형평성 관련 비형식 과학 학습 및 교육 연구 경향 탐색 : 네트워크 분석법의 다학제적 적용

The purpose of this chapter is to describe a teacher education program in elementary education with a focus on science education and environmental education. The chapter is co-authored by a professor in the program and two former students who attended and graduated from this program at different times. Both students have worked in both formal and informal science education environments and this chapter explores the question of how a formal teacher education program might well prepare students for a career in informal as well as formal science education. We describe the teacher education program holistically and the varied individual experiences of each student in the program. We believe a strength of this chapter is the perspective gained from hearing former pre-service teacher participants’ voices about this program and its benefits and shortcomings in their own lives. While there is literature about the advantages of informal science education partnering with formal science education, most of this literature addresses the benefits that informal science education brings to formal science education. Another purpose of this chapter is to urge educators in these fields (informal and formal science education) to carefully consider the benefits that a formal teacher education program might provide to individuals who wish to pursue careers in informal science education.

Specific metrics for the status of US science education indicate that the country is losing its competitive edge on a global scale; among nations, the US ranks 22nd in density of broadband internet penetration and 72nd in density of mobile phone subscriptions, both of which are critical tools for science literacy and likely contribute to our international rank of 48th in quality of math and science education. Even worse, 69% of US public middle-school math students are taught by teachers without degrees or certificates in mathematics, and 93% of public middle-school teachers in physical sciences lack degrees in their subject (NAS 2010). All of these rankings represent indicators of global science leadership. In short, formal science education systems in the US lag behind those of many other countries, and our ability to train the next generation of scientists is at risk (Brewer and Smith 2010). In addition to shortfalls in public schools, US K–12 youth now watch at least 4 hours of television daily, and the average teenager spends a whopping 7.5 recreational hours daily in front of television and gaming screens (NAS 2010) – time that instead could be devoted to doing homework or experiencing the natural world through outdoor engagement. The formal STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education metrics for US education are not keeping pace with those of other developed countries and are declining over time. Ecology education is experiencing one of the largest deficits: public schools have cut back on field trips and many K–12 students now experience nature virtually, rather than directly (Louv 2008; Lowman and Mourad 2010). Likewise, many undergraduate and graduate programs are eliminating their natural history programs, sometimes referred to as the "extinction of the ologies" (Lowman and Mourad 2010). In contrast, informal science education (ISE) is now providing a larger compensatory component of STEM education to students as well as to citizens and policy makers. Currently, US museums tally approximately 850 million visits annually, which is more than the attendance for all major league sporting events and theme parks combined (483 million in 2011; www.aam-us.org). Along with these visits, museums are also recording a burgeoning virtual visitorship, with an additional 524 million online visitors in 2006 alone, which has escalated during the past 5 years. In the US, there are over 17 000 museums, whose visitors range from several hundred for a rural museum with a local mission to >8 million annually for larger or national museums (www.aam-us.org); many of these ISE experiences bolster shortfalls in formal STEM education. Natural history museums, with their biodiversity collections and interpretive dioramas, serve as focal points to provide ISE about ecological concepts, including biodiversity, ecosystem services, climate change, and landscapes. In many cases, K–12 students become inspired by seeing, touching, and working with collections; and increasingly, virtual technologies and social media are becoming important drivers of science education concepts for youth outside of the formal classroom setting. Both undergraduate and graduate students can gain valuable training in science communication and outreach using the public floor of museums and other ISE platforms (Trautmann and Krasny 2006; Lowman and Mourad 2010). Given the declining competitiveness of US science education on a global scale, ISE has become an important pipeline for engaging the next generation of scientists and for contributing to otherwise declining ecological literacy. Of US adults surveyed nationally, <20% possess an "acceptable" level of scientific literacy and a majority have little knowledge of natural science, the process of research, or the results of contemporary scientific investigations, despite the importance of science to both human and ecological health (Field and Powell 2001; Miller 2004). Many ISE institutions are embracing the urgency of providing visitors with hands-on experiences to understand science and especially ecology; such efforts may translate to a healthy community through an understanding of fresh water, pollinators, clean air, agriculture, carbon sequestration, forest products, and myriad other ecosystem services. Educators often suggest "the best way to help the public understand the research process is to involve them directly through hands-on research" (Ucko 2004). Public Engagement with Science (PES) is a term used in ISE circles that emphasizes the growing importance of providing citizens with a better understanding of science as a driver of economics and health; ecology is often a conduit for science understanding, whereby museums foster a sense of wonder that leads to greater science literacy by getting kids "hooked" on science. But more analyses of PES in museum settings – including theoretically based assessments of activities – are sorely needed (Bonney et al. 2009). In my former home state of North Carolina, 39% of 8th graders report they "never or hardly ever" designed a science experiment, and another 29% report doing hands-on science activities only once or twice a month. Teaching methods that were traditional several decades ago – lectures, textbooks, recipes in laboratory sessions –continue to be the norm in science education despite national outcries calling for radical change (eg Brewer and Smith 2010). Soon, science teachers may face additional pressure to incorporate hands-on experiences into their courses. Like those of many other states, North Carolina's revised science standards call for inquiry-based learning experiences emphasizing the Next Generation Science standards. Historically restricted to museums as an outreach activity, ISE may infiltrate the public school classroom, so that "citizen-science" activities originating in museums can be virtually transmitted to classrooms for dynamic new science activities (eg Project GLOBE, Project BudBurst, and iNaturalist.org; see Trautmann et al. 2012; Zoellick et al. 2012; www.yourwildlife.org). Programs such as the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) have national mandates from Congress to implement citizen science (or some major and transformational capacity of ISE) to reach diverse stakeholders with data streams about North American ecosystems (Lowman et al. 2009). In addition, for states like North Carolina, with large numbers of practicing scientists, the mentoring of K–12 teachers by scientists has the potential to become another pathway for ISE (Lowman and Randle 2009). To keep North Carolina competitive in science (especially given the strength of Research Triangle Park, a huge driver of technology and jobs in the state), public–private partnerships funded a new wing of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences that opened in April 2012. Called the Nature Research Center, it proposed to expand citizen science (ie PES) to diverse stakeholders using four innovative platforms of ISE (Dickinson and Bonney 2012). Drawing upon ecology and especially biodiversity as major drivers (since the museum houses a collection of over three million specimens of organisms endemic to the southeastern US), several ecology-based citizen-science programs were launched with marked success. These programs serve as a case study for integrating real nature and virtual technologies, thereby raising the ecological literacy of museum visitors. Researchers from the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at North Carolina State University initiated visitor evaluations to track the success of the different platforms of informal learning that include: (1) citizen-science programs in partnership with local scientists (eg the Belly-Button Biodiversity program [Hulcr et al. 2012] or the "wild life of our homes" project [www.yourwildlife.org]); (2) virtual theater to connect K–12 students directly to environmental scientists working both in laboratories and in the field; (3) public education labs (called iLabs) that illustrate natural science techniques of "how we know what we know" about ecology and natural sciences; and (4) glass-walled laboratories where scientists work in the public eye and answer questions from onlookers about the scientific process. Will ISE platforms succeed in bolstering STEM education for students and visitors? With its myriad educational programs for diverse audiences, the California Academy of Sciences (CAS) is proving the success of ISE. Located in San Francisco, CAS's ecoliteracy programs are rooted in science learning, but take the next step to reconnect learners to the natural world and equip them with tools to foster healthy communities through environmental action (eg http://spotlight.macfound.org/featured-stories/entry/elizabeth-babcock). For example, the Academy's Teacher Institute on Science and Sustainability engages 3rd- to 5th-grade teachers in a cohort-based, 2-year training program to incorporate sustainability action in their science teaching. Using simple metaphors that make the science accessible, CAS's ocean action programs (hosted near a 200 000-gallon live coral-reef exhibit on the museum floor) acquaint visitors with the causes and mechanisms of ocean acidification, and its impact on coral reefs. Conservation-oriented stories, as well as action steps designed for individuals and families to reduce carbon emissions, are directly woven into the program's message. In addition, CAS has one of the museum world's first glass-walled laboratories, where visitors can "meet a scientist" and children can interact with diverse scientists as role models (Figure 1). Such innovative attempts to strengthen ISE may ultimately inspire the next generation of ecologists. Moreover, expansion of "virtual-plus-real" natural history educational platforms into other ISE institutions – botanical gardens, zoos, parks, and even school playgrounds (eg www.schoolofants.org) – will foster exciting opportunities to improve ecoliteracy, not just for students but also for their parents, for regional policy makers, and for a diverse public who enjoy destinations that offer ecology education in an informal setting. An informal science education (ISE) laboratory at the California Academy of Sciences encourages students and the general public to pose questions to practicing scientists. This interaction also allows visitors to learn how natural history hypotheses are tested by the scientific method. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.

The purpose of this chapter is to describe the state of informal science education and environmental education in a developing country, Indonesia, and to compare opportunities for informal science education in Bengkulu Province, Sumatra, Indonesia with opportunities for informal science education in North Carolina (NC), United States of America (USA, US). We describe informal science education as well as provide information about environmental education and formal science education in both countries. The chapter includes an overview of pressing environmental issues in each locale. We conclude the chapter with suggestions about how to develop and enhance informal science education opportunities in Bengkulu and in NC. Natural resource conservation education for children and adults, either through formal or informal education, is not well developed in Bengkulu. Formal science education opportunities have not utilized the natural surroundings as a source of learning; therefore, most students are unfamiliar with their natural environment. Additionally, opportunities for direct natural experiences through extracurricular activities are limited. Informal nature groups, which are common in the USA and Europe, such as boy and girl scouts, birding groups and junior park ranger opportunities, are not generally available in Bengkulu. While the Indonesian government has embraced the concept of ‘teaching green,’ this has not yet become best practice, especially in Bengkulu where this concept is still unfamiliar to most teachers and students. Generally in Indonesia, there is more focus on creating new markets in industrialized countries for raw products from Indonesia, and few people are attending to concerns about the diminishing natural resources in the Province. Informal science education could rally the Indonesian people to take appropriate action before their natural resources are depleted or severely impacted.

Exploring the gender differences in how children develop early interest and understanding in engineering can provide useful information for the ongoing efforts to address the low numbers of women who pursue engineering careers. By the time girls reach middle school, they are already much less likely to be interested in STEM careers than boys are, especially for fields that are math-intensive such as physics and engineering. This lack of interest has been connected to a narrow and often inaccurate view of the engineering profession and the perceived misalignment between what engineers do and what girls value in future careers. Informal learning environments can play a pivotal role in inspiring today’s youth to pursue careers in STEM. These contexts have been shown to be powerful and transformative settings in which young people can begin to cultivate lifelong interest in –and understanding of – a broad range of STEM topics. Moreover, informal learning environments often allow for parents and children to collaboratively engage in STEM learning, which may be particularly important in fields like engineering where parents have been shown to play a critical role in career choice. The purpose of the Gender Research on Adult-child Discussions within Informal ENgineering environmenTs (GRADIENT) study is to explore gender differences in the development of early engineering interest and understanding. In particular, the project closely examines parent-child conversation within a range of informal engineering contexts that exist at the intersection of parents, children, and meaningful STEM learning. In this study we examine a pre-school program where parents and children can play with engineering-focused toys, a family-oriented engineering event for elementary students and their parents, and an engineering exhibit within a science museum. This paper focuses on the first setting, the pre-school program where parents and children play with toys to engage in engineering-related activities. Drawing from the literature on both engineering education and informal science education, video-recordings from 30 daughter-parent dyads are analyzed for informal engineering learning in two ways. First, we investigate the parent-child discussions that occur during engineering activity using the lens of Islands of Expertise, a theory developed by Crowley and Jacobs (2002) that suggests short instances of explanatory talk between parents and children within informal environments can form lasting linkages between interest and understanding over time. Second, we investigate specific engineering behaviours exhibited by the parent-child dyads. Preliminary findings suggest that both parents and children re-frame the design task that is given to them to add more context to the task. Iteration varies widely across the parent-child dyads, and examples of optimization also vary across the parent-child dyads. These findings provide insights into how what engineering thinking might look like for young children (aged 4-6 years) as well as insights into the types of engineering-related activities that may be engaging for young girls.

ABSTRACTAlthough there is substantial research on the effect of emotions on educational outcomes in the classroom, relatively little is known about how emotion affects learning in informal science contexts. We examined the role of emotion in the context of an informal science learning experience by utilizing a path model to investigate the relationships among emotional arousal, valence, attention, environmental values and learning outcomes. Sixty undergraduate and graduate students participated in one of two treatments consisting of watching an exciting or neutral nature documentary video, reading an associated narrative, and taking a post‐test. Our findings suggested that higher emotional arousal, less pleasant feelings about the content, and stronger environmental values led to greater short‐term learning outcomes. We discuss our findings in relation to current understandings of emotion and learning in informal science education settings.

Science for all is a global educational pursuit; however, the realities in formal science education show that it is a goal still challenged by inequitable outcomes that are marked by gender, race/ethnicity, language, culture, and socioeconomic status. Whether these inequities persist in the informal settings still remained a question that is open for more investigation. This empirical study aims to examine the factors that relate to access to informal science education institutions. A representative sample of 1611 Taiwanese adults was asked if they have visited six popular informal science education institutions in the last 12 months. Nine factors related to travel distance, social demography, and scientific literacy, were included to explain the likelihood of visiting each institution. The findings showed that the travel distance, education, presence of children, interest in scientific issues, and attitudes toward these institutions were statistically significant predictors of visitation. The paper provides empirical and practical implications to help informal science educators and policy makers to ensure equitable access to these institutions for all.

Families commonly document their outings by capturing their experiences through digital photographs and videos. However, little is known about the ways in which families engage their personal mobile devices to document educational family outings and how they subsequently talk about the digital artifacts that captured their informal learning experiences. This paper presents new evidence on family digital artifact creation during an informal science institution (ISI) visit, the expected and actual uses of their digital artifacts after the visit, and family conversations reminiscing about the ISI visit with the digital artifacts. Using a concurrent triangulation mixed‐methods design, data on family digital artifact creation during an aquarium visit (N = 204) and digital artifact use after the visit (n = 67) were collected using parent surveys. Audio‐recorded parent‐child conversations with a subset of families (n = 25) document whether and how families use their digital artifacts to reminisce about the aquarium visit. Quantitative findings detail family digital technology practices during informal learning experiences, and qualitative findings suggest evidence of informal science learning in the everyday interactions of the families who elected to continue the study. The study indicates that family storytelling and digital technology practices may help to bridge informal science learning from ISI to home and frames family non‐participation within an anti‐deficit perspective.

In recent decades, educators and policymakers in the United States have increased their focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) learning opportunities both in school and in informal learning environments outside of school. Informal STEM learning can take place in varied settings and involves a variety of STEM domains (e.g., engaging in engineering practices in a construction exhibit at a museum; talking about math during book reading at home). Here we provide a selective review of the literature on informal STEM learning to illustrate how these educational experiences are crucial for efforts to increase early STEM learning even before children reach school age. Leveraging cognitive and learning science research to inform policy, we make three recommendations to advance the impact of informal STEM learning: 1) integrate cognitive and learning science–based learning practices into informal learning contexts, 2) increase accessibility and diversity of informal STEM experiences, and 3) create explicit connections and coherence between formal and informal STEM learning opportunities in early childhood education.

This PhD research project is an evidence-based example of a STEAM-enriched community-based programme that aims to support children’s participation in science. Additionally, the thesis is an example of the benefits of adopting a culturally adaptive curriculum in informal science education (ISE). Community-based informal science research is underexplored in the Netherlands, which is the context of the study. The theoretical and analytical frameworks of Figured Worlds and Identity Resources were used to analyse children’s science identity authoring. The findings of the study shine a light on the relationship between community-based science learning and children’s engagement with and participation in science. More specifically, we see how families’ science engagement informs science instruction and supports children’s science identities.

Despite the ubiquity of smartphones, no studies to date have investigated family smartphone practices in informal learning environments, notwithstanding museum app studies. Yet, the importance of parent-child interactions for children’s informal learning is well-established. This multi-method pilot study described whether and how families used smartphones during informal learning, assessed fidelity of parental self-reported smartphone use, and compared the quantity and quality of parent-child conversations by smartphone use. Participants were 79 children and parents at a local aquarium. Parents self-reported demographics, amount of smartphone use, and verbal engagement with child. With a subset of families, researchers used systematic observations to document smartphone use and parent-child engagement and audio recording for parent-child conversations. The authors assessed conversation quality by coding verbatim transcripts for parent and child responsiveness and contingency. Triangulation of measures revealed that parents underreported and underestimated their device use. Fifty-five percent of families used a smartphone, primarily for photo and video documentation. More smartphone-using adults reported off-topic talk than did smartphone-free adults (p = .001), and the more parents used their smartphones, the less contingent were their conversations (p = .004). That parents and children were less contingent, and thus less sensitive, at the turn-by-turn conversational level adds to the scarce microanalytic work demonstrating how parent smartphone use impacts the moment-to-moment interactions of parents and children. Such differences in the quantity and quality of language interactions have important implications for the developmental and educational trajectories of children whose families vary in degree of smartphone use during informal learning opportunities.

Although a growing number of research articles in recent years have treated the role of informal settings in science learning, the subject of the history of science in museums and its relationship to informal and non-formal education remains less well explored. The aim of this review is to assemble the studies of history of science in science museums and explore the opportunities for the further use of the history of science in science museum education practice. Α number of mainly interdisciplinary texts from the fields of science education, history of science, scientific museology and museum education are reviewed. The review shows that the study of the role of history of science in informal and non-formal science education is heterogeneous and fragmentary. It is necessary to raise new research questions and construct new lines of research to investigate the subject in a more systematic way.

Exhibits and programs at hands-on science centers, museums, and on the web can be used to increase science literacy in optics and photonics. These informal science education efforts play a profound role in increasing the public's understanding of optics and photonics and its applications. Informal science education also plays a significant role in interesting young children in the photonics field. This paper presents a tour of the informal science education world and describes how scientists can work with science centers. It also describes how science centers and museums have made use of web broadcasts of special events such as eclipses to enhance public interest in science topics.

This article reports a case study on a popular informal science learning community via social media in China, named GuoKr (meaning “nutshell” in English). Data were collected through a variety of Chinese social media and social networking sites, web-based community portals, and discussion boards. Content analyses and data mining were conducted to investigate how GuoKr successfully attracted and engaged public in informal learning on scientific topics in particular. The study found three key characteristics that contributed to the success of such learning communities: (a) utilizing a variety of social media to empower participants with just-in-time, accidental learning opportunities; (b) daily tweets related to emerging or ongoing social events or hot topics to provide brief but intriguing knowledge “bites”, which often leads to extended readings and related resources; and (c) the integration of social media and traditional face-to-face local events to engage the public in science-related learning and knowledge sharing. Practical and research implications are discussed with suggestions for future research as related to ubiquitous learning communities for informal science learning.

Informal mathematics learning has been far less studied than informal science learning - but youth can experience and learn about mathematics in their homes and communities. "Math walks" where students learn about how mathematics appears in the world around them, and have the opportunity to create their own math walk stops in their communities, can be a particularly powerful approach to informal mathematics learning. This study implemented an explanatory sequential mixed-method research design to investigate the impact of problem-posing activities in the math walks program on high school students' mathematical outcomes. The program was implemented during the pandemic and was modified to an online program where students met with instructors via online meetings. The researchers analyzed students' problem-posing work, surveyed students' interest in mathematics before and after the program, and compared the complexity of self-generated problems in pre- and post-assessments and different learning activities in the program. The results of the study suggest that students posed more complex problems in free problem-posing activities than in semi-structured problem-posing. Students also posed more complex problems in the post-survey than in the pre-survey. Students' mathematical dispositions did not significantly change from the pre-survey to post-survey, but the qualitative analysis showed that they began thinking more deeply, asking questions, and connecting school content to real-world scenarios. This study provides evidence that the math walks program is an effective approach to informal mathematics learning. The program was successful in helping students develop problem-posing skills and connect mathematical concepts to the world around them. Overall, "math walks" provide a powerful opportunity for informal mathematics learning.

Dedicated science learning spaces such as science museums, science cafes, or science media attract mostly those who seek out science learning experiences. This self-selection represents a major challenge for broadening participation in informal science learning (ISL). In this study, we examine an approach to ISL that aims at reaching audiences who may not ordinarily engage with science. Termed Guerilla Science, this approach blends elements of access, by removing barriers to participation by embedding science into unexpected places, with those of inclusion, by designing activities that speak to the learning identities of participants. Our research investigated whether such ISL experience are indeed able to attract and engage ‘new’ audiences. In this study, Guerilla Science events were featured at the Oregon Eclipse Festival, a large multi-day music and arts festival. We conducted a multi-method study that included participants of the Oregon Eclipse Festival who engaged with Guerilla Science events, and those who did not, with a focus of understanding whether these two groups were different in key characteristics associated with their interest in, and engagement with science. The full range of festival goers, from those with little connection and interest in science to science enthusiasts, who participated in Guerilla Science, were similar to festival goers overall, indicating the effectiveness of the approach for engaging adults from beyond the science choir. Providing access points to science engagement within non-science cultural contexts and designing the science experiences to align with cultural identity of the audience represents an evidence-based practice for broadening participation.