Chemistry outreach, a type of informal science education commonly practiced by college students, has primarily been studied by looking at individuals' approaches and perspectives. However, it is much more common for college students to plan and conduct chemistry outreach events as part of a group/club/chapter, not independently. In this case…

Science outreach programs that enable real-time interactions between scientists and school-aged children are known to positively impact learning gains and students' perceptions of scientists. To expand K-12 outreach by scientists, it is important to build structured outreach programs which offer scientists well-defined opportunities, while…

A day-long geoscience educational module, "Sharing and Learning: The Natural Environments of Acoma Pueblo," provided an opportunity to explore the various connections that Acoma Pueblo community members make between their cultural values and geologic concepts. The purpose of such an exploration is to make explicit the cultural…

Public libraries throughout the United States are increasingly using technological platforms to provide information resources to students across socioeconomic environments. Advances in technology have affected the way in which we learn with the advent of online learning, e-learning and shared learning experiences that have become ever present in…

One plausible method for ensuring students are truly understanding science fundamentals beyond being actively and intellectually engaged is to consider how informal learning environments can provide meaningful relevancy by connecting to real-world instances. Transforming traditional science centers into informal learning centers will ensure that…

To become robust scientific thinkers, children need meaningful opportunities to engage in science learning across a variety of contexts. Unfortunately, many children, especially those in urban settings and from low-income families, do not get the experiences needed to deepen their understanding of a broad range of scientific ideas, nor do they…

This investigation seeks to understand what constitutes successful professional learning for informal educators, and thus contributes to the research base needed for developing a professional infrastructure for the informal education field. This study draws on summative evaluation research for the national field trial of a professional learning…

This research attempted to understand the experiences of a cohort of informal and formal science educators and informal science institution (ISI) community representatives during and after completion of a pilot graduate certificate program. Informal science educators (ISEs) find limited opportunities for professional development and support which…

The centennial volume of "Review of Research in Education" ("RRE") takes a "retrospective, prospective" approach on a diverse range of education research topics spanning the last 100 years. While using historical trends as foundations for their chapters, the authors also look ahead to the most challenging issues and…

This paper introduces a model for using informal science education venues as contexts within which to teach the nature of science. The model was initially developed to enable university education students to teach science in elementary schools so as to be consistent with "National Science Education Standards" (NSES) (1996) and "A Framework for…