A test of physical and geopolitical geography was completed by 321 adults. Years of formal education and age correlated with geographic literacy. For those with higher educational attainment, informal learning (travel, reading, media) was a primary source of geographic knowledge. Women, regardless of education level, scored significantly lower…

Reports on a study designed to identify and measure family learning in science museums. Findings indicate that families do learn from exhibits and the level of learning is related to specific observed behaviors. Grouping these behaviors as performance indicators provides a useful measure of exhibit learning. Appendixes include a demographic…

Informal learning among workers takes place continuously. Companies that want to capitalize on it should encourage communities of practice and mentoring and eliminate communication barriers. (SK)

Explains the value of harvesting garden weeds and eating them. Discusses antioxidant and other nutritional qualities of weeds, weeds that are especially useful as raw or cooked vegetables, the importance of weed identification, and the dangers of weed-killing herbicides. Highlights purslane. (PVD)

This study was an exploration on the various issues related to recognition, accreditation and validation of non-formal and informal learning to open up avenues for lifelong learning and continuing education in Nepal. The perceptions, experiences, and opinions of Nepalese Development Activists, Educational Administrators, Policy Actors and…

This research was conducted during an after-school partnership between a University and school district in an economically depressed, urban area. The school population consists of 99% African American and Latino students. During the informal after-school math program, a group of 24 6th-grade students from a low socioeconomic community worked…

This module provides a set of quantitative snapshots of the Community Science Workshops (CSWs) to complement the other reports that comprise the CSW Evaluation Portfolio--the Description of CSWs, the Benefits to Youth, and the Evaluation Brief modules--and to build a solid representation of the scope and scale of the CSW's work and…

As the astronomy education community develops, a need has arisen for concrete research and evaluation methodologies, especially within informal educational settings. We propose one such methodology, action evaluation, which attempts to demystify the process of research/evaluation and recruit as partners those who are traditionally left out of this…

The purpose of this article is to obtain an understanding of which factors determine whether an university graduate receives formal on-the-job training or not and the amount of informal training received. Using a cross-sectional survey of Spanish graduates, this paper confirms that the informal training graduates receive in their jobs is more…

Informed by literature on childhood expertise in high-interest topics and parent-child conversation in museum settings, this study explored how children's level of dinosaur expertise influences family learning opportunities in a natural history museum. Interviews identified children with high and low dinosaur knowledge and assigned them to expert…

Two research studies sponsored by the Centre for Informal Learning and Schools (CILS) investigated the programmes informal science institutions (ISIs) currently provide to support K-12 science education, particularly in the area of teacher professional development (PD). The first study was a large-scale survey with 475 ISIs responding about the…

While it is recognised that employers invest a substantial amount of money and time in training, the exact nature and amount of this investment is poorly measured and understood. This project set out to supplement the available data, which have many limitations, with more detailed data for selected industries. However, it became quickly apparent…

This article is part of a project that involves case studies of four adults who attend an informal literacy center. I examine people's motivations to write when their main purpose is not to gain a degree or other credentials. Here I focus on one study member and how she uses writing to gain textual agency. By composing narratives that investigate…

In this article, the authors argue that online learning conversations need to go beyond the common "information exchange" to a deeper level of interaction in order to help learners build situated knowledge that is useful in their local contexts. The article begins by looking at the commonly-used framework of a Community of Practice (CoP) and, in…

The National Science Education Leadership Association (NSELA) was formed in 1959 to meet a need to develop science education leadership for K-16 school systems. "Navigator" is published by NSELA to provide the latest NSELA events. This issue of "Navigator" contains the following reports: (1) A Message from the President: Creating Networks of…