Colleagues –

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History is excited to announce the 21^st Century Learning in Natural History Settings Project. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the project involves a series of interconnected events, including a conference from February 12-15, 2012, in Washington, DC. The project will initiate ongoing dialogue to identify the best opportunities to harness the unique resources of natural history museums and environments for learning in the 21^st Century. We will identify the best opportunities and a research and evaluation agenda to advance our progress toward them.

We are announcing the date now to get it on people's radar and calendars. To ensure that we can maximize interaction and conversation, we intend to keep the size of the conference relatively small (fewer than 100 participants). Therefore, participation will be by application. The process, criteria, and application will be forthcoming soon. The application will be institution-based, with requested participation from at least 2 staff or partners from each institution.

Please note that while participants will be responsible for their travel, some subsidies for lodging and most meal expenses will be available for a number of participants from the US, thanks to the generous support of the National Science Foundation.

The schedule, topics, and agenda for the conference will emerge from a series of events and the input of the informal learning field (see below). We anticipate that topics like the following will be considered:

·         New models for interaction among educators, curators, collection managers, exhibit professionals and museum leadership;

·         Audience research to more fully understand audiences and their needs;

·         Leveraging new technologies for discovery, learning, and social engagement;

·         Rapid response programming, current science, and current events;

·         The role of public participation in scientific research in natural history learning;

·         Collaboration in learning research and innovative programming across the Natural History field.

In addition to the conference, please note the following events, which will influence the conference and the emergent innovation and research agenda:

1)      Online Forum: What Do We Know about Learning in Natural History Settings?

Date: September 28 – October 4, 2011, hosted by ASTC Connect

This forum is a broad call to the field to share information, resources, evaluation and research results, and best practice to identify and consider what we know about learning in natural history settings.

2)      Resource Website Available

Date: October 1, 2011

The Website, hosted by www.informalscience.org, will be the online home for sharing project information and progress. Integrated with www.informalscience.org, it will also act as a portal to research and evaluation on learning in natural history settings.

3)      Online Forum: What are Best Opportunities to Pursue the Untapped Potential of Natural History Collections, Science Expertise, and Resources for Learning?

Date: November 30 – December 6, 2011, hosted by ASTC Connect

Building on the first forum and resources available through the resource website, this forum will explore more specifically opportunities for innovation in learning in natural history settings and the research questions we will need to address to learn more about them. This forum will help set the agenda for the conference.

For a description of the project, please visit http://informalscience.org/project/show/1932. If you have questions or would like to be added to an email distribution for information about the conference and the project, please email [log in to unmask].

Thank you,

Bill Watson

Chief of Learning and Evaluation, NMNH

Principal Investigator, 21^st Century Learning in Natural History Settings

Shari Werb

Director of Education & Outreach, NMNH

Co-Principal Investigator, 21^st Century Learning in Natural History Settings