International Travel Grant: Connected Audiences

非正式的科学教育工作者、研究人员和评估人员对直接参与增加多样性和有意义的交叉性的挑战和机遇感兴趣。美国博物馆联盟（AAM）、科学技术中心协会（ASTC）和游客研究协会（VSA）等组织的年会一直都有与这些主题相关的会议。美国国家科学基金会扩大参与的目标意味着目前正在进行的具体项目努力也直接解决了增加STEM多样性和包容性的方法和战略。互联受众会议将提供一个参与国际对话的机会，直接利用这一势头，并有可能激发参与者之间集中的集体行动，对该领域产生更大的影响。该旅游奖将支持美国在2017年9月14日至16日在奥地利维也纳举行的“互联观众国际会议”上的更多参与。会议的前提是，博物馆和其他文化机构在社会中的作用正在迅速变化，因为这些机构努力成为旨在支持科学学习、社会发展和增长的倡议的更重要的资源和合作伙伴。美国参与的目标是支持该领域的知名研究人员以及处于职业生涯中期的专业人员。会议由以下人员组成：思想领袖、案例研究演示者、海报演示者和一般参与者。思想领袖将强调扩大参与的理论和实践方法，旨在在分组讨论中引起争议和激发讨论。案例研究演示者将被配对，以说明项目设计、实施或结果的相似和/或差异。以这种方式组织案例研究，有助于着重于跨国和跨机构协同作用的对话。海报会议的演讲者被挑选和分组，以鼓励富有成效和比较，特别是探索跨领域方法的潜力，以更有效地与观众接触。获得旅费资助的美国与会者代表积极从事这项工作并有能力继续为该领域作出重要贡献的人。国际参与者代表了一系列文化机构，其中最大比例的参与者来自科学中心和儿童博物馆；但是，所有与会者都是因为他们对与公平和更多参与有关的问题感兴趣、关注和专门知识而来的。会议的结构将为与会者提供大量的时间进行反复的反思和积极的讨论，使每一次会议都与个人相关和有意义。这有意地为意见领袖、案例研究演示者和海报会议演示者提出的任何想法提供了很多推回甚至完全不同意的空间。该奖项由推进非正式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，以扩大获得和参与STEM学习体验的机会。“连接的观众”会议旨在促进关于21世纪公民学习生态中非正式科学教育机构未来的国际对话。通过探索新的发现和最佳实践的国际交流，会议与会者将能够制定改进的战略，以增加和多样化参与非正式科学教育经验的人以及他们如何参与。由美国参与者撰写的白皮书将用于与更广泛的非正式教育领域分享发现和见解。

Informal science educators, researchers, and evaluators are interested in directly engaging with the challenges and opportunities of increasing diversity and meaningful intersectionality. The annual meetings of organizations like the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC), and the Visitors Studies Association (VSA) have consistently featured sessions relevant to these topics. NSF's goal of broadening participation means there are also project specific efforts currently underway to directly address methods and strategies for increasing diversity and inclusion in STEM. The Connected Audience Conference will provide an opportunity to engage in an international conversation that directly leverages this momentum and has the potential to motivate focused collective action among participants producing a greater impact on the field. This travel award supports an enhanced U.S. presence at the Connected Audience International Conference to be held in Vienna, Austria September 14-16, 2017. The premise of the meeting is that the role of museums and other cultural institutions in society is rapidly changing as these institutions strive to become more vital resources and partners in initiatives designed to support science learning, social development and growth in an increasingly science and technology-driven world. The goal for U.S. participation is to support established researchers in this area as well as mid-career professionals. The meeting is comprised of: thought leaders, case study presenters, poster presenters and general participants. Thought leaders will highlight theoretical and practical approaches to broadening participation designed to be provocative and stimulate discussion in the breakout sessions. Case study presenters will be paired to illustrate similarities and/or differences in project design, implementation, or outcomes. Structuring the case studies in this way supports conversations focused on cross-country and cross-institution synergies. The poster session presenters were selected and grouped to encourage productive and comparisons specifically exploring the potential for cross-cutting methods to more effectively engage with audiences. U.S. attendees supported under this travel grant represent those who are engaged in this work actively and positioned to continue making important contributions to the field. International participants represent a range of cultural institutions with the largest proportion attending from science centers and children's museums; however, all participants come because of their interest, concerns and expertise in issues related to equity and greater participation. The structure of the meeting will provide participants with significant time for iterative reflection and active discussion to make each session personally relevant and meaningful. This intentionally allows lots of room for pushback and even outright disagreement with any of the ideas proposed by the thought leaders, case study presenters, and poster session presenters. This award 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. The Connected Audience conference is designed to significantly contribute to an international conversation about the future of informal science education institutions in the learning ecologies of 21st century citizens. Through exploration of new findings and international cross-pollination of best practices, conference participants will be able to develop improved strategies for increasing and diversifying who participates in informal science education experiences as well as how they participate. A white paper written by the U.S. participants will be used to share findings and insights with the broader informal education field.