A - Advancing I - Informal S - STEM L - Learning

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Dennis Schatz – AISL Program Director Al DeSena – AISL Program Director

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Organizational Structure

AISL Program Overview

AISL supports innovation in anywhere, anytime, lifelong learning through investments in research, development, infrastructure, and capacity-building for STEM learning outside formal school settings.

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Informal STEM Learning Sectors

Media (TV, radio, film) Science center

& museum exhibits and

programs

Cyberlearning

Out-of-school time &

afterschool programs

Outdoor experiences,

botanical gardens, &

nature centers

Zoos & aquariums

Observatories & planetariums

Science outreach programs

Citizen science

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Life-Deep Learning embraces religious, moral, ethnical, and

social values that guide what people believe, how they act, and how they judge themselves and others. Learning, development, and education are deeply grounded in value

systems operating in society—frequently in implicit ways.

Source: Stevens, R. & Bransford, J. in Banks, et al., Learning In and Out of School in Diverse Environments, 2007.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grants No.

DRL-0638981 and DRL-1212803. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this

material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Jamie Bell, Trevor Nesbit, Kalie Sacco,

Association of Science-Technology Centers

John Falk, Oregon State University, Free-Choice

Learning Program

Kevin Crowley, University of Pittsburgh Center for

Learning in Out-of-School Environments

Kirsten Ellenbogen, Science Museum Of Minnesota

Sue Ellen McCann, KQED Public Media

CAISE’s Roles

• Facilitate connections and interactions among ISE sectors and NSF

• Develop and integrate online infrastructure for ISE professionals

• Produce and disseminate resources and tools for ISE professionals, e.g.

evaluation, evidence, learning research, ISE history

• Convene people and projects to explore and generate new thinking about

STEM content areas, as pedagogical and organizational approaches to ISE

work

• Organize Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) PI Meetings (2008, 2010,

2012)

Lead: John, Falk, Oregon State University

Create awareness about informal science education (ISE) among STEM

researchers by attending professional conferences within the scientific

community and begin to gather evidence about broader impacts needs

CAISE history with STEM Researchers: Entrée Initiative: 2011-2012

• Outreach to 20 + major professional associations; promoting CAISE through email blasts, Facebook, or listserv posts

• PowerPoint presentations and/or poster sessions at professional conferences: – Astronomical Society of the Pacific – Geological Society of America – American Geophysical Union – American Astronomical Society – American Association for the Advancement of Science – American Chemical Society

• Conducted interviews with NSF ISE awardees at PI Meeting to gather evidence of successful collaborations between STEM researchers and ISE projects, institutions and people

Entrée Initiative: 2011-2012

• Created web pages to

offer STEM researchers

“entrée” to ISE

• Differentiated between

audience types

• Created “Spotlights” of

successful

collaborations

• Provided links to

informal science and

STEM education

organizations

CAISE Entrée Website

insci.org/entree

NSF Centers for Chemical Innovation (CCIs) In February 2012 CAISE attended the CCI Directors of Education and Outreach

meeting in Irvine, CA. and presented a workshop on informal science

education. One outcome was a Dear Colleague letter that resulted in

supplemental funding requests from 5 CCIs who proposed ISE collaborations

• CENTC – University of Washington

• CCI Solar – Cal Tech

• CaSTL – UC Irvine

• CCE – Emory University

• CSMC – Oregon State University

CAISE Broader Impacts Initiative: 2012-2015

• Overarching goal is to work with centers across the NSF to engage

and build connections between STEM professionals, researchers,

institutions and projects and the informal STEM learning community

• Establishment of a “working group” at NSF that includes

representatives from STCs, Large Facilities, LTERs, IGERTs, ERCs,

MRSECs

• A series of conversations and convenings, with interstitial resources

building activities, and a large gathering that overlaps with next

AISL PI meeting in Spring 2014

Questions for the Science and Technology Centers:

• Which STCs are already involved ISE efforts? How and where are

they doing it? Are there examples of successful partnerships?

• To what degree are STCs informed about the informal STEM

learning landscape writ large?

• Are there any immediate identified needs for ISE resources,

expertise or partnerships to support broader

impacts/education/outreach efforts?

CAISE Resources

• caise.insci.org

• http://informalcommons.org/

• http://iseevidencewiki.org/index.php/Main_Page

• http://caise.insci.org/resources/pi-guide