The study aims to characterize contextual learning during class visits to science and natural history museums. Based on previous studies, we assumed that “outdoor” learning is different from classroom-based learning, and free choice learning in the museums enhances the expression of learning in personal context. We studied about 750 students participating in class visits at four museums, focusing on the levels of choice provided through the activity. The museums were of different sizes, locations, visitor number, and foci. A descriptive-interpretative approach was adopted, with data sources
In his writings, David Orr claims that the US is in an 'ecological crisis' and that this stems from a crisis of education. He outlines a theory of ecological literacy, a mode by which we better learn the ecology of the Earth and live in a sustainable manner. While emphasizing a shock doctrine, the diagnosis of 'crisis' may be correct, but it is short-lived for children and adults of the world. In this philosophical analysis of Orr's theory, it is argued that we move beyond the perspective of crisis. By extending Orr's ecological literacy with biophilia and ecojustice and by recognizing the
The article discusses the 4-H Science mission of the 4-H Youth Development Program, an out-of-school-time program addressing science technology engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning. It states that one of the approaches is on robotics education using a Junk Drawer Robotics curriculum having three levels: Give Robots a Hand, Robots on the Move, and Mechatronics, each level having modules that focus on science and engineering concepts.
In this case study, Carey Tisdal, internal evaluator at the St. Louis Science Center (SLSC), discusses the use of teacher response groups in the development of the school visit program at SLSC. This paper uses a case method to describe: (1) the context of policy and program issues from which the study arose, (2) the reasons this specific method was selected, (3) the development of a data base, (4) how the method was implemented to recruit and interview teachers, and (5) an analysis of the limitations and benefits of the methods.
Museums invest considerable resources in promoting and supporting elementary-school field trips, but remain skeptical about their educational value. Recent cognitive psychology and neuroscience research require a reappraisal of how and what to assess relative to school-field-trip learning. One hundred and twenty-eight subjects were interviewed about their recollections of school field trips taken during the early years of their school education: 34 fourth-grade students, 48 eighth-grade students, and 46 adults composed the group. Overall, 96% of all subjects could recall a school field trip
This evaluation instrument was developed for Exploring Physics, an extra curricular program for 5-7 grade students, with a focus on female students. It is part of an NSF funded program entitled Promoting Young Women in the Physical Sciences.
A team of researchers and practitioners developed a museum program to coach families in the skills of scientific inquiry at interactive exhibits. The program was inspired by the increasing focus on scientific inquiry in schools and the growing number of open-ended exhibit designs in science museums. The development process involved major decisions in two arenas: which inquiry skills to teach, and what pedagogical strategies to use to teach them. After many rounds of refinement based on evaluation with families, the final program, called Inquiry Games, improved visitors' inquiry behavior in