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The MU Broader Impacts Network is charged with assisting researchers in the design, implementation, and evaluation of their public engagement and outreach plans. We accomplish this primarily through one-on-one mentoring and by fostering collaboration between researchers and broader impacts programs. ...

The College of Physicians of Philadelphia’s Broken Bodies, Suffering Spirits: Injury, Death, and Healing in Civil War Philadelphia will transcend the basic facts of war, offering visitors an intimate view of the experiences of real people augmented by anatomical specimens, instruments, manuscripts, images, and printed texts. The exhibit and web-based educational materials will explore two major themes: how the war...

Today's Brooklyn Navy Yard is a rarity: a 19th-century citadel of the Industrial Revolution reincarnated as a model of clean industrial re-use in the 21st century. A historic national icon, the Yard has long been a mystery to its neighbors. Now, for the first time since 1801, BNYDC is inviting the public in and offering a unique and remarkable venue...

The Science Cartoon (Sci-Toons) initiative, an informal education program, was developed to engage STEM and non-STEM students and faculty in the creation of science animation. Housed within Brown University’s Science Center, Sci-Toons projects incorporate several students and faculty each semester from both STEM and non-STEM majors. Team members are provided with technical training in animation, storytelling, and scientific concepts. The...

Using a kind of dynamic film, Latour analyzes three recent moments in the history of science and technology, involving John Whittaker of the Pasteur Institute, Watson and Crick and Tom West of Data General. Text in Portuguese....

A research project that is only expert-driven may ignore the role of local knowledge in research, often gives low priority to the development of a comprehensive communication strategy to engage the community, and may not deliver the results of the study to the community in an effective way. Objective: To demonstrate how a research program can respond to a community...

In order to attract and retain underrepresented student groups (USGs) who aspire to major in STEM fields, educators recognize that science and math instruction must improve and also develop students’ non-cognitive and social-emotional skills. Foremost in that effort is Xavier University of Louisiana, a historically black and Catholic university located in the heart of New Orleans. Throughout the past thirty...

BISE’s NVivo database includes all of the coding applied by the BISE team based on the BISE Coding Framework. This includes codes that were applied to specific sections of a report (referred to as “nodes” in Nvivo) and codes that were applied to an entire report (referred to as “attributes” in Nvivo). For Mac or NVivo 9 versions, visit the...

This document provides an overview of the CAISE Fellows Program, which sought to develop and support diverse leadership across the spectrum of the informal science education (ISE) field--leaders who, together, represent the diversity of our communities as well as the breadth of the field. The program focused on knowledge-building, networking, and mentorship....

A recent report by the Association for Computing Machinery estimates that by decade's end, half of all STEM jobs in the United States will be in computing. Yet, the participation of women and underrepresented groups in post-secondary computer science programs remains discouragingly and persistently low. One of the most important findings from research in computer science education is the degree...

The digital revolution has transformed how young people discover and pursue their interests; how they communicate with and learn from other people; and how they encounter and learn about the world around them. How can we identify best practices for incorporating new media technologies into learning environments in a way that resonates with youth, including their interests, goals, and the...

The four New England museums of the Environmental Exhibit Lab (EEC) set out in the Fall of 2011 to create a replicable model of collaborative professional development for small museums. The project, Exhibit Lab (sometimes called “EEC 2”), was funded by a 3-year grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services [2011 21st Century Museum Professionals Program; IMLS Log...

This project's aim is to understand collaboration, cooperation, and learning in the context of a large, distributed virtual organization consisting of children and teachers building web-based simulations and animations using the Scratch software. The PIs will study the nature and patterns of cooperation in the Scratch decentralized learning environment, establish principles to guide the development of systems that foster cooperative...

This report is a summary of the activities of the Center for the Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE) Fellows program up to the date of CAISE’s Reverse Site Visit to the National Science Foundation (NSF) on April 16 of 2010. The report also includes a brief synthesis of NSF’s feedback from the site visit and some suggested future directions...

The C-DEBI education program works with audiences at all levels (K-12, general public, undergraduate, graduate and beyond) in formal and informal settings (courses, public lectures, etc.). Sub-programs focus on community college research internships and professional development for graduate students and postdocs....

The Education and Outreach (EO) program is an essential part of the CRISP MRSEC located at Yale and SCSU. CRISP offers activities that promote the interdisciplinary and innovative aspects of materials science to a diverse group of participants. The objective of the program is to enhance the education of future scientists, science teachers, K-12 students, parents, and the general public....

Our Center works with students from kindergarten through graduate school and beyond. We work with teachers and scientists and combine our knowledge to inspire students to pursue careers in neural engineering and neuroscience. Program activities include summer research programs, curriculum development, school visits, teacher/student workshops, science festivals, and international student exchanges....

The Center for Sustainable Polymers implements and fosters a wide range of educational and public outreach activities. Our faculty, researchers, students, and staff work together to engage the public and educate the citizenry and policy makers on the societal importance of sustainable polymers and technologies. An important aspect of the CSP’s work is to broaden the participation of underrepresented groups...

Some of the most intriguing science museum exhibits start with a counter-intuitive outcome, a result that runs counter to visitors' expectations. Although counter-intuitive events often succeed in captivating visitors, they rarely lead to visitor-driven inquiry. The author argues that this is primarily due to two factors: first, for the counter-intuitive effect to be presented reliably and repeatedly, the visitor's interaction...

This dissertation examined changes in urban youth’s attitude towards science as well as their perception of the informal science education setting and third space opportunity provided by the BioBus, a mobile science lab. Findings from this study suggested that urban youth’s attitude towards science changed both positively and negatively in statistically significant ways after a BioBus visit and that the...

This document includes a series of six checklists—one for each of the six types of research outlined in the Common Guidelines for Education Research and Development. The Guidelines, developed by the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education and the National Science Foundation, explains those agencies’ shared expectations for education research and development. The checklists, created by...

The Boys and Girls Club Afterschool Outreach Program, designed by UC Irvine Science Educators in conjunction with Chemistry at the Space-Time Limit faculty, aimed to increase elementary students' interest, enthusiasm, and learning outcomes in STEM fields through the development of hands-on physical science science lessons. External evaluation results showed the program was successful in altering students' perceptions of scientists and...

In the last two years SISSA Medialab designed, tested and evaluated two projects aiming at empowering children (in one case) and teenagers (in the other) to act as science journalists in order to promote a personal, critical attitude towards science and technology. The two groups produced a paper magazine and a blog, respectively, in a participatory process, in which adults...

To this volume on out-of-school STEM learning, we contribute an example of science. Our charge is to discuss what it means for children to be doing science and how educators can assess it. To that end, we’ve chosen an especially clear case. It happens to have taken place in school, but that shouldn’t matter for our purpose here; it’s the...

Charismatic megafauna are exotically impressive creatures guaranteed to attract immediate public fascination and sympathy. Their images and life stories provide indispensable resources for keen environmental campaign groups and publicists. The expression itself – charismatic megafauna – is barely a few decades old. Part of its point is to recall and contrast the hosts of apparently less alluring beings at least...