Newsletter - Issue 7, May 2009

Professional Online Communities

What can professional online communities contribute to learning, networking, and capacity building? How do we know that our online resources have impact on the field? And what insights are being gleaned from work so far of six NSF-funded professional development web sites? Those were among the questions explored during the May 2008 meeting of a CAISE Inquiry Group on Assessing Impacts of Informal Science Education (ISE) Professional Online Communities. UPCLOSE, the University of Pittsburgh Center for Learning in Out-of-School Environments, meeting organizer and host, has now documented the discussions in a rich website complete with slide presentations and interviews, available here.

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News and Updates

  • Deadline for preliminary proposals for NSF ISE grants is June 25. Check the NSF website for the solicitation and the CAISE website for answers to frequently asked questions. Contact NSF if you have specific questions about your proposal.
  • Deadline for full ISE proposals is November 19.

Upcoming Meetings and Events

  • June 16, 3:00-4:30 pm Public Participation in Scientific Research, Ballston, Virginia. Briefing by Rick Bonney, Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, about findings of CAISE Inquiry Group. National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia Stafford II, Room 555. RSVP to Terri Gipson at CAISE.
  • June 29, 8:30 am-1:15 pm The National Academies Board on Science Education, National Research Council, Washington, D.C. Report Launch, Learning Science in Informal Environments: People, Places, and Pursuits. Keck Center 100, 500 5th Street, Washington, D.C. Check the News & Comments area of the CAISE website closer to the event for details.
  • Hold the date—The next CAISE national meeting, the ISE Summit 2010, is scheduled for: March 3-5, 2010 in Washington, D.C.
  • For full calendar, check InformalScience.org.

Resources

  • Expanding ISE for Latinos Conference. More than 100 attendees engaged in lively dialogue and shared strategies for improving current programming during this March 26-29 conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico, hosted by the Self Reliance Foundation and supported by the National Science Foundation (# 0742157). Briefing papers are available here.

Image Credits

  • ExhibitFiles.org

 

In the Spotlight:

ExhibitFiles

ExhibitFiles website

ExhibitFiles is a community website for people who design and develop museum exhibitions. A project of the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC), the site was designed by multimedia company Ideum with the advice of exhibition designer Kathleen McLean and funding from the National Science Foundation (#0540261). The project's goal was to enable science exhibition developers to more readily learn from the work of others and to encourage them to open their own work to critical review.

The concept is simple: Anyone interested in exhibition development can join ExhibitFiles. Members can create profiles, post case studies of exhibitions they have helped to develop and reviews of exhibitions they have visited, comment on others' posts, tag and "favorite" posts, and contact others through the site.

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About CAISE

The Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE) works to strengthen and connect the informal science education community by catalyzing conversation and collaboration across the entire field—including film and broadcast media, science centers and museums, zoos and aquariums, botanical gardens and nature centers, digital media and gaming, science journalism, and youth, community, and after-school programs. Founded in 2007 with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), CAISE is a partnership among the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC), Oregon State University (OSU), the University of Pittsburgh Center for Learning in Out-of-School Environments (UPCLOSE), and the Visitor Studies Association (VSA). CAISE is housed at ASTC’s Washington, D.C. offices.

CAISE