In this article, we discuss a museum program for teens located in an urban environment. The participants were high school students from public, private, religious and home schools. The program allowed learning to occur in an informal setting and united teens from one city through a common interest in visual art. Also, it was an opportunity for the…

Field trips are an important feature of the United States' education system, although in the current context of high-stakes tests and school accountability, many schools are shifting resources away from enrichment. It is critical to understand how field trips and other informal learning experiences contribute to student test scores, but little…

Informal learning is an important venue for educating the general public about complex socio- scientific issues: intersections of scientific understanding and society. My dissertation is a multi-tiered analysis of how informal education, and particularly informal educators, can leverage learning to respond to one particular socio-scientific issue:…

Learning is becoming increasingly self-directed and often occurs away from schools and other formal educational settings. The development of a myriad of new technologies for learning has enabled people to learn anywhere and anytime. Web 2.0 technology allows researchers to shed a new light on the importance and prevalence of informal learning.…

People over 65 (or older people) are a growing proportion of the population in many developed countries including Australia. In the last 10 to 12 years interest from this group in the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and the Internet has also grown considerably. ICT has much to offer older people as a means of keeping in…

Despite the fact that immigration has played an important role in transforming Canada into an ethno-culturally diverse and economically prosperous nation, immigrants themselves are often criticised as passive citizens. This study attempts to deconstruct this myth by investigating the volunteering experiences of Chinese immigrants in Vancouver. The…

Since informal learning occurs outside of formal learning environments, describing informal learning and how it takes place can be a challenge for researchers. Past studies have typically oriented to informal learning as an individual, reflective process that can best be understood through the learners' retrospective accounts about their…

The purpose of this article is to use self-study methodology to analyze critically the impact of 30 years of non-formal education on my development as a teacher educator. I begin within a particular conception of self-study research and make a case for situating martial arts as non-formal education. The data for this article are presented as a…

In her work, the author presents the list of children's games (kept in the Brlic Family Archives in Slavonski Brod) from the first half of the 19th century. The list of children's games is in the manuscripts in the files of Ignjat Alojzije Brlic dated from 1830 to 1835. Using this list as an example, the author proves that children's games also…

Academics and campus planners alike have realized that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to planning effective formal and informal learning spaces. What is clear is moving the student experience from one that is transactional to transformational requires adhering to grounded best practices in teaching, learning, and campus planning,…

Students with disabilities are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers (National Science Foundation, 2015). The underrepresentation is a problem because the nation's competitiveness depends on diverse individuals with STEM knowledge, skills, and abilities to drive innovation that will need to new…

This paper summarises research findings from a longitudinal national evaluation of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) "enrichment and enhancement activities". The activities included science practical lessons, supported by ambassador visits, trips to laboratories, STEM centres and higher education institutions. The…

This column examines the recent political campaign and possible effects on gifted and talented students. Using psychological theories, the author describes ways that adults can interpret the events and model appropriate American values.

Ageing populations and accelerating economic change make it increasingly important to update the skill levels of populations over the whole life course. Adult education is believed to allow adults' skills to adapt continuously to constantly changing economic requirements. Both research into adult education, and discussions on lifelong learning…

In 2013, we undertook research in a New Zealand University to gain insights into students' understandings of informal learning, its connection to formal learning and how they engaged in informal learning using digital and mobile technologies. A total of 765 students (postgraduate, undergraduate and first-year students) completed a questionnaire.…