The National Science Foundation Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds projects that design, conduct, and study informal science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning activities in a wide variety of settings. In 2007 the AISL program also began funding an entity to provide resources and infrastructure for these projects and for the informal STEM education field writ large. The Center for Advancement of Informal STEM Education (CAISE), based at the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC), served in this role through 2023.

The terms and conditions of agreement for award #1612739 charged CAISE with expanding its audiences to include science communication practitioners and researchers. We conducted activities and developed resources with both informal STEM learning (ISL) and science communication (SciComm) professionals to create and leverage opportunities for dialogue, mutual learning, and constructive collaboration. With guidance from the AISL program, an External Review Board, and data from two baseline studies of the state of overlap between fields, CAISE identified three areas of shared interest and challenge—broadening participation in STEM, integrating research and practice, and improving understanding and use of evaluation and measurement.

CAISE convened three task forces of ISL and SciComm leaders with the expertise and experience to address these issues. Each task force reviewed existing knowledge and resources, identified gaps, and collaborated to develop new tools to advance progress in their area. The results include a Broadening Perspectives on Broadening Participation toolkit, a video interview series on understanding and measuring STEM interest, identity and engagement, and a Project Planner to inform the development of collaborative, knowledge producing project proposals.

CAISE conducted other activities to inform and advance ISL and SciComm practice, research, and evaluation, including curating the community repository on the InformalScience.org website, which grew to include over 9,000 resources during this award period, and supporting current and potential NSF AISL projects through webinars and other communications. We distributed monthly newsletters to over 4,000 ISL and SciComm professionals, each of which featured a spotlight on a project, with lessons learned from the project’s team. In 2017, CAISE began compiling an annual Year in Informal STEM Education report that included important publications, events, and milestones from across the STEM engagement ecosystem. Working closely with the NSF AISL program, CAISE also planned, designed, implemented, and documented the program’s awardee meetings in 2016, 2019, and 2021.

With the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic and the incidents of and reactions to systemic racism and social injustice that occurred in early 2020, CAISE responded by collecting and disseminating resources designed to help ISL and SciComm providers navigate and address the challenge of offering safe, equitable, and inclusive environments and experiences during these crises. These included roundup blogs with tools and readings on anti-racism and compilations of resources for safe practices and online learning. We also moved all our meetings and workshops online and conducted the 2021 NSF AISL Awardee Meeting virtually, using that opportunity to invite projects’ community partners to participate for the first time.

From 2016 through 2023 CAISE conducted outreach activities to strengthen connections and knowledge exchange between ISL and SciComm, including participating in the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Communicating Science Seminars, and conducting research and practice partnership workshops with AAAS, the Center for Advancing Research Impact in Society, and the Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities network. CAISE also presented resources at conferences of the American Educational Research Association, the Public Communication of Science and Technology network, Physics Education Research Central, the Visitor Studies Association, Science Talk, and ASTC, as well as at the Inclusive SciComm Symposium and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine DC Art Science Evening Rendezvous program.

From 2021-2022 CAISE conducted an equity audit of its practices, policies, and activities. This included regularly consulting with an external committee of advisors with expertise and experience in developing and evaluating equitable practice, using tools and a framework from Equity in the Center, and developing strategies and rubrics for implementing more inclusive practices in real time and into the future. We shared reflections on lessons learned from our experience with that process in a blog on the ASTC website.

Overall, during this final award period, led by co-investigators James Bell, Bronwyn Bevan, Kevin Crowley, Cecilia Garibay, Rabiah Mayas, and Martin Storksdieck, CAISE consolidated its efforts to strengthen and integrate the informal STEM learning, science communication, and STEM engagement. Our evaluation results affirm that our work established CAISE as a credible and trustworthy convenor and resource provider. It was our privilege to serve the field and we hope that institutions, organizations, and individuals dedicated to equitably engaging learners of all ages and backgrounds in STEM will continue to work with the new REVISE team to advance knowledge and build meaningful learning collaborations with each other and their communities.