Local implementation of science reform efforts in part relies on science teacher leaders (STLs) to improve science instruction in classrooms and beyond. The lack of science-specific professional learning resources drives STLs to act as boundary spanners to locate resources outside their local context to fill that gap. Museums and other informal…

School visits to science museums are recognized educational resources that provide students with unique learning experiences, if teachers intentionally plan these. Surprisingly one finds that investigations analyzing teachers adopted practices by systematic monitoring, without researcher intervention, are almost non-existent in the literature. We…

This research was carried out to reveal the experiences of pre-service elementary teachers during their visit to the science center and their observations and opinions about this experience. For this purpose, a case study, which is one of the qualitative research designs, was adopted. 32 pre-service elementary teachers participated in the…

This study aimed to investigate the effects of the applications conducted in the science center within the scope of the science lesson "Solar System and Beyond" unit of the 7th-grade students in the secondary school, on the perceptions of the students about the out-of-school learning environments (OSLEs). In the quantitative part of the…

This forum article discusses learning and teaching in Science Centres in relation to gender. The starting point of this discussion is Eva Silfver's paper "Gender performance in and out-of-school science contexts." In response to this article I discuss the discourse of gender in research on Science Centres and museums. Moreover, the text…

Chemistry is essential to individual and societal well-being, yet publics tend to express less interest in chemistry compared to other science fields, and many scholars have highlighted the need for more research on effective chemistry communication and informal learning outcomes. Here, we describe one strand of a collaborative, multiyear study,…

The purpose of this study is twofold: first, to delve into professional development (PD) of science teachers' views about nature of science (NOS) throughout activities linking NOS aspects to science centers (SCs), and second, to reveal how a science teacher uses NOS aspects while teaching in SCs. An instrumental qualitative case study method with…

This study aims to examine the effect of the instructional plan which includes workshops pedagogically modelling the exhibitions at science centres for an effective field trip, on high school students' learning the concepts on 'Simple Machines: Pulley and Levers'. In this study, a semi-experimental design with the pre- and post-test control group…

One of the objectives of science education in science centres has been the enhancement of interest in science. However, museum fatigue has a negative impact on interest. Museum fatigue has been described as physical tiredness or a decrease in visitors' interest in a museum. The learning experience of students in science centres is also influenced…

Studies of education practices in science centers have found variation in how conceptual learning is supported, or scaffolded, on school field trips. This paper investigates the implications of scaffolding variations for how students make sense of a game-based exhibit that was designed to trigger interest and develop knowledge of scientific…

The "Children's Engagement Behaviour Framework" was developed to describe young children's engagement with science exhibits and how their behaviour is related to learning about the exhibits. The "Framework" was synthesised from frameworks in research literature related to family learning and the nature of play. It describes…

This mixed-method research focuses on how school children visiting a science museum with their class perceive the overall experience of their visit to the science museum and which aspects of the science museum experience they recall as significant. The study participants were seventy two 4th grade students (age 9-10) who came to the museum with…

Biomimicry, the process of using nature to guide innovative thinking and development, can be useful in helping students grasp scientific concepts. Teachers interested in incorporating biomimicry into lesson plans might find that experiential learning at informal science institutions (ISIs) with natural models and artifacts is a valuable tool to…

The goal of this research was to explore cognitive, self-determined learning and autonomous motivational effects in the context of a mobile science exhibition (N = 256) in Finland. The pupils were sixth-graders with an average age of 12 years 6 months. Autonomy experience, as measured by the Relative Autonomy Index (RAI), had an effect on how the…

The aim of this study was to explore how purposeful educational design using mobile learning might enable integration of classroom and outside of classroom teaching and learning. It was based on a marine reserves learning experience at a primary school which connected with a marine science and conservation visitor centre. The researchers'…