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A NSF EArly-concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) was awarded to Principal Investigator John Fraser, PhD, AIA, in collaboration with co-Principal Investigators, Mary Miss and William Solecki, PhD, for City as Living Laboratory for Sustainability in Urban Design (CaLL). The CaLL project explored how public art installations can promote public discussion about sustainability. The project examined the emerging role of...

With the suite of environmental challenges faced by today’s society growing ever more imminent, the potential role of science and natural history museums as social institutions to promote environmental stewardship is being realized. A recent collaborative effort between the EcoTarium in Worcester, MA and six other institutions across the country, the NSF funded City Science exhibit serves to introduce the public...

Families and school-aged constituents at 30 urban, inner-city neighborhood community-based organizations and teachers and students in earth science classes in 40 middle schools. Intent: This project will prepare neighborhood and community leaders in Philadelphia to use simple but effective observation tools and NASA’s educational web content to help their inner-city Philadelphia neighbors learn about space science and technology – and...

Conceived as part the Denver Evaluation Network, the City Value Study sought to understand whether people visiting one of the cultural institutions in the Network valued that museum. Further, participants were asked to explain, in their own words, more about why they valued that particular institution; what that museum offered themselves, their family, and their community; and what other leisure...

This article provides a summary of William Whyte's 1988 book about Whyte's research studying outdoor city spaces (plazas, parks, streets) as well as key quotes from the book....

This project specifically addresses the SMRB’s imperative that “NIH’s pre-college STEM activities need a rejuvenated integrated focus on biomedical workforce preparedness with special considerations for under-represented minorities.” Approximately one-third of CityLab’s participants are under-represented minority (URM) students, but we now have a unique opportunity to build a program that will reach many URM students and position them for undergraduate STEM success....

This paper examines the approach of urban debate leagues, and specifically the New York Urban Debate League, to democracy skill building and civic engagement. In the face of concerns about lack of civic engagement and knowledge among young people, such out-of-school-time programs can often reach youth bypassed by traditional sources of civic and democracy development, providing a vision of what...

Young people today have grown up living substantial portions of their lives online, seeking entertainment, social relationships, and a place to express themselves. It is clear that participation in online communities is important for many young people, but less clear how this translates into civic or political engagement. This volume examines the relationship of online action and real-world politics. The...

Public libraries are uniquely poised to provide meaningful opportunities for teens to learn and grow outside of school—if they listen to what teens want and need. This article presents finding from the Boston Public Library's implementation of new teen spaces and programs....

The objective of this project is to support research on creating, implementing, and testing a novel online serious game on emergency response. Iowa State University (ISU) and Polk County Emergency Management (PCEM) in Iowa collaboratively develop the Disaster Multiplayer Online Game (DMOG). Emergency response is a complex process, involving multiple organizations and decision makers with different roles and responsibilities, objectives,...

ee360+ and the Cedar Tree Foundation are excited to invite applications for the CEE-Change Fellowship 2025!

If we truly wish to promote science or STEM education, then it would seem that the joining of resources and expertise from the communities of formal schooling and informal science education institutions or ISEIs (museums, aquariums, and the like) would be an important early step. Yet creating such connections between teacher and museum remain a challenge for both teachers and...

In this article, Jacksonville State University's Stephen Bitgood responds to Roger Miles, a proponent of the Occam's Razor principle in determining the number of exhibit evaluation types, which argues for parsimony (fewest possible). Bitgood offers a rationale for Screven's four-type evaluation model based on multiple dimensions (when, why, how, what and who), accepts Miles's three-stage model of evaluation, and addresses...

This is part three of the four part "Classroom Activities and Outcomes Survey." The survey asks students to rate the progress they have made in science process skills as a result of completing a particular course or program....

In this study, researchers investigated the nature of three different modes of classroom talk—cumulative, exploratory, and disputational—to determine how these modes supported engagement and participation of college-aged students in psychology courses. The article is relevant to ISE educators in that conversation and verbal meaning-making often characterize programs such as science summer camps, afterschool programs, etc. The paper points out how...

Clean Boats, Clean Waters is a project designed to educate the general public and enlist their help in preventing the spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS). Volunteers attend a 3 hour training session to learn how to conduct watercraft inspections, attain general information about AIS, and pick-up the required equipment for inspections. As a volunteer, you spend time at public...

Click! Urban Adventure Game was a mixed-reality role-playing game where girls worked in teams to solve a fictional mystery based on a real-world issue, using technology and science to conduct their investigation. In this article we describe the design of the experience and present evidence that the game increased girls’ confidence, interest, and knowledge of science and technology and helped...

Who We Are: A network of informal educators, climate scientists, learning scientists and local partners across four cities, dedicated to improving local understanding of and engagement with climate change science. Mission: CUSP aims to foster a network of climate-focused organizations to implement targeted, coordinated, and concentrated educational strategies that explore local climate impacts and community-level responses. What We Do: Unite...

This report summarizes a Delphi study completed with 22 facilitators of climate adaptation workshops in the United States in 2020.  The purpose of a Delphi study is to find areas of consensus around valued (or "best") practices in a particular field.  In this case, the report focuses on valued practices for facilitating place-based climate adaptation workshops to maximize social learning...

Climate change is a multi-faceted issue. It relies on deep scientific bases, but merges with politics, economics, ethics and culture in a complex and strongly nonlinear social debate. This interview focuses on the relationships between public communication on climate change (with emphasis on the so-called ‘new media’) and the decision making processes. It argues that more productive and sustainable forms...

To promote ocean and climate change literacy that addresses the needs of the Gulf of Mexico region, six aquariums based on the Gulf are partnering to educate the communities on both risks and ways to contribute locally to sustainability. The aquariums are combining community outreach programs, stewardship promotion, social networking and workshops for non-formal educators to reach broad audiences throughout...

Climate Change Education produced climate change educational experiences for both professional and general public audiences. In particular, the Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM), in collaboration with NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment, and the University of Wisconsin’s Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS), developed new content for SMM’s Earth Buzz...

Produced by the Climate Change Education Partnership (CCEP) Alliance, the "Climate Change Education: Effective Practices for Working with Educators, Scientists, Decision Makers and the Public" guide provides recommendations for effective education and communication practices when working with different types of audiences. While effective education has been traditionally defined as the acquisition of knowledge, Alliance programs maintain a broader definition of...

Although informal learning environments have been studied extensively, ours is one of the first studies to quantitatively assess the impact of learning in botanical gardens on students' cognitive achievement. We observed a group of 10th graders participating in a one-day educational intervention on climate change implemented in a botanical garden. The students completed multiple-choice questionnaires in a pre-post-retention test design....

Climate change is a global risk as its causes and effects are not limited to national borders, but the risks and the responsibility are not evenly spread [Beck, 2009]. Pakistan is facing especially severe impacts in the form of disasters, floods, droughts, rising temperatures, cyclones and rising sea levels due to global emissions, despite its national emissions being nominal and...