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FYISE is an occasional update from the Informal Science Education (ISE) program designed to disseminate information about selected projects from our portfolio. This issue highlights three projects related to applied ISE research: a conference exploring the theory and practice of informal STEM learning; a web site that makes widely available ISE research papers and evaluation studies; and a book from a conference about public understanding of scientific research that includes results from evaluation studies. These awards illustrate three different approaches for sharing the results of ISE research with practitioners in science museums, media outlets, community-based organizations, and many other settings.

In Principle, In Practice: A Learning Innovation Conference

http://www.ilinet.org/ipip/overview.htm

In Principle, In Practice: A Learning Innovation Conference will gather a diverse set of stakeholders (practitioners, evaluators, researchers, policy makers, and funders) to reflect upon the findings of the last decade's research on learning in and from museums. The goal of this working conference is to collaboratively develop frameworks for improving practice, evaluation, and future learning research efforts in the museum community.

A peer-reviewed, supplemental issue of the journal Science Education, focusing on current research in museum learning, will be published in preparation for the conference. The publication will provide a diverse, research-based foundation for the issues of practice, evaluation, and future research to be discussed at the In Principle, In Practice conference. After the conference, the final two elements of the initiative will be completed: a White Paper on museum learning; and, a book that discusses implications for the next decade's practice, evaluation, and research in the community.

· ESI-0318868; PI: Kirsten Ellenbogen, Institute for Learning Innovation, Inc.

www.informalscience.org: Informal Science. Everywhere. All the time.

http://www.informalscience.org

The purpose of www.informalscience.org is to promote and advance the field of informal learning in science and other domains. This site, developed by the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Learning in Out of School Environments (UPCLOSE) at the Learning Research and Development Center, is designed as a place for the informal science community to share knowledge and to inform informal science learning standards and practices. The site enables the user to search thousands of references in research literature on informal learning.

· ESI-0125652; PI: Kevin Crowley, The Learning Research and Development Center, University of Pittsburgh.

Creating Connections: Museums and the Public Understanding of Current Research

Edited by David Chittenden, (Science Museum of Minnesota),
Graham Farmelo, (Science Museum, London), and
Bruce V. Lewenstein, (Cornell University)
Foreword by Bill Nye

http://www.altamirapress.com/Catalog/SingleBook.shtml?command=Search&db=^DB/CATALOG.db&eqSKUdatarq=075910476X

Science museums are in the business of making science accessible to the public--a public constantly bombarded with new information and research results. How the public understands this information will affect what they expect and take away from a museum's exhibits and programs. Based on a conference funded by the National Science Foundation, Creating Connections looks at the public understanding of research (PUR) and how it affects what science museums do. What are the opportunities and critical issues in PUR? What strategies are working and what are some pitfalls? What can be learned from the media's experiences with PUR? Creating Connections will be an invaluable resource for science museum professionals who want to guide their institutions and their visitors toward a new understanding of and appreciation for current research.

· ESI-0129775; PI: David Chittenden, Science Museum of Minnesota.