Celebrating STEM Virtually: The Bay Area Science Festival during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Autor/inn/en	Jeske, Sabine; Kaelin, Jennifer Chu; Nielsen, Katherine
Titel	Celebrating STEM Virtually: The Bay Area Science Festival during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Quelle	In: Journal of STEM Outreach, 4 (2021) 3, (11 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2576-6767
Schlagwörter	STEM Education; COVID-19; Pandemics; Science Fairs; Science Activities; Hands on Science; Program Development; Teleconferencing; Web Sites; Community Programs; Audiences; Diversity; Program Effectiveness; Satisfaction; Inclusion; California (San Francisco) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? STEM; Programmplanung; Telekonferenz; Web-Design; Spectator; Zuschauer; Zufriedenheit; Inklusion
Abstract	Founded in 2011, the Bay Area Science Festival (BASF), led by the Science and Health Education Partnership (SEP) at UC San Francisco, brings together academic, scientific, corporate and civic groups to develop and lead STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) events for all ages. From 2011-2019, the Festival hosted over 50 events each year, reaching tens of thousands of people. In 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Festival pivoted to a virtual format, offering nearly 150 virtual events over five days. Events included hands-on science experiments, STEM storytimes, live interviews with scientists, demonstrations, behind-the-scenes tours and more. Nearly 19,000 unique users from over 35 countries have logged 82,100 views of Festival events to date. In a post-Festival survey, attendees rated their experience similarly to previous years and over 60% of attendees are interested in attending virtual events even when in-person events are again possible. Like many aspects of our lives, the Bay Area Science Festival will look different in future years as a result of the pandemic: a hybrid Festival made up of virtual and in-person events. While there are great benefits to in-person events, we have also come to better understand the benefits of virtual ones. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Journal of STEM Outreach. PMB 0367, 230 Appleton Place, Nashville, TN 37203. e-mail: jstemoutreach@vanderbilt.edu; Web site: https://www.jstemoutreach.org/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01