Using media and technology to advance public awareness of research on microscopic larvae in the deep ocean

很少有人意识到，我们这个星球生物圈的最大部分实际上尚未被探索和未知。这个巨大的栖息地，面积达1.16亿平方英里，相当于美国面积的大约30倍，是深海的深海区。在大约6000英尺深的深海海底，动物的栖息地是所有干燥的山脉、森林、沙漠、平原和丛林加起来的四倍多。深海中的微小幼虫对生命的更新和补充至关重要，它们使受到采矿和拖网捕捞等人类活动破坏的地区重新繁衍，它们使海洋保护区变得可行和重要。几十年来，美国国家科学基金会一直在资助与幼虫招募有关的海洋学深入研究。然而，美国国家科学基金会在人员、技术和资金方面的巨大投入所取得的成果从未向公众广泛展示过。为了解决这个问题，该项目将制作一部40分钟的巨幅电影，在全国各地的科学中心放映，并辅以虚拟现实和增强现实学习工具。这部电影将涵盖使用深海车辆阿尔文和ROV杰森的选择深海科学考察。内容将包括研究过程的要素、与深海航行器的设计和操作有关的活动以及对科学家和技术人员的采访。配套活动“深海飞行员”（VR-360°观察站）和“浮游生物探索”（AR生物寻宝）将把观众的深海体验从巨幕影院扩展到周围的博物馆环境。该网站和社交媒体将把意识和资源扩展到家庭。该项目将适合广泛的普通受众，对妇女和女孩（7-20岁）的目标受众特别有吸引力。幼虫生物学家团队由俄勒冈大学的PI领导，与北卡罗来纳州立大学、西华盛顿大学和罗德岛大学的科学家合作。几位年轻的女科学家将在这部电影中担任榜样。制作公司Stephen Low Productions， Inc.将在阿尔文号上使用最新技术和其他电影工具来捕捉深渊中的视觉图像。合作博物馆将参与虚拟现实和增强现实学习工具的开发和实施，并在其影院放映电影。更广泛的影响项目目标包括1)提高公众对深海的认识，微观幼虫的作用，以及科学家从使用深海潜水技术的探险中所学到的知识；2)向公众和年轻女性专门介绍海洋勘探和研究领域所包含的广泛的stem相关职业；3)在沉浸式媒体领域推进STEM学习研究和实践，以传达STEM概念，增强受众对STEM的认同。俄勒冈州立大学的STEM研究中心将通过对电影及其相关支持产品（例如，虚拟和增强现实活动，网站资源）进行形成性和总结性评估来建立新的知识，解决以下评估问题：1)观众在与海洋科学探索相关的迷恋/兴趣，意识和理解方面从他们的经历中得到了什么？2)电影本身或与补充经验相结合，在多大程度上激发了女孩和年轻女性以及不同种族/民族背景的青年的职业意识？3)沉浸式体验（一种“身临其境”的感觉）在多大程度上有助于从电影中学习？4)在现场直接体验过后，对受众的影响有多持久？形成性评估将被设计为基于经验证据的持续改进，评估人员与团队成员合作，及时并以项目为中心回答与决策相关的问题。总结性评价的结构将是一项使用混合方法的有效性研究，并确定是否达到了关键的方案成果，以及特定方案要素对成果的贡献程度。该发展创新项目由推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）计划资助，该计划旨在(a)推进非正式环境中STEM学习的设计和开发的新方法和基于证据的理解；(b)提供多种途径，以扩大获得和参与STEM学习经验的机会；(c)推进非正式环境中STEM学习的创新研究和评估；(d)让所有年龄段的公众在非正式环境中学习STEM。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。

Few people realize that the largest part of our planet’s biosphere remains virtually unexplored and unknown. This enormous habitat, accounting for an area of 116 million square miles or the equivalent size of roughly 30 times the area of the United States, is the abyssal zone of the deep ocean. The abyssal sea floor, at about 6000 ft., contains more than four times as much habitat for animal life as all of the dry mountains, forests, deserts, plains and jungles combined. Microscopic larvae in the deep ocean, are essential for the renewal and replenishment of life and they repopulate areas damaged by human activities such as mining and trawling, and they make marine protected areas both feasible and important. The National Science Foundation has funded intensive studies of oceanography related to larval recruitment for decades. However, findings from this large NSF investment of personnel, technology and funding have never been widely presented to the public. This project proposes to remedy this by developing a 40 minute giant screen film to be shown in science centers across the country, supported by virtual reality and augmented reality learning tools. The film will cover select deep ocean science expeditions using the deep-sea vehicles Alvin and ROV Jason. Content will include elements of the research process, activities related to the design and operation of deep-sea vehicles as well as interviews with scientists and technologists. The companion activities, Deep-Ocean Pilot (a VR-360° viewing station) and Plankton Quest (an AR biology treasure hunt) will extend the audience experience of the deep ocean out of the giant screen theater and into the surrounding museum environment. The website and social media will extend awareness and resources into homes. The project will be appropriate for a broad general audience, with particular appeal for the target audience of women and girls (ages 7-20). The larval biologist team is led by the PI at the University of Oregon, in collaboration with scientists from North Carolina State University, Western Washington University and the University of Rhode Island. Several young women scientists will be featured in the film providing role models. The production company, Stephen Low Productions, Inc. will use the latest technology on the Alvin and other cinematic tools to capture the visual images in the abyss. Collaborating museums will participate in the development and implementation of the Virtual and Augmented Reality learning tools as well as showing the film in their theaters.Broader impact project goals include 1)Advancing public awareness of the abyssal ocean, the role of microscopic larvae, and what scientists are learning from expeditions that use deep submergence technologies; 2) Introducing public audiences and young women specifically to the wide range of STEM-related occupations encompassed in the field of ocean exploration and research; and 3) Advancing STEM learning research and practice in the area of immersive media in conveying STEM concepts and enhancing audience identification with STEM. Oregon State University’s STEM Research Center will build new knowledge by conducting formative and summative evaluation of the film and its associated support products (e.g., Virtual and augmented reality activities, website resources), addressing the following evaluation questions: 1)What do audiences take away from their experience in terms of fascination/interest, awareness and understanding related to ocean science exploration? 2) To what degree does the film alone or in combination with supplemental experiences trigger career awareness in girls and young women, and youth of racial/ethnic backgrounds? 3) To what degree do immersive experiences (a sense of “being there”) contribute to learning from the film? 4) How enduring are outcomes with audiences past the onsite immediate experience? Formative evaluation will be designed as ongoing improvement informed by empirical evidence in which evaluators work with team members to answer decision-relevant questions in a timely and project-focused way. The summative evaluation will be structured as an effectiveness study using mixed methods and ascertaining whether key programmatic outcomes have been reached and the degree to which particular program elements will have contributed to the results. This Innovations in Development project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to (a) advance new approaches to and evidence-based understanding of the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments; (b) provide multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences; (c) advance innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments; and (d) engage the public of all ages in learning STEM in informal environments.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.