Exhibit-Based Public Participation in Social Psychology Research

作为加强非正式环境中学习的总体战略的一部分，推进非正式STEM学习(AISL)计划寻求促进非正式环境中STEM学习的设计和发展的新方法和基于证据的理解。这包括为扩大获得和参与STEM学习经验提供多种途径，推进对非正式环境中STEM学习的创新研究和评估，以及加深参与者对更深层次学习的理解。旧金山的探索博物馆将与亚利桑那州立大学和罗格斯大学的社会科学研究人员合作，开展一个为期两年的试点和可行性研究项目，测试一种将博物馆展品与公众参与科学研究相结合的新模式，称为基于展品的PPSR(E-PPSR)。该小组将创建一个关于社会心理学的小型展览，(A)让科学馆参观者调查和反思是否促进合作的社会因素，(B)建立公众对社会心理学科学的认识，以及(C)为这一领域的学术研究产生有效的数据。探索博物馆将建立在其创建参与式展览的悠久历史的基础上，让参观团体参与社会科学学习和自我反思的元认知。这超越了典型的博物馆实验室，单个参观者与研究人员的笔记本电脑或简单的道具互动。该模型进一步扩展了展示体验，为社会心理学研究注入了公众参与的维度。通过自愿和匿名提供人口统计和反应数据，来自不同年龄段的大量人将帮助社会科学家获得新的见解，了解比大学实验室通常研究的更广泛的人类样本之间的合作。E-PPSR实验室始终可用，而不是只有在研究人员在场时才开放。该模型还纳入了关于学习的研究，并评估了E-PPSR对社会科学学习体验的影响。博物馆参观者是否通过为真正的研究做出贡献，并在更大的数据集中看到自己的反应，从而建立对社会科学更好的概念性理解？当他们贡献了自己的数据后，他们是否会更深入地参加汇报活动？这三项主要成果包括：1)探索博物馆基于展品的PPSR实验室原型，其中包括一个用于获得知情同意的展品、三个经过修改的“数据捕获者”展品，以记录参观者选择参与对社会心理学研究作出贡献时的匿名回复，以及一个汇报展览。后端数据库将向学术研究人员发送数据；2)测试E-PPSR模型的评估研究。这些研究将评估汇报方法的成功程度、招聘的有效性以及E-PPSR对学习的影响。该团队将在期刊上发表一篇文章，描述E-PPSR模型和学术研究成果。该团队还将与博物馆领域内管理内部学术研究实验室的其他人组织一次会议；以及3)学术合作伙伴的报告，描述该项目对其研究计划的影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments. This includes providing multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences, advancing innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and developing understandings of deeper learning by participants. The Exploratorium in San Francisco, in collaboration with social science researchers at Arizona State University and Rutgers University, will conduct a two-year Pilots and Feasibility Studies project that will test a new model for integrating museum exhibits with public participation in scientific research, called Exhibit-Based PPSR (E-PPSR). The team will create a mini-exhibition about social psychology that (a) engages science museum visitors in investigating and reflecting on social factors that promote cooperation or not, (b) builds public awareness of the science of social psychology and (c) generates valid data for academic research in this area. The Exploratorium will build on its long history of creating participatory exhibits that engage visiting groups in social science learning and in self-reflective metacognition. This expands beyond the typical lab-in-the-museum in which individual visitors interact with researchers' laptops or simple props. The model takes the exhibit experiences further, injecting the dimension of public participation in social psychology research. By voluntarily and anonymously contributing demographic and response data, large numbers of people from mixed-age groups will help social scientists gain new insights into cooperation among a broader sample of humanity than are usually studied in university labs. The E-PPSR lab is always available, rather than open only when a researcher is present. The model also incorporates research on learning and assesses the effect of E-PPSR on social science learning experiences. Do museum visitors build greater conceptual understanding of the social science by contributing to real research and seeing their own responses within the larger dataset? Do they attend more deeply to debriefing activities when they have contributed their own data? The three main deliverables include: 1) a prototype Exhibit-based PPSR laboratory at the Exploratorium comprised of one exhibit for gaining informed consent, three 'Data-Catcher' exhibits modified to record anonymous responses when visitors opt-in to contributing to social psychological research, and one debriefing exhibit. A back-end database will send data to the academic researchers; 2) evaluation studies that test the E-PPSR model. The studies will assess the success of debriefing approaches, the effectiveness of recruitment and the impact of E-PPSR on learning. The team will publish a journal article describing the E-PPSR model and academic research findings. The team will also organize a conference session with others in the museum field who manage in-house academic research laboratories; and 3) a report by the academic partners describing the impact of the project on their research program.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.