ELEMENTARY,

INFORMAL SCIENCE EDUCATION PROGRAM

Target Dates for Proposals

Preliminary, No Later Than--March 1; Full--June 1

Preliminary, No Later Than--August 1; Full--November 15

Telephone: 703-306-1616

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Informal Science Education (ISE) supports projects in which learning is voluntary and self-directed, life-long, and motivated mainly by intrinsic interests, curiosity, exploration, manipulation, fantasy, task completion, and social interaction. Informal learning can be linear or non-linear and often is self-paced and visual- or object-oriented. It provides an experiential base and motivation for further activity and learning. The outcomes of an informal learning experience in science, mathematics, and technology (SMT) include a better understanding of concepts, topics, processes, and thinking in scientific and technical disciplines, as well as increased knowledge about career opportunities in these fields.

In order to produce significant positive changes, the ISE Program pursues the following goals:

to increase the number of youth, particularly underrepresented (e.g., minorities, girls, the physically disabled) and underserved (e.g., rural communities), who are excited about SMT and who pursue such activities both in and out of school;

to promote linkages between informal and formal education resulting in improved and creative SMT education in all learning environments;

to stimulate parents and other adults to become effective proponents for better quality and more universally available SMT education in both formal and informal settings and to encourage them in the support of their children's (SMT) endeavors in the home and elsewhere;

to bring informal science education programs and activities to relatively large areas currently without, or minimally reached by, such opportunities, e.g., rural areas and inner-city environments; and,

to enrich the quality of life by improving the scientific and technological literacy of children and adults so they are informed about the implications of SMT in their everyday lives; are motivated to pursue further experiences in these areas; and are aided in making informed, responsible decisions about related policy issues having societal implications.

The ISE Program especially encourages projects that are creative and innovative informal learning activities and reflect and apply recent research in SMT education; contribute to strengthening the infrastructure of informal science education through such activities as electronic networking, technical assistance, and professional development; and conduct research on the informal education process to determine the effectiveness of innovative techniques for motivating and informing the public about topics in SMT. Community based programs may want to incorporate new material into existing programs so as to increase the science, mathematics, and technology interests and literacy of their audiences.

PROJECT CHARACTERISTICS
ISE projects provide rich and stimulating opportunities outside formal classroom settings where individuals of all ages, interests, and backgrounds can increase their appreciation and understanding of science, mathematics, and their applications. Supported projects include, but are not limited to: television series and programs for youth or for the general public; films on SMT topics; exhibits or educational programs at science and natural history museums, science-technology centers, aquaria, nature centers, botanical gardens, arboreta, zoological parks, and libraries; and educational programs and activities at community and youth centers.

Most ISE projects are designed to reach large audiences and to have a significant regional or national impact. The program encourages development of projects that address critical needs for informal science education in less populated regions of the country. When appropriate, projects are expected to use the relevant science and mathematics standards to help guide the content of the activities and to promote linkages with formal education. All projects are expected to disseminate effective designs or materials in order to maximize their impact. All ISE projects should also include plans for rigorous evaluation, based on comprehensive quantitative and qualitative information, in order to document program impact and demonstrate potential for dissemination and replication. ISE does not support local projects that reach relatively few people, nor does it support general operating expenses or capital development costs.

NEW DIRECTIONS

In FY 1999, the Program encourages the field to strengthen its many current positive approaches to informal education for the American public. There also is the opportunity to challenge the field to expand the scope of informal science education activities in order to have greater impact in areas of particular need. Specifically, the ISE Program hopes that the informal science education institutions will become more significant players in the total science and mathematics education endeavor for the nation’s youth, to establish new relationships with major research efforts, and to explore new means to inform the public about science and mathematics education. Beginning in FY 1999, the ISE Program encourages projects in the following areas:

Where informal science education institutions establish or have in place long-term, formal agreements with schools in their service area to serve as a resource center for those schools, the ISE Program will support aspects of that endeavor that are unique to informal education. For instance, the Program will support development and testing of materials and educational programs that are complementary to the informal education endeavors and directly fit the curriculum and teacher education needs of the schools. These materials and programs also should be designed and used to inform the general public and, in particular, parents about the curricula and educational reform practices in the schools. The funds for on-going implementation, operation, and delivery of these services to the schools need to be provided by the schools, the informal education institution, or raised from other sources.

Projects that link with major national and international science research efforts in order to inform the public about the purposes, progress and findings to date, and implications of the research. Proposed projects should be designed to reach significant segments of the American public and, because of the on-going nature of the research, should be designed so they can be updated periodically to incorporate new findings or to report progress in the research endeavor.

Coordinated, wide-reaching efforts that identify key elements of the NCTM Prinicples and Standards for School Mathematics that are particularly appropriate for presentation in the informal education arena and develop means to inform the public of these aspects of the standards. For instance, a relatively small public exhibit might be developed that explains one or more important areas of the standards and engages the public in mathematics activities. If the project were inexpensive to replicate and could be simultaneously implemented at sites across the nation accompanied by a coordinated national and local promotion campaign, such a project could be a cost-effective means of informing parents and the public about the mathematics reform effort.

Innovative and creative informal education projects that develop new approaches and/or delve into new science content areas would have the potential to open new opportunities for the informal science education field. The potential of such high risk projects to reach new audiences or to develop new strategies to engage the public in science should be significant but, because of the untested approach being proposed, the applicant may have limited documentation or data on the effectiveness of the approach toward reaching the science leaning goals. Such projects must include strong evaluation and dissemination plans.

AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST

ISE will place special emphasis in the following areas:

Collaborations Linking Informal and Formal Education Communities: Successful collaborations, through the effective combination of diverse resources and expertise, can promote creativity and significantly broaden the impact of a project. ISE encourages development of collaborative projects that bring together individuals and organizations from the formal and informal education communities. Such collaborations include, but are not limited to those: 1) among organizations with informal education missions; 2) between organizations with formal and informal education missions; and, 3) among organizations in a common geographic area with similar goals and interests.

Increasing Opportunities for Underrepresented Groups: Informal science education plays an important role in motivating the interest and participation of groups traditionally underrepresented in SMT and in increasing their access to quality materials. ISE encourages development of projects across a variety of performers (e.g., community-based organizations, museums, media) that will develop and implement new and innovative strategies to increase participation of minorities, girls/women, and youth from economically disadvantaged areas (e.g., inner cities, rural communities) in these disciplines.

Increasing Involvement of Parents in SMT: Parents can be effective proponents for science and mathematics education reform and play a critical role in promoting the success of their children in SMT through encouragement and understanding of their children’s activities at home, in school, and in informal learning settings. ISE encourages development of projects that integrate components for improving parent understanding of, and attitudes toward, science, mathematics, and technology, as well as those that increase awareness of new approaches to teaching and assessing performance in these disciplines. Materials for parents should teach them effective ways to support their children’s work in science and mathematics and actively involve them in inquiry-based, experiential activities that demonstrate the importance of these disciplines to everyday life.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

Cost-sharing. Expectations for cost-sharing depend on the scope and nature of the project. In most media projects, NSF may contribute up to one third of the total project cost. For museum and community/youth-based projects, NSF generally supports up to two-thirds of total project cost. The listed cost-share amount is integral both to the review and award decision for the proposal and becomes a condition of any resulting award. The proposed cost sharing must be shown on line M on the proposal budget (NSF Form 1030). The amount of cost sharing must be shown in the proposal in enough detail to allow NSF to determine its impact on the proposed project. Documentation of availablility of cost sharing must be included in the proposal. Only items which would be allowable under the applicable cost principles, if charged to the project, may be included as the grantee’s contribution to cost sharing. Contributions may be made from any non-Federal source, including non-Federal grants or contracts, and may be cash or in-kind (see OMB Circular A-110, Section 23.) It should be noted that contributions counted as cost-sharing toward projects of another Federal agency may not be counted towards meeting the specific cost-sharing requirements of the NSF grant. All cost-sharing amounts are subject to audit. Failure to provide the level of cost-sharing reflected in the approved grant budget may result in termination of the NSF grant, disallowance of grant costs and/or refund of grant funds to NSF.

Evaluation: Competitive proposals submitted to the ISE Program will have a well-developed beginning-to-end evaluation plan. When appropriate, ISE projects will include three stages of evaluation commensurate with the nature and scope of the proposed project: front-end, formative, and summative. Applicants are reminded to provide adequate time at the end of a project to conduct summative evaluation. The proposal narrative should clearly detail the evaluation goals, methodologies, and indicate the individual or individuals responsible for conducting evaluations. The budget should clearly reflect the evaluation costs including the external evaluation and/or the in-house staff effort that will be given for evaluation work. There must be a letter of commitment from any external evaluator and this should include a summary of the planned work. It should be clear what the external evaluator is responsible for and to whom the evaluator reports.

PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS

Preliminary Proposals. A preliminary proposal that describes the project is required for submission of a full proposal. Requirements for preliminary proposal submissions are included in "Preparation and Submission of Proposals," page 41.

Full Proposals. General information on submission of full proposals (including planning grants, conference grants, and Small Grants for Exploratory Research (SGER)) is contained in the Guidelines section, "Preparation and Submission of Proposals," page 41. For the ISE Program, the narrative should include results from prior NSF support, a project overview, goals and objectives, general project description, qualifications to conduct the project, anticipated results, as well as evaluation and dissemination plans. Substantive information essential to understanding the details of complex projects should be placed in supporting appendices with explicit reference in the narrative. Using the example of a television series, the narrative would outline the scope of the series, briefly describing the programs (outlines, treatments, or scripts would be included in an appendix); provide a general description of evaluation plans (detailed plans would be in an appendix); and describe major elements of outreach plans (detailed plans would be in an appendix). A copy of any ancillary material submitted, such as videocassettes, should be included with each copy of the proposal. While NSF does not require reviewers to read appendices, ISE reviewers are asked to read any materials explicitly referenced in the proposal narrative.

Information about Planning Grants, Conference Grants, and Small Grants for Exploratory Research can be found in "Special Categories of Full Proposals," page 46.

ISE Supplements for Public Understanding of Research. ISE will fund as many as 30 supplements of up to $50,000 to NSF research directorate grants. These supplements are intended to inform the general public about the content, process, and relevance of state-of-the-art research. Interested PI’s with active research grants should contact their Program Officer in the research directorate for information about the requirements for these supplements and procedures for applying. Additional information can be found in the special guidelines for the supplements (NSF 97-70.)
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