Innovations in Development: The Use of Mobile Applications for Informal Learning in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park

该项目将通过移动终端应用程序为凯霍加谷国家公园的游客带来STEM内容知识。游客将能够使用他们的移动的手机访问有关公园功能的详细信息（例如他们在公园的位置，他们正在看什么，以及相关功能的位置），支持即时STEM学习。凯霍加谷国家公园每年接待约250万游客，并经历了众多的查询。直到这个项目，游客受到不到最佳的标志信息和背景有关的一个给定的功能，可能会或可能不会感兴趣的。在这个项目中，知识建设信息将由访问者选择，并方便快捷地传递给他们。支持这一努力的数据库将为游客提供公园特征的识别和历史，以及更深入的知识建设信息，当他们在公园中和离开后，提供比目前更全面的体验。 研究人员将分部分构建该系统，测试每个阶段的可行性，并评估每个部分的情感和认知结果。在本项目过程中将解决的研究问题包括：（1）与使用这种基于GPS的系统相关的结果可以告知未来的开发和实施？以及（2）这些基于GPS的移动的学习应用对非正式科学学习的六个方面有什么贡献？预计该项目产生的知识将刺激更多的方案编制，以提高效率，并在其他广泛的场所使用。如果成功，很容易想象这种STEM知识建设应用程序如何扩展到全国其他地方。

This project will bring STEM content knowledge to visitors to Cuyahoga Valley National Park via mobile device applications. Visitors will be able to use their mobile phones to access details about Park features (such as where they are in the park, what they are looking at, and where are related features), supporting just-in-time STEM learning. Cuyahoga Valley National Park receives around 2.5 million visitors every year and experiences multitudes of inquiries. Until this project, visitors were subjected to less than optimum signage for information and background about a given feature that may or may not be of interest to them. In this project, knowledge building information will be selected by the visitors and delivered to them with convenience and speed. The data base supporting this effort will provide the visitor with identification and the history of park features as well as more in depth knowledge building information while they are in the park and after the leave, providing a more holistic experience than is currently available. The investigators will build the system in parts, testing the feasibility at each stage and evaluating affective and cognitive outcomes of each portion. Research questions that will be addressed in the course of this project include: (1) What outcomes associated with use of this GPS-base system could inform future development and implementation? and (2) What contributions do these GPS-based mobile learning applications have on informal science learning as understood within the Six Strands of Informal Science Learning? It is expected knowledge generated in this project will stimulate additional programing for increasing efficacy and use in other widely ranging venues. If successful, it is easy to imagine how this STEM knowledge-building application could be extended for use in other venues across the country.