Exhibit-Based Public Participation in Social Psychology Research

作为加强非正式环境中学习的总体战略的一部分，推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）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，以及发展参与者对深度学习的理解。旧金山的探索博物馆与亚利桑那州立大学和罗格斯大学的社会科学研究人员合作，将进行为期两年的试点和可行性研究项目，该项目将测试一种将博物馆展览与公众参与科学研究相结合的新模式，称为基于展览的PPSR （E-PPSR）。该团队将创建一个关于社会心理学的小型展览，以(a)吸引科学博物馆的参观者调查和反思促进或不促进合作的社会因素，(b)建立公众对社会心理学的认识，(c)为该领域的学术研究提供有效数据。探索博物馆将以其悠久的历史为基础，创造参与式展览，让参观团体参与社会科学学习和自我反思的元认知。这超越了典型的博物馆实验室，在那里，个人游客与研究人员的笔记本电脑或简单的道具互动。该模型进一步拓展了展览体验，将公众参与的维度注入到社会心理学研究中。通过自愿和匿名提供人口统计和回应数据，大量来自混合年龄群体的人将帮助社会科学家获得比通常在大学实验室研究的更广泛的人类样本之间合作的新见解。E-PPSR实验室是随时可用的，而不是只有当研究人员在场时才开放。该模型还纳入了对学习的研究，并评估了E-PPSR对社会科学学习体验的影响。博物馆参观者是否通过参与真实的研究和在更大的数据集中看到自己的反应，对社会科学建立了更深入的概念性理解？当他们贡献了自己的数据后，他们是否会更深入地参与汇报活动？三个主要的可交付成果包括：1)探索博物馆的一个基于展览的PPSR实验室原型，包括一个获得知情同意的展览，三个“数据捕捉器”展览，当参观者选择参与社会心理学研究时，修改为记录匿名回应，以及一个汇报展览。后端数据库将向学术研究人员发送数据；2)检验E-PPSR模型的评价研究。这些研究将评估汇报方法的成功、招聘的有效性以及E-PPSR对学习的影响。该团队将在期刊上发表一篇文章，描述E-PPSR模型和学术研究成果。该小组还将与博物馆领域管理内部学术研究实验室的其他人员组织一次会议；3)学术合作伙伴的报告，描述该项目对其研究计划的影响。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。

As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program 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 understandings of deeper learning by participants. The Exploratorium in San Francisco, in collaboration with social science researchers at Arizona State University and Rutgers University, will conduct a two-year Pilots and Feasibility Studies project that will test a new model for integrating museum exhibits with public participation in scientific research, called Exhibit-Based PPSR (E-PPSR). The team will create a mini-exhibition about social psychology that (a) engages science museum visitors in investigating and reflecting on social factors that promote cooperation or not, (b) builds public awareness of the science of social psychology and (c) generates valid data for academic research in this area. The Exploratorium will build on its long history of creating participatory exhibits that engage visiting groups in social science learning and in self-reflective metacognition. This expands beyond the typical lab-in-the-museum in which individual visitors interact with researchers' laptops or simple props. The model takes the exhibit experiences further, injecting the dimension of public participation in social psychology research. By voluntarily and anonymously contributing demographic and response data, large numbers of people from mixed-age groups will help social scientists gain new insights into cooperation among a broader sample of humanity than are usually studied in university labs. The E-PPSR lab is always available, rather than open only when a researcher is present. The model also incorporates research on learning and assesses the effect of E-PPSR on social science learning experiences. Do museum visitors build greater conceptual understanding of the social science by contributing to real research and seeing their own responses within the larger dataset? Do they attend more deeply to debriefing activities when they have contributed their own data? The three main deliverables include: 1) a prototype Exhibit-based PPSR laboratory at the Exploratorium comprised of one exhibit for gaining informed consent, three 'Data-Catcher' exhibits modified to record anonymous responses when visitors opt-in to contributing to social psychological research, and one debriefing exhibit. A back-end database will send data to the academic researchers; 2) evaluation studies that test the E-PPSR model. The studies will assess the success of debriefing approaches, the effectiveness of recruitment and the impact of E-PPSR on learning. The team will publish a journal article describing the E-PPSR model and academic research findings. The team will also organize a conference session with others in the museum field who manage in-house academic research laboratories; and 3) a report by the academic partners describing the impact of the project on their research program.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.