TERC Staff Presenting at ASTC
Are you attending the Association of Science and Technology Centers(ASTC) Conference in San Francisco? Check out these presentations by TERC staff:
Click here for the full schedule and more details.
Co-Creation for Connectivity- Perspectives on the Process and Peril of Co-Design
Saturday, September 6, 2025 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM US PT
Discover how co-creation fosters equitable relationships in informal STEM education settings. This session explores examples in a variety of settings (community of practice, exhibit, program design) emphasizing collaborative strategies, shared learnings, and processes that address systemic inequities. Participants will gain insights into building authentic partnerships, embracing failure, and amplifying marginalized voices to drive meaningful change.
Presenters: Ivel Gontan, Corina Qaaġraq Kramer, Eric Dimond, and Shane Montoya
What Mathematics Supports Makers and Making? Finding the Math Activity and Assessment Opportunities in an Afterschool Making Programs
Saturday, September 6, 2025 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM US PT
How do you know what math youth are learning in the process of making usable artifacts, like LED stuffies, lanterns, 3D printed projects? We will share results and four examples of a new type of informal assessment tool, maker tasks, used in our afterschool math and making program.
Presenters: Teresa Lara-Meloy, Ken Rafanan, Jad Eways, and Elise Levin-Guracar
NeuroVivid: A Hands-On Experience in How Neurodivergent Youth (11–14 Years Old) Build a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) in a Maker Camp
Saturday, September 6, 2025 1:35 PM – 1:50 PM US PT
Participants in this session will have the opportunity to experience and learn about a simple Brain-Computer Interface that allows them to use their concentration to levitate a physical ball. This experience is part of an NSF funded project (DRL-2241380) for neurodivergent middle school students run at NYSCI.
Presenter: Ibrahim Dahlstrom-Hakki
Sound Travels: Collecting Data on How Sound Affects Visitors to Science Centers and Other Cultural Institutions
Sunday, September 7, 2025 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM US PT
Sound Travels researchers are investigating how sounds around us (soundscapes) impact visitors’ learning in spaces like parks, zoos, and science centers. We share our interactive methods to collect visitors’ experience and impressions of the soundscape as well as the ambient soundscape. The poster will preliminary findings relevant to museum practitioners.
Presenters: Elise Levin-Guracar, Martha Merson, Laura Weiss, Donnelley Hayde, Justin Meyer, Daniel Shanahan, Nickolay Hristov, Kimberly Descoteaux, and Joe Heimlich
The Girls Have Become More Future Minded. Discovering STEM, Entrepreneurship, and Careers Through Making.
Sunday, September 7, 2025 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM US PT
This session presents the findings of AAMASE, an NSF-funded program that engaged young African American/Black women in making and entrepreneurship activities emphasizing STEM disciplinary practices in a makerspace. The emphasis will be on the how young women discovered STEM, entrepreneurship, and careers through making.
Presenters: Ken Rafanan, Nuria Jaumot-Pascual, and Elise Levin-Guracar