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The Othering & Belonging Conferences are dynamic and uniquely-curated gatherings that advance scholarship, narratives, movements, policies, and practices that support a more fully inclusive “we.”  The conference brings together thousands of advocates, scholars, artists, youth leaders, philanthropists, and community members to share cutting-edge ideas, illuminate powerful stories, utilize the power of arts and culture, and embody ... Read more

  Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

This article was migrated from a previous version of the Knowledge Base. The date stamp does not reflect the original publication date. Overview  Low-cost and widely distributed technologies allow young people to make and create digital artifacts that have historically been the domain of adult professionals. Examples include videos and complex photography made using cameras ... Read more

With apologies to the late Stephen Jay Gould for the title, Science Communication, Public Engagement with Science, and Public Outreach are areas of activity whose outcomes frequently overlap with those of Informal STEM Education (ISE). While each of these terms has a definition, they are sometimes used interchangeably, even if designers of experiences and settings ... Read more

The Teacher Professional Development Group at the Science Museum of Minnesota is now offering an institute for informal science educators organized by the Peer Alliance for Gender Equity (PAGE). This weeklong institute of 24 individuals, which will take place at the Science Museum of Minnesota, aims to develop a distributed leadership community, create a foundation ... Read more

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Post-Convening Summary Convening Synthesis Report In December 2013, a group of leaders of six informal science education (ISE) assessment projects met in Palo Alto, CA for a 2-day exploration of the state of the art of measuring the impact of informal STEM education experiences. The goals for the meeting were to explore in depth the ... Read more

Responding to the needs of professionals looking to advance their careers, the University of Pittsburgh offers a Doctor of Education (EdD) in out-of-school learning. The part-time EdD is a three-year cohort-based degree program designed around the needs of working professionals with very clear timelines and an on-line course delivery model. The program is intended for ... Read more

Researchers Jill Hohenstein and Theano Moussouri are writing a book on learning in museums for students and practitioners and want to include stories in each of their chapters that are based upon problems faced by practitioners in real life. CAISE is helping them reach out to the informal STEM learning community with this request: Have ... Read more

National Science Foundation-funded Resource Centers MSPnet, CADRE, CIRCL, CAISE, STELAR, CS10K and ARC invite you to participate in the NSF 2015 Teaching & Learning Video Showcase: Improving Science, Math, Engineering and Computer Science Education. Through this event, projects funded by the NSF programs that these resource centers serve (STEM+C, MSP, DRK-12, Cyberlearning, AISL, and ITEST) ... Read more

This article was migrated from a previous version of the Knowledge Base. The date stamp does not reflect the original publication date. Overview  The two most common approaches to integrating visitor voices into museum exhibits is either evaluation based or design based, with the exhibit as a recipient/ framework for visitor voices.  Oftentimes both evaluation ... Read more

Resources » Project Planner Overview Get Oriented Understand the Field Learn from Practice and Research Review the Literature Build Partnerships Develop Equitable Partnerships Collaborate with Community Partner with STEM Practitioners and Researchers Find Project Partners See Examples Read Project Stories Watch Project Videos Resources 5 Things STEM Practitioners and Researchers Recommend about Working with the ... Read more

By Martha Merson and Elise Levin-Güracar, TERC When we think of summer camp, we think of hot fields, sweaty sports, and swimming in a cold body of water. If we think of conversation, it might be after lights out giggling, not conversations about science identity or college majors, lab work, or whether to collect more ... Read more

The National Science Foundation has a new program: Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems (POSE). The proposal deadline for phase I is May 12, 2022 and phase II is October 21, 2022.   Synopsis:   NSF is introducing a new program called “Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems” (POSE).  The purpose of the program is to harness ... Read more

The National Science Foundation has a new program: Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems (POSE). The proposal deadline for phase I is May 12, 2022 and phase II is October 21, 2022.   Synopsis:   NSF is introducing a new program called “Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems” (POSE).  The purpose of the program is to harness ... Read more

Edited July 8, 2016. Download a PDF copy of this article. Attention is a scarce resource—perhaps the most precious scarce resource there is. – Csikszentmihalyi and Hermanson, “Intrinsic Motivation in Museums: What Makes Visitors Want to Learn?” Introduction In 1998 I wrote Paying Attention: Visitors and Museum Exhibitions, a book supported by a National Science Foundation (NSF) ... Read more

A Bird’s Eye View of Preschool Science How does a simple yellow circle with stick legs become an irresistible television character?  How can a “big wide world” that encompasses not much more than a pond, a bush, and a tin can, be so endlessly fascinating?  And how does a television series for children make its ... Read more

NSF AISL Meetings » 2026 Awardee Meeting » Program » Peer to Peer Discussions Overview Program Stories for Impact Keynote NSF Priority Panel ISE Leaders Panel Concurrent Session Lightning Talk Peer to Peer Discussions Poster Session This page provides information about the 2026 AISL Awardee Meeting peer to peer. Peer to peer discussions are small-group ... Read more

If you’re a Principal Investigator in the NSF Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, please register now for the 2014 AISL PI Meeting to take place August 20th-22nd in Washington, D.C. If you’re unable to attend the meeting, you can delegate a co-PI or project manager to represent your project. More information and registration instructions ... Read more

This Knowledge Base article was written collaboratively with contributions from Jennifer Borland and Lily Racine-Bouchard. This article was migrated from a previous version of the Knowledge Base. The date stamp does not reflect the original publication date. Overview  Planetaria offer opportunities for a variety of immersive learning experiences in the fields of Astronomy and Astrophysics. They typically ... Read more

Introduction Terms and Access Accessibility in Practice Planning for Accessibility During the Visit Continuing to Innovate Before visitors arrive, museums and science centers proactively plan to increase accessibility. The staff we talked with described tapping into expertise in the community, hiring consultants and learning from other professionals. Requesting Services through Museum Websites Museums routinely offer ... Read more

The CAISE ISE Media Convening, held on July 12-13, 2011, produced three primary action steps, the first of which is to “Build a field/practice of science media professionals.” There was unanimous consensus among the attendees at this convening that the community of STEM media professionals would benefit greatly from the development of a cohesive professional ... Read more

The Play Make Learn Conference is being held August 8-9, 2022 in Madison, WI. Registration is now open here.  The Play Make Learn Conference promotes high-quality learning opportunities for educators, researchers, developers, designers, foundation leaders, policy makers, museum and library professionals, and school leaders who are dedicated to promoting making, gaming, and playful learning. We ... Read more

REVISE-Curated resources on AI Literacy in informal STEM.

How can we build effective AI literacy programs in informal learning spaces? Join us on December 2, 2025 for the first session in the two-part Playful Pathways to AI Literacy in Informal STEM series. This collaboration between the REVISE Center and the New York Hall of Science—facilitated by Antony Negron (NYSCI) and Pati Ruiz (REVISE)—will ... Read more