Search Resource Library (Repository)

In fall 2019, the Bell Museum received funding via a NASA TEAM II grant to create Mars: The Ultimate Voyage, a full-dome planetarium show and accompanying hands-on activities that focus on the interdisciplinary roles that will be needed to send humans to Mars. This report from Catalyst Consulting Group presents the findings from the summative evaluation completed in March–May 2023....

The rapid permeation of AI into nearly all walks of life and every profession calls for innovative approaches of public AI literacy and education in all settings. This project will design, develop, and test a sequence of lessons for high school aged youth from east Tennessee that will teach them artificial intelligence concepts by using images from planetary exploration and...

Overview In 2023 Kera Collective partnered with the New-York Historical Society (N-YHS) to evaluate the Tang Academy for American Democracy (TAAD) program. TAAD aims to address 6th grade New York City learning standards by comparing the ancient Athenian model of democracy to democracy in the United States, as well as generate excitement about learning history. TAAD had been in operation for three...

This study collected data from seven planetarium email lists (one per planetarium regional organization in the United States), as well as online survey panel data from residents in each area, to describe and compare those who do and do not visit planetariums. The results confirmed broad patterns found in studies of other informal learning institutions in that planetarium visitors were...

Build a Mars Habitat (Survive and Thrive) is a National Informal STEM Education Network (NISE Network) project, led by the Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM). This three-year NASA TEAM II project was designed in partnership with museum educators and NASA subject matter experts to educate and inspire visitors about human exploration of Mars. The exhibit developed from this work, Build...

This report is the summative evaluation of Moon Adventure Game. The Moon Adventure Game is a challenge-based immersive game, inspired by “escape room” experiences, which asks visitors to take on activities to help them think about what people might need to live and work on the Moon. Creation of the game was a collaborative effort between Arizona Science Center (ASC)...

Over the past few decades, the science museum field has been working toward better understanding of and approaches to designing exhibits that reflect more diverse ways of learning and knowing, and support broader participation in STEM and informal STEM learning. This project, led by the local Hawaiian community organization Institute for Native Pacific Education and Culture (INPEACE), will develop and...

In collaboration with TERC and informal learning organizations across the United States, COSI’s Center for Research and Evaluation (CRE) is part of an NSF-funded project, Research to Understand and Inform the Impacts of Ambient and Designed Sound on Informal STEM Learning. Known informally as Sound Travels, the project brings together a collaboration of informal STEM learning (ISL) researchers, designers, and...

In collaboration with TERC and informal learning organizations across the United States, COSI’s Center for Research and Evaluation (CRE) is part of an NSF-funded project, Research to Understand and Inform the Impacts of Ambient and Designed Sound on Informal STEM Learning. Known informally as Sound Travels, the project brings together a collaboration of informal STEM learning (ISL) researchers, designers, and...

In 2020, Kera Collective (formerly RK&A) partnered with the Mercer Museum and a team of experts in support of the experimental exhibition project, Plus Ultra. Through Plus Ultra, the museum created three prototype exhibitions that utilized previously underutilized spaces in the museum to enhance the experience of local community members around the museum’s core exhibition.  Given that Plus Ultra is an...

Scientific and environmental literacy are valuable outcomes linked to academic learning, career pathways, and broader engagement in science and environmental fields and causes. However, while current tools for measuring these concepts are useful for measuring some dimensions of impact, they are aligned with dominant views that can marginalize, exclude, and erase the knowledge and expertise of communities of color. This...

The Museum of Science and Boston University received funding from the National Science Foundation to develop and implement a pilot program exploring how mentorship in science research, communication, and education practices contributes to changes in high school students' science identities. This toolkit shares guidelines, resources, and curricula materials that were developed and refined over the project period, with a focus on:...

Building community with rural and underrepresented groups has been a challenge in the field of citizen science. At the University of Alaska Fairbanks, a team of scientists, educators, Extension professionals, and evaluators have joined efforts to take on this challenge across Alaska. The goals for Arctic Harvest-Public Participation in Scientific Research are to: 1) investigate how shifts in environmental conditions...

Community and citizen science on climate change-influenced topics offers a way for participants to actively engage in understanding the changes and documenting the impacts. As in broader climate change education, a focus on the negative impacts can often leave participants feeling a sense of powerlessness. In large scale projects where participation is primarily limited to data collection, it is often...

Plants with persistent fleshy fruits that last throughout fall and into winter and spring are an important source of nutrition for animals and people in boreal, subarctic, and arctic regions, but little information on fruit retention or loss is available for these regions. We evaluated fruit loss for four species across Alaska using data from our Winterberry community science network....

Latiné communities in the United States represent a dynamic and diverse population reflecting varied backgrounds, experiences, and contributions. These contributions can form the foundation for a future STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) workforce that is prepared to meet pressing local, societal, and global challenges. Quality STEM learning experiences, which fully recognize these contributions, can also strengthen the well-being of...

Youth-focused community and citizen science (CCS) is increasingly used to promote science learning and to increase the accessibility of the tools of scientific research among historically marginalized and underserved communities. CCS projects are frequently categorized according to their level of public participation and their distribution of power between professional scientists and participants from collaborative and co-created projects to projects where...

The Arctic Harvest-Public Participation in Scientific Research (which encompasses the Winterberry Citizen Science program), a four-year citizen science project looking at the effect of climate change on berry availability to consumers has made measurable progress advancing our understanding of key performance indicators of highly effective citizen science programs. These indicators include preparation to participate in the program, alignment of goals...

Discussions of climate science have become more common in children's literature in recent years. Studies show that books and other media can teach children effective techniques for managing the risks they and their families face from floods, fires, excessive heat, and other weather-related disasters. However, Black voices and stories are rare within this literature, despite the fact that these disasters...

Attracting and retaining youth from all sociodemographic backgrounds in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields is a national priority for ensuring equity and diversity in the STEM workforce. Prior research recognizes that a strong science identity increases the likelihood of youth persistence in STEM, and out-of-school STEM experiences are crucial for developing and maintaining science identity. However, access to...

This project builds on two prior NSF awards that supported development of a climate change exhibit at the Natural History Museum of Utah through deep engagement with research and rigorous prototyping. Grounded in key ideas from science communication, this exhibit is designed to support new, productive types of engagement around the topic of climate change among the diverse communities of...

Despite a long history of considering and attempting to address issues of diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion, visitor-serving organizations such as museums, botanical gardens, and zoos tend to serve disproportionately white, able-bodied, and high-income audiences. Traditionally, efforts to address this challenge have focused on reducing barriers (cost, transportation, etc.) in order to get more people to participate in informal science...

Over the span of three months, our team at Harvard Graduate School of Education conducted a formative evaluation to assist the Museum of Science in Boston with their efforts to build a new exhibit, the Live Animal Garden. The goal of our evaluation was to determine how museum visitors responded to the museum's existing live animal exhibits and identify recommendations...

This literature review is funded in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation #1713567 and prepared for Indiana University as part of a larger project entitled Data Visualization Literacy: Research and Tools that Advance Public Understanding of Scientific Data (Dr. Katy Börner, Principal Investigator). This white paper is one component of a larger review. The larger review consists of three...

This literature review is funded in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation #1713567 and prepared for Indiana University as part of a larger project entitled Data Visualization Literacy: Research and Tools that Advance Public Understanding of Scientific Data, Dr. Katy Börner, Principal Investigator. This white paper is one of three of a larger review. The larger review...