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Engaging Faith-based Communities in Citizen Science through Zooniverse was an 18-month pilot initiative funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Any opinions, findings, or recommendations expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Sloan Foundation. The goals of this initiative were to broaden participation in citizen science (aka people-powered research) among religious and interfaith communities by...

NSF generously funded the Science Museum of Minnesota's exploration of whether or not the "theatrical gaming" technique could improve visitors' understanding of complex topics requiring conceptual shifts--topics like evolution. COVID disrupted our formal evaluation plans, but this report offers finding and guidance/best practices for other informal education institutions interested in developing this type of experience. Individual sections discuss our particular,...

This document is aimed primarily at Informal Learning (IFL) educators working with adult learners from disadvantaged and underserved communities, who wish to:   exploit the inclusive nature of Tinkering to create engaging and relevant STEM learning experiences for adult learners and their families  better understand how and why collaboration and co-design with community organisations can help develop more inclusive programming in STEM learning for...

Across literature on STEM practice and STEM education, definitions of "imagination" vary in a number of ways. The visual tool below presents a way to organize the characteristics of these definitions along three dimensions: essence, ways of thinking, and context. Using this framework, you can build definitions of imagination relevant to your work. ...

The Lineage project was a collaboration between Twin Cities Public Television  and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. The project included creation of a feature-length video program, a Virtual Reality game, and a set of hands-on activities designed for use by multigenerational audiences—all of which were incorporated as part of a series of seven Fossil Festival events at museums and...

This research examined the role of format in learning from the GS film, Amazon Adventure.  Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Amazon Adventure is an Innovations in Development project directed by Pacific Science Center in partnership with SK Films; Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey; Embodied Games; and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Tangled Bank Studios. The project...

Although museums have long valued and catered to families as an audience, museum educators have not always had the tools or training to support the unique nature of family learning or to develop family-specific approaches that are distinct from classroom teaching. In this chapter, we outline a series of research-based principles for understanding family learning and provide examples to illustrate...

Making experiences and activities are rich with opportunities for mathematical reasoning that often go unrecognized by both participants and educators. Since 2015, we have been exploring this potential through the Math in the Making initiative. The work focuses particularly on children’s museums and science centers, many of which have developed maker spaces and programs over the last decade. In this...

This poster was presented at the 2021 NSF AISL Awardee Meeting. The project's activities include regular forums of journalists and social scientists (Slack & Zoom), experimentation with different ways of presenting stats in news graphics and text, focus groups and experiments with audiences, and resources to support journalists beyond our team. ...

Children spend 80% of their waking hours outside of school in the community. Deep inequities exist in access to high quality informal STEM learning opportunities (museums, zoos, safe and beautiful parks). Playful Learning Landscapes (PLL) infuses playful learning opportunities into everyday community spaces where families spend time. This project represents a strength-based model for designing play spaces deeply connected to...

This poster was presented at the 2021 NSF AISL Awardee Meeting. The project's goals are to: Create “data-catcher” exhibits that provide exciting learning experiences about cooperation while allowing visitors to contribute to research in social science. Build public awareness of the methods of social science. Generate valid data for academic research. Assess the impact of public participation in scientific research (PPSR) on visitors’ interest, engagement,...

This poster was presented at the 2021 NSF AISL Awardee Meeting. This project employs youth (ages 16-21) from frontline communities to work in paid positions as purveyors of climate science, develop communication and leadership skills, and engage in timely conversations with members of the public about climate change impacts in their own communities. The youth work in small groups to develop...

This poster was presented at the 2021 NSF AISL Awardee Meeting. Project goals: ● Develop an interactive microscopy exhibit platform ● Design the platform to work for various types of microscopic samples ● Create a platform that is accessible and extensible to small- and mid-sized ISE venues ● Better understand how to scaffold scientific observation, esp. with image recognition technologies ...

The overarching goal of this Research in Service to Practice project is to leverage multimodal learning analytics to develop an enriched understanding of visitor engagement in science museums. The project centers on data-rich investigations of visitor engagement with interactive tabletop exhibits about environmental science and sustainability. During free-choice learning in museums and science centers, visitor engagement shapes how learners interact...

New York City is a leader in Open Data initiatives, and has a large and diverse population. This project studies informal data science learning at workshops and trainings associated with NYC’s open data ecosystem. This poster was presented at the 2021 NSF AISL Awardee Meeting. ...

The Polar Literacy (PL) project explores the development and implementation of Out of School Time (OST) learning opportunities focused on polar literacy concepts and authentic data with middle school aged youth. This poster was presented at the 2021 NSF AISL Awardee Meeting. ...

This project's goal is to advance the field by providing resources that empower STEM educators to design and deliver high-quality connected learning experiences based on relevant research and incorporating evidence-based practices. This poster was presented at the 2021 NSF AISL Awardee Meeting. ...

This project engages families in engineering design challenges through a sustainability and biomimicry lens. Families advance their engineering proficiencies while learning from nature to create a livable future. This poster was presented at the 2021 NSF AISL Awardee Meeting. ...

With support from rural communities and their libraries in the Four Corners Region in the Southwestern U.S., We are Water creates a place to meet and share stories about water, and explore and learn about water together. Designed for rural, Indigenous, and Latinx communities, stories, community voices and multiple ways of knowing are highlighted and woven throughout the exhibit and...

This poster was presented at the 2021 NSF AISL Awardee Meeting. Dinosaurs of Antarctica is a giant screen film and outreach project that documents the work of NSF-funded researchers on expeditions to Shackleton Glacier during the 2017-2018 field season. This immersive film and companion television special will bring the past to life and engage the public, and particularly students in middle...

This paper is the culmination of several meaning-making activities between an external researcher, PES practitioners, and social scientist researchers who considered the unique contributions that can be made through RPPs on PES (that is, research-practice partnerships on public engagement with science). Based on the experiences from three RPP projects, the group noted that the PES context may be particularly suited...

Nothing generates excitement like sound! From the iconic guitar riffs in Led Zeppelin’s famous song “Stairway to Heaven” to birds energetically singing (way too early in the morning) outside my bedroom window, nonscientists can relate to acoustics. Many of us entered the field because we love music, a passion evident at the jam sessions that accompany many meetings of the...

The field of social and emotional learning (SEL) is rapidly expanding, as educators bring a sharper focus to helping children build skills beyond academic knowledge. School climate initiatives, anti-bullying work, positive behavior supports and other SEL efforts are now steering programs in schools and out-of-school-time (OST) settings across the country. Building children's SEL skills has taken on even more urgency...

This paper identifies the challenges faced by teachers in applying Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) in their curriculum. It acknowledges that teachers play a contradictory role in shaping the future of their learners. They battle with keeping a balance between academic achievement and the regulation of the social and emotional well-being of their learners. It is recommended that SEL should...

Through an NSF-funded literature review, professional survey, and virtual convening, the Museum of Science, Boston is systematically documenting intersections between imagination, STEM and learning to create research-based resources for positioning and attending to imaginative ways of thinking in informal STEM learning environments. This poster shares an overview of our research methods and preliminary findings (as of Sept 2021).  This poster was...