Program areas at NYSCI
Museum experiences:nysci is the only hands-on Science center in New York, welcoming hundreds of thousands of visitors a year. It offers one-of-a-kind opportunities to learn through exhibitions, as well as large-scale experiences, community-anchored after-school programs and camps, maker space workshops, and academic conferences.nysci has programs for every age and level of scientific interest, from toddlers to adults, casual visitors to future stem professionals. These include after-school programs for elementary grade students from our local community; part-time employment opportunities for high school and college students as explainers, who engage our audiences on the museum floor; the autism access initiative, which provides programs and resources to families of neurodiverse learners; and a stem expo, which gives youth a platform to learn about educational and career opportunities in stem.
Education:nysci supports a trajectory of learning pathways that includes opportunities for students from pre-k through college. Nysci programs help young people to gain stem competencies, learn 21st century skills, and discover pathways to academic and career success in stem-related fields. Through after-school programs and camps, dozens of elementary and middle school students have participated in a variety of Science investigations and used design thinking approaches to create their own solutions to challenges they care about. We have also reached many high school and college students, who participate in experiences that connect them to stem professionals and help them acquire skills necessary to succeed in college and stem careers.nysci also responds to the needs of its local community and our local community school district 24, providing educational opportunities through programming such as family workshops, special events and teacher professional learning programs. Nysci collaborates with the New York city department of education through the pre-k center that opened on campus in september 2022, providing Science coaching to teachers and special programming for the more than 300 families with children enrolled in the school. Nysci co-founded and continues to contribute to the elmhurst corona resource collaborative (ecrc), a cooperative effort of local non-profits and community groups to provide direct services and resources. In response to the covid-19 pandemic, nysci has hosted food drives, medical clinics, and special events that have reached tens of thousands of local residents through these collaborative efforts.
Research and development: nysci is a dynamic laboratory for learning. Five doctorate-level learning scientists and over 50 Science educators, exhibit developers, and program experts carry out and apply research to build New knowledge about how diverse learners interpret and engage with informal stem learning experiences, and how to design and implement innovative, inclusive and engaging approaches to creative stem learning for those learners. Nysci's research informs the design of our exhibits, programs for youth, community members and educators, and our groundbreaking digital apps and games. Beyond nysci, this work is building an evidence base for successful informal stem education with diverse audiences and contributing to national conversations advocating for investments in quality stem education for all.through research grants from the u.s. national Science foundation, department of education, national institutes of health, and private supporters, nysci researchers are investigating topics ranging from how to design exhibits that are inviting and engaging for family groups from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, to testing the efficacy of a digital game that integrates computational thinking into middle school curricula. This research helps nysci create innovative programs for families and educators; offer equitable opportunities for learners to discover the impact they can have on the world around them; design playful, inviting pathways into understanding complex systems like the environment, cities, and digital networks; and inspire a diverse generation of young people to pursue careers in Science, technology, engineering and math.
Each year approximately 100 young people participate in nysci's signature youth development program, the Science career ladder. On average, explainers work at nysci for 2.25 years as museum facilitators, fostering fun and inclusive stem learning by recognizing and guiding visitors' interests, nurturing their curiosity and encouraging agency in approaching stem-based activities, challenges, and questions throughout the museum. They also hold residencies and fellowships with designers, engineers, researchers, and artists to co-create exhibits, programs, online content and engaging activities for nysci's audiences. In the process, explainers acquire communication skills and confidence; stem literacy, knowledge, and habits of mind; and experience with inquiry-based teaching and learning. They engage in the kind of deeper thinking and discovery that is the bedrock for developing the skills, agency and confidence to succeed in college and in the 21st century technology workforce. Over the last three decades, 95 percent of the young people participating in this program have gone on to college, with 70 percent declaring majors in stem. In this year's cohort, 93% resided in queens, and 86% were people of color as defined by New York city department of cultural affairs (nyc dcla).