Featured Article

NSF ISE Online Project Monitoring System: Characteristics of Lead Organizations and their Partners
By Gary Silverstein, Hannah Putman, and Melissa Bryce

Many of the projects that have entered baseline data into the Online Project Monitoring System (OPMS) have wondered whether any interesting findings about the NSF ISE  program have emerged from the data.  This article is the first in an ongoing series about what the ISE field can learn from the extensive data that projects have provided.  This article focuses on the characteristics of lead organizations and their partner organizations.  Because it is still too early to provide this information for those ISE projects that are currently entering their baseline data into the system, this article focuses on the 120 ISE full-scale/broad implementation projects awarded between FY 2006 and FY 2009 that have already submitted their OPMS data. Read more...

 

News and Updates

• The NSF Informal Science Education Program: Past, Present, and Future: At the Association of Science-Technology Centers' (ASTC's) Annual Conference, NSF program officers discussed the history, current status, and future directions of the ISE program in contexts of changing policy and field advances about theory and practice.  This link includes the session presentation by Sylvia James, Cluster Coordinator, Lifelong Learning, National Science Foundation.  Access caise.insci.org/resources for more information about the NSF ISE program and resources for working with NSF support.

• The CAISE website: offers inquiry group reports, articles, reports from National Science Foundation- (NSF-) funded conferences and workshops, and information about working with NSF support.  Here are some timely reading materials: articles about the NSF ISE Online Project Monitoring System, the NSF ISE Program Overview and Solicitation FAQ, and the The 2010 User-Friendly Handbook for Project Evaluation. For more resources visit caise.insci.org/resources or search project abstracts,  evaluations, papers, exhibit reviews, case studies, and other ISE resources using informalcommons.org.

• Symposium ZZ: Transforming Education in Materials Science, 2012 Spring Meeting and Exhibit: Held annually in San Francisco's Moscone West Convention Hall, Materials Research Society meetings are essential events for discovering and presenting the very latest developments in materials research.  View the meeting website for more information.

• NOVA's Finding Life Beyond Earth Premiere and Cafe Campaign: Here's a cosmic idea: start a science cafe in your community!  NOVA, in conjunction with NASA and the National Institute of Aerospace have provided resources to find and organize themed science cafes.  For more information, visit ScienceCafes.org.

In the Spotlight:

Connecting Cultures

The Latino population is one of the fastest growing in the U.S., but one of the most critical challenges facing educators is how to engage this audience in informal science education. Environment for the Americas (EFTA), in partnership with the National Park Service and Colorado State University, is working to identify the barriers to Latino participation and to provide the tools educators need to better connect with this audience.

To accomplish these goals, EFTA surveyed 1,000 Latino community members at six sites across the U.S. Business owners, parents, teachers, and other adults 18 years old and up provided details about their home countries, family size, income, ability to pay for programs, and much more.  Among the survey findings is that respondents expressed a very high interest in nature-based, informal science education programs and placed a high value on education programs about the environment. However, the survey also revealed that most of these respondents were unaware of the programs available at our nation's parks, refuges, and other natural areas.

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