Portal to the Public
Posted Jul 26, 2019
Portal to the Public is expanding where and when people learn over their lifetime by helping informal science education (ISE) organizations connect public audiences with the scientists working in their communities, through face-to-face interactions at public programs and events. The hallmark of the approach is a flexible guiding framework that gives ISE organizations the ability… (Read more)
Rural Gateways
Posted Jul 26, 2019
The Rural Gateways Project was designed to help expand where and when people learn over the course of their lifetimes. By supporting librarians in rural communities’ abilities to build skills and confidence in developing and presenting science programming in collaboration with local experts, new science learning opportunities for adults are happening in areas with less… (Read more)
Learning from the Inside Out: A National Learning Summit
Posted Jul 26, 2019
Learning from the Inside Out was a national learning summit designed to help the U.S. public and policymakers understand the importance of an expanded learning landscape—one that equally values and supports public education in and out of school. The Institute for Learning Innovation played a leadership role in conceptualizing, coordinating, and facilitating all aspects this… (Read more)
Chief Science Officer Program
Posted Jul 26, 2019
The Chief Science Officer (CSO) Program is expanding where and when people learn by building tomorrow’s global leaders through the empowerment of youth today. CSOs are working directly with industry and community leaders to envision the future workforce and address the lack of qualified workers. The CSO program welcomes 6th through 12th graders who have… (Read more)
National Parks Science Challenge
Posted Jul 26, 2019
The National Parks Science Challenge project sought to expand where and when people learn over their lifetime by facilitating young adults’ access to urban national parks through a designed learning experience supported by mobile technologies. With support from the National Science Foundation, the Institute led the ‘science capital’ research component of the project, through deliberative… (Read more)
Visitor Experiences at the National Museum of Qatar
Posted Jul 26, 2019
The Visitor Experiences Project at the new National Museum of Qatar helped to expand the museum’s understanding and incorporation of ideas about where and when people learn over the course of their lifetimes. In a series of Visitor Experience Reports, the Institute helped staff at the new National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ) to make their… (Read more)
Into the Wild: Using Stories to Connect STEM Professionals and Families in a Rural Community
Posted Jul 26, 2019
The Into the Wild project helped to expand where and when people learn over their lifetime by exploring how storytelling can support rural families in seeing relevance in STEM for themselves and their communities. In collaboration with museum practitioners, librarians, and STEM professionals from local rural communities, families with children ages 8-10 years old participated… (Read more)
Multi-Modal Science Effects Study
Posted Jul 26, 2019
The Multi-Modal Science Effects Study was an effort to improve understanding of how people learn over their lifespan. The project quantitatively and qualitatively assessed the collective and relative contributions of a range of science education delivery media—schooling, broadcast media, science centers, reading of books, and the internet—on youth and adults’ interest and engagement with science…. (Read more)
Camp Invention Research Project
Posted Jul 26, 2019
The Camp Invention Research Project was an effort to improve understanding of how people learn over their lifespan by focusing on the role that learner’s prior interests, dispositions and motivations affected learning outcomes. Camp Invention is a one-week intensive creativity, entrepreneurship, and STEM education summer program. Like a number of other out-of-school programs, Camp Invention… (Read more)
Reconceptualizing STEM+C Literacy
Posted Jul 26, 2019
The Reconceptualizing STEM+C Literacy project sought to improve our understanding of how people learn over their lifespan by reconceptualizing how to define and measure STEM+C (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, including Computing) literacy. Through this project, we developed an innovative, digital tool to improve the opportunities for the public to expand their literacy. Even though… (Read more)
Lineage
Posted Jul 26, 2019
The Lineage project has helped to improve how we understand lifelong learning through a comprehensive educational media and outreach initiative that engages individuals and families in learning about deep time, paleontology and evolutionary thinking, to help them come to newfound understandings of the connections between the past, present, and future of life on Earth. This… (Read more)
My Sky Tonight
Posted Jul 26, 2019
The My Sky Tonight project helped the field better understand how very young children and their families engage with astronomy. This project, led by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP), was part of a field-wide effort to increase the capacity of informal science education institutions to effectively engage their youngest visitors (ages 3 –… (Read more)
Luxembourg Science Center Impact Study
Posted Jul 26, 2019
The Luxembourg Science Center Impact Study is improving how we understand lifelong learning by offering a unique opportunity to study the influence that the opening of the first science center in a country has on youth. This work will help us better understand if and to what extent a youth’s interaction with science center experiences… (Read more)
North American Environmental Educators Annual Conference PD Intervention
Posted Jul 26, 2019
The North American Environmental Educators (NAAEE) Annual Conference Intervention effort was designed to explore how to change and expand the professional learning opportunities for the 1,000s of people who annually attend this meeting. The basic structure of NAAEE’s annual conference, like so many other major conferences around the world, has only slightly changed in the… (Read more)
On-the-Spot Assessment to Improve Scientist Engagement with the Public
Posted Jul 26, 2019
The On-the-Spot Feedback to Improve Scientist Engagement with the Public project will provide public engagement strategy and various on-the-spot tactics that scientists can use to monitor audience understanding and level of engagement, and to use this information to make improvements to their activity while it is occurring. The project is funded by the National Science… (Read more)
iSwoop: Research on Adult Interests in National Parks
Posted Jul 26, 2019
iSwoop (Interpreters and Scientists Working in Our Parks) sought to help improve how we understand lifelong learning by understanding the impact staff-facilitated experiences in national parks have on adult interest pathways. In 2016, National Park Service (NPS) visitation rates broke records for the third year, exceeding 331 million visitors. Given these visitation rates, the NPS… (Read more)
The Cascades STEM Lab School Cooperative: A K-12 & University Partnership
Posted Jul 26, 2019
The Cascades STEM Lab School Cooperative Project aimed to improve how we understand lifelong learning by examining the process of implementing a STEM-district-wide school initiative within a rural school district. Through a partnership with Oregon State University and a K-12 rural school district, school practitioners were supported in converting their K-12 curriculum to an… (Read more)
Los Mochis Museum Impact Study
Posted Jul 26, 2019
The Los Mochis Museum Impact Study is improving how we understand lifelong learning by offering a unique opportunity to study the influence that the opening of the first interactive museum in Sinaloa, Mexico has on the youth of that community. Jointly funded by 7 Colores, the lead design company, and the State of Sinola, the… (Read more)