This research study reports on the evaluation of the outcome and impact of learning as a result of the implementation of Education Programme Delivery Plans in 69 museums in the nine regional museum hubs in England during September, October and November 2005. This is the second study of the impact of learning achieved through museum school services which have been funded through the Renaissance in the Regions programme, which provides central government funding to museums in the English regions. The first study 'What did you learn at the museum today?' was carried out in 2003. The findings of
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Eilean Hooper-GreenhillJocelyn DoddLisanne GibsonMartin PhillipsCeri JonesEmma Sullivan
This paper details a long-term evolving effort to provide evaluation instruction designed to address specific information needs for selected target groups from a centralized location within a networked environment. Additionally, this paper examines a content design process that focuses on user-centered data-appropriate evaluation methods where the content of the instructional system is comprehensive, organized, and presented for use by library researchers and practitioners in a variety of library settings and situational contexts. Specific examples of web-based evaluation instructional systems
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TEAM MEMBERS:
John SneadCharles McClureJohn BertotPaul Jaeger
This paper describes an approach to familiarizing individuals with modern scientific processes through the facilitation of informal learning experiences in and around the museum. Several methods for development of such exhibits and exhibit content are presented. These experiences are discussed and later implemented in the context of the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum in Chicago, IL. The exploration functions as an educational guideline by which museum exhibits may be developed in order to familiarize a more general audience with processes behind scientific research and to make science
In mid-2007, the Sciencenter's executive director, Charlie Trautmann, traveled to Europe to survey a wide variety of science museums, centers, and other informal educational organizations and learn how they communicate the subjects of sustainability and global warming to the public. His report includes a new tool, called the "Museum Sustainability Index," which museums can use to assess their own progress in both becoming more sustainable organizations and communicating the science of sustainability to the public.
This review conducted by the National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST) explores the current discussion and research findings on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) in out-of-school time and reflects on the ways the INSPIRE program model (see Appendix A) incorporates research-based practice in implementing STEM education experiences in out-of-school time. The purpose of the literature review and analysis project is to inform the INSPIRE program managers during the planning and implementation stage of INSPIRE.
Based on the premise that one component of NASA's pre-college education program is intended to support and enact school reform, the Committee for the Evaluation and Review of NASA's Pre-College Education Program requested an analysis of how the NASA Explorer School (NES) Model aligns with other national models of school-wide improvement and reform. The purpose and focus of this paper is to summarize key elements of major school improvement and reform models as well as specific content reform models from the literature, and to analyze the extent to which there is alignment between these models
This paper presents a summary of each of 10 evaluations conducted of NASA educational programs. The paper begins with a table outlining the titles of the evaluations and who conducted them, the date of the report, the evaluation questions, the evaluation design or methods and brief comments on the quality of each report. After the table each report is considered in more depth through an overview of what the evaluation included as well as a critique of the evaluation questions, methods and findings. The paper concludes with an overall commentary on the set of evaluations.
The purpose of this paper is to explore and discuss the role of practical work in the teaching and learning of science at school level. It emphasizes practical work as a means for students to learn about the nature of science.
Reports from the NSF, NRC, AAAS, and others urge over and over that we must teach "science as science is done," that "science is a way of knowing," that our goal should be to impart "scientific habits of mind," and that learning must be learner-centered and oriented toward process. Fine. But what does this really mean for science education, and especially laboratory education?
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of laboratory-based science from a perspective that synthesizes developments in (1) science studies, e.g., history, philosophy and sociology of science and (2) the learning sciences, e.g., cognitive science, philosophy of mind, educational psychology, social psychology, computer sciences, linguistics, and (3) educational research focusing on the design of learning environments that promote dynamic assessments. Taken together these three domains have reshaped our thinking about the role inquiry, and in turn the laboratory, has in science
This paper explores the role of laboratory and field-based research experiences in secondary science education by summarizing research documenting how such activities promote science learning. Classroom and field-based "lab work" is conceptualized as central components of broader scientific investigations of the natural world conducted by students. Considerations are given to nature of professional scientific practice, the personal relevance of student's understanding of the nature of empirical scientific research, and the role of technology to support learning. Drawing upon classroom learning
The goal of this article is to provide an integrative review of research that has been conducted on the development of children's scientific reasoning. Scientific reasoning (SR), broadly defined, includes the thinking skills involved in inquiry, experimentation, evidence evaluation, inference and argumentation that are done in the service of conceptual change or scientific understanding. Therefore, the focus is on the thinking and reasoning skills that support the formation and modification of concepts and theories about the natural and social world. Major empirical findings are discussed