Assignment
How do you measure success? How do you know if you have met your criteria? How will this work define you as a leader in Maker Education?
Provide a brief overview of your project here and describe how you will evaluate it. Due 10/13
Provide feedback to at least two classmates about their evaluation procedures/protocols. Share other ideas on how else they can assess their success. Due 10/26.
Overview of the Project:
I am creating a 5-week program on the topic of Sun science (heliophysics) designed for children ages 5-9. The program is designed so that families, informal educators, and classroom educators can use the content in whatever manner suits their needs best. Participants are asked to register to get the most benefit but are not required to do so. The program will feature three aspects.
Synchronous online live-streamed Q&A sessions with scientists and experts. Registered program participants will be part of a Zoom webinar and will be able o ask their questions directly. The session will be live-streamed to YouTube and recorded for those that are not participating in person. The Q&As will run 30-45 minutes each and take place on Wednesdays, October 19 to November 16 at 7 pm Eastern. Topics will include: The Sun 101, The Solar System, The Sun & Earth, Solar Weather, and Beyond the Solar System. I've invited a diverse line-up of guests who specialize in the topic presented.
Asynchronous hands-on activities that build on the weekly themes. The activities are designed to be completed independently at home, in a community space, or in a classroom. Each project is published on our website and includes a brief introduction to the scientific topics for the week, complete instructions for the basic activity or experiment, ways to extend the project based on student interest, and additional resources to aid the educator or parent, including books suggestions, supplemental materials, and curriculum standards. These are published weekly on the Friday before the Q&A.
Sun Camp Supply Kits for those in need. We prepared a limited amount of kits with most of the materials need to host a five-week Sun Camp. 100 kits were sent to families all over the US. These kits were designed to be used for 2-4 children. Group kits were prepared that could serve 24-30 children. 25 of these kits were sent out. Because our grant required that the kits be provided to those in most need, we did outreach to targeted areas that were underserved to recruit participants. We then analyzed demographic data captured at registration to select recipients that met the criteria for economic, social, political, and cultural life that may lead to social exclusion (such as family income, race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, etc.)
Ancillary aspects of the program include items such as the development of weekly newsletters to the participants, the development of graphics resources, the development and maintenance of the program website and the presentation of the findings to the Science Friday Initiative Board of Directors and to our sponsors (NASA Heliophysics Education Activation Team).
Evaluation of Success:
We have several targets:
Facilitate free, remote, skills growth sessions with up to 150 families (6 sessions x 25 fams/session) around heliophysics themes in partnership with members of the consortium.
The goal was 150 families. We presently have nearly 500 registrants (representing approximately 2,300 children). 77% are families (about 600 children) and 7% are homeschool groups (120 children).
The goal was 6 sessions. We were able to schedule 5, due to time constraints. The goal was to have 25 families minimum per session. Our first session had 46 families participating in the Zoom webinar and another 135 views on YouTube.
Improve STEM facilitation skills and confidence of multiple (Out of School Time) OST facilitators.
We had hoped to hold training, but the timeline did not permit it. Instead, the focus is on resources to aid OST facilitators.
Presently OST facilitators are 5% of our registrations, but they represent about 550 children.
We had higher than expected in-school registration, primarily educators interested in using the activities for stations, "genius hour," lunch activities, etc. These represent 6% of registration and over 1,000 children.
Curriculum standards, data collection sheets, materials kits, an educator's guide, presentation materials, and other resources are being developed to accommodate the needs o the audience.
Draw on hands-on learning approaches cultivated by NASA HEAT partners, NASA and NASA HEAT citizen science opportunities, and direct contact with subject matter experts.
Demonstrate improved self-reported skills efficacy and confidence, belonging in STEM, via parent and/or student-reported survey. Participants’ attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge will be assessed in coordination with NASA HEAT and Science Friday evaluation leads.
This will be done in three ways
A survey to the parents/educators on their perceptions of the student learning and information seeking on the topics presented.
Analysis of chat logs and transcripts of the Q&A sessions to look for themes and gaps.
The capture of photos and other artifacts from the hands-on activities as presented by families with er through direct collection using a form or on social media.
Document adaptation by families, providers to identify constraints, best-in-class activities, and facilitation moves.
We are actively collecting feedback in a Facebook STEM Educators Group as well as by e-mail.
Disseminate blended camp model for families via community-based partners.
Instead of offering kits only to families, we opted to offer kits to community partners (such as libraries) as well to increase the uptake of the program in these spaces.
Evaluate recruitment pathways
We performed an evaluation of DOE data and other research to determine areas to target for outreach and recruitment.
Once we are finished with the program, I'll map recruitment efforts onto participation using zip codes to see if our efforts produced interaction.
We used UTM coding for our website address to track where traffic to the Sun Camp site was originating so that we can use Google Analytics to determine how people discovered the program (i.e. did they arrive at the page due to a direct invite, did they use a short link mentioned in the radio broadcast, did see it on social media, etc.)
Provide hands-on learning approaches, citizen science opportunities, and direct contact with subject matter experts.
Curriculum standards, data collection sheets, materials kits, an educator's guide, presentation materials, and other resources are being developed instead.