Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS March Meeting 2011
Volume 56, Number 1
Monday–Friday, March 21–25, 2011; Dallas, Texas
Session P5: Broader Impact: Partnerships and Resources to Achieve Successful Public and K-12 Outreach and Engagement |
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Sponsoring Units: FEd FPS Chair: Eric Marshall, Materials Research Society and IBM T.J. Watson Research Center Room: Ballroom C1 |
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 8:00AM - 8:36AM |
P5.00001: Science Museum Resources and Partnerships for Public and K-12 Outreach and Engagement Invited Speaker: Science museums engage in a wide range of activities not apparent to exhibit hall visitors. Many of them can support research outreach to public and K-12 teachers and students. In addition to exhibits in science centers, and demonstrations on topics like electricity or cryogenics, science museums offer courses for children and adults, out-of-school programs for students, teacher professional development; some do K-12 curriculum development and some run science magnet schools. In recent years science museums have increased their capacity to communicate with the public about current research. The Museum of Science, for instance, created a Current Science and Technology Center in 2001 dedicated to science in the news and current research developments. Through this Center, the Museum partnered with Harvard University to provide a wide range of public engagement activities as part of Harvard's Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center focused on the Science of Nanoscale Systems and their Device Applications. In the past five years a number of new collaborations among science museums have developed, many in partnership with researchers and research centers. Perhaps the largest or these, the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net) was launched in 2005 with funding from the National Science Foundation. The NISE Net links informal science education organizations together and to university research centers to raise the capacity of all the participant organizations to increase public awareness, understanding, and engagement with nanoscale science, engineering, and technology. Nearly 300 informal educational organizations in every state nationwide make use of NISE Net's educational materials, professional development, national and regional meetings, and online resources. NISE Net is an open source network with all of its materials freely available to everyone. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 8:36AM - 9:12AM |
P5.00002: Professional Society Resources and Partnerships for Public and K-12 Outreach and Engagement Invited Speaker: Outreach and public engagement lower the barriers that inhibit broader public appreciation of and participation in physics, and are important for inspiring the next generation of scientists and science-literate citizens. The APS and many other professional societies have made significant and sustained investments in public engagement because of the importance of these activities - APS, for example, has an entire department dedicated to outreach. In addition, professional societies have responded to members who desire resources for enabling and enhancing their own outreach efforts. A key question is always, ``What works?'' Professional societies can help provide the answers. In this talk, I will explore the critical interface played by professional societies as a bridge to the public, as a resource to members, and as a broker of partnerships. I will also feature numerous examples of creative and compelling ways to engage the public, including physicscentral.org, LaserFest, NISE Net, Comic Con, SOCKs, citizen science, and many more. A more important question is, ``Is it fun?'' I will show that the answer is an unqualified, ``Yes!'' [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 9:12AM - 9:48AM |
P5.00003: National Laboratory Resources and Partnerships for Public and K-12 Outreach and Engagement Invited Speaker: Nanoscale science and engineering draws upon aspects of chemistry, physics, biology and engineering to address scientific problems in energy, healthcare, security and technology. Scientists in this field often work in a multidisciplinary setting, which suggests a need for educational content unlike that currently offered in single-discipline high school and college science courses. Instructors are faced with the daunting task of accurately describing nanoscience in the context of their discipline, while inspiring students to explore careers in nanoscale science and engineering. The Molecular Foundry, a Department of Energy nanoscience user facility located at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, offers opportunities for high school and college students, along with science and engineering educators interested in learning basic concepts and research developments in nanoscience. Successful partnering with the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network also provides opportunities for scientists to interact informally with the general public. These interactions convey the role of national laboratories in helping lay audiences understand the breakthroughs, potential issues and societal impact of nanoscience. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 9:48AM - 10:24AM |
P5.00004: Marshalling Corporate Resources for Public and K-12 Technical Education Outreach and Engagement Invited Speaker: In 1988, the Education Task Force of the Business Roundtable recommended that American corporations invest in pre-college education. Prior to that date, corporate investment was targeted at higher education. IBM and other corporations responded by encouraging their employees and their corporate philanthropic organizations to develop programs aimed at enhancing pre-college education. The IBM TJ Watson Research Center initiated a Local Education Outreach program, active for these past 23 years, that marshals the resources of our science-rich institution to enhance STEM education in our local schools. We have broad and deep partnerships between the Research Center and local school districts, including New York City. We have just completed our 19th consecutive year of Family Science Saturdays, which brings 4th and 5th grade children, along with their parents, to our Research Center for hands-on workshops in topics like States of Matter, Polymer Science, Kitchen Chemistry, and Sound and Light. The workshops are staffed by IBM volunteers, assisted by local high school student ``Peer Teachers.'' Since 1990, the IBM Corporation has joined with a coalition of other companies, professional engineering societies, and government agencies to sponsor the annual Engineers Week (EWeek) campaign of technical education outreach, serving as Corporate Chair in 1992, 2001, and 2008. In recent years, we have annually recruited around 5000 IBM volunteers to reach out to more than 200,000 K-12 students in order to increase their awareness and appreciation of technical careers and encourage them to continue their studies of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). The speaker, who helped found the APS Forum on Education (FED) and served as FED Councillor for 8 years, will review these and other programs for Public and K-12 Technical Education Outreach and Engagement. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 10:24AM - 11:00AM |
P5.00005: University Research Center Resources and Partnerships for Public and K-12 Outreach and Engagement Invited Speaker: Collaboration and partnerships are essential to successful outreach and engagement in science. Through working together across disciplines and institutions, we can take advantage of a broad range of skills and expertise to strengthen a project and its outcomes. Additionally, building upon outreach and engagement resources developed by others is equally important to efficiently increasing impact and reducing redundancy. Research centers based at universities and other institutions of higher education commonly serve as both partners and resources for those active in education and outreach. This talk will share successful examples of public and K-12 outreach and engagement efforts that partner with a research center and/or use resources developed by a research center. A thorough discussion of strategies and recommendations for fostering such collaborations, as well as a broad survey of partnership models that exist, will help those at all levels of outreach and engagement experience pursue their science education ideas and goals. [Preview Abstract] |
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