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Hi Diana et al,

This is a great discussion (Thanks! Diana). I'm very interested in
partnering with others to determine how to enhance the educational benefits
of visitor participation in research studies at a science center. We know
that there are benefits to both the researcher and the Science Center, but
it's unclear how visitors benefit.

I've been systematically experimenting with on-site research collaborations
with local computer scientists since about 2002. Initially, I thought that
offering such experiences for visitors would give them a window into
engineering and software design processes, and that the collaborations
would provide us with a strategy for bringing current science onto the
exhibit floor. We observed anecdotally that both these benefits were
present. However, underlying the project was a concern about whether we
were 'using' visitors and violating our educational mission. Eventually my
collaborators and I began submitting grant proposals that would allow us to
study this issue, and figure out what level of added educational
programming enabled visitors to gain tangible learning benefits. Here's a
brief description of two projects:

From 2002-2005, I collaborated extensively with the Robotics Group at
Washington University in Saint Louis on "Robotics Research in the Public
Eye." The collaboration involved researchers from several computer science
departments around the country testing user interface design for remote
robot control with Science Center visitors. We invited schools, robotics
teams, people involved with FIRST Robotics and our general public visitors
to participate in 30-minute studies in which they drove a remotely-sited
robot using the computer interface, joystick and feedback from sensors. Our
researchers submitted an IRB through their own institutions; we also went
through our Research and Evaluation group to ensure the project fit the
'human subject' policy of the Science Center. The researchers were very
personable and spoke at length with curious visitors. The researchers
published over 10 conference papers, articles, book chapters; all of us
co-authored three articles describing the project and the collaboration.

These early studies led to a several-year effort to get funding through
NSF. We and our partners planned to investigate what level of educational
programming we should had to the on-site studies to ensure that visitors
benefitted (films, conversations with researchers, signage, additional
programming). we invited OMSI/Portland State and NY Hall/CUNY and the
Bootheel Youth Museum to participate in the nationwide NSF proposal. Though
highly reviewed by panels and program officers, NSF funding didn't come
through for us, after being on hold for over a year. Once the faculty
partners return from sabbaticals and other obligations, we'd like to
resurrect the project.

Currently Prof. Caitlin Kelleher, a computer scientists from Wash U,,
conducts research with visitors to our Cyberville Gallery on The Looking
Glass software she and her grad students are refining. Caitlin submitted an
IRB through the university which took a couple of months longer than
expected; the project design was also reviewed by our research and
evaluation group.

Best regards,
Chris Roman

Christine M. Roman, Ph.D.
Director, Emerging Technologies
Saint Louis Science Center
5050 Oakland Avenue
St. Louis, Missouri 63110

Phone:  314-289-4476
Fax:  314-533-8769
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