This conference proposal, organized by the National Center for Science and Civic Engagement, is convening professionals both in higher education and in informal science education, all of whom have done work or are seriously interested in the interface of science, society and civic engagement. The purpose of the conference is to build bridges between and explore new connections among these communities around their mutual interests in emerging educational practices that promote self-directed learning in STEM through connections with matters of civic consequence.
The SENCER-ISE project, supported by the National Science Foundation and the Noyce Foundation, sought to explore the potential for building long term collaborations between undergraduate science education institutions and informal science education organizations such as science centers and museums. Intellectual Merit On March 6, 2011, fifty educators from the formal education and informal science education worlds gathered at the Liberty Science Center, to engage in two days of discussion about how both communities could work together to advance STEM learning through the broad focus of civic engagement. The SENCER-ISE conference was funded by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Noyce Foundation to the National Center for Science and Civic Engagement (NCSCE), the home of SENCER (Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities). The informal science educators who attended SENCER-ISE came primarily from science and natural history museums, science centers, science media and communication outlets, and science organizations such as the National Geographic Society and the Association of Science-Technology Centers. The world of formal science higher education was represented by SENCER faculty, primarily by those who are co-directors of the SENCER Centers for Innovation located at two- and four-year institutions of higher education. The participants came from 19 states and the District of Columbia and also from Canada, Chile, and Israel. Through facilitated, interactive problem-solving discussions, participants were able to build upon mutual learning goals and interests. They began to theorize that partnerships between formal and informal science educators could, through a shared focus on issues of civic consequence, lead to greater civic engagement and the continued development of a science-enabled citizenry that can make science-based decisions about these issues. The problem-solving process included discussions on both potential obstacles and possible strategies to address these obstacles. The question "What can we do together to advance our shared vision?" was central to the proceedings as participants worked in teams to learn more about each other’s strengths and goals. It became apparent that most of the higher education participants saw civic engagement as a means towards achieving science learning and most of the informal science education participants looked at civic engagement as a valuable end in itself. Still, the commonality of interest in using civic issues to engage audiences (whether students in and out of school or adults in the community) was the glue that held the discussions together. In the months following the meeting, a follow-up meeting was held with several teams of participants who had begun developing new HE-ISE partnerships. A number of publications including the conference proceedings, evaluations, and project findings were published on-line. Broader Impacts The project evaluation by Randi Korn Associates found that the SENCER-ISE conference was an important first step in creating connections between the informal science education and the formal higher education communities. New learning and perspectives resulted from conference participation; about three-quarters of interviewees said the conference had created an awareness of the value of the other sector, empathy for the challenges the other sector encounters, and/or concretized potential opportunities for collaboration between the two sectors. Findings also show that the conference sparked new collaborative ideas for about one-half of interviewees and honed existing ideas for another one-half of interviewees. When asked to discuss the progress they had made in implementing these ideas, many interviewees had personally reflected on their ideas, initiated contact (with no response), or had initial conversations with potential stakeholders. Interviewees cited various barriers, including time and other commitments, institutional transitions, and geographic distance. Findings suggest a continued need to build awareness of the value of using civic engagement as a platform to advance science understanding, including what each sector brings to a potential collaboration that would help achieve this end. Findings also suggest other platforms for collaboration might need to be considered; interviewees recommended maintaining communication online and hosting regional conferences to address the barrier of geographic distance. The SENCER-ISE conference successfully sparked ideas and built momentum for collaboration, however, sustaining that momentum presents a challenge given day-to-day responsibilities of ISE and higher education professionals. Several HE-ISE partnerships begun at the conference are already in various stages of development. Publications Alan J. Friedman, Ellen F. Mappen, "SENCER-ISE: Establishing Connections Between Formal and Informal Science Educators to Advance STEM Learning Through Civic Engagement," Science Education and Civic Engagement: An International Journal, 3(2), 31-37 (2011). http://seceij.net/files/seceij/summer11/friedman.pdf. Catherine McEver, "SENCER-ISE Conference Documentation" (2011). Published online at www.ncsce.net/Initiatives/documents/SISEFinal.pdf . An executive summary of the proceedings was also published online at www.ncsce.net/Initiatives/SISEsumFinal.pdf . Randi Korn, "SENCER-ISE Conference: An Evaluation" (2011). Published online at www.ncsce.net/Initiatives/2011_RKA_NCSCE_SENCER-ISE%20eval_final.pdf . Also available at http://informalscience.org/evaluation/show/534. Friedman, Alan J. and Mappen , Ellen F., "Formal/Informal Science Learning Through Civic Engagement: Both Sides of the Equation," in Science Education and Civic Engagement: The Next Level, eds. Sheardy, Richard D. and Burns, Wm. David. ACS Symposium Series, in press (2012).
