ED43D-08:
Building Effective Scientist-Educator Communities of Practice: NASA's Science Education and Public Outreach Forums
Thursday, 18 December 2014: 3:25 PM
Theresa G Schwerin, IGES, Arlington, VA, United States, Laura M Peticolas, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States, Stephanie Staples Shipp, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX, United States and Denise A Smith, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, United States
Abstract:
Since 1993, NASA has embedded education and public outreach (EPO) in its Earth and space science missions and research programs on the principle that science education is most effective when educators and scientists work hand-in-hand. Four Science EPO Forums organize the respective NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Astrophysics, Earth Science, Heliophysics, and Planetary Science EPO programs into a coordinated, efficient, and effective nationwide effort. The result is significant, evaluated EPO impacts that support NASA’s policy of providing a direct return-on-investment for the American public, advance STEM education and literacy, and enable students and educators to participate in the practices of science and engineering as embodied in the 2013 Next Generation Science Standards. This presentation by the leads of the four NASA SMD Science EPO Forums provides big-picture perspectives on NASA’s effort to incorporate authentic science into the nation’s STEM education and scientific literacy, highlighting tools that were developed to foster a collaborative community and examples of program effectiveness and impact. The Forums are led by: Astrophysics - Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI); Earth Science - Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES); Heliophysics - University of California, Berkeley; and Planetary Science - Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI).
