This paper describes a model developed by education researchers seeking to bridge the gap between formal and informal learning contexts. The model matches organisational, cognitive, affective, and social-environmental aspects of learning with four key design principles to create 16 practical steps to help formal and informal educators communicate and cooperate more effectively.
In this study, researchers investigated levels of awareness of and responsibility for global climate change in two groups of children. The researchers argue that understanding the nature of beliefs, and how they may be modified by particular influences, is important if educators are to challenge the status quo, in which “the majority of individuals do not believe that they are responsible for or can engage in any actions which will be environmentally efficacious” (Uzzell, 2000, p. 314).
Despite increasing interest in the educational potential of outdoor learning experiences, limited research has focused on assessing and identifying “good” outdoor education practice. In this paper, the authors propose a theoretically based practical framework for assessing field trips in nature parks and other outdoor settings. The framework was developed and refined during the course of observations of 22 field trips and interviews with 41 students.
Argumentation in science involves the development, justification, and defence of evidence-based claims, together with the reasoned dispute of counterclaims. This process is the foundation for all scientific endeavours. Supporting the development of argumentation skills, therefore, is a key part of science education. Laboratory work is also as an essential part of science. Combining these two activities, therefore, would seem to be worthwhile. In this study, researchers explored the impact of three different lab-based tasks on the nature and quality of any subsequent argumentation.
In this review paper, Oliver calls for greater cross-pollination between neuroscience research and educational practice. She asks, “What can educators learn from an understanding of educational neuroscience?”
This article discusses intellectual activities in African American culture that privilege mathematical thinking. It is a helpful reference for educators and researchers who want to shift from deficit-oriented perspectives about non-dominant or marginalized groups’ performance to additive perspectives that build on out-of-school cultural knowledge and practices to support student learning in school. The authors suggest how educators might value forms of mathematical thinking that are usually not recognized in school. This recognition can support diverse students’ participation and achievement
When designing programs for science learning, it is important to consider that children's experiences with science begin years before they encounter science in the classroom. Children's developing understanding of science begins in their everyday activities and conversations about the natural and technical world. Children develop "scientific literacy" as they begin to learn the language of science (e.g., concepts such as "gravity" or "metamorphosis"), the kind of causal explanations that are used in scientific theories (e.g., the day-night cycle results from the rotation of the earth), and the
This response to Mitchell and Mueller's 'A philosophical analysis of David Orr's theory of ecological literacy' comments on their critique of Orr's use of the phrase 'ecological crisis' and what I perceive as their conflicting views of 'crisis.' I present my views on ecological crisis informed by standpoint theory and the definition of crisis as turning point. I connect the concept of turning point to tipping point as used in ecology to describe potentially irreversible changes in coupled social-ecological systems. I suggest that sustainable societies may provide models of adaptive learning in
This theoretical paper attempts to make the case for the use of narrative (i.e., fictional written text) in science education as a way of making science meaningful, relevant and accessible to the public. Grounded in literature pointing to the value of narrative in supporting learning and the need to explore new modes of communicating science, this paper explores the use of narrative in science education. More specifically, in this paper we explore the question: What is narrative and what are its necessary components that may be of value to science education? In answering this question we
The present paper describes the design of teaching materials that are used as learning tools in school visits to a science museum. An exhibition on ‘A century of the Special Theory of Relativity’, in the Kutxaespacio Science Museum, in San Sebastian, Spain, was used to design a visit for first‐year engineering students at the university and assess the learning that was achieved. The first part of the paper presents the teaching sequence that was designed to build a bridge between formal teaching and the exhibition visit. The second part analyses the potential of the exhibition and the
DATE:
TEAM MEMBERS:
Jenaro GuisasolaJordi SolbesJose-Ignacio BarraguesMaite MorentinAntonio Moreno
One issue of interest to practitioners and researchers in science centres concerns what meanings visitors are making from their interactions with exhibits and how they make sense of these experiences. The research reported in this study is an exploratory attempt, therefore, to investigate this process by using video clips and still photographs of schoolchildren’s interactions with science centre exhibits. These stimuli were used to facilitate reflection about those interactions in follow‐up interviews. The data for this study were 63 small group interviews with UK primary school children (129