NASA eclips 4D (design, develop, disseminate, discover) offers a series of stimulating and informative multi-dimensional strategies to promote understanding of NASA science. Over the past seven years,…

NASA awarded a $13.2 million grant to the National Institute of Aerospace Associates (NIA) on January 4, 2016, for the NASA ECLIPS 4D program, with an ultimate completion date of December 31, 2026. ECLIPS 4D (Design, Develop, Disseminate, Discover) expands upon NASA's successful seven-year educational initiative by developing multi-dimensional strategies to promote understanding of NASA science across K-12 classrooms and informal learning audiences. The contract encompasses development of student-produced short videos addressing scientific misconceptions, full-length videos filling content gaps, dual-language augmentations targeting Hispanic audiences, and subject matter expert video vignettes providing access to NASA scientists. Additionally, NIA will create teacher training programs modeling best practices for 21st-century classrooms, develop interactive whiteboard lessons accessible via mobile devices, and design classroom-based engineering challenges aligned with NASA's scientific discoveries. Content will draw from NASA's Science Mission Directorate divisions and cross-divisional topics.

The contract is not associated with a set-aside designation and is classified as a grant for research with other pricing type arrangements. Work will be performed in Hampton, Virginia, where NIA is headquartered. As a non-profit aerospace research and education institute with deep ties to NASA, NIA is well-positioned to deliver this educational mission, leveraging its existing relationships with NASA centers and academic institutions. The program directly supports NASA's broader education and outreach objectives by addressing student misconceptions identified through national assessments and expanding access to NASA's scientific narrative across diverse audiences, including lifelong learners and the general public.

NASA eclips 4D (design, develop, disseminate, discover) offers a series of stimulating and informative multi-dimensional strategies to promote understanding of NASA science. Over the past seven years, NASA eclips has successfully served the national K-12 education community by introducing students to stem concepts and providing educators with engaging resources and tools to support teaching and learning. NASA eclips 4D builds on this popular, award-winning educational program to meet the changing needs of current and future classrooms and to share the story, the science and the adventure of NASA's scientific explorations. NASA eclips 4D products will feature content from each of the SMD divisions, as well as cross-divisional topics. Though primarily developed with the formal K-12 classroom audiences in mind, NASA eclips 4D will also increase understanding of NASA science to lifelong learners, informal audiences, and the general public. NASA eclips 4D resources will tackle student misconceptions in science, as identified by national assessment sources. New NASA eclips 4D products, materials and resources include: short spotlite videos designed and produced by students to replace student misconceptions with sound scientific fact; production of NASA eclips full-length videos to fill SMD content gaps in the existing library; online and face-to-face teacher training that model best practices to integrate NASA eclips 4D resources into 21ST century classrooms; dual-language augmentations of video products to engage hispanic audiences; subject matter experts for education (SME2) video vignettes to provide additional access to NASA scientists and engineers for self-directed learning in multimedia applications; new lessons aligned with video content designed for use with interactive whiteboard technology and are accessible through a variety of student mobile devices; and, a classroom-based engineering design challenge featuring technology that enables NASA scientific discovery. Student production teams will be mentored by NIA's award winning stem education specialists and producers, thus providing experiential opportunities for under-served students to engage directly with NASA science. Field-testing of NASA 4D program elements will be conducted by an urban virginia school district with a diverse population. On demand, pre and post assessments will quantify impact of NASA eclips 4D products on student learning. Evaluation will include, but is not limited to: effectiveness of PD; students understanding of the production process; student perceptions on science; and, an annual survey measuring impact on leveraging partners as stakeholders. NASA eclips will be widely disseminated through is websites, online collaboration tools, social media platforms, NASA SMD education infrastructures, conference and presentations, and through the established networks of leveraging partners. Based on NASA eclips usage history and anticipated demand for the NASA eclips 4D products, millions are expected to benefit from this program.