Many informal science and mathematics education projects employ multiple media, but studies typically have investigated learning from a single medium, rather than multiple media. The present research, funded by the National Science Foundation, used Cyberchase(a multiple-media, informal mathematics project targeting 8-to 11-year-olds, produced by Thirteen/WNET) to investigate synergy among multiple media components and how they interact to yield cumulative educational outcomes.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Shalom FischRichard LeshElizabeth MotokiSandra CrespoVincent Melfi
"Hybrid spaces for science learning" refers to the merging of real and virtual worlds to produce new environments and visualizations where physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in real time. Learning science within hybrid spaces can be a fun, engaging, and reflective experience. Further, hybrid spaces are inherently social, facilitating dialogue and social exchange, as well as the construction of knowledge, paralleling the nature of contemporary science. This symposium brings together several research programs that address learning "across contexts" that span classroom activities
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Ole SmordalJim SlottaTom MoherMichelle LuiAlfredo Jornet
Youth participants in an informal after school science program created a multimodal digital video public service announcement video. This paper considers the counterstories that emerge within the video and during the making of the video that challenge existing definitions of science literacy. The investigation suggests youth engage in expansive learning where vertical knowledge and horizontal knowledge inform their actions toward community based energy issues. Vertical knowledge describes the scientific knowledge youth engage while horizontal knowledge refers to the locally situated knowledge
The purpose of this article is to discuss the media effects approach broadly, to point out limitations the traditional approach imposes on the field, and to discuss a “mix of attributes” approach with a focus on the study of “new” technologies for the dissemination of news. It is argued that the mix of attributes approach would better serve to advance both theory and empirical research, not only in the area of new media technologies, but also for more traditional media effects research.
The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) and their research/evaluation partner, David Heil and Associates (DHA), will conduct front-end research to develop, pilot, and evaluate (formatively and summatively) a peer-reviewed journal and associated multi-media resources designed to catalyze innovative advances and learning across formal and informal science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education communities. The goal is to identify content that is useful and appeals to the intersection of three target audiences: informal educators, formal educators and researchers conducting research at the intersection of in-school and out-of-school learning. This informal science education (ISE) "journal" would be a multi-media resource, available in both print and electronic forms, that could include videos or digital interactives and provide the potential for audience/reader feedback mechanisms, including input via social media. The publication proposed in this project has the potential to satisfy in part a key need identified in a Wellcome Trust study, Analysing the UK Science Education Community: The contribution of informal providers. The study report identifies the need to build an international depository of what has been and is being learned in ISE experiences at the boundary of in-school and out-of-school STEM learning - including syntheses of research, program evaluations, policy reports and illustrative cases studies. The proposed journal will also provide a vehicle to encourage and develop incentives for practitioners to publish results of their work. The project will use surveys, phone interviews and focus groups to conduct: 1) a landscape assessment, identifying what resources are already available to target audiences, how they are used, and what is missing; 2) front-end research with target audiences prior to publication of pilot issues, assessing interests, needs, and expectations and testing early topics, delivery formats, and discussion vehicles; and (3) formative and summative evaluation, assessing how well the (two-issue) pilot and associated social media vehicles foster synergy and satisfy the needs of the identified target audiences.
Adolescents often pursue learning opportunities both in and outside school once they become interested in a topic. In this paper, a learning ecology framework and an associated empirical research agenda are described. This framework highlights the need to better understand how learning outside school relates to learning within schools or other formal organizations, and how learning in school can lead to learning activities outside school. Three portraits of adolescent learners are shared to illustrate different pathways to interest development. Five types of self-initiated learning processes
The authors of this article discuss three pedagogical approaches, learning community, community of practice and community learning, and analyse their significance for knowledge acquisition and construction in higher education. The authors also explore the roles of technology in creating adequate environments for educators to implement teaching practices supported by these approaches and explain, through an illustrative course example, how technology and teaching methods can be used together to promote interaction among learners and help them achieve course goals.
College students (in Experiment 1) and 7th-grade students (in Experiment 2) learned how to design the roots, stem, and leaves of plants to survive in 8 different environments through a computer-based multimedia lesson. They learned by interacting with an animated pedagogical agent who spoke to them (Group PA) or received identical graphics and explanations as on-screen text without a pedagogical agent (Group No PA). Group PA outperformed Group No PA on transfer tests and interest ratings but not on retention tests. To investigate further the basis for this personal agent effect, we varied the
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Roxana MorenoRichard MayerHiller SpiresJames Lester
The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) contracted Randi Korn & Associates, Inc. (RK&A) to evaluate Go Mobile, a mobile website designed to help visitors deepen their Museum experience through audio, video, and links to related works. The main objective of this study was to explore the quality of visitors’ experiences with Go Mobile to inform future development of Go Mobile. How did we approach this study? The BMA recruited 26 volunteer participants primarily through the BMA’s Facebook page. Participants were asked to spend one hour at the Museum: 30 minutes using Go Mobile in the BMA’s Contemporary
The use of mobile devices for informal learning has gained attention over recent years. Museum learning is also regarded as an important research topic in the field of informal learning. This study explored a blended mobile museum learning environment (BMMLE). Moreover, this study applied three blended museum learning modes: (a) the traditional museum visit accompanied by a learning website, (b) paper-based learning sheets used during museum visits accompanied by a learning website, and (c) an interactive mobile learning system used during museum visits accompanied by a learning website (i.e
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Huei-Tse HouSheng-Yi WuPeng-Chun LinYao-Ting SungJhe-Wei LinKuo-En Chang
Informal participation in science is being recognized as an important way of developing science learning both for children and adults. Mobile learning has particular properties that have potential in informal science settings, particularly outside traditional educational settings. Mobile technologies provide new opportunities for learners to engage with science on the move. This paper reviews the impact of participation in informal science settings on some members of the public using the experiences of the iSpot project as a case study. iSpot aims to create and inspire a new generation of