Creating a Teen Science Cafe Movement

在20世纪90年代，科学咖啡馆出现了，将各行各业的人与科学家聚集在一起，就科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）主题进行对话。这些咖啡馆很受欢迎，因为在非正式的环境中谈话很随意，可以引发深入的讨论。2007年，“科学教育解决方案”获得了美国国家科学基金会（NSF）的资助，开始了一项实验，看看成人科学咖啡馆的模式能否适应高中生的需求。这个名为caf<s:1> Scientifique New Mexico的项目在新墨西哥州北部城镇的青少年中非常受欢迎。在校外社交环境中与科学家就有趣的科学话题进行交谈，并通过实践活动进行更深入的挖掘，这种结合被证明是成功的。青少年模型是经过几年的反复试验和正式评估而完善的。今天，它继续为青少年提供一种关于科学本质的新视角，并将科学家描绘成过着有趣生活的真人。青少年科学咖啡馆网络（TSCN）成立于2012年，由美国国家科学基金会资助，允许其他个人和组织开始他们自己的版本的青少年科学咖啡馆，适应当地的机构和人口统计数据。美国的五个创始成员组织组成了最初的网络，每个组织都开始创建自己的青少年科学咖啡馆项目。今天，TSCN是一个充满活力、不断发展的实践社区，遍布全国，其使命是通过科学咖啡馆模式将高中青少年与STEM和STEM专家联系起来。该网络目前在46个州和加拿大拥有大约133个成员组织。该项目将通过创建组织和专业支持结构，将网络扩展到更大的规模，以创建具有分布式领导，组织基础设施和长期稳定的强大专业发展的战略性增长社会运动，目标是在五年内将成员组织的数量增加到500个。在非正式科学教育者专业发展的文献和网络能力建设、网络可持续性和规模的文献的基础上，该项目还将开展研究，为该领域提供成功的模式传播信息。该项目由推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）计划资助，该计划旨在推进非正式环境中STEM学习的设计和开发的新方法和基于证据的理解。这包括提供多种途径，扩大STEM学习经验的获取和参与，推进非正式环境中STEM学习的创新研究和评估，以及发展参与者对更深层次学习的理解。“发展创新”项目有五个目标。首先是重新构建青少年科学咖啡馆网络（TSCN），使其成为一种更加分布式的领导模式，从而使该网络具有长期可持续性。PI团队将确定五名经验丰富的人，他们已经领导了强大的咖啡馆项目，成为新网站的导游。这些指南将为网络新成员提供培训、支持和指导。每个指南将在给定的一年内负责指导两组9个站点，从而使网络在未来五年内扩大规模。第二个目标是为新的网络成员实施一个互动的专业发展计划。培训将包括大约15个小时的成人领袖培训，重点是培养青少年参与和咖啡馆管理的技能。第三个目标将是通过参与和领导与同龄人一起学习的机会，战略性地吸引网络实践社区的所有成员。通过网络研讨会、同类小组、年度研讨会和科学活动峰会，咖啡馆领导人将积极磨练专业技能，扩大个人网络。目标四是通过战略性招募STEM专业协会、军事青年项目、图书馆网络和青年服务组织等组织，扩大目前不在网络中的组织和社区的参与。最后，目标五是实施一个研究议程，以促进非正式学习知识库。该研究将重点关注该项目的网络增长方法和分布式领导如何导致有效的规模和可持续性。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。

In the 1990s, Science Cafes emerged that brought together people from all walks of life with scientists in conversation over science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics. The cafes were popular as conversations were informal in casual settings and engendered deep discussions. In 2007, Science Education Solutions received a grant from NSF and began an experiment to see if the adult science café model could be adapted to appeal to high school teens. The program, Café Scientifique New Mexico, became very popular with teens in towns across northern New Mexico. The blend of conversing with scientists about interesting science topics in an out-of-school social setting and digging deeper with hands on activities proved successful. The teen model was refined through trial and error and formal evaluation over several years. Today it continues to provide teens with a new perspective on the nature of science and a picture of scientists as real people leading interesting lives. The Teen Science Café Network (TSCN) was formed in 2012 with NSF funding to allow other individuals and organizations to start their own versions of the Teen Science Café, adapted to their local institutions and demographics. Five founding member organizations around the United States formed the initial Network and each began creating their own Teen Science Café programs. Today the TSCN is a dynamic, growing community of practice spread across the country with the mission of connecting high school teenagers with STEM and STEM experts via the science café model. The network currently has approximately 133 member organizations in 46 states and Canada. This project will move the network to a much larger scale by creating organization and professional support structures to create a strategically growing social movement with distributed leadership, organizational infrastructure, and robust professional development for long-term stability with a goal to increase the number of member organizations to 500 over five years. Building on the literature on professional development for informal science educators and the literature on network capacity building, network sustainability, and scale, the project will also conduct research that will inform the field about successful model diffusion. This project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which 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 understanding of deeper learning by participants.This Innovations in Development project has five objectives. The first is to re-structure the Teen Science Café Network (TSCN) to a more distributed leadership model that will move the network to long-term sustainability. The PI team will identify five experienced individuals already leading strong café programs to become Guides for new sites. These Guides will provide training, support, and mentorship to new network members. Each Guide will have responsibility over a given year for mentoring two cohorts of nine sites, allowing the network to increase in size over the next five years. The second objective is to implement an interactive program of professional development for new network members. The training will involve approximately 15 hours of adult leader training focused on building skills around teen engagement and café management. The third objective will be to strategically engage all members in the network community of practice through opportunities to participate in and lead ongoing learning with their peers. Through webinars, Birds of a Feather groups and annual workshops and a Science Events Summit, café leaders will actively hone professional skills and broaden their personal network. Objective four is to broaden the involvement of organizations and communities not currently in the network through strategic recruitment of STEM professional societies, military youth programs, library networks, and youth-serving organizations, among other organizations. Finally, objective five is to implement a research agenda to contribute to the informal learning knowledge base. The research will focus on how the project’s approach to network growth and distributed leadership leads to effective scaling and sustainability.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.