AERA Exhibits at Coalition for National Science Funding Event
Tuesday, June 21, on Capitol Hill

Event Program (PDF)

Facts about Kids as Working Scientists(PDF)

Photos from the event

More than 320 White House leaders, members of Congress, and Congressional staff, as well as the leadership of the National Science Foundation and other key science agencies, turned out for SCIENCE @ WORK, the 11th annual exhibition and reception sponsored by the Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF). The event at the Rayburn House Office Building showcased research funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

For the first time, the American Educational Research Association (AERA), a member of CNSF, joined more than 30 professional societies and universities to participate in this event, where university researchers and educators described the work and value of a wide range of NSF-funded scientific research and education projects.

AERA featured the scholarship of Nancy Butler Songer, Ph.D., Professor of Science Education and Learning Technologies, and Co-Principal Investigator Phil Myers, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, both at the University of Michigan. Dr. Songer, whose faculty appointment is in the School of Education, was unable to attend because of a family illness. Amelia Gotwals, a senior doctoral student who works on this project, teamed with Professor Myers to field questions on Capitol Hill.

The AERA-University of Michigan exhibit, titled Kids as Working Scientists, illustrated how education research reverses the trends in American science learning. It focused on ways education research has allowed scholars to examine and improve curricular interventions for achievement in complex science among middle school students in the Detroit Public Schools.

For two hours before a steady stream of visitors, Professor Myers and Ms. Gotwals presented both the research results (graphs comparing their students to kids statewide and nationwide on standardized tests and tests that are designed to evaluate complex reasoning) and sample complex reasoning items performed by Detroit sixth graders.

On a laptop computer, Congressional visitors watched a movie of students and teachers in Detroit using activities that Professors Songer and Myers and colleagues have developed.

On another laptop with Michigan-created, web-based software tools, visitors saw BioKIDS' Critter Catalog, a database for middle school students that contains accounts of Midwestern U.S.-based animal species. And, the Animal Diversity Web, a worldwide species database developed for high school and older audiences, was featured too.

AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine, Ph.D., and other visitors also had the opportunity to use palm pilots that contained the interactive animal-tracking software that Detroit students use to track animals in their schoolyards.

For Professor Myers, the CNSF exhibit on Capitol Hill was "definitely a memorable experience," and a contrast from his summer field experiences. "With such a variety of attendees," he said, "one of the most enjoyable aspects of the session was the breadth of the conversations we had."

This exhibit was based on two current grants funded through NSF's Division of Research, Evaluation, and Communication: BioKIDS and PADI.

With $4.5 million in NSF support for BioKIDS: Kids' Inquiry of Diverse Species, Drs. Songer and Myers and their colleagues strive to create innovative, inquiry-based K-12 science curricula that use current technologies, such as CD-ROMs, PDAs, and the World Wide Web for interactive study. Students, teachers, parents, and scientists can participate from classrooms, homes, after-school programs or other educational settings. Six-week and eight-week programs center on environmental science themes.

The second grant, called PADI, focuses on the development of assessment systems to evaluate students' advances in scientific inquiry skills. Dr. Songer's colleagues, Geneva Haertel and Bob Mislevy, direct this $6 million grant. As part of PADI, the NSF has awarded Dr. Songer $359,167 to apply and improve newly developed assessment systems to large cohorts of Detroit Public School middle school students.

On this CNSF event, AERA's Levine said, "AERA's participation is one important way to signal the significance that the Association places on the investment in scientific research in education. Our exhibit linked the importance of research on science education with strategies that enhance science competencies among high-risk students."

Phil Myers, Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Nancy Butler Songer, Ph.D., Professor of Science Education and Learning Technologies in the School of Education at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Photos from the Event