A driving factor in designing interactive museum exhibits to support simultaneous users is that visitors learn from one another via observation and conversation. Researchers typically analyze such collaborative interactions among museumgoers through manual coding of live- or video-recorded exhibit use. We sought to determine how log data from an…

This study reviewed evolving research trends in online, distance, and blended learning over the past ten years through co-citation analysis. Related peer-reviewed research articles in the Web of Science were obtained and the references in the articles were analyzed. The result showed that literature review and meta-analysis studies on distance…

What happens when a teaching method designed around learning new technologies is applied to artmaking for teens in an art museum? How do technology and traditional artmaking techniques connect in the studio? What role does mentorship play? What happens to participants after they leave the program? These questions are central to this case study,…

Addressing complex global issues -- such as alterations in nutrient cycles, climate change, large-scale drought, widespread erosion, and new disease vectors -- require adaptive changes in our collective behavior and policies. To date, approaches to advancing science literacy to address such challenges have generally failed to produce sufficient…

Computational thinking (CT) is believed to be a critical factor to facilitate STEM learning, and a vital learning objective itself. Therefore, researchers are continuing to explore effective ways to improve and assess it. Makerspaces feature various hands-on activities, which can attract students with diverse interests from different backgrounds.…

Recent studies on language acquisition and motivation have targeted Japanese language learners in a formal educational context, with less attention paid to learners who study Japanese informally. The current study aims to investigate the impact of Japanese animations in the context of informal third language acquisition. It targets the native…

This article discusses video games as "attractors" to "affinity spaces." It argues that affinity spaces are key sites today where people teach and learn 21st Century skills. While affinity spaces are proliferating on the Internet as interest-and-passion-driven sites devoted to a common set of endeavors, they are not new, just…

Informed by the results of a collaborative project carried out with six secondary school students, this paper reflects on the methodological and epistemological issues related to the representation of informal learning practices. Borrowing a concept from the arts, I suggest that a representationalist logic in both schooling and educational…

Research focusing on how individual differences and the work context influence informal learning is growing but incomplete. This study contributes to our understanding of the antecedents of informal learning by examining the relationships of goal orientation, job autonomy and training climate with informal learning. Based on trait activation…

Teacher induction programs are an important investment in supporting novice teacher development and retention in the classroom. Effective induction support for beginning science teachers should address content-specific understanding and needs that are differentiated from other subjects. Informal science institutions that have unique resources…

Facebook studio groups/pages are commonly used by applied music faculty to communicate with current students, recruit new students, share students' activities, and promote faculty members' professional performances and academic endeavors. However, the blurred lines between academic, professional performance, and social activities in the field have…

This article establishes the importance of "context", a concept that underpins the academic contributions that John Falk and Lynn Dierking have made in building the field of informal/free-choice learning in science education. I consider, in turn, the individual contributions made by each of them prior to their seminal co-authored work,…

The importance of STEM Education has become central to discussions about the future of schooling over the past 20 years. Predicated on the idea that a primary purpose of schooling is to prepare skilled and knowledgeable workers, these discussions have been grounded, in part, in cold-war era concerns about rapid advancements in STEM fields driven…

This article presents a field-tested approach for integrating music arranging into middle and high school music ensembles. This project-based unit of study builds on scholarship in informal music learning and social constructivism. Reflections from former high school students who participated in the project help illuminate these connections. The…

Broad societal disruptions (i.e., the industrial revolution, digitalisation, and globalisation) have created a need for an increasingly adaptive higher education system in recent decades. However, the response to these disruptions by universities has generally been slow. Most recently, online learning environments have had to be leveraged by…