Changemakers: Advancing Community Science Literacy

这个改变者项目建立在2016年美国国家科学院的一份报告基础上，该报告发现，科学素养可以在社区层面上得到理解，而不是传统上以个人为重点。这一点很重要，因为科学知识通常被视为抽象的，与普通公民的日常关切相去甚远。社区关注将焦点从个人学习转移到由可信赖的文化机构作为社会资产推动的集体学习上。这项工作将科学专业知识和社区组织结合在一起，以促进社区领导人的操作科学素养--解决问题的科学方法--和实用科学素养--人们可以在日常生活中使用的信息和技能--在他们的服务人群中使用。要做到这一点，我们将收集和分享知识，发展技能和能力，为社会的整体福祉做出贡献。新英格兰水族馆(NEAQ)和太平洋水族馆(AOP)将采用社区参与模式，包括积极倾听、记录、协调关切和目标，以及共同开发服务于所有参与者需求的共享解决方案。作为推进社区科学素养(ACSL)项目的一部分，来自NEAQ、AOP及其区域合作伙伴的多学科小组将参加关于该模式的培训。他们将利用这一培训来制定和实施行动计划，以推动社区对当地环境问题的反应。将评估团队如何使用来自共享培训的工具，以及同行支持和指导，以在吸引不同社区利益相关者方面取得进展。评估结果将为非正式科学学习中心提供见解和建议，使其更有效地为社区服务，成为支持科学素养发展和行动的参与促进者和变革推动者。通过应用为文化机构开发的关于气候科学的交流技术，并将这些技术与为图书馆和其他组织开发的技术相结合，以帮助解决社区的紧急关切，如风暴潮和沿海洪水，有可能重新定义非正式科学学习中心作为社区文化的一部分所扮演的角色。ACSL由推进非正式STEM学习(AISL)计划资助，该计划支持为扩大获得和参与STEM学习经验提供多种途径的项目，推进对非正式环境中STEM学习的创新研究和评估，并促进参与者对更深层次学习的理解。

This ChangeMakers project builds on a 2016 National Academies report finding that scientific literacy can be understood at a community level as opposed to a traditional focus on the individual. This is important since scientific knowledge is often seen as abstract and distant from the daily concerns of average citizens. A community focus shifts the spotlight away from individual learning to collective learning facilitated by trusted cultural institutions serving as social assets. This work brings together scientific expertise and community organizations to advance operational science literacy--scientific ways of problem-solving--for community leaders and functional science literacy--information and skills people can use in their daily lives--among their service populations. This will be done by gathering and sharing knowledge and developing skills and abilities to contribute to the community's overall well-being. The New England Aquarium (NeAq) and Aquarium of the Pacific (AoP) will apply a community engagement model involving active listening, documentation, alignment of concerns and goals, and co-development of shared solutions that serves the needs of all participants. As part of the Advancing Community Science Literacy (ACSL) project, multi-disciplinary teams from NeAq, AoP and their regional partners will participate in training on the model. They will apply that training to build and implement action plans to advance community-driven responses to local environmental issues. Teams will be assessed with respect to how they use tools from their shared training, along with peer support and coaching, to make progress in engaging diverse community stakeholders. Results of the evaluation will offer insights and recommendations for informal science learning centers to serve their communities more effectively as engagement facilitators and change agents to support science literacy development and action. By applying techniques developed for cultural institutions to communicate about climate science, and combining those with techniques developed for libraries and other organizations to help meet emergent community concerns, such as storm surges and coastal flooding, it is possible to redefine the role informal science learning centers can play as part of a community culture. ACSL is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program which supports projects that provide multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences, advances innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and develops understandings of deeper learning by participants.