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We asked whether storytelling during a playful problem-solving activity (i.e., tinkering) in informal educational settings (a children’s museum) might support children’s provision of engineering information in their reflections immediately after tinkering....

We asked whether and how parents’ autonomy supportive language and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) talk advanced children’s STEM engagement during and after an engineering learning activity (i.e., tinkering)....

We examined how children’s emotional engagement during an at-home tinkering activity may promote their STEM talk and relate to different tinkering approaches....

We explored how families’ use of story supports (i.e., toy characters) and program facilitation style (i.e., workshop vs. “drop in”) impacted: 1) Families’ associations to past experiences and fantasy elements while tinkering, 2) Children’s use of spatial language when reflecting afterwards....

This study asked whether age and emotional engagement was related to children’s STEM talk after tinkering....

As part of the project, Designing our Tomorrow—Mobilizing the Next Generation of Engineers (DOT), OMSI developed a set of professional development (PD) training modules as a resource for educators in informal science education (ISE). The intended impacts for the evidence-based PD included: 1. Educators will gain confidence using elements of storytelling as a facilitation tool. 2. Educators will gain an understanding of...

The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) follows an Equity Action Framework to guide practices and decisions that can improve equity, diversity, accessibility, and inclusion at OMSI. During the development of the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded exhibit, Creatividad silvestre and Wild Creativity, the project team worked on an accessibility plan and met with consultants from the Oregon Commission for...

Through a strategic partnership between the Applied Wildlife Ecology Lab in the School of the Environment at Yale University and the Detroit Zoological Society, youth participants leveraged a trail camera network in Detroit urban parks to capture their wildlife “neighbors” with whom they are sharing the neighborhood. Models of the Wildlife Neighbors program included varying amounts of facilitation (summer camp...

Urban environments are remarkable natural laboratories to study ecology and speciation. These learning ecosystems are ecologically diverse and potentially more accessible for urban youth and their families. Unfortunately, disparities in STEM access continue to persist. Transportation, social and financial barriers, and a lack of awareness of STEM opportunities are a few of the inequities that significantly limit participation in STEM...

The Museum of Science, Boston will create a customizable digital exhibit platform that can flexibly and inclusively support visitors’ engagement with any topic. Project activities include developing and testing a flexible exhibit infrastructure that prioritizes universal design principles, which can be installed as a standalone exhibit in a museum. The digital platform will be available free of charge, supporting the...

The OMSI Engagement Research and Advancement team collaborated with Rockman et al Cooperative – an education research and consulting firm – to conduct the summative evaluation of the exhibit. The research questions for the summative evaluation looked at the success of the exhibit in terms of 1) visitor engagement – whether visitors enjoyed themselves, saw personal relevance in the exhibit content,...

This paper provides detailed descriptions of the goals, conceptual framing, strategies, research questions, protocols, data analyses, and findings from a study of conversation participants’ choices and connections on the topic of engineering practices and usefulness in day-to-day life, the EP&UDL Study. The second of two foundational and exploratory studies in the Designing Our Tomorrow (DOT) research program, the EP&UDL Study supported lines of inquiry...

The companion tool to Guidelines for Equitably Scaling Informal STEM Programs, the Collaborative Decision-Making Tool for Equitably Scaling Informal STEM Programs, helps practitioners implement the guidelines....

Guidelines for Equitably Scaling Informal STEM Programs outlines the contextual issues around scaling informal STEM programs, discusses the limitations of current frameworks for scaling, and provides six guidelines to consider for equitable scaling....

The Co-Created Public Engagement with Science Project (CC-PES) led by the Museum of Science seeks to build capacity among museums and other informal science education (ISE) institutions to develop and implement co-created public engagement with science activities. The heart of the CC-PES model is involving community and civic representatives as co-creators of dialog programs that address important socio-scientific questions, and...

The Co-Created Public Engagement with Science Project (CC-PES) led by the Museum of Science seeks to build capacity among museums and other informal science education (ISE) institutions to develop and implement co-created public engagement with science activities. The heart of the CC-PES model is involving community and civic representatives as co-creators of dialog programs that address important socio-scientific questions, and...

The Ontario Science Centre applied for and received a grant from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) under the Immunization Partnership Fund (IPF). The intention of the IPF is to improve vaccination coverage by supporting provinces, territories (PTs) and stakeholders to develop new or adapt/ scale up existing interventions aimed at increasing vaccine confidence, uptake and access to COVID-19...

Museums, science centers, zoos and other informal science education (ISE) institutions often focus on the real and authentic a way to engage, inspire or inform the public. We refer to this idea of authenticity as providing something real, original or even awe-inspiring to the visitor or learner, be it an object, a setting or an activity of some kind. While...

This toolkit includes recommendations for STEM youth programs in informal science learning sites....

One way to encourage youth to pursue training in the STEM fields and enter the STEM workforce is to foster interest and engagement in STEM during adolescence. Informal STEM Learning Sites (ISLS) provide opportunities for building interest and engagement in the STEM fields through a multitude of avenues, including the programming that they provide for youth, particularly teens. Frequently, ISLS...

This systematic review was designed to strengthen the evidence base supporting the integration of STEM and social-emotional development (SED) in the out-of-school time (OST) field. Integrating STEM and SED has many practical purposes, including increasing youth interest, motivation, identity, and attitudes towards STEM education and careers, particularly for youth who have historically been underrepresented in STEM. This study builds on...

This systematic review examined intersections between the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and social-emotional development (SED) in out-of-school time (OST) programs....

Historically, spatial ability assessments have been used to measure spatial thinking on specific constructs in students participating in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses. High spatial ability is linked to greater performance in STEM courses and professional STEM career fields. A spatial ability test used commonly for this measurement is the Mental Cutting Test (MCT) developed in 1939 by...

This article presents tactile drafting techniques developed in collaboration with blind educators and students that have the potential to increase BLV students’ access to drafting and engineering graphic curriculum in K-12 and higher education. This work builds on previous work funded by the National Science Foundation (Goodridge et al., 2019; Ashby et al., 2018; Lopez et al., 2020; Goodridge et...

Spatial ability is a well-known predictor of success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The purpose of this study was to investigate and understand the spatial strategies that were used by blind and low-vision (BLV) individuals as they solved problems on the tactile mental cutting test (TMCT), an instrument that was designed to measure the spatial ability of...