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NSF PA/M 98-13 - May 18, 1998
National Science Board to Solicit Public Input on Science Education
The National Science Board (NSB) will hold a public hearing in Los
Angeles on May 29 to investigate the value of informal science
education activities (such as zoos, science museums, television
programs, community organizations, and interactive Internet sites).
The NSB advises the President and Congress on science policy matters
and oversees the National Science Foundation (NSF), a federal agency that
funds research and education projects in all 50 states. In FY 1997, California
received some $80 million from NSF for education projects of all types.
Of NSF's 166 current informal science education projects, 21 (or 12.6
percent) are in California, totaling more than $18 million. The NSB has
selected California for this field hearing, given California's sizable
NSF portfolio. The NSB will hear from the general public and educators,
who teach in either formal (school-based) or informal (non-school) settings,
to assess the level of success and range of informal science education.
The NSB defines success as reliably measurable impacts on learning, awareness,
and enthusiasm for science and technology.
Jointly hosted by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
and the California Science Center, the hearing will feature panels on
programs, exhibits, and outreach activities that communicate scientific
and technological concepts, discoveries, and applications. The NSB will
examine common assumptions about education-for example, that the general
public and students alike are increasingly challenged in our age of ever-accelerating
technological advances, and that the responsibility for education is not
the schools' alone.
Who:
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National Science Board (Committee on Education and Human Resources) |
What:
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Public Hearing on the Value of Informal Science Education |
Where:
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Natural History Museum, 900 Exposition Blvd.,
Los Angeles, California |
When:
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Friday, May 29, 1998, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. |
For a meeting agenda and more information, see:
http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/meetings/1998/fieldmay/fieldmay.htm or
call:
At Natural History Museum:
Chris Hills, (213) 763-3515, chills@nhm.org
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