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In Their Own Voices

NEW! "In Their Own Voices" tells the story of fully engaged individuals who had participated in PISEC programs over the years and seeks to understand what made them become so involved. We found that they are not linked by a demographic category like mother's education or science background. Rather, they are creative, intelligent, resourceful people who saw what this program could do for their families. They are very different from one another, and that is where the idea for the "In Their Own Voices" book was born.



Museum Community Partnerships

NEW! "Museum/Community Partnerships: Lessons Learned from the Bridges Conference" presents the results of 2008 conference that explored how museums and other learning institutions and community organizations (CBOs) can work together towards a shared vision of engaging underserved families in enrichment activities. The BRIDGES conference brought together museum and community pairs from 25 partnerships to explore best practices for developing and sustaining these innovative programs. The conference provided opportunities for participants to meet others engaged in similar efforts, to share triumphs and tragedies, and to build an ongoing community of practice.


CASE: Community Ambassadors in Science Exploration


Community Ambassadors in Science Exploration (CASE) is a new model for encouraging the appreciation and understanding of science among a diverse set of local communities. CASE is a program of PISEC (Philadelphia/Camden Informal Science Education Collaborative), which has a ten-year history of museum-community collaboration.

CASE Workshops The CASE program involves:
  • recruiting and training a corps of teen and adult science presenters

  • a set of hands-on learning experiences for families of varied ages and backgrounds

  • a regional network of museum-community collaboration

  • integration of community and museum resources through joint programming

  • and a longitudinal research study of program impacts

CASE will serve over 15,000 people during three years, with peer-presented family learning opportunities and museum experiences. In addition, CASE will train a total of 88 SCIENCE AMBASSADORS who will offer science workshops at community-based organizations in the languages spoken by their member families. Through CASE, the ambassadors will gain training and experience in informal science education that can open the door to possible future career opportunities in community and museum settings. CASE Workshops

CASE Workshops Learn more about CASE Activities.

Learn more about the institutions participating in CASE.

Learn more about the community-based organizations.

Learn more about previous PISEC Projects.

See what events are featured on the CASE Calendar.

 

To contact CASE staff, please email the CASE Manager at casemanager@fi.edu.

Ambassadors in Action Ambassadors in Action

National Science Foundation

Mellon The Helen D. Groome Beatty Trust,
a Mellon Mid-Atlantic Charitable Trust

William Randolph Hearst Foundation

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