iPAGE

Application Deadline for the 2017-2018 Cohort: August 1, 2017

iPAGE: Developing a Model for Broadening Participation in Informal STEM Institutions is an NSF AISL Innovation in Development Project (NSF award #1612640).

At the heart of the iPAGE model is a comprehensive program of change that takes a team of strategically placed individuals within a given science center or museum and prepares them to work as a team with their colleagues to enact significant social change within their institution. The ultimate goal of iPAGE is to transform ISI culture, making ISI’s more inclusive environments in which to learn, engage, and identify with STEM.

Utilizing Design-Based Research (DBR), the iPage project is developing and sharing an effective Knowledge-to-Action (KTA) model for use across ISIs that will build a networked leadership community equipped with effective KTA processes.

iPAGE is conducted by the Science House Professional Development Group at the Science Museum of Minnesota.

Science House Professional Development

Welcome

Our Community

Outcome-Driven

Research-Driven

iPAGE is building knowledge for the informal education field by utilizing design-based research to adapt and refine the Museum’s successful K-12 leadership-based professional development (PD) and implementation model known as PAGE, to squarely address the needs and contexts of ISIs. It will deliver a field-tested extension service model that includes:

methods and content for facilitating productive and transformative PD experiences for ISI leadership teams;
insight into how to prepare leaders to engage in site-specific work on inclusion issues;
strategies for supporting leaders in this context-specific work; and
reflective tools that can be used by ISI leadership teams.

The iPAGE community draws on knowledge of identity and systems of oppression, leadership in complex systems, and the nature and culture of STEM—referred to here as the iPAGE Framework. The collective action of the iPAGE community focuses on applying this shared knowledge in site-specific ways with ISI colleagues to increase inclusion for staff and volunteers.

What does the annual program look like?

iPAGE works with annual cohorts of 24 leaders and 6 Champions who are subdivided into 4-6 ISI-based distributed leadership teams. In each cohort, we hope to have teams that represent a wide range of ISIs (size, rural/urban, audiences served, etc).

The iPAGE program comprises of face-to-face, independent, and on-line experiences spanning a 7-month period beginning in the fall of each program year. The formal events each year include:

iPAGE Foundations Institute – This 5-day event is attended by all first-year participants, and lays the groundwork for understanding the iPAGE Framework for equity in ISIs through a highly integrated sequence of STEM investigations.
Colloquia – In this series consisting of three 2-day events, leaders shift from a focus on their own understanding of inclusion issues in informal STEM learning to implementing the iPAGE Framework at their own sites with their colleagues. During this phase, leaders work explicitly to improve their own efficacy both in articulating the meaning and value of adopting the iPAGE Framework and in adapting the modules for their own work and contexts.
Implementation Support – Between these events, leaders return to their home institutions to implement the iPAGE Framework with their colleagues. The iPAGE facilitation team will provide consulting services focused on leaders’ context-specific needs and challenges as they work at their sites. This consulting will be available to all participants throughout the life of the grant.Leaders will engage in iterative cycles of systematic and self-critical planning, acting, observing, and reflecting all within the supportive context of community. Mini-grants of up to $25K will be available to support local diffusion and implementation efforts.

Teams have the following types of members:

The Champion is a high-ranking individual within the institution who controls resources and has formal influence. The Champion is responsible for having an overall understanding of the effort, making sure that key individuals have the time to devote to iPAGE, and ensuring that barriers are reduced for the iPAGE team to do site-based work. Teams must name a Champion who is the ISI senior executive (CEO, President, or equivalent title) or a direct report to this individual. Alison Brown, Science Museum of Minnesota President, is the Champion for our own Science Museum of Minnesota team.

Champions must commit to participate in a webinar prior to the Foundations Institute, to debrief with their team after each program event, and to attend Colloquia 1 and 3 (see dates below) in Saint Paul.

Champions can also be fully embedded in their team and attend all 11 days of programming in Saint Paul or attend all three Colloquia.

All teams must have a designated Team Captain. Team captains must have direct access to the Champion and other team members. They will serve as the principle point of contact between the ISI and Science House for general issues and questions.

Team Captains are required to attend the iPAGE Foundations Institute and all Colloquia (see dates below).

First-year Participants are team members who become local change agents within their ISIs. They are chosen based on the extent to which their opinions are highly influential through informal mechanisms and/or because they are in positions to effect change at different levels within the organization. The change agents’ charge is to serve as distributed leaders, connectors, and role models for supporting institutional change. Departments represented may include exhibits, public programs, outreach, professional development, visitor services, human resources, community engagement, research and evaluation, volunteer programs, docent and youth programs, development, and finance.

First-year participants are required to attend the iPAGE Foundations Institute and all Colloquia (see dates below).

Veteran Participants are members from the previous year’s cohort who return for Colloquium II and III each year. Veterans continue their roles as change agents and enhance learning in the iPAGE community by describing their creative implementation processes and sharing what they have learned.

Participation in the veterans strand is not required.

iPage theory of action

The iPAGE theory of action is based on our argument that:

equity and inclusion are critical issues for ISIs,
the iPAGE Framework is responsive to addressing equity and inclusion issues in STEM,
Knowledge-to-Action Processes (KTA) play an essential role in institutional change, and
the iPAGE pilot (PAGE National) had promising outcomes.

Through iPAGE, we seek inclusion and broad participation in STEM in informal learning environments. We begin by engaging distributed leadership teams from ISIs in sustained and face-to-face PD grounded in research focused at the intersection of STEM, identity, and distributed leadership—all of which constitutes the iPAGE Framework for Inclusion in Informal STEM Learning. The PD results in paradigm shifts for individuals. Armed with a wealth of knowledge, tools, and an understanding of community responsibility, ISI leaders engage in KTA processes in their home institutions. They adapt what they are learning and take actions relevant to their organizational contexts (e.g. geography, demographics, history, etc.). Thus, iPAGE is not a train-the-trainer model; the KTA processes are non-linear, creative, iterative, and context-specific.

What is the research effort?

iPAGE is using a design-based research (DBR) approach to study and modify the iPAGE theory of action for working with ISIs (which includes the iPAGE Framework, modules, and extension model). Through an iterative three-phase research and development process, we seek to answer the following questions:

How and in what ways does the iPAGE theory of action translate from use with K–12 formal education institutions to the work of a wide range of ISIs (size, rural/urban, audiences served, etc.) and the diverse roles of staff within these institutions?
To what extent do individuals’ attitudes, knowledge, perceptions, and actions change as a result of experiencing the iPAGE professional development?
What kinds of institutional outcomes does the theory of action produce at ISIs with respect to inclusive structures, policies, and practices?

Phase 1 includes initial modifications of the iPAGE theory of action (see following illustrations) based on experiences of the leaders who participated in the iPAGE Pilot. The KPA survey designed for district leaders in the original PAGE Regional program will also be revised during Phase 1.

Phase 2 consists of iterative phases of researching and revising the iPAGE theory of action.

Phase 3 focuses on carrying out case studies of four ISIs involved in iPAGE to provide a deeper look into institutional impacts of involvement.

Getting involved

2017-18 Program Dates:

Foundations Institute – 5 Days
September 25-29, 2017 (Monday thru Friday)

Colloquium I – 2 Days
November 16-17, 2017 (Thursday and Friday)

Colloquium II – 2 Days
January 25-26, 2018 (Thursday and Friday)

Colloquium III – 2 Days
March 22-23, 2018 (Thursday and Friday)

Application Deadline:

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Apply online

Eligibility:

Teams must come from an informal STEM institution based in the United States.

Eligible institutions include museums, science centers, aquariums, zoos, botanical gardens, etc.

Teams can be no larger than 6 people and must include a Champion and a Team Captain as described above.

In order to participate in iPAGE, individuals must participate in the research study (see above).

Team Selection:

The application process is competitive.

Competitive teams will have an appropriately identified Champion and a carefully chosen team that can effect change in their institutions through formal or informal means.

Highly competitive teams will also span a variety of positions and departments, and, to the extent possible, represent the cultural, racial, and economic diversity of their ISI’s local communities.

Due to the DBR study, selection will take into account institution size, geography, audiences served, etc.

Benefits of iPAGE Participation:

11 days of intensive professional development around access, equity, leadership, and organizational change.

Covered expenses including hotel, light breakfast, lunch, dinner, consumable materials, and textbooks. (Note: Flights will be reimbursed up to $500 per person per event.)

Mini-grants of up to $25K are available to support implementation at your site.

Site Commitments:

Participants must attend all required events in Saint Paul (see above).

All team members including the Champion must participate in the research study.

Teams will actively work to adapt, implement, and refine Framework-based strategies and professional development resources with their colleagues.

Next Steps:

Recruit your team of 3-6 individuals, including a Champion and Team Captain, and confirm their ability to participate in the required program events (see “types of members” description above).
Collectively compose a Team Narrative (suggested 500-word minimum) to the following prompts:

Identify and describe current access and equity challenges in your ISI and communities you serve or seek to serve.

Describe a vision of how participation in iPAGE might inform work on the challenges identified.

Describe the process that was used to identify the proposed iPAGE team members. Include a description of the expectations of each team member to contribute to furthering access and equity at your ISI.

Each team member will also need to compose an Individual Narrative (suggested 250-word minimum) to the following prompts:

Describe your role as an access and equity leader in your institution.

(This may include your job responsibilities as well as other formal and/or informal mechanisms in place to support your work on issues of equity and inclusion within your ISI. Please also consider including personal and professional experiences, areas of expertise, and/or particular perspectives you bring to the iPAGE community.)

Describe access and equity issues you hope to learn about and work on in iPAGE.

Describe the kinds of formal or informal leadership opportunities you currently have or hope to have in the future, in which you can apply what you learn in iPAGE.