Increasing evidence suggests that individuals develop their understanding of science concepts in and out of school, using varied community resources and networks. Thus in contrast to historic research approaches that focus exclusively on single organizations and/or educational events, the current paper presents exploratory research in which we utilized specific community ecology analytical tools and approaches to describe and analyze the UK science education community as a whole. Data suggest that overall the UK science education community is highly interconnected and collaborative within
Earth science, which in this context does not include oceanic, atmospheric, and space sciences, is vital to the wellbeing of the United States and many of its issues, such as water resources, are expected to grow in importance. An earth science workforce will be needed to deal with this issues and it's important that this workforce draw on the talents of all citizens. Thus, federal education programs can be implemented to help attract and retain students on an earth science pathway; however, tight funding means agencies need to invest in programs that actually work. As a result, the U.S
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National Research Council
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
This paper describes a frequently-overlooked aspect of embodied interaction design: physical effort. Although exertion is the direct goal of many embodied activities (e.g., exergames), and is used indirectly to discourage certain user interactions (as with affordances), exertion has not been used to support direct expressive interaction with an embodied system. Situating exertion in both psychological and physiological literature, this paper suggests guidelines for employing exertion as more than just an incidental component of proprioception in embodied interaction designs. Specifically, the
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Leilah LyonsBrian SlatteryPriscillia JimenezBrenda LopezTom Moher
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) permeate the modern world. The jobs people do, the foods they eat, the vehicles in which they travel, the information they receive, the medicines they take, and many other facets of modern life are constantly changing as STEM knowledge steadily accumulates. Yet STEM education in the United States, despite the importance of these subjects, is consistently falling short. Many students are not graduating from high school with the knowledge and capacities they will need to pursue STEM careers or understand STEM-related issues in the
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Steve OlsonJay LabovNational Research Council
This report offers an assessment of environmental literacy in America that is both sobering and hopeful. This summary of almost a decade of NEETF (National Environmental Education & Training Foundation) collaboration with Roper Reports provides a loud wake-up call to the environmental education community, to community leaders, and to influential specialists ranging from physicians to weathercasters. At a time when Americans are confronted with increasingly challenging environmental choices, we learn that our citizenry is by and large both uninformed and misinformed.
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Kevin Coyle
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
This chapter examines what is known about the use and the potential of including informal science education in formal science teacher preparation. The chapter’s first section provides an introduction to the argument for innovation in formal science teacher preparation and the potential positive inclusion of informal science education. The second section provides a definition with conceptual understandings and common features of informal science education. The third section presents a review of the literature on including informal science education in formal science education for preservice
The authors use existing data from videos and field notes to analyze the effects of TV viewing on children as they are watching a program. They present a case study of two siblings to demonstrate their interactions, finding that children display complex reasoning practices while watching TV, but only under certain conditions and with certain types of social support.
In February 2012, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History ( NMNH) convened 100 colleagues from 43 organizations to initiate a collaborative learning research agenda focused on examining important areas for innovation to better serve twenty-first-century audiences. The conference organizers anticipated that scientists, educators, exhibit professionals, and other members of the natural history community would identify and prioritize research questions about what, how, why, when, and where people learn about natural history. We prepared to engage in a conversation about how natural
The Twenty-first Century Learning in Natural History Settings Conference at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (2012) has been more influential than similar conferences, resulting in new work streams and international collaborations for the Learning Research and Evaluation team at the Natural History Museum, London ( NHM). The conference offered a rare opportunity to discuss issues relevant to our unique workplace and to be surrounded by an instant peer group. Although the event itself brought personal and professional satisfaction, it is the impact of the conference on our
Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the University of Pittsburgh are engaged in a research and practice partnership to bring new learning sciences findings and theories into contact with the design and deployment of innovative natural history learning experiences. In this article, we describe four strands of work: 1) connecting people to nature; 2) engaging people of all ages in complex and current scientific debates of regional consequence; 3) partnerships to build a strong regional learning ecology for nature and science; and 4) iterative professional development to support staff as they
Messaging for Engineering supports efforts by the engineering community to communicate more effectively about the profession and those who practice it. This report builds on previous research-based efforts to develop and test new, more effective messages about engineering. It was developed through the National Academy of Engineering’s Changing the Conversation project.