Informal science educators' goals for preschool-age audiences (ages 3-5 years) shape how they design opportunities for children and families to learn science. However, little research has explored the opportunities provided by informal science educators for preschool-age children to engage in science practices. We invited 12 informal science…

Engaging students in conversations around science and engineering design can be challenging. Sparking such conversations during field trips at an interactive science center has additional challenges. First, students vary considerably in age from day to day: science center employees might work with first graders one day and sixth graders the next.…

We can support students' deep engagement with content through innovative delivery. The techniques developed at the Field Museum in Chicago to share science knowledge through storytelling can provide inspiration for both formal and informal educators.

The aim of this study is to determine preschool teachers' science education activities, problems they encounter and solutions they devise, and methods and techniques they use during those activities. Phenomenology, which is a qualitative research design, was used. The study sample consisted of 15 female preschool teachers of primary schools in the…

Surveillance cameras are prevalent in various public and private areas, and they can also be coupled to optical microscopes and telescopes with excellent results. They are relatively simple cameras without sophisticated technological features and are much less expensive and more accessible to many people. These features enable them to be used in…

In this paper, we will present and discuss data from a research project called MIRACLE, in which high school students learned about energy and energy transformation in a technology-rich learning environment. This learning environment spanned across a classroom, a science center, and an online platform specially designed to support coherence across…

Background: Photovoice is one method that enables an educator to view an experience from a student's perspective. This study examined how teachers might use photovoice during an informal learning experience to understand the students' experiences and experiential gain. Design and methods: Participants in this study consisted of six students, three…

How can museums and other informal learning institutions cultivate greater civic engagement among the visiting public around important social issues? This case study of the National Network of Ocean and Climate Change Interpreters' (NNOCCI) professional learning community illustrates how insights from the social sciences can be productively…

As is well known, scientific entertainment can be a fruitful way to attract people of any age to science. Depending on the specific purpose, different mixtures of science and amusement can be considered, so emphasizing scientific education with respect to fun aspects or vice versa. Moreover, when proposing "hands-on" activities in such learning…

The national network of Science Learning Centres aims to raise the quality of science teaching from Key Stage 1 through post-16 (ages 5-19). Short courses are provided locally through the regional Science Learning Centres and longer, more intensive programmes are available at the National Science Learning Centre in York. There are a growing number…

Interactive science centers are unique players in the science education community, but their positioning as both authorities on science and providers of "free choice" learning presents learning researchers with a problematic contradiction rooted in the complexities of trying to be both "scientific" and "education" organizations. Using insight from…

This dissertation investigates how teaching in a hands-on science center contributes to re/shaping one's teaching identity. Situated at the New York Hall of Science (NYHS) in Queens, New York, my research approach is to conduct a critical ethnography where the focus is on improving the teaching and learning of science for all involved. In…

Suggests that students can develop the ability to do science in an informal environment such as a zoo, aquarium, or museum. Informal environments provide live organisms, specimens and scientific objects that students can explore and study. (CCM)

Describes "Challenge of Materials," a gallery where visitors can experience a wide variety of materials in different ways. Materials include familiar structural items such as steel and glass, and new materials that can change form and color. The gallery also provides opportunities for work with schools in materials science and…

Presented is a discussion on the value of science and technology centers in providing learning experiences for visitors. The discussion is not limited to science centers but includes applications possible to any museum interested in providing interactive experiences. (SA)