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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...

Imagine a space filled with cardboard and endless possibilities where early engineering and creativity thrive. An inclusive makerspace that builds on design principles that work for a diversity of visitors and more museums. We’ve imagined that space over the past 10+ years, testing and iterating to make it a reality. Our iteration continues, and this guide shares some of the...

This is a practitioner guide sharing the findings. The Cardboard Collaborative is the product of 10 years of work at the Science Museum of Minnesota and part of a larger collaboration with local community organizations to center BIPOC family priorities and experiences. This guide is intended to share what they have learned and support others to create their own cardboard maker...

Conversations around diversity, equity, and inclusion in science communication are in danger of generating much concern without effecting change and systematic transformations. This radical volume, authored by Elizabeth Rasekoala (African Gong: The Pan African Network for the Popularization of Science & Technology and Science Communication) addresses these circular discourses and reveals the gaps in the field. Putting the spotlight on the marginalised...

Air pollution is a data-rich problem space, with vast networks of sensors constantly capturing and reporting measurements. The measured pollutants are superficially familiar to many people, but few understand the specific sources, acceptable levels, and negative effects of any individual pollutant. In addition, coverage of air quality in formal school curricula is limited. This project seeks to deepen the public's...

Black and Latinx people are underrepresented in the STEM workforce. This project examines how curricula and practices in a culturally situated, community-based youth development program nurture and support the STEM engagement of Black and Latinx boys and girls. Often research supporting out-of-school-time (OST) activities in STEM and traditionally underrepresented youth takes place in newly created learning environments. However, this program...

This Integrating Research and Practice project leverages museum exhibits as unique family learning spaces to promote community engagement in critical climate change conversations. Most science centers have not been adequately equipped to help diverse learners engage in climate change conversations, in part because tested climate communication approaches have not included culturally-specific strategies. This project will develop an exhibit design framework...

Voyage through the Solar System is a collaboration between Sciencenter, Museum of Life and Science, and the Science Museum of Minnesota to develop and distribute a suite of activities focused on human space exploration. This project includes the development of a toolkit of new hands-on facilitated museum activities, and a mobile app with both app-based activities and do-it-yourself (DIY) activities....

Voyage through the Solar System is a collaboration between Sciencenter, Museum of Life and Science, and the Science Museum of Minnesota to develop and distribute a suite of activities focused on human space exploration. This project includes the development of a toolkit of new hands-on facilitated museum activities, and a mobile app with both app-based activities and DIY activities. The...

The conference will convene library leaders, climate researchers and educators, public health experts, and informal educators to examine the current prevalence of climate related programming in libraries, and how the concept of environmental health can be used by libraries to create locally and culturally relevant, change oriented, and equitable STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) learning experiences. The intention is...

This project from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) is centered on the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse, which will traverse the US from southwest to the northeast, passing over several urban areas. The ASP's Eclipse Ambassadors Project will train 300 teachers and astronomers to facilitate activities in a solar eclipse kit to be developed as a part of this...

Amidst the most severe megadrought over the last 1,200 years in the U.S. Southwest, it is essential that residents of the region understand where their water comes from, how it is used, and what options for conservation exist. Researchers at Arizona State University (ASU), in partnership with the Smithsonian Museum on Main Street (MoMS), the Arizona Science Center, and eight...

STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Math) continues to grow in the informal science learning field, with a wide variety of findings from researchers and practitioners. There is a significant need to assess where this nascent field is in relation to equity and what are the critical next steps that should be taken. Research shows: (1) a need to...

Successful peer-to-peer practices in informal science learning (ISL) are often not well defined, but further investigation has the potential to help uncover how to motivate and scaffold children's joint learning in science and engineering. Team Hamster!, a PBS KIDS interactive digital series that helps youth think creatively and use engineering skills to solve problems with everyday tools, will be used...

This project will focus on understanding how media can improve boys' and girls' perceptions of female scientists and engineers and increase children's understanding of mixed-gender collaborations in STEM. Two main products will be developed and disseminated. The first will be eight 11-minute episodes of the popular children's program, Elinor Wonders Why, which reaches 16.5 million viewers. This will be used...

This project builds on an NSF-funded program which engaged youth in the creation of art-science experiences that use the biology and the experiences of migratory birds as a means for communicating the impact of a changing climate. The preliminary success of this program at increasing participants' science identity, connectedness to nature, and feelings of efficacy about environmental action inspired the...

The bike is an engineering system centered on a transparent technology that promotes freedom of movement and thus has the potential to democratize mobility and access. As an accessible technology it allows for tinkering, redesigning, repairing, customizing, re-mixing, repurposing, building, and re-building. This project uses bikes and biking to introduce STEM content and experiences to traditionally underrepresented youth (grades 9-10)...

Convergent Learning from Divergent Perspectives is a project developed through a partnership between The Ohio State University (OSU) STEAM Factory and the Center of Science and Industry (COSI), both located in Columbus, OH. The project brought together researchers from different disciplines to communicate their research in a variety of informal learning settings. The primary goal of the project was to...

This white paper examined the process of evaluating a new Growth Mindset youth program developed for youth in Grades 3-5 in the Northwest suburb communities in Dundee Township, IL. The white paper examines evaluation tools and results and offers narrative on the impact of the program on youth and how the program might be further developed moving forward into its...

Many scientific inquiries require the participation of thousands of people across multiple locations to share their observations and local knowledge which together yield discoveries that are otherwise unobtainable. These large-scale public participation in scientific research (PPSR) projects also provide an important opportunity for public engagement in science. However, PPSR projects share a common challenge: public participants tend to be demographically...

Black diasporic farming communities are important sites of sustainable food production for millions of people in the US and worldwide. As tight-knit agricultural collectives, they generate food throughout cities, promote diasporic values of ecological well-being, resource conservation, and interdependence, and foster the possibility of social and political transformation for black, indigenous, racialized and marginalized groups. While advancements in food security,...

Historically, many informal learning institutions have not accounted for neurological differences as they planned learning experiences, or they have offered separate programming for autistic individuals to accommodate sensory or behavioral differences. This project will address the limitations of these previous approaches by developing and testing neurodiversity-affirming guidelines for engineering programs in museums and science centers. These guidelines will be designed...

Structural inequities contribute to the disproportionate incarceration of Black and African American women, as well as women from the working class. This project will work toward redressing these inequities through developing and researching an ecosystem designed to support formerly incarcerated women's transition into careers that require technology-based skills or computational thinking. This ecosystem will be comprised of partnerships among workforce...

Climate change presents a significant challenge for parents worldwide as they navigate the task of preparing the next generation for a rapidly changing world. This interdisciplinary project aims to address this challenge by focusing on the needs of under-resourced Latino families, with a particular emphasis on Latino children who bear a disproportionate burden from climatic changes. By integrating insights from...

This book is about scientific inquiry. Designed for early and mid-career researchers, it is a practical manual for conducting and communicating high-quality research in (mathematics) education. Based on the authors’ extensive experience as researchers, as mentors, and as members of the editorial team for the Journal for Research in Mathematics Education (JRME), this book directly speaks to researchers and their...