Collaborative Research: Cool Science: Art as a Vehicle for Intergenerational Learning

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）项目资助了用于各种环境的创新研究、方法和资源。该项目将获得有关极端天气及其概念的知识，并与波士顿和堪萨斯城地区的年轻人分享。随后，青年们将以艺术作品的形式在快速交通系统上展示这些知识。艺术项目将在每个小组会议结束时以广泛的展览达到高潮。该项目将涉及每个地区200名青年，每年影响1000名青年，80名成年导师和20,000名成年交通乘客学习极端天气概念。参与组织包括波士顿大学、洛厄尔大学、马萨诸塞艺术学院、堪萨斯大学研究中心和古德曼研究集团。该项目的目标是通过教育年轻人，将极端天气的话题带到前景，并让他们教育使用快速交通系统的特定成年人群体。青年小组将通过与极端天气问题专家导师的一系列会议来学习这一主题。青年们将在自己的诠释中衍生出自己的艺术作品。这些艺术作品将在新英格兰（梅里马克山谷和伍斯特地区）和中西部（托皮卡和堪萨斯城地区）的快速交通系统上展出。使用准实验混合方法（人口统计、公共汽车乘客、科学意识的初始水平和兴趣），目标是了解与青年艺术创作和公共展示相关的科学学习成果。在这方面的重要研究问题是：1。艺术与科学的结合在哪些方面加强了年轻人对极端天气概念的学习？2. 青少年艺术在多大程度上支持成人学习科学？和3。区域环境如何影响对极端天气的认识？在展示极端天气艺术的快速交通系统中，年轻人的多样性以及乘客的多样性将产生更广泛的影响。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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 funds innovative research, approaches and resources for use in a variety of settings. This program will derive knowledge on extreme weather and its concepts to be shared with youth in the Boston and Kansas City areas. Subsequently, the youth will share this knowledge by displaying it as art work on the rapid transit systems. The art projects will culminate in broad-based exhibition at the end of each group's sessions. The project will involve 200 youth per region resulting in an impact of 1000 youth per year, 80 adult mentors and 20,000 adult transportation riders in learning about extreme weather concepts. Participant organizations are the University of Mass-Boston, University of Mass-Lowell, The Massachusetts College of Art, the University of Kansas Center for Research Inc., and the Goodman Research Group Inc.The goals of this project are to bring the topic of extreme weather to the foreground by educating youth and in turn having them educate a selected group of adults that use the rapid transit system. Groups of youths will learn about the topic through a series of meetings with mentors who are experts on the issues around extreme weather. The youth will derive their own art-works with their interpretation. These art-works will be displayed on the rapid transit systems in New England (Merrimack Valley and Worcester regions) and the Mid-West (Topeka and Kansas City areas). Using a quasi-experimental mixed methodology (demographics, bus ridership, initial level of science awareness, and interest) the goal is to understand science learning outcomes associated with the creation and public display of youth art. Research questions of importance in this regard are 1. In what ways does blending art with the science enhance youth learning about extreme weather concepts? 2. To what extent does youth art support adult learning of science? and 3. How does regional context affect learning about extreme weather?Broader impacts will result from the youth diversity as well as the diversity of riders of the rapid transit systems where the art of extreme weather is displayed.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.