This research explores learning in science museums through the most common activity in a science museum--interaction with exhibits. The goal of this study was to characterize the learning behaviors exhibited by students as they engage with interactive exhibits in order to draw insight regarding the design of the exhibits. In order to do so, we…

Science centres generally strive to increase awareness, interest, capability and participation by citizens in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). This review of Scitech's professional learning (PL) strategy was designed to analyse quantitative and qualitative feedback about the professional learning activities delivered by…

Dinosaurs have been a very popular science topic since signs of their presence on earth were first discovered. They have represented so-called "edutainment" for some people. Learning from informal sources and in- an out-of-school environment can be effective and motivating. In this study, 12-year-old pupils (N = 366) visited a dinosaur…

Museum settings including aquariums, zoos and science centers rely heavily on their volunteer docent populations to interact with and communicate science and conservation concepts to the visiting public. The interactions docents have with museum visitors are important to meeting the educational expectations of museums and improving public science…

Research Findings: This paper reports on children's use of science materials in preschool classrooms during their free choice time. Baseline observations showed that children and teachers rarely spend time in the designated science area. An intervention was designed to "market" the science center by introducing children to 1 science…

Educators have identified four categories of "productive pedagogies" that are considered to lead to authentic student engagement and learning in the classroom. This study was designed to explore and extend these pedagogies in the context of learning in natural environments, in particular, through the programmes of Queensland…