Americans have long recognized that investments in public education contribute to the common good, enhancing national prosperity and supporting stable families, neighborhoods, and communities. Education is even more critical today, in the face of economic, environmental, and social challenges. Today's children can meet future challenges if their schooling and informal learning activities prepare them for adult roles as citizens, employees, managers, parents, volunteers, and entrepreneurs. To achieve their full potential as adults, young people need to develop a range of skills and knowledge
Museum educators have a longstanding presence in museums and play a significant role in the institutions' educational agenda. However, research on field trips to science museums has predominantly explored teachers' and students' perspectives with little acknowledgment of the museum educators who develop and implement the educational programs the students experience. This study sought to describe instruction undertaken in, and goals driving, science museums' lessons through observations of museum educators followed by conversations with them immediately afterwards. Findings showed the ways in
Concepts and findings from research on identity development are employed to better understand why current science teacher preparation programs are failing to prepare teachers who are able and choose to implement the vision for science education articulated in professional standards. Identity theory is used as a theoretical lens to make sense of and better address some of the unique challenges of becoming a reform-minded science teacher, a professional identity that does not reflect the common norm in the profession; these challenges include the emotional risk and possible need for “repair work
This case study explores the affordances a weblog (blog) offered to “Ms. Frizzle,” an urban middle school science teacher and exceptional blogger, to support her professional identity development. The 316 posts she wrote over 1 school year were systematically analyzed and triangulated with data from e-mail exchanges and interviews with Ms. Frizzle and her colleagues. Ms. Frizzle used her blog to tell stories of herself and her classroom, reflect on her practice, work through dilemmas, solicit feedback, and display competence, among other things. By doing so, she was able to wrestle with many
Many attempt to address the documented achievement gap between urban and suburban students by offering special programs to enrich urban students’ academic experiences and proficiencies. Such was the case in the study described by DeGennaro and Brown in which urban students participated in an after-school technology course intended to address the ‘‘digital divide’’ by giving these youth supported experiences as technology users. However, also like the initial situation described in this study, instructional design that does not capitalize on what we know about urban education or informal
It seems difficult to suggest that creating an educational software program with 30+ individuals of varying skill sets, spread across the country from Hawaii to Vermont, is an ideal model for others to follow. Yet, in 2008, the Space Science Institute convened eight museums; two professional organizations; advisers from six institutions; software and design firms; plus separate research and evaluation teams for a four-year grant (three years of project development plus one year of follow-up research), funded by the National Science Foundation (award #0714241), to produce a Science Theater
The term ""community of practice"" is of relatively recent coinage, even though the phenomenon it refers to is age-old. The concept has turned out to provide a useful perspective on knowing and learning. A growing number of people and organizations in various sectors are now focusing on communities of practice as a key to improving their performance. This brief and general introduction examines what communities of practice are and why researchers and practitioners in so many different contexts find them useful as an approach to knowing and learning.