STEM learning ecosystems harness unique contributions of educators, policymakers, families, and others in symbiosis toward a comprehensive vision of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education for all children. This paper describes the attributes and strategies of 15 leading ecosystem efforts throughout the country with the hope that others may use their lessons to deepen rich STEM learning for many more of America’s children.
This report proposes a comprehensive study to answer the question: How does conversation as a socially mediating activity act as both a process and an outcome of museum learning experiences? The study will examine museum learning across six kinds of museums and across different kinds of visiting groups. This proposal describes a model of museum learning that puts conversation among different kinds of coherent conversational groups at the core of museum learning. It focuses on ways that conversations are elaborated, enriched, and extended as a consequence of museum activity. The model recasts
This is an interview with paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould exploring his personal background, career accomplishments, research on Darwinism, and views regarding religion.
Suitable for planners, educationalists and environmentalists, this book introduces the theory and the practice of children's participation, and its importance for developing democracy and sustainable communities.
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.
This is a report of the NSF Advisory Committee for Environmental Research. It contains a call to action, research priorities, and sections on environmental research and citizen science.
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NSF Advisory Committee for Environmental Research and Education
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
This study investigated middle school students’ identity development as learners of science during learning conversations at an informal science education camp. The central research question was: What is the role of conversation in influencing science learner identity development during an informal science education camp? Identity in this study was defined as becoming and being recognized as a certain type of person (Gee, 2001). This study focused particularly on discursive identity, defined as individual traits recognized through discourse with other individuals (Gee, 2005; 2011). The study
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
This book describes the process of retrofitting a diorama exhibit, using principles of universal design and engaging people of all ages, with various disabilities to assist in the project.
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Museum of Science, BostonBetty Davidson