Reviews research related to gender and learning in science museums. Examines 10 studies including studies of stereotypic behavior patterns, parent talk and family interactions, and gender-biased exhibits. Describes the need for a better understanding of gender differences in informal learning environments and more exhibits specifically designed to…

A survey of 129 science and technology-related centers and museums revealed a shortage of polymer chemistry exhibits. Describes those displays that do exist and suggests possibilities for future displays and exhibits. Contains 23 references. (WRM)

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…

The goal of this study is to explore new tools for analyzing scientific sense-making in out-of-school settings. Although such measures are now common in science classroom research, dialogically based methodological approaches are relatively new to informal learning research. Such out-of-classroom settings have more recently become a breeding…

Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, has an award-winning science center that defines three main categories of science -- physics, chemistry, and biology. (Author/MLF)

This Schools Council Working Paper contains the report of a working party established to review the "form, function and finance for all school science, mathematics and technology centres in the United Kingdom and to make suggestions for a possible national framework." A description of the types of existing centers used by science…

Describes the 24-acre nature area at the University of Minnesota in Duluth. (PG)

The Undergraduate Science Center at Harvard University provides interiors that are an "appropriate science environment, attractive to students," the jury said in selecting it for one of the 1979 AIA Honor Awards. (Author/MLF)

This study looked at 30 primary aged children between 10 and 11 years old who were visiting the Eden Project, Cornwall and participating in workshops led and designed by the Eden Education Officers. The study attempted to directly test the effects of the Education Officers' workshops on children's learning. Personal meaning mapping, a…

PROCEEDINGS FROM A CONFERENCE HELD AT COLUMBUS, OHIO, FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE EDUCATION ARE REPORTED. PAPERS PRESENTED AT THE CONFERENCE ANALYZED STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF RECENT RESEARCH IN SCIENCE EDUCATION, IDENTIFIED RESOURCES, MODELS, AND THEORY FOR IMPROVING RESEARCH IN SCIENCE EDUCATION, IDENTIFIED ISSUES AND PROBLEMS…

Describes the purposes of the Center for Science Education at the University of Oslo as follows: to give help and advice to acting teachers; to make the staff at the university more aware of the needs and problems of the schools. Outlines the activities involved in fulfilling these purposes. (GS)

Examples are given of some types of interaction between viewed and museum provided by an experimental computer based nutrition exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. Plans are being developed for a museum in which most of the information conveyed will appear through the use of video systems tied to a computer. (CMV)

Numerous private and government-run science museums and centers work actively with schools to provide hands-on experience and bolster science curricula. According to a recent Association of Science and Technology Centers report, 88 percent of science museums say they plan their education programs jointly with school personnel, and 57 percent have…