Evaluation Publications – The Lawrence Hall of Science

Youth Engaged in STEM and Service

Zach Wilder — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 22:14:38 +0000

Designed to support STEM identity development in female-identifying youth and youth of color in middle school, the new, hands-on summer program YESS offered culturally relevant and sustaining STEM programming focused on solar technology applications.

Investigation of an Augmented Reality Exhibit for Family Learning Conversations

juliethierman — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 16:44:00 +0000

Uncover Fascinating Facts about the World of Insects!

all bugs

Family Talk Tips

Get your child talking to accelerate their science learning!

Encourage observation and connection:

What do you notice about how the animal looks/moves/behaves?
What body parts can you identify and what do they do?
Does it remind you of anything else you’ve seen in other animals, plants, or objects? Why?

Encourage questions and predictions:

Based on what you’ve observed, what do you predict that it eats? What evidence have you gathered to support your prediction?
What do you call an animal that eats only _____?
- Herbivores have mouthparts that chew (as in leaves) and suck (as in nectar)
- Carnivores eat other animals, and in general, are active and powerful. Some carnivores are arachnids and use their fangs to liquefy and drink up their prey.
- Detritivores feed on dead or decaying animal and plant material (as in carrion, dung, or leaf litter)
- Insects can switch feeding types at different life stages. Some don’t even eat as adults!

Bugs Galore: The Essig Museum’s Incredible Gallery!

Rainbow Grasshopper Specimen

Multi Specimen 2

Multi Specimen

Mission Blue Butterfly Specimen

Microscope Photo Setup

Essig Museum

Essig Director Peter

Ceanothus Moth Specimen

California Mantis Specimen

Acknowledgement

This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (Grant #MG-40-18-0005-18). The views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this presentation do not necessarily represent those of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Thank you to the Essig Museum of Entomology at UC Berkeley who provided expert consultation about the bugs, as well as their support in taking microscope photos of them from actual bugs in their collection. Check out the gallery below!

Improving Outdoor Science Teaching and Learning: The Implementation of a Capacity-Building Model in Outdoor Science Programs

Tim E — Tue, 31 May 2022 19:58:00 +0000

This paper examines the role and value of professional learning and organizational capacity building in outdoor science education by investigating several questions analyzing the Better Environmental Education, Teaching, Learning, and Expertise Sharing (BEETLES) Project

BEETLES: An Evaluation of a Capacity Building Model to Support Outdoor Science Programs

juliethierman — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 16:57:00 +0000

This brief shares (1) the underlying goals and design principles for the BEETLES project, (2) a summary of the field-testing process, and (3) program leaders' insights about how BEETLES supported their organizational capacity building to provide professional learning for their educational staff.

Service learning as a lever to support STEM engagement for underrepresented youth

juliethierman — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 22:52:00 +0000

Women and people of color are consistently underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields and careers. Though there are myriad factors underlying these gaps, one potential variable may be the extent to which these students feel connected to their STEM classroom experiences.

From the classroom to the floor: Applying language supports to new museum contexts

juliethierman — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 21:25:00 +0000

The Lawrence Hall of Science implemented a two-phase project, Building Understanding in Language Diverse Students, to modify school group workshops and drop-in public programs to better support linguistically diverse students and visitors. As we applied language support strategies developed for the school group workshops to additional areas of the science center, we encountered emergent complexities related to understanding our audience, designing program-specific modifications, and implementing professional learning opportunities for part-time facilitators and volunteers.

What drives visitor engagement in exhibits? The interaction between visitor activation profiles and exhibit features

juliethierman — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 19:00:00 +0000

This paper explores the use of science learning activation to understand how various types of visitors engage with different exhibits. In particular, we examined how learners engaged in two very different resource-rich exhibits using two distinct analytic techniques.

Development of the International Ocean Literacy Survey: measuring knowledge across the world

juliethierman — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 18:54:00 +0000

The Ocean Literacy movement began in the U.S. in the early 2000s, and has recently become an international effort. The focus on marine environmental issues and marine education is increasing, and yet it has been difficult to show progress of the ocean literacy movement, in part, because no widely adopted measurement tool exists.

When I grow up: the relationship of science learning activation to STEM career preferences

juliethierman — Fri, 02 Mar 2018 21:35:00 +0000

This paper proposes three new measures of components STEM career preferences (affinity, certainty, and goal), and then explores which dimensions of science learning activation (fascination, values, competency belief, and scientific sensemaking) are predictive of STEM career preferences.

How science learning activation enables success for youth in science learning experiences

juliethierman — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 21:39:00 +0000

Expanding on recent advances in science education, cognitive and social psychology, and sociocultural studies, the paper explores a construct called science learning activation and a theoretical framework that describes the characteristics, function, and impact of this construct. Authors define science learning activation as a set of dispositions, skills, and knowledge that commonly enable success in proximal science learning experiences and are in turn influenced by these successes.