Dragonfly Project

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Since its inception more than a decade ago, Project Dragonfly has reached millions of children, parents, and educators throughout the world with its print, web, and broadcast media. Created by professors in the Western College Program at Miami University and published by the National Science Teachers Association, the project began in 1994 with original funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the launch of Dragonfly magazine. Dragonfly was the first national publication that placed kids' first-person scientific investigations alongside the discoveries of adult researchers, such as world-renowned primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall. Project Dragonfly pioneered the “real kids, real science” approach to learning, and in all of its projects continues to work toward inquiry-driven reform to increase public engagement in science and global understanding.

Current Project Dragonfly programs include:

Earth Expeditions is a global conservation program that links formal and informal educators together with scientists at conservation hotspots in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. These tuition-free, graduate-credit courses merge the educational expertise of Miami University’s Dragonfly with the world-renowned conservation efforts of the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. Overseas courses include:
- Kenya: Wildlife & People in Integrated Landscapes
- Namibia: Great Cat Conservation
- Thailand: Buddhism and Conservation
- Mongolia: Steppe Ecology and Conservation
- Trinidad: Environmental Education
- Costa Rica: Neotropical Ecology
- Belize: Forest & Marine Ecology

Since Earth Expeditions began in 2003, more than 700 educators from 48 states have been accepted to the program. Newspaper, radio, and television [stories profiling Earth Expeditions educators] have run in hundreds of news media outlets throughout the country.

DragonflyTV is a national PBS television series that brings Dragonfly's "real kids, real science" approach to a national television audience. Produced by TPT public television, the NSF-funded DragonflyTV reaches more than 1.5 million viewers every week.

iDiscovery is a partnership between Project Dragonfly and Ohio's Project Discovery. iDiscovery facilitates teacher learning communities via an advanced, while easy-to-use, web-based learning community created by Project Dragonfly. iDiscovery provides Miami University graduate-credit courses to more than 2,000 educators a year.

Wild Research -- from Project Project Dragonfly and the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden -- is designed to engage the public in science and conservation at zoos, aquariums, and similar learning environments nationwide. In partnership with a consortium of zoos and aquariums throughout the country, Wild Research involves families directly in research and conservation action through Wild Research stations, participatory learning media, and education programs. Wild Research is funded by the National Science Foundation.

[edit] History

Project Dragonfly has worked extensively in formal and informal learning environments and, for more than a decade, has directed major national and international science reform projects.

Project Dragonfly developed a pioneering, participatory science approach with the launch of Dragonfly magazine in 1995. Funded by the National Science Foundation, created and edited by a group of professors in the Western College Program at Miami University, and published by the National Science Teachers Association, the award-winning Dragonfly established the first national magazine to feature the investigations and discoveries of children. Dragonfly gained a sterling reputation in education by demonstrating the power of children’s voices and by changing widely held assumptions about the role of children in science. Dragonfly has published outcomes for professional audiences, but the best evidence of Dragonfly's success comes from such studies as Saunders (1999) on pair-bonding in dolphins, Schamel (1997) on nest predation by arctic foxes, and Taylor (1998) on the relationship between music and memory – all studies authored by investigators younger than 12 years old, whose work was published in Dragonfly magazine.

Dragonfly's “real kids, real science” mission led to pioneering programs in formal and informal education settings, such as Dragonfly QUEST science clubs for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and graduate-credit courses for teachers.

In 1998, Miami’s Dragonfly partnered with the Emmy Award-winning producers of Newton’s Apple at TPT-TV to create the NSF-funded, PBS children’s television series DragonflyTV. Now in its fifth season, DragonflyTV gives young investigators a national audience of more than 25 million viewers a year.

In addition to DragonflyTV, Dragonfly's current projects include Earth Expeditions, iDiscovery, and Wild Research.

Housed today in Miami’s Department of Zoology, Project Dragonfly continues to work nationally and internationally to promote voice, conservation, and global understanding.