There is no single right way to learn things, and no single place or even moment in which we learn. All learning happens continuously, from many different sources, and in many different ways. There are three main educational sectors, the formal education sector of schools and universities, the workplace, and the free-choice learning sector. Of the three, the most frequently over-looked is the free-choice learning sector. The free-choice learning sector includes museums, television, radio, the Internet, magazines, newspapers, books, parks, community organizations of all types: youth, adult
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Institute for Learning InnovationJohn H Falk
In this paper we contrast the possibilities of the World Wide Web to transform communities of educational researchers with actual patterns of use of The Museum Learning Collaborative Web site. We highlight patterns of user interaction that have emerged and discuss the problems and opportunities of creating shared research resources in emerging fields such as museum learning research. Our findings have direct implications for three stakeholders: program funders, ourselves as project researchers, and the larger museum research community.
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Kevin CrowleyGaea LeinhardtChien-fu Chang
Research on human–robot interaction has often ignored the human cognitive changes that might occur when humans and robots work together to solve problems. Facilitating human–robot collaboration will require understanding how the collaboration functions system-wide. The authors present detailed examples drawn from a study of children and an autonomous rover, and examine how children’s beliefs can guide the way they interact with and learn about the robot. The data suggest that better collaboration might require that robots be designed to maximize their relationship potential with specific users
This article explores the development of observation in scientific and everyday contexts. Fundamental to all scientific activity, expert observation is a complex practice that requires the coordination of disciplinary knowledge, theory, and habits of attention. On the surface, observation appears to be a simple skill. Consequently, children may be directed to observe, compare, and describe phenomena without adequate disciplinary context or support, and so fail to gain deeper scientific understanding. Drawing upon a review of science education, developmental psychology, and the science studies
Lessons Without Limit is not just another book about school reform but a highly readable guide to transforming the entire experience of learning across a lifetime. Free-choice learning is all about what you choose to do in your learning time. We learn every day at home, at school, at work, and out in the world, from books, in museums, watching television, hearing a symphony, building a model rocket. Our motivations and expectations change over our lifetime but learning never stops. This book will give you a new understanding of the learning process and guide you in maximizing your lifelong
Most environmental learning takes place outside of the formal education system, but our understanding of how this learning actually occurs is in its infancy. By surfing the internet, watching nature documentaries, and visiting parks, forests, marine sanctuaries, and zoos, people make active choices to learn about various aspects of their environment every day. Free-Choice Learning and the Environment explores the theoretical foundations of free-choice environmental education, the practical implications for applying theory to the education of learners of all ages, and the policy implications
The science museum field has made tremendous advances in understanding museum learning, but little has been done to consolidate and synethesize these findings to encourage widespread improvements in practice. By clearly presenting the most current knowledge of museum learning, In Principle, In Practice aims to promote effective programs and exhibitions, identify promising approaches for future research, and develop strategies for implementing and sustaining connections between research and practice in the museum community.
Education is a lifelong endeavor; the public learns in many places and contexts, for a diversity of reasons, throughout their lives. During the past couple of decades, there has been a growing awareness that free‐choice learning experiences – learning experiences where the learner exercises a large degree of choice and control over the what, when and why of learning – play a major role in lifelong learning. Worldwide, most environmental learning is not acquired in school, but outside of school through free‐choice learning experiences. Included in this article are brief overviews of
This seminal book describes the nature and extent of science learning in America with particular attention to the innumerable sources of science education existing outside the formal education system.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Institute for Learning InnovationJohn H Falk
John Falk and Lynn Dierking tackle the challenge of helping museums become better at the learning process for visitors. As they put it, "[d]igital media, well designed and wisely used, are important tools that can enhance visitor interaction and learning in museums, ensuring that these environments inspire and provoke curiosity and further understanding among visitors with varying backgrounds, interests, and knowledge levels."
This article is a response to Harris Shettel's commentary which appeared in Curator (48/2, April 2005) on two of four articles which appeared in Curator (47/2), the subject of which was interactives in museums.
The Science Museum of Minnesota prototyped interpretive approaches to using an innovative scientific visualization system developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) called Science On a Sphere (SOS). SOS is composed of a wide variety of visualizations projected onto a six-foot sphere creating animated, whole-planet views of the Earth, other planets in our solar system, and their moons. Visualizations of the Earth cover topics such as weather, climate, topography, earth system dynamics, and geophysical processes. A challenge of SOS is making the content accessible