Search Results – Website Pages

John Besley is the Ellis N. Brandt Professor of Public Relations at Michigan State University who studies public opinion about science and scientists’ opinions about the public in the context of trying to help science communicators be more strategic. You can watch this short video, download the full transcript, and get highlights from the interview ... Read more

Josh Gutwill is the Director of Visitor Research and Evaluation at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, California. His work includes research on learning in informal environments as well as evaluation of exhibits and programs to improve visitors’ experiences. He is interested in fostering and studying learners’ self-directed inquiry in science museum settings through research that ... Read more

Karen Peterman is the Principal at Karen Peterman consulting and an evaluator and researcher who studies both formal and informal STEM education programs. She originally earned her Ph.D. in experimental psychology and then, in 2002, transitioned to the education field. Since 2010, she has been president of Karen Peterman Consulting, Co., a firm that specializes ... Read more

Karen Purcell is Project Leader for Celebrate Urban Birds, a citizen science project at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology that has engaged over 250,000 participants and nearly 10,000 partner organizations. She also led Project PigeonWatch and Urban Bird Gardens, an NSF funded planning grant designed to develop a new model for bringing participatory STEM education ... Read more

Paulette Vincent-Ruz is a soon-to-be Assistant Professor in Chemistry Education Research at New Mexico State University. To learn more about her perspective on engagement, we talked with Paulette (when she was a Student Researcher in Learning Sciences and Policy at the University of Pittsburgh) and Chris Schunn, Professor of Psychology, Learning Sciences and Policy, and ... Read more

Sara Yeo is an Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Utah. Yeo specializes in science and risk communication, and her research explores the intersection of science, media, and politics. Currently, she is interested in how humor and emotions affect the formation of public attitudes toward science and technology. You can watch this short ... Read more

Victor Lee is an Associate Professor at Stanford University. We interviewed Victor Lee when he was an Associate Professor of Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences at Utah State University. Lee is a learning scientist and technologist who is interested in supporting teaching and learning of STEM content and practices with new technologies in both formal ... Read more

The U.S. Department of Education’s Raise the Bar Initiative on Family Engagement offers myriad resources to assist schools and federal grantees who are wrestling with meaningful and active community engagement. During this webinar, current Education Innovation and Research (EIR) grantees will share strategies they use to support intentional and effective community engagement. Attendees of this ... Read more

Celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month with the National Informal STEM Education (NISE) Network (September 15th – October 15th each year). Join them for a two-part online workshop focused on engaging Hispanic/Latinx communities. During part 1, participants will hear from those leading their Engaging Hispanic Communities Initiative who will share about forming partnerships with local Hispanic/Latinx ... Read more

Join CAISE and the Exploratorium’s Generating Engagement and New Initiatives for All Latinos (GENIAL) Summit project leadership on February 27 for an interactive webinar to share results of the NSF Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program-funded Summit (NSF Award #1611143), convened in 2017 in San Francisco. The webinar will be held February 27 from 2:30 ... Read more

Connected Collections Connected Collections are intended to support professional learning conversations about a particular topic, in this case Learning Through Tinkering in STEM Education. A Collection consists of 4-6 research briefs, short synopses of recent research published in peer-reviewed journals, each addressing some key aspect of practice related to the topic. The Collection also provides ... Read more

The theme of this year’s Mathematics Awareness Month is Math Drives Careers, the aim of which is to increase awareness of employment opportunities for students of mathematics. Although math is an important part of formal and informal learning experiences, many students and adults suffer math anxiety. One individual who has worked to cure ‘math-phobia’ through ... Read more

According to the National Science Foundation’s 2014 Science and Engineering Indicators, women remain underrepresented in STEM, accounting for only 28% of the science and engineering workforce despite making up 50% of the college-educated population in the US. The field of informal science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education provides opportunities to foster girls’ interest and ... Read more

This post was written by Beth McGinnis-Cavanaugh, Springfield Technical Community College, Professor and Principal Investigator, and by Isabel Huff, Springfield Technical Community College, Project Outreach Coordinator. Eight years ago, Smith College engineering professor Glenn Ellis and Springfield Technical Community College physics/engineering professor Beth McGinnis-Cavanaugh led content workshops for middle-school engineering/technology educators in Springfield, Massachusetts. In ... Read more

The new website Enhancing Evaluation Capacity in Informal Science Education, funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and developed by SK Partners, provides resources that address the challenges of measuring learning and evaluating impacts within informal STEM experiences and settings. Their summative evaluation framework links theory, research, evaluation, and practice, and is targeted to ... Read more

Carbon Day 2023 will be the first reporting milestone in the work to build sector-wide capacity and commitment to calculating and reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from energy use. This effort is part of Culture Over Carbon, an IMLS National Leadership grant studying energy use  in museums, zoos, gardens, aquariums and historic sites.  Environment and ... Read more

The Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) fulfills the mandate of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to promote scientific progress nationwide. Through this program, NSF facilitates the establishment of partnerships among academic institutions, government, industry, and non-profit sectors that are designed to promote sustainable improvements in the research infrastructure, Research and Development (R&D) capacity, ... Read more

The Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) fulfills the mandate of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to promote scientific progress nationwide. NSF EPSCoR facilitates the establishment of partnerships among academic institutions, government, industry, and non-profit sectors that are designed to promote sustainable improvements in the research infrastructure, Research and Development (R&D) capacity, and R&D ... Read more

In this interactive webinar, panelists will discuss their experiences as diverse women in the sciences and the advocacy for diverse women and scholars in the sciences as a result of their experiences. The panel will discuss approaches and inclusive practices highlighting the importance of equitable professional spaces at all career levels. Panelists include : Judi ... Read more

What does it mean to use artificial intelligence (AI) equitably, effectively, and safely in informal STEM education programs? Attendees learned about AI and what its presence can mean in informal STEM education in this REVISE informational webinar.

By Cecilia Garibay, Rabiah Mayas, Jamie Bell, and Shannon Sullivan. This post was originally published on ASTC Dimensions, the digital publication of the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC). An increasing number of informal STEM education (ISE) institutions and organizations have committed to become more equitable and inclusive in their strategic approach and organizational practice. Centering ... Read more

Introduction Confronting History Process and Product Trust Building This post is a part of a series about Framing Equity. Click here to go the series’ main page. “By amplifying research, practice, and evaluation that ensure respect, safety, and security, the REVISE Center directs our focus and resources to those most in need of funding access, ... Read more

When it comes to equity, there is no neutral ground. As our society faces twin crises—the global COVID-19 pandemic, with its glaring health inequities, and the chronic racial injustice embedded in our social system—museums, science centers, and other informal science organizations have a role to play in creating a better and more just world. Often, ... Read more

Introduction Confronting History Process and Product Trust Building This post is a part of a series about Framing Equity. Click here to go the series’ main page. “Equity can generally be described as providing people what they need to achieve desired outcomes while recognizing that both the outcomes and necessary supports will vary. Each person ... Read more

This article was co-written by Emily Dawson, University College London, Louise Archer, King’s College London, Angela Calabrese Barton, Michigan State University, Lynn Dierking, Oregon State University, and Amy Seakins, King’s College London. Informal learning experiences about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (or STEM) can provide youth with rich, innovative, and transformational ways to engage with ... Read more