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Dear Colleague: The new NSF Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) solicitation (NSF 17-573) was released in July. NSF Program Officers will present a webinar on the solicitation on Thursday, August 24 from 2:00-3:30 PM EDT. This is an opportunity to hear from NSF Program Officers and CAISE staff during a webinar focused on an overview of ... Read more

The Network for the Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST Network) will be holding their 2023 conference in Rotterdam, The Netherlands from 12 to 14 April, with a pre-conference day on 11 April 2023. With PCST 2023 focusing on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA), some of their members thought they should have a ... Read more

The Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE) co-principal investigators, staff and advisors wish all in the STEM education communities- informal, formal and everything in-between a productive, rewarding new year.   In our January newsletter, we include pieces that follow up on or are related our major initiatives. The Portal to the Public program ... Read more

CAISE is very pleased to welcome Grace Troxel as our Digital Librarian and Collection Analyst. Grace will be assisting with a variety of activities on InformalScience.org, including cataloging and curating new project, research, and evaluation resources. Grace is originally from Portage, Pennsylvania. Prior to joining CAISE, she worked as a librarian on contract at the ... Read more

Welcome, and thanks for visiting! The Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE) launched a newly redesigned InformalScience.org in May 2013 to serve as a primary resource for informal science education (ISE) professionals. Site users can share and access project, evaluation, and research resources, as well as get up-to-date news about the ISE field ... Read more

Welcome to the new informalscience.org. We’re glad you’re here! This site is a resource for the informal science education (ISE) field, for people who are conducting or wishing to conduct, ISE activities, research or evaluation, or to collaborate with others who are. It is the culmination of several years of work by the Center for ... Read more

CAISE is pleased to welcome Jared Nielsen as our new Online Producer. Jared joins us after spending several years developing The Hello World Program and Dototot, websites which engage children in learning computer science to kids through videos and interactive tutorials. He has also designed interactive science exhibits at the Natural History Museum of Los ... Read more

This post was co-written by Amy Grack Nelson and Denise Deng of the Science Museum of Minnesota. As described in our previous blog posts, the Building Informal Science Education (BISE) project created a coding framework to code and synthesize evaluation reports on the previous version of InformalScience.org, which included all reports voluntarily posted through May ... Read more

Informal STEM education refers to lifelong learning in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) that takes place across a multitude of designed settings and experiences outside of the formal classroom

This article was migrated from a previous version of the Knowledge Base. The date stamp does not reflect the original publication date. Overview Informal science education (ISE) is considered learning about science as well as technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) outside of the formal school setting (Bell et al, 2009; NSF, 2015; . A 2011 ... Read more

Resources » STEM Identity, Interest, and Engagement Interviews Overview What is STEM Identity? What is STEM Interest? What is STEM Engagement? In informal STEM education, thinking about engagement has evolved from a focus on innovative ways of attracting the initial attention of science center/museum visitors or media consumers to strategies for designing environments and activities ... Read more

Resources » STEM Identity, Interest, and Engagement Interviews Overview What is STEM Identity? What is STEM Interest? What is STEM Engagement? In everyday language, one might define “identity” as the way that people answer questions such as: “Who do I think I am, or who can I be, where do I belong, and how do ... Read more

Resources » STEM Identity, Interest, and Engagement Interviews Overview What is STEM Identity? What is STEM Interest? What is STEM Engagement? The landmark National Research Council consensus report Learning Science in Informal Environments (2009), which was based on a review of the literature to date, posited that learners in informal environments “experience excitement, interest, and motivation to ... Read more

This research brief has been made available by Relating Research to Practice (RR2P). RR2P provides short synopses of current peer-reviewed research relevant to informal science education (ISE). This study, conducted in New Zealand, is an analysis of the questions that students in their final year of school were anticipated to ask, and actually asked, during ... Read more

With the redesign and re-launch of InformalScience.org in May 2013, the Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE) created a “one-stop shop” of resources for informal science education (ISE) professionals–people who are conducting or wishing to conduct ISE activities, research or evaluation, or to collaborate with others who are. The site builds on several ... Read more

Proposals for the NSF Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program are due on November 6, 2017 at 5 pm in the submitter’s local time. As you begin to prepare your proposals, here is a quick overview of some of the changes in the solicitation from previous years. To read the complete solicitation, visit the NSF ... Read more

You may have experienced occasional confusion between the terms Design-Based Research (DBR) and Design-Based Implementation Research (DBIR). These two approaches, springing from the field of the learning sciences, share a common goal and common history. But there are key distinctions. The common goal of DBR and DBIR is to guide education beyond traditional models of ... Read more

What makes for a compelling story? How can you start constructing your own stories from the ground up? How can you fit science into your story without lapsing into Scientist Voice? In this fast-paced interactive lecture, you’ll learn the fundamentals of story structure and composition, brainstorm the building blocks of your own personal stories, and ... Read more

This Building Informal Science Education (BISE) series blog post was co-written by Kris Morrissey and Anna Johnson. Kris Morrissey (morriss8@uw.edu) is Director of the Museology Graduate Program at University of Washington and founding editor of the journal Museums & Social Issues. Anna Johnson is the Portal to the Public Network Specialist at Pacific Science Center ... Read more

As part of the Champions of Change event and award series, the White House honored 12 individuals who lead citizen science projects around the country. Amateur participation in science research has a long history — according to the White House blog post announcing the call for nominations, Many of our country’s most prominent scientists got ... Read more

On Wednesday, June 18, President Obama will host the first ever White House Maker Faire and meet with students, entrepreneurs and everyday citizens who are using new tools and techniques to launch new businesses, learn vital skills in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), and fuel the renaissance in American manufacturing. The President will also ... Read more

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) will host a series of virtual listening sessions to inform the development of the 2023- 2028 Federal Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Strategic Plan. As part of a robust public engagement plan, OSTP encourages input from all interested parties, including students, teachers, administrators, parents, ... Read more

Description An interview with Grant Spickelmeier, Minnesota Zoo: Principal Investigator of WolfQuest. Transcription of Interview with Grant Spickelmeier Introduction Grant: WolfQuest is a 3D, wildlife, simulation game. You are a wolf in Yellowstone National Park, and you have to learn how to survive. You have to learn how to hunt elk, find food, chase coyotes, ... Read more

The Women of Color Summit (WOCS) recognizes that, while critical to STEM fields, Women of Color are often underserved, under-resourced, and undervalued in their respective fields. The WOCS continues to raise awareness of both the common and the unique experiences of Women of Color as they navigate STEM careers while emphasizing the need to disaggregate WoC identities ... Read more

Overview About NSF AISL Applying for Funding Current Funding Opportunities Resources Funded AISL Projects Solicitation Webinars NSF Resource Centers Service Be an AISL Reviewer Work for NSF The National Science Foundation’s mission is to advance the progress of science, a mission accomplished by funding proposals for research and education made by scientists, engineers, and educators ... Read more