Out-of-School Effective Practices ​​Research Project​​

Join u​s in making a difference!
To see the questions you will be answering, click on Start the Survey and scroll to the bottom of the page.
It is easiest if you take the short survey in one sitting, for some computers will not allow you to stop and start again.
​With your information at hand, it should take no longer than 15 minutes. Thank you for your participation!
Picture
What is the research?
This Innovation Collaborative national project will develop a broad overview of how the Sciences, Technology, Engineering, Arts/Humanities, and Math (STEAM) intersections are being addressed in all out-of-school learning settings. It will serve as a basis for developing a research-based foundation for the STEAM movement in out-of-school learning settings.
 
It will study
  • How out-of-school institutions are designing and implementing interdisciplinary learning opportunities that promote creative and innovative thinking.
It will look at
  • The wide variety of out-of-school learning experiences. These experiences include school field trips, non-school-related group experiences (such as summer camps or scouting), or experiences in which an individual student participates outside of a group. That individual student could, however, be informally grouped with other individuals, as in an impromptu museum demonstration.
It will focus on
  • Early childhood through higher education students
  • The intersections of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) with the arts and of STEM with humanities
  • In-person experiences that are a result of specific programming. For example, while an exhibit, contest, or performance alone would not be researched, the programming related to it could be an important part of the study.

What do you mean by interdisciplinary learning?
In this project, interdisciplinary learning is the process of integrating disciplines and concepts in a variety of ways. Actions could include concepts’ interacting, blending, linking, synthesizing, or transforming. Examples of interdisciplinary learning could be:
  • In an art museum, using the iterative engineering design process to create kinetic sculptures
  • In a science museum, integrating a study of plants with explorations of landscape architecture and irrigation engineering that could be combined with an illustrated creative writing exercise.

How will the research benefit me as a practitioner?
  • The research will ultimately deliver reliable criteria and a rubric to use broadly in the various fields to determine an effective STEAM out-of-school learning experience.

How will the research be conducted?​
  • Participants will fill out the survey, which can be accessed at the top of this web page. With information at-hand, this should take about 15 minutes.
​​​