| NSF Org: |
DRL Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | January 17, 2024 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | January 17, 2024 |
| Award Number: | 2335009 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Jolene Jesse
jjesse@nsf.gov (703)292-7303 DRL Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | February 1, 2024 |
| End Date: | January 31, 2025 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $76,988.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $76,988.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
40 EXCHANGE PL NEW YORK NY US 10005-2738 (347)766-3399 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
40 EXCHANGE PL NEW YORK NY US 10005-2738 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
Accelerating Discovery in Ed, AISL |
| Primary Program Source: |
4082PYXXDB NSF TRUST FUND |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
The Research Infrastructure for Informal STEM Education conference will bring together education researchers, product developers, funders, and community organizations to develop a conceptual plan for new infrastructure that supports research on equitable informal STEM learning. Equitable participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is essential if all our nation?s communities are to thrive. Yet, many barriers still exist that prevent equitable participation from becoming a reality. Informal science learning?such as educational gaming, out-of-school time programming, science museums, and media?can offer a pathway for reducing inequities in STEM if they are designed with community needs and interests in mind. One factor that prevents the design of equitable informal STEM learning experiences is the echo chamber that occurs through the study of these experiences. Research often focuses on the existing or the most invested audiences in these settings, and the voices of underrepresented communities can be absent. Increasing equity in STEM participation means increasing equity among those contributing to and participating in STEM learning research. To address this, many scholars have called for approaches to informal STEM learning research that emphasize collaborations between researchers, practitioners, and community partners.
The conference will address historic inequities in informal science learning by bringing together 25 key stakeholders to discuss the research infrastructure needed to support the study of equity-focused informal STEM learning. In addition, over 100 informal STEM learning researchers and product developers, community-based organizations, public institutions, and philanthropic foundations will be invited to contribute to the discussion through pre and post conference activities. The two-day virtual conference will be designed to answer one overarching question: What building blocks are needed in research infrastructure so that it advances the equity aims of informal science learning researchers, practitioners, and community-based organizations? To answer this question, the first day of the conference will feature activities designed to advance participants? understanding of each other's STEM equity aims through engaged dialogue. Participants will also share existing resources for achieving these aims. On the second day, participants will identify the necessary elements of the proposed national infrastructure?for example, the identification of community-based sites for research, the establishment of shared instruments appropriate to community settings, and the creation of a database that provides direct connections between community organizations and researchers. Following the conference, the project team will synthesize the findings into a digital multimedia report that will be available through Knology?s website and at informalscience.org.
This project is supported through a partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Schmidt Futures, and the Walton Family Foundation. Funding is also provided by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) Program at NSF.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
In 2024, Knology received funding for an NSF conference project (ECR-EDU Core Research Program Award #2335009) called “Research Infrastructure for Informal Science Education” (RIISE). RIISE aimed to conceptualize a research infrastructure (RI) capable of increasing collaboration between researchers, practitioners, and community partners and, thus, advancing research on the full array of informal science learning (ISL) experiences. To that end, Knology gathered insights from a coalition of professionals (researchers and non-researchers) with expertise on topics pertinent to RI development, including data democratization, research-practice partnerships, knowledge brokering, data analytics, and networks. This coalition included professionals with experience conducting and researching ISL across a range of sites, including museums, libraries, universities, afterschool programs, media, community organizations, online, and even barbershops.
Knology’s insight-gathering process included interviews with 21 professionals and questionnaire responses from 42 professionals. Findings from these activities informed the agenda of a virtual conference aimed at answering the question, "What building blocks are needed in RI to advance the equity aims of ISL researchers, practitioners, and community-based organizations?" The 25 individuals who participated in the conference represented a wide range of professional experiences and contexts in ISL research and practice.
To share what was learned through the project, Knology created a website (http://riise.knology.org/) that presents findings from the pre-conference interviews and questionnaire, as well as information and outcomes from the conference. Knology and its collaborators used social media posts to point ISL professionals to this information. Final products posted on the site include an overview of the purpose of RI, a report on the interview findings, a report on the questionnaire findings, the conference agenda, a multimedia summary of the conference activities, and a final position paper.
Intellectual Merit
RIISE yielded a new vision for an RI capable of bringing coherence to the study of ISL. This coherence would make it possible to study the full range of ISL experiences and impacts. A system leveraging a network of networks to build a community of contributors and implementing a citizen science approach to data collection could enable ISL professionals (including front-line educators) and community members to quickly record information about the ISL experiences they lead or participate in. Data generated through such an approach could map the terrain of ISL and answer critical questions about the current ISL landscape, providing deeper insights on where ISL is happening, who is participating, what topics are being addressed, and the impacts community members perceive to be important. Researchers and practitioners could use the data to identify partners with shared aims and research questions to be investigated through research-practice partnerships. Such data could also potentially be used by community members to identify and advocate for strong approaches to ISL programming.
To advance this vision, Knology has proposed the development of an RI using a network-of-networks approach to community building and consisting of three interconnected resources:
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New instrumentation and software (in the form of an easy-to-use app or web portal);
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A community of contributors engaged and trained to gather data anywhere and everywhere ISL is happening (human capital); and
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A continually growing and expansive dataset of ISL programming.
Broader Impacts
Taken together, this RI will enable the collection of data speaking to the breadth and depth of ISL activities taking place across the US. With this data, researchers will be able to evaluate the effectiveness of specific ISL practices with specific audiences. Along with this, the RI will help identify the informal STEM learning that is and is not occurring in communities across the US, setting the stage for stronger ISL programming and outcomes for everyone.
Last Modified: 02/25/2025
Modified by: Christine Reich
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