“Investigating the Long-term Effects of Informal Science Learning at Zoos and Aquariums” aimed to identify the opportunities for and barriers to researching the long-term effects of informal science learning experiences at zoos and aquariums, and to construct a proposal for a five- to ten-year study as the first attempt to measure those effects. This report summarizes the findings and recommendations of the one-year project, which concluded in November 2015.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Sarah ThomasNicole ArdoinMurray Saunders
To support learning across settings, educators need to develop ways to elicit student interests and prior experiences. McClain and Zimmerman describe how, during outdoor walks at a nature center, families talked about prior experiences with nature, which were mostly from non-school settings. They used the prior experiences to remind, prompt, explain to, and orient one another during shared meaning-making activity.
In 2011 the Bishop Museum and two collaborating organizations, University of Hawai’i at Manoa (UH) and the Pacific Voyaging Society (PVS), were awarded a multi-year grant from the Native Hawaiian Education Program (NHEP) to develop classroom and dockside curricula, an online resource center for educators, teacher workshops, a planetarium show, and a field-trip program for middle school students. The overall goal of these educational products and programs is to make STEM content accessible to Native Hawaiian students by presenting it through the lens of ancient Hawaiian navigational systems.
To inform development of the Curious by Nature exhibit and related programs, staff at the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo (JMZ) wants to hear from parents. Staff are especially interested in the experience of families with children who have special needs. In recent years the JMZ has developed an audience in this community of often close-knit friends and organizations. JMZ is also part of a successful collaboration with Abilities United and PACE (Pacific Autism Center for Education) in which disabled adults volunteer in the Zoo on a weekly basis. The institution’s intimate nature, good design and
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Wendy MeluchPalo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo
The Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo (JMZ) is working to create an accessible facility from the ground up as they plan for a new building, zoo habitats, and exhibits. During construction of the new JMZ the institution will occupy a temporary space in Palo Alto. The new JMZ is scheduled to open in 2019.
To inform their planning process, Tina Keegan, Exhibits Director at JMZ, contracted with Wendy Meluch of Visitor Studies Services (the evaluator) to conduct community conversation with two groups of parents on site at the Museum. Staff reached out to JMZ members and visitors, and local
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Wendy MeluchPalo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo
This Learning Research Agenda was collaboratively developed by the Museum, King's College London, the University of Bristol, and other UK and overseas contributors. It provides a conceptual map of learning in natural history institutions while considering the the complexity of practice.
The author provides a synopsis of the Learning Research Agenda collaboratively developed by the Museum, King's College London, the University of Bristol, and other UK and overseas contributors. It includes a discussion of the research agenda process, the importance of natural history museums, and the types of research methods and questions encompassed by the agenda.
The Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo offers a satisfying mix of interactive exhibit experiences, close-up animal viewing, and a warm, welcoming staff in a small-scale setting which makes it easily manageable for families with special needs. In recent years the JMZ has attracted and embraced this audience of often close-knit friends and organizations. In addition to an ongoing dialog with visitors at the institution, on multiple occasions JMZ has invited families to participate in community conversations to share their perspectives, experiences and suggestions.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Wendy MeluchPalo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo
Recent years have brought a shift in the rhetoric of science communication from initial deficit models to practices involving dialogue and, finally, engagement. But to what extent has this rhetorical shift changed practice in the U.K.? Jensen and Holliman analysed practitioners’ views of their science communication practices. Findings indicate that science communication practice is still primarily deficit-based, with some incidence of dialogue-oriented thinking.
How do people make sense of conflicting beliefs? Although Gottlieb & Wineburg’s paper is about highly educated professionals reading history, informal science educators will recognize similar issues when working with people who hold beliefs incompatible with scientific ways of understanding the world. “Epistemic switching” was a way of considering criteria for truth, reliability, and validity according to one belief system or another. Rather than simply believing or excluding ideas as people who held to only one value system, the people with multiple, competing affiliations actually more
How can technology be used to support inquiry in the classroom? In this study, Rehmat and Bailey probe the effects of a science methods course for preservice elementary teachers that explicitly includes technology integration. The preservice teachers in this course broadened their definition of classroom technology, increased their technology use, and gained a more positive outlook on technology integration.
Long aware that people from working-class, low-income, and ethnic minority backgrounds do not visit, informal science education institutions often attribute lack of visitorship to cost or barriers to access. Dawson argues that such institutions are not inclusive due to social factors that reinforce the experience of difference, discomfort, and inaccessibility for these minority groups.