A Climate of Hope: Investigating learning at an innovative exhibit towards new knowledge, theory, and practice of climate change learning with diverse audiences

该项目建立在之前的两个NSF奖项的基础上，该奖项通过深入研究和严格的原型设计，支持了犹他州自然历史博物馆气候变化展览的发展。该展览以科学传播的关键思想为基础，旨在支持犹他州盐湖城不同社区围绕气候变化主题开展新的、富有成效的参与。该项目将研究参观者如何从展览中学习，目的是制定其他非正式STEM教育机构可以遵循的指导方针，以开发类似的展览，让不同的观众参与有关气候变化的对话。具体而言，该项目计划研究通过试点工作形成的五种不同框架（理性希望、更美好的未来、当地环境、社区行动和游戏性）。本研究将探讨这些框架如何影响不同的、历史上被边缘化的学习者在对话中使用的知识、情感和身份资源。这些学习者往往处于气候变化的第一线，但通常不是气候变化教育的目标。因此，他们会发现现有的气候变化沟通很难参与，尽管气候问题以有意义的方式与他们的生活相交。在研究展览内外的学习过程中，该项目旨在发展有关如何为各种非正式教育社区构建科学问题的理论，探索如何将此类框架策略用于社区气候行动，并利用结果进一步完善展览。该项目将聘请社区委员会就研究和设计工作进行咨询。数据将从有目的的抽样人群中收集，并将包括参观者与展览互动的音频/视频记录、预调查、延迟的后调查和访谈。归纳编码、演绎编码、定性分析、定量分析和案例分析将用于解决研究问题：1)游客在关于气候机会的对话中使用哪些知识、情感和身份资源？2)它们的使用如何影响访问者的学习轨迹？3)不同身份的学习者的资源利用和学习轨迹有何不同？学术价值在于对学习科学和科学传播领域的贡献，通过扩展对气候科学传播的形式、为谁以及为什么起作用的理论理解。更广泛的影响来自于这些发现如何培养学习者对STEM与社会之间联系的批判性评估，并支持学习者对STEM与日常生活的交叉做出明智的判断。传播工作将集中在寻求推进与气候相关的学习经验的博物馆从业人员的国家网络上，以及在盐湖谷和犹他大学继续开展以社区为基础的工作。该整合研究与实践项目由推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）计划资助，该计划支持以下项目：(a)促进研究和实践，考虑非正式STEM学习在STEM公平和归属方面的作用；(b)促进个人和教育在STEM方面的成功；(c)促进公众参与科学发现；(d)培养对STEM职业的兴趣；(e)为有效的非正式STEM学习创造和加强理论和经验基础；(f)改善社区活力；及/或(g)加强科学传播和公众对STEM和STEM过程的参与和理解。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。

This project builds on two prior NSF awards that supported development of a climate change exhibit at the Natural History Museum of Utah through deep engagement with research and rigorous prototyping. Grounded in key ideas from science communication, this exhibit is designed to support new, productive types of engagement around the topic of climate change among the diverse communities of Salt Lake City, Utah. This project will study how visitors learn from the exhibit, with the goal of developing guidelines that other informal STEM education institutions can follow to develop similar exhibits that can engage diverse audiences in conversations about climate change. Specifically, this project plans to study five different framings developed via pilot work (rational hope, better future, local context, community action, and playfulness). The research will explore how these frames influence the knowledge, emotion, and identity resources used in conversation by diverse and historically marginalized learners. Such learners are often at the frontline of climate change but are not typically targeted by climate change education. As a result, they can find existing climate change communication hard to engage with, even though climate issues intersect with their lives in meaningful ways. In studying learning at and beyond the exhibit, this project seeks to develop theory around how science issues can be framed for diverse informal education communities, explore how such framing strategies can be taken up for community climate action, and use the results to further refine the exhibit. The project will recruit community boards to consult on the research and design work. Data will be gathered from purposively sampled populations, and will include audio/video recordings of visitor engagement with the exhibit, pre-surveys, and delayed post-surveys and interviews. Inductive coding, deductive coding, qualitative analysis, quantitative analysis, and case analysis will be used to address the research questions: 1) Which knowledge, emotion, and identity resources do visitors use in conversations about climate chance? 2) How does their use influence visitors' learning trajectories? And, 3) How do resource use and learning trajectories vary across learners with different identities? The intellectual merit lies in contributions made to both the learning sciences and science communication fields by extending the theoretical understanding of what forms of climate science communication work, for whom, and why. The broader impacts arise from how these discoveries can foster learners' critical appraisal of the connections between STEM and society, and support learners in making informed judgments about how STEM intersects with their daily lives. Dissemination efforts will focus on a national network of museum practitioners seeking to advance climate-related learning experiences, as well as continued community-based work in the Salt Lake Valley and at the University of Utah. This Integrating Research and Practice project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which supports projects that: (a) contribute to research and practice that considers informal STEM learning's role in equity and belonging in STEM; (b) promote personal and educational success in STEM; (c) advance public engagement in scientific discovery; (d) foster interest in STEM careers; (e) create and enhance the theoretical and empirical foundations for effective informal STEM learning; (f) improve community vibrancy; and/or (g) enhance science communication and the public's engagement in and understanding of STEM and STEM processes.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.