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This article discusses how research focused on family learning in and from museums has progressed over the past decade and shares some perspectives from the field regarding its usefulness for practice. Although families were clearly a dominant audience in museums, there were not significant numbers of researchers focusing on family learning until the mid to late 1970s. By the late 1980s, there was an extensive body of literature that established the importance of family learning in and from museums. These early studies demonstrated the significance of families as a focus of museum research, identifying them as a major audience and unique learning group of mixed ages and backgrounds, bound together by a complex, shared system of past experiences, beliefs, and values. They also established the complex nature of family interactions, highlighting the ways in which family members interact and learn together, and providing evidence that families bring an extensive array of personal and cooperative learning strategies to their experience in museums.

In 2006, the National Research Council initiated a study on Learning Science in Informal Environments. The purpose of the study is to synthesize a range of relevant literatures and recommend strategic directions for future research in the area. In the course of working on this study, the Committee has found one of its challenges to be the identification and assessment of evaluation studies of informal science programs, in particular those which have probed science learning outcomes. To that end they commissioned the Institute for Learning Innovation to produce a paper that would help them discern the state of evaluation practice, the range of methods used to assess learning in these settings, and the quality and strength of the evidence for such learning. This paper will be used by the Committee as they address the issue of evaluation in their report and make specific recommendations to their sponsor, the National Science Foundation, and the field of science learning in informal environments at large about how to best support and shape quality evaluation practice (questions, methods, etc.) in the future. In addition, the paper addresses the contribution that evaluation has made to the field’s understanding of the impacts of informal science learning experiences and suggests how evaluation practice can be enhanced in the future.

Findings from research and evaluation efforts over the past several years provide increasingly sound evidence that it is not a question of whether OST programs actually make a difference to children and youth, but rather why, how, and for whom such programs are effective. For instance, a series of studies document the impacts of quality out-of-school youth programs hosted by museums and other community-based organizations/institutions. These studies demonstrate that such programs positively influence youth’s critical thinking skills and behaviors, school attendance rates, technology and study skills, classroom behavior, content knowledge, and academic pursuits and career goals, as well as their self-confidence and feelings of competence, creativity, interpersonal and teamwork skills, relationships with peers and family, work ethic, tolerance of others, and social awareness and responsibility. Critical factors correlated with these findings include participants perceiving that the program included supportive adults with high expectations who worked hard to establish positive relationships with them and curriculum and activities that were interesting, personalized, and meaningfully related to their daily lives.

In fall 2005, the Delaware State Library contracted with the institute for Learning Innovation, an Annapolis-based nonprofit learning research and development organization, to develop a study to explore the motivations, prior experiences, attitudes and expectations of users of the Dover Public Library. The goal of the study was to develop a better understanding of the public’s perceptions and use of libraries as lifelong, free-choice learning resources.

Building upon previous research, particularly research on the role that identity and visit motivation have on museum learning and behavior, the study utilized multiple methods to investigate the identity-based reasons why people do and do not use libraries regularly and how these identity and motivations impact use of a library in Dover, Delaware.

This study was a pilot effort to explore the ability of such an approach to provide a detailed, empirical approach to segmenting library users, using user-centered, identity-based motivational categories rather than library-centered, activity-defined categories. The study also helped lay the foundation for better understanding the impact libraries have on lifelong learning and how library services and programs could be designed to better support personalized free-choice learning experiences.

Research supported by Oregon Sea Grant indicates that a parasite called Ceratomyxa shasta is a primary contributor to the decline of salmon in the Klamath River. Researchers have identified a particular stretch of the river in which high densities of the parasite are resulting in severe disease and death rates, thus providing a target for management actions to help solve the problem. This publication provides background on the research, discusses the life cycle of Ceratomyxa shasta and its effects on salmon, and presents the results of the study, including recommended management actions.

Are communities better off because of the efforts of higher education? Extension educators have extended university-based research and technologies that have helped create strong, natural resource-based communities. However, the political and socioeconomic environments in which these communities function are changing even faster than the natural environments. Extension educators boast about being change agents, but are they themselves changing? A team of campus/county-based extension faculty transformed themselves from academic experts into colearners who worked with the practice community and the science/management community to address three critical issues: industry transformation, deteriorating relationships between communities, and improving science through cooperative research. One example highlights the importance of involving the impacted community as an equal partner in designing and implementing a federally declared fisheries disaster program. Another illustrates the benefits of two innovative venues for improving science and relationships between practitioners and scientists.

Scytonemin is an ultraviolet radiation (UVR)-screening compound synthesized by some sheathed cyanobacteria exposed to high solar and sky radiation. It is primarily produced in response to UVA radiation, but certain environmental stresses can enhance synthesis. This study focuses on the effects of periodic desiccation on scytonemin synthesis in three desiccation-tolerant cyanobacterial strains, Nostoc punctiforme PCC 73102, Chroococcidiopsis CCMEE 5056 and Chroococcidiopsis CCMEE 246. Nostoc punctiforme and Chroococcidiopsis CCMEE 5056 exposed to UVA radiation produced more concentrated scytonemin screens when experiencing periodic desiccation (i.e. 1 day desiccated for every 2 days hydrated) than when continuously hydrated. A more concentrated scytonemin screen would reduce the amount of UVR damage accrued when cells are desiccated and metabolically inactive. This might allow the cyanobacteria to allocate more energy to systems other than UVR damage repair during rehydration, which would facilitate recovery. The scytonemin screen is extremely stable, remaining largely intact in the sheaths of desiccated N. punctiforme even when continuously exposed to UVA radiation for about 2 months. In contrast to the above findings, scytonemin synthesis in Chroococcidiopsis CCMEE 246, a strain that produces scytonemin constitutively under low visible light (no UVA), was partially inhibited by periodic desiccation.

The eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, and the Pacific oyster, C. gigas, are species of global economic significance as well as important components of estuarine ecosystems and models for genetic and environmental studies. To enhance the molecular tools available for oyster research, an international group of collaborators has constructed a 27,496-feature cDNA microarray containing 4460 sequences derived from C. virginica, 2320 from C. gigas, and 16 non-oyster DNAs serving as positive and negative controls. The performance of the array was assessed by gene expression profiling using gill and digestive gland RNA derived from both C. gigas and C. virginica, and digestive gland RNA from C. ariakensis. The utility of the microarray for detection of homologous genes by cross-hybridization between species was also assessed and the correlation between hybridization intensity and sequence homology for selected genes determined. The oyster cDNA microarray is publicly available to the research community on a cost-recovery basis.

Lyngbya mats in the intertidal of the Laguna Ojo de Liebre are metabolically active for only a few days every 2 weeks during spring tides, with environmental conditions varying greatly during these periods of hydration. Pulse amplitude modulated fluorometry (PAM) and oxygen measurements were used to measure photosynthetic activity during the first few hours after rehydration under various light intensities and salinities. Upon rehydration, a transitory maximum in respiratory activity (10–30 min) occurred before the resumption of photosynthesis, which could recover in about 2 h. Salinities outside the mats’ natural range (35–50 psu) were detrimental to photosynthetic recovery. Both high (100 psu) and low (0–10 psu) salinities slowed recovery as well as lowered the overall photosynthetic yield. Photosynthesis was initiated earlier and recovered more rapidly with increasing light intensity. In addition, the positive effect of light on rates of recovery was disproportionately greater at lower salinities (10–25 psu) where high light (500 W . m–2) counteracted the negative effects of low-salt stress early in recovery. However, higher light intensities became photo-inhibitory later in recovery (>2 h). Photosynthesis did not recover uniformly within the mat. Filaments deeper in the mat most likely recovered later than those near the surface due to high light attenuation. The ability of the mats to tolerate desiccation and take advantage of hydration periods even when conditions are suboptimal enables these mats to predominate in the intertidal environment.

The distribution and abundance of the myxosporean parasite Parvicapsula minibicornis in the Klamath River mirrored that of Ceratomyxa shasta, with which it shares both its vertebrate and invertebrate host. Assay of fish held at sentinel sites and water samples collected from those sites showed that parasite prevalence was highest below Iron Gate dam, which is the barrier to anadromous salmon passage. Above this barrier parasite levels fluctuate, with the parasite detected in the free-flowing river reaches between reservoirs. This was consistent with infection prevalence in the polychaete host. Manayunkia speciosa, which was greater than 1% only in populations tested below Iron Gate dam. Although a low prevalence of infection was detected in juvenile out-migrant fish in the Trinity River, the tributaries tested did not appear to be a significant source of the parasite to the mainstem despite the presence of large numbers of infected adult salmon that migrate and spawn there. Rainbow trout became infected during sentinel exposure, which expands the host range for P. minibicornis and suggests that wild rainbow trout populations are a reservoir for infection, especially above Iron Gate dam. High parasite prevalence in the lower Klamath River is likely a combined effect of high spore input from heavily infected, spawned adult salmon and the proximity to dense populations of polychaetes.

There are no reliable nonlethal sampling techniques for Bacterial Kidney Disease (BKD), a major health problem of cultured salmonids. The disease is caused by Renibacterium salmoninarum (Rs), a gram-positive diplobacillus that produces chronic, systemic infection characterized by granulomatous lesions in the kidney and other organs. Internally, the kidney is usually most affected, becoming swollen with gray or white lesions. BKD is commonly diagnosed through invasive or lethal techniques applied to fresh or frozen tissues or blood plasma from infected fish. We are currently developing a nonlethal screening detection method based on near infrared spectroscopy. Near infrared spectra were acquired by placing a fiber optic probe in direct contact with skin and scales of the fish. The spectroscopic information was correlated to the BKD status of each fish, as determined by visual examination of gross kidney morphology and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (q-PCR) test. Categorization of fish according to their health status was achieved using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Soft Independent Modeling of Class Analogy (SIMCA). These data support our hypothesis that specific changes in body composition between healthy fish and those with BKD may allow for development of a nonlethal screening method that recognizes presence of BKD in salmonids before development of external clinical signs.

Natural history museums are the principal repositories of the collections that represent much of the objective evidence for evolution. With approximately 50 million visitors annually, US natural history museums can significantly influence the public’s understanding of evolution. Here we present the results of a study that investigated the knowledge of key evolutionary concepts exhibited by high-school students and adults who visited natural history museums. Ninety-five percent of the study participants understood relative geological time (superposition), but only 30 percent explained biological change (microevolution) in terms of natural selection, and 11 percent explicitly rejected evolution. In general, museum visitors have an incomplete understanding of evolutionary concepts. For example, while participants have a good understanding that fossils represent evidence for evolution, they have a poor understanding of the mechanisms of evolution. Natural history museums can foster visitors’ understanding of evolution by integrating this content—particularly concepts that are difficult to understand—throughout all relevant exhibits and public programs.

Historically, most museums have taken a “one size fits all” approach that defines “good” as “serving the public” or attempting to meet the needs of all the individuals served by the institution. When efforts have been made to define and segment the audience, the chosen categories have tended to be demographic (majority versus minority users; children versus adults, and so on), frequency of use (one-time versus regular users), or geography (local versus out-of-town users). Although these approaches have some validity, arguably a more robust approach to audience segmentation would be to divide the institution’s audience according to different needs. What are the key needs the institution seeks to satisfy and what are the characteristics of the audience segments for whom these value-directed services are intended? In this way, the museum can analyze the direct correlation between the defined audience segment and the value generated. And equally important, it can analyze the connection between the institutional value that is generated and the institutional resources allocated to developing and providing this value.

Zoos and aquariums have shifted their focus over recent years, taking a much more active role in wildlife conservation and in promoting conservation learning among their visitors. Research in these settings provides a valuable foundation for the emerging field of non-captive wildlife tourism. In particular, valuable lessons regarding the potential impact of wildlife encounters on visitors’ conservation attitudes and behaviour can be drawn from research in zoos and aquariums. This paper explores those aspects of wildlife encounters that appear to contribute most to conservation learning. These include observing animals in their ‘natural’ environment; opportunities for close encounters with wildlife; opportunities to observe animal behaviour; engaging visitors emotionally; connecting with visitors’ prior knowledge and experiences; using persuasive communication; linking conservation goals and everyday actions; and providing incentives and activities to support visitors’ behaviour change. The extent to which wildlife tourists may be receptive to conservation messages is also considered, in light of research in zoos and aquariums. The implications of these findings for conservation learning in the context of non-captive wildlife tourism are discussed and suggestions for future research in this area are made. Several methodological challenges facing the field are also discussed.

Historically, most of the focus of science education has been on pre-college and college level schooling. Although some of the public’s interest and knowledge about science is unquestionably shaped by compulsory schooling, given that the average adult spends only a fraction of their life participating in some kind of formal schooling, we argue that the contribution of school-based science learning to the long-term public understanding of science is limited, particularly for the majority of Americans who do not go on to post-secondary schooling. This article shows that the majority of the public constructs much of its understanding of science over the course of their lives, gathering information from many places and contexts, and for a diversity of reasons. A random telephone survey of Los Angeles, California residents found that nearly half (43 percent) of the public’s self-reported science understanding derives from leisure time, free-choice learning; science understanding was primarily acquired for reasons related to personal interest, need and/or curiosity. The conclusion drawn from this preliminary investigation is that future efforts to understand and support the public’s understanding of science will require approaches that take into account individual differences and the unique personal and context-specific nature of knowledge; findings also support the value of asset-based approaches to education which build from strengths rather than dwelling upon deficits.

Feagin raises an excellent question, but misunderstands the authors’ findings on the wave attenuation function of key coastal interface systems. The wave attenuation can be attributed nearly entirely to mangrove vegetation. Attenuation of swells with 5- to 8-s periods on the Vietnam coast is based on a field study of a mangrove swamp with various tree sizes fronted by an intertidal shoal. Small outer mangroves had almost no effect on wave heights of 0.9 m, but passage through taller, denser mangroves inshore reduced wave height to between 0.05 and 0.1 m. The 90% reduction in wave height occurred across a wide tidal flat and is attributed to the extent and structure of the vegetation rather than to topographic changes. Contrary to Feagin’s assertion, the authors do not argue that the storm protection value of mangroves or any other coastal interface system relies solely on vegetation as a buffer against extreme events such as tsunamis or hurricanes; in fact, they suggest otherwise in their Supporting Online Material. The authors agree with Feagin that mangroves are unlikely to stop a tsunami wave larger than 6 m, as ecohydrological studies have shown. Wave attenuation by mangroves is “qualitatively different” for “large, infrequent disturbances” such as tsunamis, hurricanes (typhoons), and tidal bores, compared with “small, frequent disturbances” such as tropical storms, coastal floods, and tidal waves. Yet even with respect to extremely large events, such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, mangroves may act as natural barriers to some degree.

A common assumption is that ecosystem services respond linearly to changes in habitat size. This assumption leads frequently to an “all or none” choice of either preserving coastal habitats or converting them to human use. However, our survey of wave attenuation data from field studies of mangroves, salt marshes, seagrass beds, nearshore coral reefs, and sand dunes reveals that these relationships are rarely linear. By incorporating nonlinear wave attenuation in estimating coastal protection values of mangroves in Thailand, we show that the optimal land use option may instead be the integration of development and conservation consistent with ecosystem-based management goals. This result suggests that reconciling competing demands on coastal habitats should not always result in stark preservation-versus-conversion choices.

The effects of nitrogen source (N2, NO-3 and NH+4) on scytonemin synthesis were investigated in the heterocystous cyanobacterium Nostoc punctiforme PCC 73102. With the required UVA radiation included, Nostoc synthesized three to seven times more scytonemin while fixing nitrogen than when utilizing nitrate or ammonium. A similar increase in scytonemin synthesis occurred when nitrate or ammonium became depleted by growth and Nostoc switched to diazotrophic metabolism with the differentiation of heterocysts. In addition, UVA-exposed cultures grown in medium with both NO3 and NH+4 synthesized some scytonemin but synthesis increased when NH+4 was depleted and growth had become dependent on NO-3 reduction. Although the mechanism is unclear, these results suggest that the greater the restriction in nitrogen accessibility, the greater the production of scytonemin. Perhaps the entire response may be an interaction between this restriction and a resultant sensitivity to UV radiation that acts as a cue for determining the level of scytonemin synthesis. Scytonemin is a stable UVR screening compound and appears to be synthesized by cyanobacteria as a long-term solution for reducing UVR exposure and damage, but mainly or solely, when metabolic activity is absent. It is likely that during metabolic resurgence, the presence of a dense scytonemin sheath would facilitate the recovery process without need for active defenses against UV radiation.

The copper rockfish is a benthic, nonmigratory, temperate rocky reef marine species with pelagic larvae and juveniles. A previous range-wide study of the population-genetic structure of copper rockfish revealed a pattern consistent with isolation-by-distance. This could arise from an intrinsically limited dispersal capability in the species or from regularly-spaced extrinsic barriers that restrict gene flow (offshore jets that advect larvae offshore and/or habitat patchiness). Tissue samples were collected along the West Coast of the contiguous USA between Neah Bay, WA and San Diego, CA, with dense sampling along Oregon. At the whole-coast scale (~2200 km), significant population subdivision (FST = 0.0042), and a significant correlation between genetic and geographical distance were observed based on 11 microsatellite DNA loci. Population divergence was also significant among Oregon collections (~450 km, FST = 0.001). Hierarchical AMOVA identified a weak but significant 130-km habitat break as a possible barrier to gene flow within Oregon, across which we estimated that dispersal (Nem) is half that of the coast-wide average. However, individual-based Bayesian analyses failed to identify more than a single population along the Oregon coast. In addition, no correlation between pairwise population genetic and geographical distances was detected at this scale. The offshore jet at Cape Blanco was not a significant barrier to gene flow in this species. These findings are consistent with low larval dispersal distances calculated in previous studies on this species, support a mesoscale dispersal model, and highlight the importance of continuity of habitat and adult population size in maintaining gene flow.

Considerable time and effort have been invested in understanding the motivations of museum visitors. Many investigators have sought to describe why people visit museums, resulting in a range of descriptive categorizations. Recently, investigators have begun to document the connections between visitors’ entering motivations and their exiting learning. Doering and Pekarik have proposed starting with the idea that visitors are likely to enter a museum with an “entry narrative” (1996; see also Pekarik, Doering and Karns 1999). Doering and Pekarik argue that these entry narratives are likely to be self-reinforcing, directing both learning and behavior, since visitors’ perceptions of satisfaction will be directly related to experiences that resonate with their entering narrative. Falk took these ideas one step further and proposed that—although people have diverse reasons for choosing to visit museums—these diverse reasons tended to cluster around a relatively small number of motivational categories (2006). These categories appeared to be related to visitors’ desires to use the museum for fulfilling identity-related needs. Each of us assumes many identities over the course of our life. Some of our identities are enduring and long-lasting; others are more ephemeral and situation-specific; all help us navigate through the complexities of life.

Lipid spray beads (LSB) were evaluated for delivery of the low-molecular weight, water-soluble antibiotic, oxytetracycline•HCl (OTC) to fish larvae. Various OTC core-to-lipid ratios and OTC core concentrations were evaluated to maximize OTC delivery efficiency by LSB. Acceptability and digestion of LSB containing OTC and riboflavin by larval zebrafish, Danio rerio (Hamilton), and larval gobies, Asterropteryx semipunctata Rüppell, were also evaluated. Increasing LSB core-to-lipid ratios from 1:3 to 1:1 v/v resulted in an increase in encapsulation efficiency (EE) from 2.33 to 3.68% w/w. Increasing OTC concentrations of core solutions from 0.1 to 0.5 g OTC mL–1 increased EE from 3.95 to 18.77% w/w, respectively. Although retention efficiency (RE) was unaffected by this increase, delivery efficiency was increased to 7.9 ± 0.7% w/w, after correcting for leakage losses because of the suspension of beads in water for 60 min. Consumption of LSB containing OTC by first-feeding zebrafish and goby larvae was confirmed by analysis of feeding incidence and gut fullness. Visual observations of larvae fed on LSB containing riboflavin indicated that larvae of both species digested LSB. Zebrafish larvae fed on OTC LSB contained 39.3 ± 2.5 ng OTC after purging LSB from their guts. Use of LSB provides an effective means of delivering therapeutics to fish larvae and could greatly reduce required doses compared with current methods of immersing larvae in solutions of therapeutic agents.

Sessile inhabitants of marine intertidal environments commonly face heat stress, an important component of summer mortality syndrome in the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas. Marker-aided selection programs would be useful for developing oyster strains that resist summer mortality; however, there is currently a need to identify candidate genes associated with stress tolerance and to develop molecular markers associated with those genes. To identify candidate genes for further study, we used cDNA microarrays to test the hypothesis that oyster families that had high (>64%) or low (<29%) survival of heat shock (43°C, 1 h) differ in their transcriptional responses to stress. Based upon data generated by the microarray and by real-time quantitative PCR, we found that transcription after heat shock increased for genes putatively encoding heat shock proteins and genes for proteins that synthesize lipids, protect against bacterial infection, and regulate spawning, whereas transcription decreased for genes for proteins that mobilize lipids and detoxify reactive oxygen species. RNAs putatively identified as heat shock protein 27, collagen, peroxinectin, S-crystallin, and two genes with no match in Genbank had higher transcript concentrations in low-surviving families than in high-surviving families, whereas concentration of putative cystatin B mRNA was greater in high-surviving families. These ESTs should be studied further for use in marker-aided selection programs. Low survival of heat shock could result from a complex interaction of cell damage, opportunistic infection, and metabolic exhaustion.

Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic prokaryotes capable of protecting themselves from UV radiation through the biosynthesis of UV-absorbing secondary metabolites, such as the mycosporines and scytonemin. Scytonemin, a novel indolic-phenolic pigment, is found sequestered in the sheath, where it provides protection to the subtending cells during exposure to UV radiation. The biosynthesis of scytonemin is encoded by a previously identified gene cluster that is present in six cyanobacterial species whose genomes are available. A comparison of these clusters reveals that two major cluster architectures exist which appear to have evolved through rearrangements of large sections, such as those genes responsible for aromatic amino acid biosynthesis and through the insertion of genes that potentially confer additional biosynthetic capabilities. Differential transcriptional expression analysis demonstrated that the entire gene cluster is transcribed in higher abundance after exposure to UV radiation. This analysis helps delineate the cluster boundaries and indicates that regulation of this cluster is controlled by the presence or absence of UV radiation. The findings from an evolutionary phylogenetic analysis combined with the fact that the scytonemin gene cluster is distributed across several cyanobacterial lineages led to our proposal that the distribution of this gene cluster is best explained through an ancient evolutionary origin.

Ceratomyxa shasta is a myxozoan parasite identified as a contributor to salmon mortality in the Klamath River, USA. The parasite has a complex life cycle involving a freshwater polychaete, Manayunkia speciosa and a salmonid. As part of ongoing research on how environmental parameters influence parasite establishment and replication, we designed a laboratory experiment to examine the effect of water flow (velocity) on completion of the C. shasta infectious cycle. The experiment tested the effect of two water velocities, 0.05 and 0.01 m s-1, on survival and infection of M. speciosa as well as transmission to susceptible rainbow trout and comparatively resistant Klamath River Chinook salmon. The faster water velocity facilitated the greatest polychaete densities, but the lowest polychaete infection prevalence. Rainbow trout became infected in all treatments, but at the slower velocity had a shorter mean day to death, indicating a higher infectious dose. Infection was not detected in Chinook salmon even at a dose estimated to be as high as 80,000 actinospores per fish. The higher water velocity resulted in lower C. shasta infection prevalence in M. speciosa and decreased infection severity in fish. Another outcome of our experiment is the description of a system for maintaining and infecting M. speciosa in the laboratory.

The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) March 2008 workshop on informal science education evaluation brought together a distinguished group of experts to discuss how impact categories might be best applied to various types of informal learning projects. This publication is an outcome of that meeting. The authors have strived to make the sections as helpful as possible, given the primary focus of this workshop on project impacts. It should be viewed as part of an ongoing process to improve the ways in which evaluation can most benefit ISE projects, NSF, and the field. The publication is intended to help those developing projects to think about and better articulate the intended public or professional audience impacts. Since the design of deliverables and strategies should be based on achieving these desired outcomes, this publication should also encourage project leaders to work more closely with evaluators at very early stages in the conceptual development of their projects. More broadly, this effort should advance understanding of summative evaluation by the field. Although this guide was written for the ISE program at NSF, we hope that many aspects will be relevant to other agencies, foundations, or organizations that wish to evaluate aspects of informal learning.