Guided by contextual and constructivist perspectives, this study situates museumgoing in the everyday lives of children, exploring how children perceive their experiences in museums in relationship to the other places they visit. Children tended to categorize places by their relationship to them, placing museums most frequently in groupings organized by quality descriptors, when they visit, and social context. They perceive and value museums as places to look at unique, special things of interest to them. Most children prefer visiting museums with family and friends, with control of their
Informal environments—or out-of-school-time (OST) settings—play an important role in promoting science learning for preK–12 students and beyond. The learning experiences delivered by parents, friends, and educators in informal environments can spark student interest in science and provide opportunities to broaden and deepen students’ engagement; reinforce scientific concepts and practices introduced during the school day; and promote an appreciation for and interest in the pursuit of science in school and in daily life. NSTA recommends strengthening informal learning opportunities for all preK
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TEAM MEMBERS:
National Science Teachers Association
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
We investigated the inclusion of a curricular module on global climate change in an Elementary Science Methods course. Using complementary research methods, we analyzed findings from 63 teacher candidates’ drawings, questionnaires, and journal entries collected throughout their participation in the module. We highlighted three focal cases to illustrate the diversity of participants’ experiences. Findings suggest potential positive impacts on teacher candidates’ content understanding related to global climate change, confidence to teach, and awareness of resources to support their future
In this chapter we introduce the notion of islands of expertise, explore links between related socio-cultural and information processing theory, and overview a study of family conversations while parents and children look at authentic and replica fossils in a museum.
In 2007, the Plant Genomics Program partnered with local artist Donna Billick, director of Billick Rock Art, to create ceramic mosaic murals on the exterior columns of UCD’s Robbins Hall to reflect the academic activities within. Resident groups include the Plant Genomics Program, the Weed Research and Information Center and the Agricultural Sustainability Institute. Billick, who has 35 years of experience in creating “community-build” public art, designed, fabricated and installed the five columns. Billick worked closely with artist Mark Rivera, elementary school students and teachers and UC
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University of California, DavisDonna Billick
This paper argues that the diverse curriculum reform agendas associated with science education are strongly and critically associated with the educational characteristics of the humanities. The article begins with a survey of interpretations of the distinctive contribution which the humanities make to educational purposes. From this survey four general characteristics of the humanities are identified: an appeal to an autonomous self with the right and capacity to make independent judgements and interpretations; indeterminacy in the subject matter of these judgements and interpretations; a
After-school programs, scout groups, community service activities, religious youth groups, and other community-based activities have long been thought to play a key role in the lives of adolescents. But what do we know about the role of such programs for today's adolescents? How can we ensure that programs are designed to successfully meet young people's developmental needs and help them become healthy, happy, and productive adults? Community Programs to Promote Youth Development explores these questions, focusing on essential elements of adolescent well-being and healthy development. It
The development of interactive, participatory, multisensory environments that combine the physical with the virtual comes as a natural continuation to the computer game industry's constant race for more exciting user experiences. Specialized theme parks and various other leisure and entertainment centers worldwide are embracing the interactive promise that games have made users expect. This is not a trend limited to the entertainment domain;non-formal learning environments for children are also following this path, backed up by a theoretical notion of play as a core activity in a child's
Two important content areas associated with informal environmental science programs are ecology/natural science topics and awareness of environmental problems/issues. This study attempted to evaluate which of these content areas may provide a more optimum learning experience. A quantitative analysis was conducted on two field trips to a science center that represented an ecological oriented program and an environmental issue presentation. Two variables that were chosen as indicators of program success—knowledge retention and attitude change—are outcomes that have been found prevalent in
This research investigated gender equitable exhibit development by enhancing a geometry exhibit with several female-friendly design features and analyzing video data to determine the effects on girls' engagement and social interactions with their caregivers. The findings suggest that incorporating several female-friendly design features leads to significantly higher engagement for girls (evidenced by greater attraction and time spent). This study also looked for any unanticipated negative effects for boys after incorporating the female-friendly design features.
The National Science Education Standards [National Research Council (1996) National science education standards. Washington, DC: National Academy Press] recommend that students understand the apparent patterns of motion of the sun, moon and stars by the end of early elementary school. However, little information exists on students’ ability to learn these concepts. This study examines the change in students’ understanding of apparent celestial motion after attending a planetarium program using kinesthetic learning techniques. Pre- and post-interviews were conducted with participants from seven
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Pennsylvania State UniversityJulia Plummer
The Center for Chemistry at the Space-Time Limit (CaSTL)’s outreach program in collaboration with the California Science Project at Irvine (CSPI), housed at the Center for Educational Partnerships at UC Irvine designed, created, implemented, and consistently refined a science program for 8-12 year old students at the Boys and Girls Club(BGC) in Santa Ana, California. The year-long weekly program and 4-day summer camp consisted of hour-long lessons designed to connect to CaSTL’s research goals of investigation at the microscopic level. Appendix includes observation protocol, performance measure