Search Results – Repository and Website Combined

co-authored with Zdanna Tranby, Science Museum of Minnesota The NSF-funded Building Informal Science Education (BISE, NSF award #1010924) project brought together a team of evaluators and researchers to investigate how the rich collection of evaluation reports posted to InformalScience.org could be used to advance understanding of the trends and methods used in the evaluation of ... Read more

There are a number of places evaluators can share their reports with each other, such as the American Evaluation Association’s eLibrary, the website informalscience.org, and organizations’ own websites. Even though...

This article presents excerpts from reports written by visitor research professionals in Canada, Finland, Italy and Norway. These brief summaries describe visitor studies projects at various institutions in these countries....

A crowdsourced and searchable database of thousands of informal STEM learning project descriptions, research materials, and evaluation reports

The National Zoological Park, a component of the Smithsonian Institution, proposes transforming three traditional zoo exhibit buildings into centers for informal science learning. Based on current knowledge about learning, the...

Supporting and sustaining generative connections between practice and research.

This blog was co-written with Michelle Choi. Kevin Crowley is Professor, Learning Sciences and Policy, University of Pittsburgh, and​ CAISE co-Principal Investigator. In December 2019, the Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE) Research & Practice Task Force organized an in-person convening at the American Alliance of Museums headquarters in Washington, D.C., to compile resources into a Research & Practice toolkit. The ... Read more

Interested in helping build more equitable relationships across research and practice? Want to meet others doing similar work? Apply for a 2017 Research + Practice Fellowship, designed for STEM educators and researchers interested in building more connections across research + practice. The Research + Practice Collaboratory supports increased communication and collaboration among educators and educational ... Read more

This project, a collaboration of faculty at Pratt Institute and Oregon State University, will explore how people with low to no affinity for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) can...

Dedicated science learning spaces primarily attract audiences who seek out science learning experiences. This self-selection represents a major challenge for broadening participation. We examined an approach to reaching audiences who...

This is a brief summary of Jeff Hayward's article, "Research and Evaluation in Children's Museums: Negative, Positive Results" featured in the ILVS Review. This article discusses several aspects of evaluation....

In this paper, Harris H. Shettel, Chair of the AAM Visitor Research & Evaluation Standing Professional Committee, discusses the meaning and importance of research and evaluation as two distinct terms...

This Research & Practice Agenda is a synthesis of findings from the Youth Access & Equity in Informal Science Learning (ISL) partnership, a UK-US researcher-practitioner project, funded by the Science...

Columbia University Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) and New York Hall of Science (NYHOS) partnered to create Research and Rolling Exhibits (RARE). The project's goal is to showcase...

The importance of reporting current science to the general public is more important now than ever before. The best way to ensure enthusiastic support for science is to engage the...

A timely arrival in the academic literature on science communication through online video, this book reports on the results of a major international project that has explored in depth this...

The Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program supports active research participation by undergraduate students in any of the areas of research funded by the National Science Foundation. REU projects involve students in meaningful ways in ongoing research programs or in research projects specifically designed for the REU program. This solicitation features two mechanisms for supporting ... Read more

In the more than forty years since the first IMAX® theater opened at Ontario Place in Canada in 1971, and the first dome IMAX® theater opened at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in San Diego in 1973, these intensely visual engaging films have become a part of the informal learning community. Learners from children ... Read more

In this commentary I explain why research institutions are neither doing science communication nor developing ‘public’ relations in the proper sense. Their activities are rather a mix of different things,...

This Research in Service to Practice project, a collaboration of Pepperdine University and the New York Hall of Science, will establish a network of STEM-related Media Making Clubs comprised of...

The purpose of the Research on Innovative Technologies for Enhanced Learning (RITEL) program is to support early-stage research in emerging technologies for teaching and learning that respond to pressing needs in authentic (real-world) educational environments. RITEL supports future-oriented exploratory and synergistic research in emerging technologies (including, but not limited to, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and immersive or augmenting technologies) for teaching ... Read more

This article makes two main points about research on learning in informal contexts. The first point is that much knowledge is acquired outside school. The second point highlights the challenges...

This study researched whether and how affiliation with the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net) led to change in informal science education organizations’ (ISEs) practices. The NISE Net provided...

The Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) is requesting $50,000 to investigate and report on education activities linking science centers with schools. The research will examine the nature and levels of...