Project BUILD Workshop Presentation

Project BUILD
(Building Using an Interactive Learning Design)

Workshop Goals
➢Network
➢Gain confidence in using Project BUILD
materials, activities, and resources
➢Begin to build library-ASCE partnerships
➢Learn age-appropriate strategies for engaging
youth
➢Share lessons learned about reaching
underserved audiences

Project BUILD Overview
Paul Dusenbery
Space Science Institute/ NCIL

STAR Net Online Community
• STEM Activity Clearinghouse (active learning
activities and valuable resources)
• Blogs (share success stories)
• Forums (discuss promising practices)
• Webinars/Conferences (professional training)
• STAR Net News (informs)

Use of Informal Science Venues
From John Falk, 2015

77% of public libraries serve
populations of less than 25,000 people
• 16,000 library
locations
• 1.5 billion
visits per year
• Latino Use:
72%
• African-
American Use:
69%

NCIL/SSI
ASCE
UVA
EDC
STAR Net
Resources
ASCE
Branches/
Sections
Partner
Libraries
Ready – Set –
Create Design
Challenges
Family Kit
Program
Project
Team
Community
Partners
Youth/
Caregivers

Engineers Make a
World of Difference
Islas Village Pump. Credit: Engineers
Without Borders

Project BUILD Objectives:
• Engage underserved audiences (including
rural and/or geographically isolated areas)
• Build the capacity of participating library
staff and ASCE volunteers to co-facilitate
Project BUILD library programs
• Increase interest and engagement in
engineering activities for youth in grades
2-5 and their families
• Conduct a comprehensive education
research project.
East Lancaster County Library, PA
African-American Research Library, FL

‹#›
Project philosophy
• Engineering-related skills
• Collaborative teamwork
• Problem-solving
• Creativity
• Failure is just the next step toward
success
• Testing multiple designs
• Engineering is a process
• Interesting and engaging
• Challenge-focused (with connections to
everyday experiences)
• Technology-rich
• Age-appropriate
• FUN!

‹#›
Project Components
Community
Dialogues
Ready – Set –
Create!
Learning Center
Circulating
Kits
Evaluation
& Research
Engineering
Activities
Training –
Workshop &
Webinars

Ready – Set – Create!
Learning Centers

‹#›
Community Dialogues –
Reaching new audiences
Libraries identify:
the STEM
education needs of
their community,
community
partnerships to
help meet those
needs, and
strategies to reach
underserved
audiences.

Outcomes for youth and caregivers
Engaged and interested
in engineering-related
activities
Practice and increase
awareness of engineering-
related skills and the
engineering design
process
Increase awareness of
engineering careers
and interest in STEM
pathways
Appear to
enjoy
themselves
Work together,
brainstorm ideas,
test multiple
designs
Caregivers
engage in
activities with
youth

‹#›
Research: Youth’s preferences for learning

‹#›
Four
Engineering
Programs

‹#›
Engineering Design Challenges
•Tips:
•Show a video clip of engineers in
action in the real world
•Allow at least 1.5 hours
•Devote time for “Do it again”

Promotional Materials
Program Icon Engineering Design Process

Programming Resources
www.starnetlibraries.org
http://clearinghouse.starnetlibraries.org/

‹#›
Binders, Agenda Overview & Workshop
Expectations
• Workshop Expectations
• Informal!
• Cell phones silenced
• Drink plenty of water (altitude)
• Lots of information in a short amount of time =
learning mindset

‹#›
Icebreaker: What’s Your Motion?
• Name
• Professional Title
• Location
• One motion to describe yourself
• Do it again (but with a twist!)

‹#›
7-Second Introductions
• Introductions are the first
chance at a “wow!”
• On average, HR managers
spends 7 seconds or less
looking at a resume
• We already have good jobs –
the kids are our hiring
managers!

‹#›
To adults:
“I’m Brooks, an Education Coordinator for a non-profit that works on NSF and NASA
projects that help librarians bring STEM to underserved and underrepresented youth.”
To children:
“I’m Brooks – I work with intersting scientists to help librarians teach you about science
and engineering!
My 7-Second Introduction

‹#›
Questions to Consider
1) What’s the most significant project you’ve worked on?
2) What would a child would think the most important project
you’ve worked on is?
3) Are you using any words a child might not understand?
4) What’s your favorite thing about your job?
5) How do you get to help people at your job?

What does an educator
act like?

‹#›
Learning Sciences Research
•Educator Monologue
•Initiation-Response-Evaluation (IRE)
•Reflective Discourse

‹#›
Use What Learners Already Know
• Keisha said __________; that makes me think
about _________.
• Please explain to the rest of us: how did your
design change from what you originally had in
mind?

‹#›
Engage with Models, Videos, or
Other Objects to Support
Learning
•Now, it's your turn. You try
<manipulating the object>.

‹#›
Talking Helps Learning
Wait time: Silently count for 10 seconds
after posing a question/prompt.

‹#›
Changing the Conversation
•Messages to improve public understanding
of engineering
•National Academy of Engineering
•http://www.engineeringmessages.org/

1. Structure: 6” or taller 2. Shake table: 5 m/s or faster

Implementation
Discussion
• How would we do this in OUR Ready, Set,
Create! programs?
• What local hazards are in your community?

Family and Circulation Kits
• Heather Warren Smith
Eastern Lancaster County Library (New Holland, PA)
• Melissa Beavers, Judiane Koch, Elena
Rosenfeld
High Plains Library District (Greeley, CO)

Selecting Appropriate
Material

Fines, Fees,
Replacement Costs

‹#›
Implicit Bias
• Project BUILD’s audience is the underserved and
underrepresented in grades 2-5 and their caregivers
• Who is that in your community?
• Females
• Low income levels
• Low education levels
• People of color
• Recent immigrants
• Others?
• Project IMPLICIT

‹#›
Program Share-a-Thon
• For the librarians:
• Chance to talk about your own library’s programming
• Chance learn what others are doing
• For the engineers:
• Chance to hear what type of programming is happening in the libraries
• What projects have you worked on that might be of interest to grades 2-5?
-How did you come up with the idea?
-How did you get the word out?
-What was it like planning it?
-Who attended?
-Did it have an impact on the community?
-What would you do differently?
-What was the best part of the program?
-What audience was it for?

When Engineers and Library Staff Come Together: Results
from Year 1 Patron Surveys and a Look Ahead
Kansas City Public Library’s
“Commmunity Bookshelf”

Agenda
Pilot program results
Tips for getting patron responses
Discussion: Control groups
Your role in Evaluation

Patron Survey (Evaluation Questions)
Engaged and interested in
engineering-related
activities
engineering design process
(focus on trying again)
engineering careers and
interest in STEM pathways
Patron Outcomes

Who Attended?
125 youth (based on surveys returned)
80% in grades 2-5
17% attended more than one program
45% Female 53% Male
*Sums to more than 57 because youth could select >1 response

Patron Outcome 1: Engagement & Interest in Engineering-
related Activities
93% AGREE I would like to do more activities like the one I did today
“One day I was with a mom and a boy, he was a little older than the
rest…and the mom was helping him…And he told his mom, ‘Hey mom we
should do some more things like this. We’ve never been just you and me
doing something.’”

Patron Outcome 1: Engagement & Interest in Engineering-
related Activities
Which of the following things did you enjoy about today’s activity?
Girls were more likely* than boys to select:
“I worked on an interesting problem”
“I got to use interesting tools and materials”
“I worked with other people”
*at least 10% gender difference

Patron Outcome 2: Awareness of Engineering-related Skills
and the Engineering Design Process
Girls were more likely* than boys
to select everything else
*at least 10% gender difference
Which of the following things would an engineer do for his or her job?
**Reversed from original wording "Work alone"
Boys were more likely* than
girls to select “Work with
others”

Patron Outcome 2: Awareness of Engineering-related Skills
and the Engineering Design Process
88% AGREE It can take many tries to solve a problem
92% of facilitators AGREE The majority of youth tested multiple designs


Patron Outcome 3: Awareness of Engineering Careers and
Interest in STEM Pathways
78% AGREE After today’s activity, I know more about what engineers do
80% Female 72% Male
“Since we had real engineers there we asked
them, do you know what an engineer does? And
they had kind of a very broad overview that they
design things. But they didn’t know that we
designed the sewer systems…the bridges to be
able to hold people and cars at the same
time…they were able to see that from having
actual engineers there saying this is what I do
and this is how I apply my knowledge.”

86% AGREE Today’s activity made me want to learn more about science or engineering
87% AGREE Someone like me could become an engineer
72% Female 91% Male


Caregivers who stayed at programs seemed to gain
confidence and knowledge about STEM
“The first time around…some [caregivers] were like, this is too hard, it’s
engineering, we don’t want to do this. And it kind of took us time with them…to
be able to let their guards down and let us tell them some stuff and they would
repeat it back to the kids. I think that’s what the parents took away from this the
most. Just having a chance to interact with the children by being like teachers.”

Family Kit Circulation
After 8 weeks of
circulation:
• 8 kits checked out a
total of 40 times
• Average of 5X per kit

Your Role in Evaluation
Contribute to Discussions on iMeet
Engineer your program! Evaluation helps us test and
improve our programs, just like the EDP!
Community
Dialogues
Optional Reflection
Form
(after each
dialogue)
Library
Programs
Patron Survey
(after each
program)
Control Group
Survey
(for discussion)
Family Kit
Kit Survey
(during
circulation)
Circulation
Records
(during
circulation)
Other
Site Visits
(select locations)
Facilitator
Survey (1x/year)
Facilitator
Interview (select
people 1x/year)

Tips for Getting Patron Responses
You could say something like:
“We hope you enjoyed the program today. In order to make it better for kids in the future
we’d like to learn more from you about how you feel about activities like the ones you did
today. We’d really appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to complete this form and
help us out. If you need any help just let someone know, but please write down your own
answers based on how you feel.”
Let caregivers know in advance that there will be a survey at the end of the program
Before handing out the survey BRIEFLY describe why your giving it to them. Kids like to help!
Let them know they can ask for help
Make sure there’s a convenient place for them to write and pencils available
Incentives (like a sticker, pencil, or bookmark) are GREAT if you have them
ANY OTHER TIPS?

Discussion: Control Groups
WHAT is a Control Group?
• Similar to target audience (e.g., age, demographic distribution,
prior STEM interest/knowledge), but don’t receive the
intervention
WHY a Control Group?
• To help verify that the results we see are due to the
intervention
• What other STEM programs in your library district
could serve as control groups?
• They should be STEM-related and target a similar age
group, but not as hands-on or involving professionals.

Any questions? Contact
Jennifer Jocz: JJocz@edc.org
Sara Greller: SGreller@edc.org
Thank you!

Tech Time Free Play
Options:
1) K’NEX Windmill
2) Thames and Kosmos
Windmill
3) Keva Planks
4) Daylight in a Bottle
construction
5) Wind Turbine Tech
6) Snap Circuits

Day One Reflections
• Pilot sites reflect on a sticky note
• Highlights from Day 1?
• Family guides and commercial kits

Triangles and arches are stronger
than squares
Strongest Paper
Structure
and/or
Strongest Shapes

Forces in a bridge can either push
or pull
Human Suspension
Bridge

Choose Your Own Design Challenge
Go Long Reach High
40 planks/person
6” high
Allow a tennis ball to
pass underneath

‹#›
Community Dialogues – How Opening
Your Doors Can Open New Doors
Anne Holland

What is a Community Dialogue?
• Think of it like a focus group, but instead of testing a product, you’re gauging
your community’s opinions on your library and its programs.
• A Community Dialogue is a loosely facilitated discussion that provides the
opportunity for library staff and community members to discuss a common,
community-based challenge or aspiration.
• You know how your “frequent flyer” patrons use your library, but what about the
people who don’t come through the door? Are there services they would use
that they don’t know about? Is there some reason they don’t feel welcome?
• But it’s more than just getting people in the door, it’s an opportunity to make
new partners, and further cement your library as a community hub.
• We’re focusing on Community Dialogues in support of the Project Build, but we
hope you’ll continue to use this model!

• We started our Community Dialogue strategy with the Discover
Health program
• Key goals were very similar to those for Project Build:
• Strengthen libraries roles in establishing themselves as a place
for STEM learning
• Identify underrepresented audience segments
• Identify possible collaborations and partnerships within the
community
• Contribute to developing a flexible CD model
• Conducted dialogues at 7 libraries; key focus of this program was on
reaching Latinx audiences, specifically those who spoke
predominantly Spanish in the home

Key Outcomes from Discover Health Dialogues
• New partnerships with organizations like immigration
services, heritage and cultural centers, tribal libraries, Area
Health Education Centers, and the Hispanic Chamber of
Commerce
• 2 Libraries added more welcoming signage to their front
doors
• 1 library completely changed up a display that was sending
the wrong message

‹#›
“There is no doubt that the
Community Dialogues are beneficial
to all parties. I think this method
should be employed more often
when we are considering all kinds of
services, initiatives and programs for
our community.” – Lisa Jackson,
Youth Services Librarian, African-
American Research Library and
Cultural Center, Fort Lauderdale, FL “Our first dialogue was with various
leaders who work with the target
populations. Thanks to the
conversation, we are pursuing a STEM
Fair and have new connections who
promote our services even as we
promote their events.” – Elena
Rosenfeld, Associate Director of Public
Services, High Plains Library District,
Colorado

‹#› ‹#›
• Who did you (or will you) invite
to your Dialogue? Why?
• What are your shared goals with
your potential partners?

‹#›
• How will you use your Dialogue to
reach out to underserved &
underrepresented groups?
• What are some tactics you can (or will)
use to reach out to leaders of those
communities?

‹#›
• For those of you who have conducted a
Dialogue, what other discussions
happened at your Dialogue that we
didn’t anticipate?
• How can we leverage those discussions?

Suggestions for Future Dialogues from a library that’s done 3
• Plan ahead. Driggs wasn’t able to promote the Dialogue far in advance so
some key players who would have otherwise attended (State librarian, state
level representatives) were unable to make it.
• Invite the people you want to serve. Participants at this Dialogue were very
concerned with the idea of programming AT target audiences, rather than
involving them in the process.
• Remember your role in these Dialogues. You’re a convener, and if needed,
a facilitator. Don’t feel like you need to “run” the meeting. Let the tough
questions play out. Let things get heated.
• Make it FUN! Make it a party, have snacks, do some activities. Stress the
super cool NASA connection. Driggs had Apollo era engineers show up (and
no one knew previously they had worked on the program!) because of the
NASA connection.

Any Other Community Dialogue Hacks?

Building Partnerships:
Collective Impact
“Progress moves at the speed of trust.”
~ Connected Learning Axiom

“We need to rethink, redesign, and reinvent the
why, what and how of our work in every arena
from education to healthcare to public safety….
It’s no longer good enough to make the case that
we’re addressing real needs.
We need to prove that we’re making a real
difference.”
Leap of Reason: Managing to Outcomes in an Era of Scarcity by Mario Morino

Cross-Sector STEM Collaborations
Learning
Ecosystems
(KnowledgeWorks)

Learning
Ecosystems
Collective
Impact
Community
Dialogues
Libraries
Transform
Communities

Partnerships require resources –
• time,
• effort,
• management attention, and
• in some cases funds.

Collective Impact Requires Collaboration

Common Agenda
All participating organizations have a shared vision for change
including a common understanding of the problem and a joint
approach to solving it through agreed upon actions.
Shared Measurement
Agreement on the ways success will be measured and reported
with a short list of key indicators across all participating
organizations.
Mutually Reinforcing
Activities
Participant Activities must be differentiated while still being
coordinated through a mutually reinforcing plan of action.
Continuous
Communication
Consistent & open communication is needed across the key
players to build trust, assure mutual objectives, and adaptation
of strategy.
Backbone Support
Creating and managing collective impact requires a separate
organization to serve as a backbone for the entire initiative &
coordinate participating organizations & agencies.
The Five Conditions of Collective Impact
Stanford Social Innovation Review

Continuum of Engagement
What will your relationship be?
Affiliations Collaborations Partnerships Mergers

“We believe that libraries have a profound
impact on individuals, institutions, and
communities. How can we engineer a
measurement system that will verify our
intuition?”
Peggy D. Rudd
Director and Librarian, Texas State Library and Archives
Commission

Collective Impact
Building Strong Partnerships
● Who do you want to partner with? (see handout)
● WHY? For what purpose?
● What are your Shared Goals?
● Key Partnership Activities (see handout)
● Who does what & when?

Partner Planning Tool
LLLIIIBBBRRRAAARRRYYY:::
Key
Partners
MARKETING
ACTIVITIES
IMPLEMENTING
PROGRAMS
CONTENT
RESOURCES

Discuss
Partner Roles & Responsibilities

‹#›
Timeline
Host 1 or more Community Dialogues
Promote Ready, Set, Create! programs
Co-facilitate 4 Ready, Set, Create! programs
Develop and circulate Family Kits

‹#›
• What does the library’s programming timeline look like for the next year? Where
might PB programs fit into the library’s schedule?
• What does the engineer’s upcoming schedule look like? Any upcoming big projects or
times to avoid?
• How can the engineers become comfortable with the programming materials
beforehand?
• How can we follow up on what we’ve learned at the workshop?
• What unique community circumstances should be thought about when designing your
program?
• How can we reach underserved and underrepresented audiences in our programs?
Discussion Prompts

Who Dirtied the Water?
OVERVIEW:
This interactive story asks students to take on the roles of different
historical and modern characters who have had a role in the
pollution of Boston Harbor. As a story is read, each character in
turn adds a film container full of pollutants to a jar of clean water
representing the Harbor. The story may be modified to fit any local,
polluted body of water.
• This activity is meant to engage and set a stage!
• “Storytime” Activity = Literacy Connection
• Local Connections

Section 1: Pre-History
(Chorus)
Section 2: First Settlers
(Chorus)
Section 3: European Settlers
(Chorus)
Section 4: Town Grows to a City
(Chorus)
Section 5: Modern Day
(Chorus)
Who Dirtied the Water?
Chorus:
• Would you want to
swim in this bay?
• Would you eat fish
caught in this
water?
• Would you like to
go boating on this
bay?

Engineers Without Borders -
Nepal

‹#›
Some people in Bangladesh use
cloth to clean their water…
Credit: National
Science Foundation

‹#›
…to take out small creatures in the
water that help spread disease
Credit: National Science Foundation

• Activity:
• Use common materials to design a water
filtration device
• 15 to 30 minutes; longer for children who like
to experiment
• Plastic water/soda bottles, variety of filtration
materials, access to water
• Can get a little messy!
• Don’t drink the water!
Low Tech Water Filter

Go GREEN
with
Creative
Circuits

Instead of wires…
CONDUCTIVE Play-Doh INSULATING Modeling Clay

Instead of batteries…
Ruth Gay, EngineerGirl
ENERGY ENGINEER
ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
FARMINGTON, CT
https://energy.gov/articles/5-things-
you-should-know-about-wind-energy

‹#›
Guide on the Side Approach to
Circuits

Safety
• Keep wires and
terminals from
touching each other
directly
• Connect LEDs through
the conductive dough –
not directly to the
battery

Implementation
Discussion
• Choose one or more “Guide on the Side”
prompts to use with this activity

‹#›
Day 2 Carousel of Feedback
• Moving forward…
• “I need”
• (Webinars, online support, more instruction on a certain
topic, etc.)
• “I’m excited about”
• “I’m nervous about”
• Other comments

Wrap-up, Reflection, Next Steps
• Next Steps
• Access and familiarize yourself with programming resources
• iMeet, Facilitation Binders, STAR Net, Webinars, Clearinghouse
• Schedule a librarian-engineer meet-up
• Follow up on action items
• Start planning for a community dialogue

Underserved Focus
• Groups underrepresented in STEM fields (i.e.,
Hispanics and Latinos, African Americans,
American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native
Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, the
economically disadvantaged, people with
disabilities, and women and girls)
• Rural and/or geographically isolated areas

‹#›
Program philosophy
• Engineering-related skills
• Collaborative teamwork
• Problem-solving
• Creativity
• Failure is just the next step toward success
• Testing multiple designs
• Engineering is a process
• Interesting and engaging
• Challenge-focused (with connections to the everyday)
• Technology-rich
• Age-appropriate
• FUN!

Outcomes for youth and caregivers
Engaged and interested
in engineering-related
activities
engineering design
process
engineering careers
and interest in STEM
pathways
Appear to enjoy themselves Work together, brainstorm
ideas, test multiple designs
Caregivers engage in
activities with youth

‹#›
Four program topics
•Span-tastic Bridges: From Here to
There
•Designed to Survive: Engineering for
Disasters
•Clean Up Our World
•Power from Nature

What is the most important
thing that you’d like people to
take away from a program?

‹#›
Answer:
I did
civil engineering
today and I had fun!

Project BUILD Workshop Presentation

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