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

很少有人意识到，地球生物圈的最大部分实际上仍然是未被探索和未知的。这个巨大的栖息地，面积为1.16亿平方英里，相当于大约30倍于美国的面积，是深海的深海地带。约6000英尺深的深海海底包含的动物栖息地是所有干燥的山脉、森林、沙漠、平原和丛林总和的四倍多。深海中的微小幼虫对生命的更新和补充至关重要，它们使采矿和拖网等人类活动破坏的地区重新繁衍，使海洋保护区既可行又重要。几十年来，国家科学基金会一直资助与幼虫招募有关的海洋学密集研究。然而，来自NSF在人员、技术和资金方面的大量投资的结果从未广泛地向公众公布。该项目建议通过开发一部40分钟的巨幕电影来弥补这一点，该电影将在全国各地的科学中心放映，并得到虚拟现实和增强现实学习工具的支持。这部电影将讲述使用深海潜水器Alvin和ROV Jason进行的精选深海科学考察。内容将包括研究过程的要素、与深海运载器设计和操作有关的活动以及对科学家和技术人员的采访。与之配套的活动深海领航员(VR-360°观测站)和浮游生物探索(AR生物寻宝)将把观众对深海的体验从巨幕剧院延伸到周围的博物馆环境中。该网站和社交媒体将把意识和资源延伸到家庭中。该项目将适合广大受众，特别是妇女和女孩(7-20岁)这一目标受众。这个幼虫生物学家团队由俄勒冈大学的PI领导，与来自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出现在这部提供榜样的电影中。制作公司Stephen Low Productions，Inc.将使用Alvin上的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和增强现实学习工具的开发和实施，并在他们的剧院放映这部电影。广泛影响项目的目标包括1)提高公众对深海、微小幼虫的作用以及科学家从使用深潜水技术的探险中所学到的知识的认识；2)向公众观众和年轻女性介绍海洋探索和研究领域中与STEM相关的广泛职业；以及3)促进STEM在沉浸式媒体领域的学习研究和实践，以传达STEM的概念并增强观众对STEM的认同感。俄勒冈州立大学STEM研究中心将通过对这部电影及其相关支持产品(如虚拟和增强现实活动、网站资源)进行形成性和终结性评估来建立新的知识，解决以下评估问题：1)观众在对海洋科学探索的着迷/兴趣、意识和理解方面从他们的体验中学到了什么？2)这部电影单独或结合补充经验在多大程度上激发了女孩和年轻女性的职业意识。以及种族/民族背景的年轻人？3)身临其境的体验(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)在现场直接体验之后，观众的效果有多持久？形成性评价将被设计为以经验证据为信息的持续改进，其中评价人员与小组成员合作，以及时和以项目为重点的方式回答与决策有关的问题。总结性评价将作为一项有效性研究，采用混合方法，确定是否取得了关键方案成果，以及特定方案要素对成果的贡献程度。这一创新发展项目由推进非正式STEM学习计划(AISL)资助，该计划旨在：(A)促进对非正式环境中STEM学习的设计和开发的新方法和基于证据的理解；(B)为扩大获得和参与STEM学习经验提供多种途径；(C)推进对非正式环境中STEM学习的创新研究和评估；以及(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。

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.