CAISE
A new Center for the Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE) has been established in Washington, D.C., with the support of a five-year, $5,000,000 award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The Science and Mathematics Education Department is one of four major partners involved with the effort. Dr. John H. Falk, Sea Grant Professor in Free-Choice Learning, is a co-Principal Investigator for the project. Dr. Lynn D. Dierking, Sea Grant Professor in Free-Choice Learning is also a member of the team, as well as post-doctoral fellow Dr. Scott Randol.
CAISE is housed in Washington, D.C. at the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) offices. Besides OSU, other partner organizations include University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Learning in Out-of-School Environments (UPCLOSE) and the Visitor Studies Association, a national membership organization for evaluators and researchers in free-choice learning environments.
In addition to supporting oversight of the project, investigators at Oregon State University will conduct a major research study as part of CAISE designed to better understand the current informal science education “landscape.” This investigation will provide the project and the field with a comprehensive understanding of the current structure and functioning of the informal science education infrastructure – who are the individuals and organizations that currently compose this community, how do they intersect with each other and how do they currently perceive their role in supporting the public’s free-choice science learning.
The new Center is connected with many other individuals and organizations across this broad and diverse field through a steering committee, forum, and inquiry groups. The web site for CAISE is www.insci.org. The Center will serve as a clearinghouse for communication and knowledge-building among a wide range of organizations involved in free-choice science learning, including film and broadcast media, science centers and museums, zoos and aquariums, botanical gardens and nature centers, adult and youth community-based programs, after-school programs, and digital media and gaming. The Center will also work to educate policy makers and key decision-makers about the important role free-choice science learning plays in supporting public understanding of science.
Since its inception in 1950, the NSF, a U.S. federal agency with the primary mission of promoting “the progress of science,” has recognized and supported programs that advance public understanding of science and stimulate interest in the study of science outside of school. More than a thousand informal science education projects and programs have received NSF support. Among them are television series like NOVA and Dragonfly TV, giant-screen films like Jane Goodall’s Wild Chimpanzees, radio citizen science programs like Cornell University’s Project FeederWatch, a multitude of traveling exhibitions and museum-based programs, and science programs for youth and community groups offered by organizations like 4-H and Girl Scouts. SMED Faculty have benefited from this funding including support for research projects focused on the role of zoos and aquariums in supporting public understanding of the environment and conservation (Falk) and the role of free-choice science learning experience’s on young women’s long-term interest and participation in science careers, education and hobbies (Dierking). A Center for Ocean Science Excellence in Education has also been recently awarded to Hatfield Marine Science Center (Shawn Rowe).
The new Center will support NSF’s efforts to increase the impact of its investments and will work to strengthen the informal science education field by:
• Building and deepening connections among informal science education organizations, communities, and practitioners;
• Studying and communicating lessons, impacts, and value of projects in the field;
• Developing leadership and supporting wider participation in NSF-funded informal science education work; and
• Facilitating the flow of knowledge and experience among informal science education community members as well as with relevant audiences outside the informal science education field.
A significant percentage of Americans indicate interest in science news and support for basic research, but also continue to pursue lifelong science learning in their leisure time. The National Science Board's 2006 Science and Engineering Indicators reported that 58 percent had visited zoos and aquariums and 30 percent had visited science centers and museums in the 12 months preceding the survey. In a study published in a recent issue of Public Understanding of Science (2007, Vol. 16, number 4), OSU faculty members John Falk and Lynn Dierking and Institute for Learning Innovation colleague Martin Storksdieck found that free-choice learning contributed more to public science knowledge than either formal schooling or the workplace.
CAISE is housed in Washington, D.C. at the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) offices. Besides OSU, other partner organizations include University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Learning in Out-of-School Environments (UPCLOSE) and the Visitor Studies Association, a national membership organization for evaluators and researchers in free-choice learning environments.
In addition to supporting oversight of the project, investigators at Oregon State University will conduct a major research study as part of CAISE designed to better understand the current informal science education “landscape.” This investigation will provide the project and the field with a comprehensive understanding of the current structure and functioning of the informal science education infrastructure – who are the individuals and organizations that currently compose this community, how do they intersect with each other and how do they currently perceive their role in supporting the public’s free-choice science learning.
The new Center is connected with many other individuals and organizations across this broad and diverse field through a steering committee, forum, and inquiry groups. The web site for CAISE is www.insci.org. The Center will serve as a clearinghouse for communication and knowledge-building among a wide range of organizations involved in free-choice science learning, including film and broadcast media, science centers and museums, zoos and aquariums, botanical gardens and nature centers, adult and youth community-based programs, after-school programs, and digital media and gaming. The Center will also work to educate policy makers and key decision-makers about the important role free-choice science learning plays in supporting public understanding of science.
Since its inception in 1950, the NSF, a U.S. federal agency with the primary mission of promoting “the progress of science,” has recognized and supported programs that advance public understanding of science and stimulate interest in the study of science outside of school. More than a thousand informal science education projects and programs have received NSF support. Among them are television series like NOVA and Dragonfly TV, giant-screen films like Jane Goodall’s Wild Chimpanzees, radio citizen science programs like Cornell University’s Project FeederWatch, a multitude of traveling exhibitions and museum-based programs, and science programs for youth and community groups offered by organizations like 4-H and Girl Scouts. SMED Faculty have benefited from this funding including support for research projects focused on the role of zoos and aquariums in supporting public understanding of the environment and conservation (Falk) and the role of free-choice science learning experience’s on young women’s long-term interest and participation in science careers, education and hobbies (Dierking). A Center for Ocean Science Excellence in Education has also been recently awarded to Hatfield Marine Science Center (Shawn Rowe).
The new Center will support NSF’s efforts to increase the impact of its investments and will work to strengthen the informal science education field by:
• Building and deepening connections among informal science education organizations, communities, and practitioners;
• Studying and communicating lessons, impacts, and value of projects in the field;
• Developing leadership and supporting wider participation in NSF-funded informal science education work; and
• Facilitating the flow of knowledge and experience among informal science education community members as well as with relevant audiences outside the informal science education field.
A significant percentage of Americans indicate interest in science news and support for basic research, but also continue to pursue lifelong science learning in their leisure time. The National Science Board's 2006 Science and Engineering Indicators reported that 58 percent had visited zoos and aquariums and 30 percent had visited science centers and museums in the 12 months preceding the survey. In a study published in a recent issue of Public Understanding of Science (2007, Vol. 16, number 4), OSU faculty members John Falk and Lynn Dierking and Institute for Learning Innovation colleague Martin Storksdieck found that free-choice learning contributed more to public science knowledge than either formal schooling or the workplace.