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This evaluation examines visitor engagement at the “Science On a Sphere” (SOS) exhibit at Pacific Science Center, Seattle, WA. Evaluators varied characteristics of the data presentation—such as topic presented, presence of a question prompt, and image rotation—and measured the resulting visitor engagement for each of the different treatments. Furthermore, the evaluation examined visitors’ interest in the SOS exhibit, as well...

Informal science educators are seeking ways to support scientific reasoning. This study of touch tanks at four different museums found that, although the exhibits were not designed to do so, they supported families in engaging in scientific reasoning practices. Specifically, they engaged family members in making claims, seeking evidence, devising tests, seeking information, testing claims, and challenging claims made by...

In this research article, Allen and Penuel investigate how science teachers make decisions about implementation of reform based on their understanding of coherence between professional development and the standards, curriculum and assessment in their local context. This research will support ISE that design and facilitate science teacher professional development....

Planet Earth Television (PET) created Scientistic!, a television series that focuses on a young girl's scientific investigations of the world around her. The pilot episode, Sticks and Stones, explored bones and how they heal. A website and iPad app were also developed to supplement the program. REA evaluated the impact of the television program, website, and app on youth's knowledge...

Currently, science is developing rapidly and its influence on society is more significant than ever. This is all the more reason for today's scientists to interact with the general public. To design effective science communication activities, we must understand scientists' motivations and barriers to publicly communicating science. In this study, we interviewed 19 early-career scientists who had participated in science...

Arizona State University will develop new features for its SciStarter website that will expand participation in citizen science and provide rich data for researching the nature of and impacts of citizen science participation. SciStarter is a popular online citizen science hotspot featuring more than 850 searchable citizen science projects, added by researchers and project owners, and serving over 35,000 citizen...

Scratch is a “media-rich programming environment” recently developed by MIT’s Media Lab that “lets you create your own animations, games, and interactive art.” Although Scratch is intended to “enhance the development of technological fluency [among youths] at after-school centers in economically disadvantaged communities,” we find remarkable potential in this programming environment for higher education as well. We propose Scratch as...

The ScratchEd project, led by faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and professionals at the Education Development Center, is designing, developing, and studying an innovative model for professional development (PD) of teachers who use the Scratch computer programming environment to help their students learn computational thinking. The fundamental hypothesis of the project is that engagement in workshops and on-line...

This paper describes a platform for sharing programmable media on the web called ScratchR. As the backbone of an on-line community of creative learners, ScratchR will give members access to an audience and inspirational ideas from each other. ScratchR seeks to support different states of participation: from passive consumption to active creation. This platform is being evaluated with a group...

On behalf of the Sun'aq Tribe of Kodiak, the SEALibrary (Sun'aq Ecological Archives and Library) will undertake a project to enhance access to information on Kodiak ecology and Alutiiq heritage while serving as a bridge between tribal members, researchers, and regulators. It will collect, preserve, and disseminate valuable local and traditional ecological knowledge with the goal of protecting the ecological...

In this chapter we present and discuss the results and reflections based on our recent developments and experiences in Europe and in Asia regarding how novel educational design patterns, mobile technologies and software tools can be combined to enhanced learning. We propose and recommend possible directions for the design of future educational activities and technological solutions that can support seamless...

The Seeing Scientifically project will research a new way of supporting museum visitor experiences so they can have authentic scientific observation of live microscopic specimens. By adapting existing computational imaging techniques from current biological research, the project aims to encourage and support visitors in observing scientifically, that is, in asking productive questions, interpreting image-rich information, and making inferences from visual...

Serial Passage: AIDS, Race, and Culture is a multi-part documentary series. The Long-term goals are: 1) to produce a documentary series exploring the specific and devastating impact of H.I.V./AIDS upon Africans and African-Americans; and 2) to create a heightened understanding of the need for H.I.V. prevention among the high-risk group of young, inner-city African-Americans who've so far proved unresponsive to...

Serial Passage: AIDS, Race, and Culture. is a 3-4 hour documentary film series and curriculum enhancement that examines the process of scientific inquiry in the development of the serial passage/contaminated needle theory of the origin of HIV/AIDS as well as the disproportionate impact of the pandemic upon Africans and African-Americans. The long term objective of the documentary film series/curriculum enhancement...

The American Precision Museum is housed in the 1846 Robbins & Lawrence Armory, a National Historic Landmark, where in the mid to late 19th century, a group of inventors and machinists perfected the tools and techniques of precision manufacturing. Our project will create a new, long-term exhibition and related programs that explore the themes of innovation and work, and the...

The overall objective of this planning project was to examine the potential effectiveness of the Signing Science Pictionary (SSP) in increasing the ability of parents and their deaf and hard of hearing children to engage in informal science learning. To achieve this objective, research and development included four goals. 1) Design several SSP-based activities to help family members engage in...

Founded in 1999, the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures are non-technical illustrated public lectures, presented on six Wednesday evenings during each school year at Foothill College, in the heart of California's Silicon Valley. Speakers over the years have included a Nobel-prize winner, members of the National Academy of Sciences, the first woman in history to discover a planet, an astrophysicist who...

This Phase I SEPA proposal supports a consortium of science and education partners that will develop System Dynamics (SD) computer models to illustrate basic health science concepts. The consortium includes Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU), Portland Public Schools (PPS), Saturday Academy, and the Portland VA Medical Center. SD is a computer modeling technique in which diagrams illustrate system structure and...

This literature review raises questions about how scientific argumentation is taught in schools. Manz argues that argumentation needs to be situated in real scientific questions and practices and makes suggestions for how to make argumentation an authentic science activity for students....

The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), in collaboration with the Small Museum Research Collaborative (SMRC), proposes to create four small bilingual exhibitions in English and Spanish for a national tour to small museums. The exhibitions will focus on current clinical research in nutrition and physical activity and its applications to personal and family wellness. We propose to build...

This paper presents ten guiding principles for designing construction kits for kids: design for designers; low floors and wide walls; make powerful ideas salient - not forced; support many paths, many styles; make it as simple as possible - and maybe even simpler; choose black boxes carefully; a little bit of programming goes a long way; give people what they...

In today's rapidly changing world, people must continually come up with creative solutions to unexpected problems. Success is based not only on what one knows or how much one knows, but on one's ability to think and act creatively. In short, people are now living in the Creative Society. Unfortunately, few of today's classrooms focus on helping students develop as...

The Space Telescope professional development program is designed to support the needs of formal and informal educators and enhance educators' science content and pedagogical knowledge. Scientist and educator teams present STEM topics and the latest educational research, while emphasizing real-world connections. The purpose is to share information about the James Webb Space Telescope mission, support the teaching of standards-based science,...

In this memo, we present a first version of the conceptual framework funded by the John D. and Catherine T. Macarthur Foundation. Our goal is to provide clarity around issues of scale and spread, and to develop a tool that can inform strategic thinking by members of the DML (Digital Media and Learning) community and the broader field. At the...

The Sprouting Green Weeding Practices in Libraries: Web-Based Training project, developed by the Austin Public Library, will offer libraries across the nation an opportunity to engage citizens and raise awareness of carbon neutral reuse options for books and materials being weeded and discarded from library collections. Austin's partner, Goodwill Industries of Central Texas along with other libraries and subject experts...