Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences

ReSciPE: Resources for Scientists in Partnership with Education

Research and Evaluation

It is important for the science education community as a whole to understand better how to engage scientists in effective and lasting partnerships with education. We are conducting an evaluation-with-research study to contribute to this knowledge base at the same time as we examine the effectiveness of our workshops in particular. We seek to understand the motivations and barriers that influence the participation of scientists in K-12 education, and their professional development needs. We wish to know whether this workshop, and the notion of inquiry in general, are helpful starting points. We want to know more about how scientists participate in education, outreach, or as advocates and leaders for science education.

Some of our study questions are grounded in a previous study of scientists' involvement in education:

"Scientists and public outreach: Participation, motivations, and impediments"
E. Andrews, A. Weaver, D. Hanley, J. Shamatha, G. Melton
Journal of Geoscience Education 2005, 53(3), 281-293

First findings from the evaluation study were reported to NSF in December 2005. Highlights include a demographic profile of our participants and reports of high effectiveness of the workshops.

For more information about this study, contact our evaluators,
Heather Thiry (heather.smith@colorado.edu) or Anne-Barrie Hunter (abhunter@colorado.edu)

Scientists examine the internal workings of a black
box class to discover what is inside.