What’s New!

With a new grant from the National Science Foundation, the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) is collaborating with the COSI Center for Research and Evaluation and Oregon State University’s STEM Research Center to build on the original 2018 framework and develop new professional learning and development tools. These tools will support those who work in the informal STEM learning field and will reflect field-wide changes in the workforce. (Learn more about the team here.)

Through 2025, the project team will develop a new set of resources and strategies that address a wide range of situations relevant to those who work in—or aim to work in—informal learning settings, such as science and technology centers and museums, natural history museums, children’s museums, zoos, aquariums, nature centers, botanical gardens, planetariums, and other types of museums and cultural organizations. These efforts will help support the informal STEM learning community toward several outcomes:

• Individuals will be better equipped to plan professional learning, internships, coursework, and other experiences to identify and pursue opportunities for advancement.
• Institutions will be better prepared to clarify how job roles and teams function, shape job descriptions, prioritize staff professional development experiences, and identify when a promotion or salary adjustment may be earned or required.
• Academic programs will be better prepared to shape coursework or internship experiences.
• Professional organizations will be better equipped to plan conferences and other professional learning events, such as webinars or other training programs.