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Making STEM Content Relevant

Relevance is an important component of any successful STEM public engagement programming. Use these suggestions and tips to make your Earth and space content more relevant for learners in your community.

DESCRIPTION

Making your program offerings more relevant to learners in your community can help create deeper engagement experiences. The guides, informational sheets, and media of the Explore Science: Earth & Space toolkit specifically address strategies to add relevance.

Starting from an initial goal of two-way conversations between facilitators and learners, the presentation here offers multiple options to build relevance during hands-on activities covering Earth & space science content. Offering opportunities to share values, providing local context and connections, and considering emotions are several strategies facilitators can use to add relevance for their learners. Strategies are then connected to specific components in two example Explore Science: Earth & Space toolkit activities. 

Using the resources described here will help informal educators encourage learners to connect Earth & space science content to their everyday lives.

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  • diagram showing the factors supporting two way conversations
  • Slide showing leaners using two Earth & Space toolkit activities
  • Slide show components of an Earth & Space toolkit activity
  • diagram showing the factors supporting two way conversations
  • Slide showing leaners using two Earth & Space toolkit activities
  • Slide show components of an Earth & Space toolkit activity

DESCRIPTION

Making your program offerings more relevant to learners in your community can help create deeper engagement experiences. The guides, informational sheets, and media of the Explore Science: Earth & Space toolkit specifically address strategies to add relevance.

Starting from an initial goal of two-way conversations between facilitators and learners, the presentation here offers multiple options to build relevance during hands-on activities covering Earth & space science content. Offering opportunities to share values, providing local context and connections, and considering emotions are several strategies facilitators can use to add relevance for their learners. Strategies are then connected to specific components in two example Explore Science: Earth & Space toolkit activities. 

Using the resources described here will help informal educators encourage learners to connect Earth & space science content to their everyday lives.

JUMP TO BROWSE RELATED RESOURCES

TRAINING VIDEOS

Credits

YEAR CREATED
2022
OWNING INSTITUTION

Arizona State University

FUNDING

This material is based upon work supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AC67A and 80NSSC18M0061. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

PERMISSIONS

Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 3.0 United States (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US).
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DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

NISE Network products are developed through an iterative collaborative process that includes scientific review, peer review, and visitor evaluation in accordance with an inclusive audiences approach. Products are designed to be easily edited and adapted for different audiences under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license. To learn more, visit our Development Process page.