Strategic partnerships that bring together schools and other organizations–such as museums–have the potential to transform learning in ways that neither partner can accomplish alone. Explore the process, products, and outcomes of such collaborations and gain inspiration and insight for launching your own partnerships. Participants will look at two very different examples (see below) of how schools and museums can work together.
Example 1: SPARK Discovery and Invention! is a classroom-based NGSS-aligned curriculum supplement for 4th grade students in Bellingham Public Schools that was developed and piloted in collaboration between Western Washington University, Bellingham Public Schools, and the SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention. Development of the materials provided a venue for reciprocal learning by all stakeholders, and implementation and revision of the lessons provided a unique and authentic context for preservice teachers’ science practicum experience. Ongoing use of the materials as a complement to a field trip to the SPARK museum is supporting the vision of the NGSS in local classrooms.
Example 2: EPIC Bioscience uses digitized museum specimens to guide middle school learners through authentic research investigations. As they work with EPIC Bioscience investigations, students participate in a full range of science practices: engaging with a key question, gathering and analyzing relevant data, interpreting findings, and communicating conclusions. EPIC Bioscience is a true interdisciplinary effort, bringing together educators, curriculum developers, domain scientists, and learning researchers from the Natural History Museum of Utah and the University of Utah. EPIC Bioscience investigations are fully online and free for educational use.
This Web Seminar is offered through the Bridging the Gap between In-School and Out-of-School STEM Learning project funded by the National Science Foundation under Grant #DRL 2031157. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the presenters and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
All individuals receive a certificate of participation and 100 NSTA activity points for attending the live seminar and completing the end-of-program survey. A certificate of participation is not awarded for watching the recorded version of the program.
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Below are comments from individuals who attended the seminar:
- "I was interested to learn how informal and formal educators were collaborating. The discussion about successful collaboration was interesting and useful."
- "It was interesting to learn more about the Spark Museum resources and Epic Bioscience and how they are meeting needs in the classroom."
- "The collaboration between a nonprofit, university, and public school classrooms in the SPARK curriculum development was inspiring and super affective, short-, medium-, and longterm."
A certificate of attendance was deposited into participants' account page for completing the evaluation form at the end of the program.
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