Informal Education NASA SMD Education Community Meeting Sept , 2015

What Best Practices Were Noted? Make sure you gather audience needs Test and evaluate repeatedly Create a model that you can use over and over Iterative design and testing and involving stakeholders in your design Leveraging as much as you can and not reinventing the wheel Access and use the existing literature/research that can be applied to your activity educational research Meet learners where they already are, don’t create something and hope people will adopt them. Use the channels that people are already invested in. If you’re creating a program bring it to where people are already gathering, that is very important for the underserved audiences Defining goals early in the project and leveraging partnerships *Informalscience.org is the repository of research briefs where you can search and find specifics on topics, Communicating Astronomy to the Public and IAU

What Best Practices Were Noted? You have to keep showing up. A break in audience engagement causes a deficit in retention of information. Consistency in telling the stories and having more available on the weekend ensures continuity Being consistently there for your audience to enable you to build upon it Scientists attract audiences and other scientists and when you bring scientists they are willing to repeat the experience and are great ambassadors to recruit other scientists. There is a comfort level, its easier for people to learn science in an informal setting so use it as such When possible link between formal and informal audiences, for example if you see something at an exhibit link to the work in the classroom, making connections. Informal is the hook that provides connections for deeper understanding and opportunities for your audience. Informal education provides the opportunity to learn more an is an opportunity to identify how they learn. Informal Ed is made up of a variety of ways to learn, museums, science centers, etc. Know the needs of the constituency within the group that your working with Make sure you know the needs of your particular audience Make sure you start with goals/objective/affective, cognitive, scientific identity and should be established at the beginning You must have flexibility in your approach

What Lessons Learned Were Shared? You can’t make any assumptions about the informal ed. world, their background, experience, expertise. Meet your audiences where they live. Be culturally sensitive understand the folks your working with Always begin working with a design team made up of the diverse individual you’re working with. Leave your audiences with something small that they can do to continue the work. Be aware of the family dynamics and plan accordingly for activities The more you work with technology the fastest it will become out of date. Defining and measuring impacts in the informal world can be complex and simple and requires special attention Expensive doesn't mean good and inexpensive doesn't me bad. Use quality materials in the work you do to achieve more of an impact. Good high quality free resources are a way to attract educators. Don’t underestimate the quality of NASA swag (stickers, postcards, pins) Great success with long term involvement, there can be a deeper and long lasting impact if you sustain your program Informal Education allows for flexibility in the work you do.

What Lessons Learned Were Shared? Using clickers to get instantaneous feedback to determine if you’re making an impact (or signal cards) Longer- term engagements foster institutional buy in and can become part of what the institution is doing. In the informal education area you need to have institutional buy in to continue the work continues. Choose personnel to match their strengths Picking the right age group for what you want to do. Consult AAS Benchmarks to determine what level of information should be shared. The informal educators need to see an activity in use to use it Get Institutional/partner buy in Budget for formative and summative evaluation Budget money and time Beta materials and beta hours Tap into ongoing research about informal learning, effectiveness, methodology etc. Make the personal connection People need to have a personal connection to have any interest in a subject

What TYPES of Impacts Were Noted? Who was reached and how? Enthusiasm for the topic or science Educator’s efficacy, content, and confidence Able to measure science learning in informal settings Measure a change in cultural importance of outreach (having the members of the clubs shift what they think astronomy means to include outreach) PD level for scientists, scientists and their confidence in informal education Measure the interest in what scientists are interested in How many people you’ve included in the program Measure the number of return visitors Engagement numbers, time engaged Geographic areas reached Beautiful Earth is measuring changes in interest in Earth sciences and attitude changes in the need to address climate change.

What NASA Resources Were Leveraged? Swag, visualizations, scientists Museum exhibits, planetarium shows Electronic resources that can be created and used in multiple venues, All Sky, NASA websites. Reuse NASA resources (the EPO community) and building upon existing resources K-12 resources repurposed for other audiences. Leveraging formal resources for informal activities. NASA events (the eclipse) NASA research and press releases NASA resources Planetary Data and Images Systems Earth observatory News releases Social media Social media activities Hubble hangout Seasonal opportunities Science in practice, the real life in practice now science that is currently happening

What NASA Resources Were Leveraged? Evaluation of Space School the Musical in pursing a scientific career to increase personal growth as a result of participating Bring the non-science students and teachers into the world of science Incorporating the arts can potentially reach non-science students There is a direct pathway from science adjacent communities to the science community. Measuring the likelihood of engaging in STEM content in the future Did participants have a discussion with their peers after the event. Measured the multiplier effect of educator, are they training other educators.

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