ED11B-3408:
NASA Opportunities in Visualization, Art, and Science (NOVAS)
Monday, 15 December 2014
Matthew O. Fillingim1, Daniel Zevin2, Steve Croft3, Leitha Thrall2, Claire L Raftery2 and Rikkli lamar Shackelford III2, (1)University of California, Berkeley, Space Sciences Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, United States, (2)University of California, Berkeley, Multiverse, Berkeley, CA, United States, (3)University of California Berkeley, Astronomy Department, Berkeley, CA, United States
Abstract:
Led by members of UC Berkeley's Multiverse education team at the Space Sciences Laboratory (http://multiverse.ssl.berkeley.edu/), in partnership with UC Berkeley Astronomy, NASA Opportunities in Visualization, Art and Science (NOVAS) is a NASA-funded program mainly for high school students that explores NASA science through art and highlights the need for and uses of art and visualizations in science. The project's aim is to motivate more diverse young people (especially African Americans) to consider Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) careers. The program offers intensive summer workshops at community youth centers, afterschool workshops at a local high school, a year-round internship for those who have taken part in one or more of our workshops, public and school outreach, and educator professional development workshops. By adding art (and multimedia) to STEM learning, we wanted to try a unique "STEAM" approach, highlighting how scientists and artists often collaborate, and why scientists need visualization experts. The program values the rise of the STEAM teaching concept, particularly that art and multimedia projects can help communicate science concepts more effectively. We also promote the fact that art and visualization skills can lead to jobs and broader participation in science, and we frequently work with and showcase scientific illustrators and other science visualization professionals.
