Free-choice learning and, derivatively, free-choice environmental learning emerges as a powerful vehicle for supporting diversity in learning styles (Falk & Dierking, 2002). In this article, I argue that free-choice environmental learning holds great potential for enabling us to understand what is at stake in environmental learning and thus help us build a sustainable future. I examine the different informal learning contexts for children, home (family and play), museums, zoos, nature parks and wilderness, among many others, and offer an explanation for how learning occurs in these settings
The purpose of this paper is to examine the importance of science field trips as educational tools to connect students to classroom concepts. Experiential learning at formal and informal field trip venues increases student interest, knowledge, and motivation. The teacher's role in preplanning, implementation, and reflection often dictates the impact that the field trip will have on students. Science teacher education programs do not traditionally instruct preservice teachers how to plan or coordinate a field trip. Once teachers are empowered and learn how to develop and orchestrate a
There has been little work done on the early experiences of children looking at plant exhibits in botanical gardens. This project, a parallel study to one carried out in zoos, sought to establish what the groups talked about and whether there were differences in content when adults were present and between single sex and mixed groups. The conversations were collected during primary school visits to the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, England, whilst the groups looked at plant specimens. Transcripts of the conversations were analysed using a systemic network. The results show that children talked
The article discusses the significance of student's participation in a wireless, handheld field trip in the U.S. It is a program that comprises of a mix of podcasts, student multimedia creation, Web research and interviewing, designed by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The innovation is vital to students' learning because it will allow them to interact with museum exhibits in a guided yet exploratory way and to increase both the amount of time students spend at exhibits and the depth of engagement with each exhibit. It revealed that in a museum setting, the technology can be used to
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Aliece WellerJohn BickarPaul McGuiness
The school field trip constitutes an important demographic market for museums. Field trips enlist the energies of teachers and students, schools and museums, and ought to be used to the best of their potential. There is evidence from the literature and from practitioners that museums often struggle to understand the needs of teachers, who make the key decisions in field trip planning and implementation. Museum personnel ponder how to design their programs to serve educational and pedagogical needs most effectively, and how to market the value of their institutions to teachers. This paper
Despite the potential of augmented reality (AR) in enabling students to construct new understanding, little is known about how the processes and interactions with the multimedia lead to increased learning. This study seeks to explore the affordances of an AR tool on learning that is focused on the science concept of magnets and magnetic fields. Seventy students in grades 5 through 7 participated in the study in a non- AR or AR condition. Findings showed that students in the AR condition interacted with the magnets significantly longer and demonstrated higher amounts of teamwork. In interviews
The article provides information for the development of a partnership between traditional science classrooms and Informal Science Institutions (ISIs). Topics include popular forms of ISIs, such as zoos, libraries, and government agencies, guidance for choosing an ISI to partner with, and implementing ISI resources in the classroom. Suggestions for steps to take before, during, and after arranging a school field trip to an ISI are also provided.
Educational makerspaces (EM) and maker education (ME) have the potential to revolutionize the way we approach teaching and learning. The maker movement in education is built upon the foundation of constructionism, which is the philosophy of hands-on learning through building things. Constructionism, in turn, is the application of constructivist learning principles to a hands-on learning environment. Thus maker education is a branch of constructivist philosophy that views learning as a highly personal endeavor requiring the student, rather than the teacher, to initiate the learning process. In
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TEAM MEMBERS:
R. Steven KurtiDebby KurtiLaura Fleming
Schools do not define education, and they are not the only institutions in which learning takes place. After-school programs, music lessons, Scouts, summer camps, on-the-job training, and home activities all offer out-of-school educational experiences. In Learning at Not-School, Julian Sefton-Green explores studies and scholarly research on out-of-school learning, investigating just what it is that is distinctive about the quality of learning in these “not-school” settings. Sefton-Green focuses on those organizations and institutions that have developed parallel to public schooling and have
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TEAM MEMBERS:
The MacArthur FoundationJulian Sefton-Green
In communities where infrastructure and resources are limited, afterschool programs may offer the only opportunity for academic, recreational, and creative enrichment. This brief explores how afterschool programs in several rural communities are successfully serving their children, families and communities with vital resources.
Equipping today's youth with the skills necessary to compete in the 21st Century workforce is a top priority of our nation's schools, communities, policy makers and businesses. This issue brief examines how afterschool provides kids with the opportunity to develop skills to help them succeed in an increasingly competitive labor market.