A Science Education Center for the Third Age: Lessons Learned, Next Steps

National ConferenceOsher Lifelong Learning Institutes

April 13-15, 2011

Itasca, Illinois

2009 NSF Planning Grant

• National OLLI Survey• National Science Center Survey• OLLI/ Science Center Collaborative

Partnerships• Full Scale Development Proposal

National OLLI Survey

• 66 responded

• 12 OLLIs with most STEM courses have collaborated with Science Centers

• 39 have not collaborated at all

• A slight majority intend to collaborate in future

Challenges to Offering STEM Courses

Lack of expertise available 25.4%

Lack of Facilities 18.6%

Lack of Funding 15.3%

Other 42.4%

National Science Center Survey

• 19 Responded from 11 states

• 13 offered no 50+ programming, 7 of those are interested in future collaboration

• Obstacles to collaboration most often: staffing, priorities, lack of funding

• Those with 50+ programming experience felt positive about it.

OLLI/Science Center Collaborative Partnerships - OSCPs

• Competitive Request for Proposals:• OLLI + Science Center/Museum Partners• 13 Proposals• 6 selected to receive $1000 each

• Geographic, topical, participant diversity

• All projects completed by June 2010

CSU East Bay + The Exploratorium (Sonoma, SFSU and Dominican)

“Green Architecture and Engineering”

• Courses at each OLLI

• Culminating day at Exploratorium

U Montana + spectrUM Discovery Area

“Classic Mediterranean Cuisine: Chemistry in the Culinary Laboratory”

“Wonder Wheels: Physics of Cycling”

• 2 Team-taught one-day Workshops

U Pittsburgh & Carnegie Mellon + Carnegie Science Center

Introduce OLLI members to robotics and applications of robotics to society

Familiarize OLLI members with Carnegie Science Center – increase their comfort zone

U Richmond + Science Museum of Virginia & VCU Rice Center

Target 50+ who had not attended “Lunch Break Science” at SMV and UR OLLI because of transportation challenges. Also a daylong program at Rice Center

U Southern Maine + Gulf of Maine Research Institute

•educational materials for the Vital Signs website, or

•an extra pair of hands in support of middle school teachers and their students.

“Invasive Species Monitoring Project

S. Oregon U + ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum

Continue a 1-yr collaboration through:

1. Lecture series

2. LEGO robotics workshop for adults

3. Nanotechnology steering committee

4. A plan to build a da Vinci invention

Lessons Learned:

1. Majority found the O/SC collaboration

rewarding, productive and will do it again.

2. None reported difficulties between the project planners, half had problems with scheduling and institutional procedures that had to be resolved. The more the merrier is definitely not true with institutions.

SECTA is about building aCADRE of SCIENCE Learnersand Teachers.

• a virtual resource center for collaborations

• 15 demonstration projects with science centers and LLIs

• a national survey of older adults about their experience with and interest in STEM learning

• regional conferences and support for science centers and Third Age Learning organization educators

A Science Education Centerfor the Third Age (SECTA)

The Team:

Principal Investigator:• Kali Lightfoot, National Resource Center

Co- Principal Investigators• Bette Felton, CSU East Bay• Kurt Feichtmeir, The Exploratorium

Evaluator• Babette Moeller, Educational Development Center

www.osher.netkalil@usm.maine.edu

Science

Education

Center

for the

Third

Age

(OLLI + ScienceWorks, OR)

(OLLI at U Montana)

(OLLI at U Alaska)

(OLLI at George Mason U)