In this Issue

The lifelong learning of science includes gaining knowledge of concepts, methods, practices and scientific reasoning that is accumulated from experiences in both formal and informal educational settings and experiences. Out-of-school time (OST) programs from pre-school to high school are supported by states, federal agencies, private foundations, private companies and volunteer organizations and involve millions of children and youth. Yet, unlike formal educational practices, no single research or statistical study has attempted to accumulate a body of knowledge about the science education practices of OST learning.

The 2011 annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) included a symposium "Learning Science in Out-of-School Time: Research Directions for Generalized Understanding of OST", organized and chaired by Larry Suter (NSF). One of the papers from this session is presented here with permission of the authors. It presents a description of an ongoing project to study how California has created a strategy to teach science to students in OST settings. In particular, it explores issues of professional development in science of OST workers. It is an example of the types of design, measurement strategies and assessment tools that are needed in order to capture developments in the field and create generalizations beyond individual programs.

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News and Updates

• NSF Update. The 2011 NSF Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability (SEES) activities will focus on integrated science and engineering research in climate change and energy. These awards will include activities that help prepare an informed, solutions-oriented citizenry and future workforce to address the complex problems and decisions associated with sustainability. Program opportunities and deadlines are listed under Environmental Research and Education.
• NSF Update. A request for proposals is posted for Fostering Interdisciplinary Research on Education (FIRE). The FIRE program seeks to facilitate the process by which scholars can cross disciplinary boundaries to acquire the skills and knowledge that would improve their abilities to conduct rigorous research on STEM learning and education.
• The Art of Science Learning: Shaping the 21st-Century Workforce.  Registration is open for the first of three workshops that will explore ways in which the arts can help improve how people of all ages learn the sciences. The conferences are hands-on, workshop-oriented events that will showcase interdisciplinary methods and techniques used by educators and artists, share the results of current research into the impact of arts-based approaches to science education, and explore the connection between the arts and American economic competitiveness. This series is based upon work supported by NSF (DRL 0943769).
• CAISE Outreach. CAISE hosted an information table on February 17th at the first International Public Science Events Conference (IPSEC), an official pre-conference of the 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science held in Washington DC. A collaboration of the Science Festival Alliance (DRL-0840333)- and the science café educational outreach effort of NOVA scienceNOW (DRL-0638931), IPSEC brought together science festival and science café organizers from around the world. Information about current CAISE initiatives and activities was shared with attendees.
• CAISE Outreach. CAISE was represented in a well attended session at the 2011 National NSTA conference, held March 10-13 in San Francisco. "CAISE: What We Know About Learning Science in Informal Environments," was an awareness-raising session about the resource that CAISE provides for the broad range of informal science education sectors. Representatives from the CAISE Entrée initiative and CAISE ASTC staff were on hand to share current plans for the core work of Years 4 and 5 of the project.
• NSTA's Distinguished Informal Science Education Award. Manuel Hernandez, Informal Science Specialist, City of Fresno Parks, After School, Recreation and Community Services, was selected to receive NSTA's Distinguished Informal Science Education Award. Manuel started the first Community Science Workshop in Fresno, contributing to a NSF-funded project that extended community science centers from California across the nation (DRL 0400403). He received the award at the formal NSTA  Awards Gala on Friday evening March 11, 2011 at the National Science Education Conference in San Francisco.
• Informal Science in Education Week. The Curriculum Matters blog in Education Week includes recent entries about informal science education, including a description of Collaborative Research on Out-of-School-Time Science Programs for Youth (DRL 1010935), and  commentary on John Falk and Lynn Dierking’s article ”The 95% Solution”.
• Stay Connected. Follow CAISE on Twitter @informalscience and Facebook.

• Photo (c) courtsey of WGBH.