriculture | Geoscience and geography | Health and medicine | Life science | Physics | Space science | Technology
Resource Type: Project Descriptions
Environment Type: Professional Development | Conferences | Networks | Public Events and Festivals | Public Programs | Resource Centers and Networks