The Philadelphia-Camden Informal Science Education Collaborative (PISEC), which is composed of four museums and eight community-based organizations (CBOs), is creating a new model of learning and professional development for underserved communities in the Philadelphia area. The goals of the Communities of Learning for Urban Environments and Science (CLUES) project are to (1) increase underserved families' interest in, understanding of, and engagement with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics through involvement in hands-on experiences that address their interests and are relevant to their lives, (2) build and support informal STEM leaders in community-based organizations, and (3) disseminate information about a new model for community outreach and capacity building for museum and CBOs. The project is producing a two-tiered professional development program for CBO members, STEM learning programs developed by project-trained Apprentices and Presenters, and evaluation findings about the project's impact on focal audiences.
The numerical impact of the project is an estimated 16,000 individuals in family groups participating in project-related STEM activities. The project will also train 32 CBO-based Apprentices and 64 Presenters from eight CBOs. The project's strategic impacts are three-fold: (1) building STEM education capacity within eight selected Philadelphia area CBOs, (2) increasing STEM awareness and interest of CBO-affiliated family groups, and (3) increasing awareness and understanding by the field of another community-based model for developing and delivering science education in informal settings.
