Signal Boost: EvalULand Podcast
Welcome to Insights & Opportunities: A Hub for Informal STEM Education! Insights & Opportunities is a twice-monthly newsletter for educators, administrators, legislators, and advocates who recognize the importance of informal STEM learning.
This newsletter is brought to you by me, Sarah Dunifon, and my team at Improved Insights. I’m a long-time STEM educator, researcher, and equity advocate. Along with my team, I now work on cutting-edge informal STEM learning research and evaluation.
Each edition of this newsletter offers exciting insights, resources, and opportunities for informal STEM learning professionals, including funding, jobs, professional development, informal STEM learning research, evaluation tips and resources, and so much more! We hope you find it valuable. Now, let’s get started.
Signal Boost: EvalULand Podcast
This month, I’d like to take the opportunity to highlight a great podcast I’ve been enjoying for many years. Dr. Dana Linnell Wanzer’s EvalULand offers interviews with evaluation professionals on a broad variety of evaluation-related topics, navigating the complexities and unique experiences that exist in the evaluation field.
The podcast premiered in 2020 and has over 40 episodes out now. As a practicing evaluator, I appreciate the way listening to this podcast makes me feel like I’m chatting with colleagues and sharing ideas. Non-evaluators may enjoy getting an insider view into the kinds of challenges we encounter and interesting questions we grapple with. This podcast would be an excellent resource for informal STEM education professionals looking to grow their evaluation literacy, or for professionals interested in making a pivot into the evaluation space. You’d certainly get an idea of the unique critical thinking and problem-solving involved in this work.
To read the full article, check it out in our Insights.
60-Second Suggestions
Here are a few of my favorite things this month, usually pertaining to informal STEM education and evaluation, but occasionally some fun personal stuff, too.
The STEM Learning Ecosystems Community of Practice will be hosting a webinar with Dr. Holly Miller, Afterschool and Summer Learning Advisor, Dept. of Education, Institute of Education Sciences OST, on May 30, 2024, at 1:00 PM EDT. We recently featured an article from Dr. Miller on our Insights page regarding out-of-school time (OST) programming and how it can be utilized to address education achievement gaps. The webinar will elaborate on this discussion, and identify actionable steps to leverage OST programming to drive meaningful change.
This article from Edutopia explores a new tool called OctoStudio, a coding app for children developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten group at MIT Media Lab. The app can be utilized in a variety of creative ways to enhance STEM learning both within and outside of the classroom. A bonus: the app is completely free, does not collect any user data, and is available in multiple languages.
A recent article in the Journal of Environmental Psychology explores the lack of societal engagement with the climate crisis due to how vast and abstract the topic can be. The researchers propose that creative writing, particularly speculative fiction (or “cli-fi”), in tandem with an engineering mindset may help make climate change more accessible to the general public by grounding the abstract idea of climate change in concrete details and problem-solving processes.
Opportunities
Check out these new opportunities for the informal STEM learning community.
Funding:
Early Childhood Education and Play Grants, Caplan Foundation for Early Childhood, average of $50,000. Grants will be awarded to nonprofit organizations in support of programs aimed at improving the quality of early childhood education everywhere a child learns through innovative curricula and designing imaginative play materials and learning environments. Letters of inquiry are due May 31, 2024.
FY 2024 Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Grant Competitions, U.S. Department of Education, average yearly spend of $1 million. Nonprofits and educational agencies are invited to apply for multi-year funding for evidence-based projects that include STEM, social emotional learning, and other field-initiated innovations. Informational webinars for applicants will be held through the end of May 2024. Notice of intent to apply is due June 6, 2024.
New Champions Fund, Educating All Learners Alliance, $35,000. Leaders of color and allies of the equity in education movement are invited to apply for a sub-grant. The funding will support and elevate the work and profile of not-yet-recognized leaders who may struggle to be recognized in traditional national fundraising efforts. Leaders include heads of community-based organizations, schools, non-profits, and those working to support students with disabilities. Applications are due May 31, 2024.
Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA), National Institutes of Health. The SEPA program funds innovative STEM and Informal Science Education (ISE) educational projects for pre-kindergarten to grade 12. SEPA projects create partnerships among biomedical and clinical researchers and teachers, schools, museums, science centers, media experts, and other educational organizations. Applications are due June 7, 2024.
Transformative Research in the Education Sciences Grants Program (FY 2025), National Center for Education Research, up to $1.25 million per year. Nonprofits in partnership with research organizations are invited to apply for funding. The program will support innovative research conducted through cross-sector collaborations that focus on accelerating learning and reducing persistent education inequities by leveraging evidence-based principles from the learning sciences coupled with advanced technology to create high-reward, scalable technology solutions. Letters of Intent are due June 6, 2024.
Jobs and Fellowships:
Associate, STEM Center, NYC First (Bronx, NY), $60,000. The Associate will lead the STEM Center in the creation of a community of STEM experts, novices, and enthusiasts, and help broaden pathways to success for students and teachers through opportunities to engage with STEM broadly and robotics specifically. They will help lead a range of STEM-centric classes and workshops and participate in evaluation activities. Applications are due May 31, 2024.
Community Programs Coordinator, Lincoln Park Zoo (Chicago, IL), $50,000. The Community Programs Coordinator will supervise the coordination and delivery of out-of-school time programs co-created with teens and young adults that inspire learning about urban wildlife, conservation, and stewardship of the natural world. The coordinator will also support zoo scientists and evaluators as needed.
Education Specialist, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo (Cleveland, OH), $43,000. The Education Specialist will create, coordinate, develop, and conduct community engagement and education programs, and build relationships with community members. They will also be responsible for supervising seasonal staff and Education Assistants.
Program Associate, Chicago Learning Exchange (CLX) (Chicago, IL), $45,000. The Program Associate will lead the work of growing and activating CLX’s Member Network. The Associate will develop and implement outreach strategies to build awareness and relationships with organizations working in and serving Chicago’s South and West Side communities. They will also lead programming and other initiatives that engage and serve CLX’s Member Community.
Project Manager, Chicago Children's Museum (Chicago, IL), $62,000. The Project Manager is responsible for overall project planning and scheduling, resource allocation, project accounting and control, documentation and reporting, and ensuring alignment with project vision, goals, and requirements. They will work primarily on community-based partnerships but may support other museum initiatives as needed.
Professional Development:
2024 Conference for Advancing Participatory Sciences, Association for Advancing Participatory Sciences, June 3-6, 2024 (Virtual). The 2024 Conference for Advancing Participatory Sciences will feature keynote presentations and panel-style symposia on three priority topics: Moving from Data to Impact; New Frontiers; and Building Equitable Partnerships. The conference will be held virtually June 3-6, 2024.
Call for Proposals, Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums (MAAM) Annual Meeting, October 8-10, 2024 (Philadelphia, PA). MAAM is seeking session proposals for their 2024 conference. The conference theme is Optimism, Outrage, & Outcomes, and will provide an opportunity for museums to "come together and share how they work together to build creative, optimistic solutions and outcomes to address challenges." Session proposals should be submitted by May 31, 2024.
Digital Thriving Fellowship Program, Harvard Graduate School of Education Center for Digital Thriving (Virtual). Researchers, educators, podcasters, artists, and other practitioners passionate about youth empowerment in the digital world are invited to apply for the Digital Thriving Fellowship Program. Fellows will join a supportive community of collaborators from a variety of backgrounds to explore digital agency through youth-centered, equity-focused work. Applications to the program are due May 30, 2024.
Equity and AI in Informal STEM Learning Webinar, REVISE Center (Virtual). Join the Revise Center for a webinar exploring what it means to use artificial intelligence (AI) equitably, effectively, and safely in informal STEM education programs. The webinar will take place May 29, 2024 at 1:00 PM EDT.
Introducing the New InformalScience.org!, REVISE Center (Virtual). The REVISE Center is hosting a webinar to launch the new InformalScience.org. Join them on May 22, 2024 at 2:30 PM EDT to learn more about the redesign and experience a virtual tour of the website and its repository of tools for informal educators.
Teen Science Cafe Fellows - 2024-2025 Informational Webinar, Million Girls Moonshot (Virtual). The Teen Science Cafe (TSC) Fellows initiative is a ten-month training program designed to help informal educators implement Teen Science Cafes in their community. Teen Science Cafe Fellows receive one-on-one support from TSC Guides to launch a cafe program and host three cafe events during the year. Fellows receive a $2,500 stipend to support their work. Join an informational webinar on May 23, 2024 at 4:30 PM EST to learn more about the program.
Thanks for tuning in to this edition of Insights and Opportunities. While you’re waiting for the next edition, tell your friends! We appreciate you sending along a blog post you enjoyed, a job opportunity you think a friend should apply for, and resources you found valuable. Sharing this newsletter is the best way to support this work. Until next time - thanks!
