Journal :: Rashid, O., Coulton, P., & Edwards, R. (2008). Providing location based information/advertising for existing mobile phone users. Personal Ubiquitous Comput, 12(1), 3 - 10.

In the emerging world of m-commerce potential users consistently cite location based information as one of the emergent services that they would most likely utilise. However, solutions for obtaining the specific location of a mobile user predominately rely on the provision of additional hardware and/or software within either the mobile phone or ...

Report :: Carroll, B., Smith, A., & St. John, M. (2008). Ten Years of Youth Programs at the American Museum of Natural History: An Independent Perspective and Lessons Learned. Inverness: Inverness Research.

This report includes: * A discussion of the theory of action and the rationale that underlies the American Museum of Natural History's youth programs -- the after school, in-depth science research programs * A description of three of the programs that have been offered and the evolution in program design that has taken place over the ...

Book :: Yaeger, R. E. and J. H. Falk (Ed.). (2008). Exemplary Science in Informal Education Settings: Standards-Based Success Stories. NSTA.

Just as science education doesn't stop at the schoolhouse door, neither should effective application of the National Science Education Standards. Exemplary Science in Informal Education Settings shows real-world examples of how science education reform has taken hold in museums, science centers, zoos, and aquariums as well as on television, radi...

Tags: Informal Education, Achievement, Assessment of students, Classroom management, Community involvement, Cultural awareness, Curriculum, Educational research, Informal education, Inquiry learning, Learning theory, Professional development, Teacher preparation, Teaching strategies

Journal :: Ash, D. (2008). Thematic continuities: Talking and thinking about adaptation in a socially complex classroom. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 45(1), 1 - 30.

In this study I rely on sociocultural views of learning and teaching to describe how fifth-sixth-grade students in a Fostering a Community of Learners (FCL) classroom gradually adopted scientific ideas and language in a socially complex classroom. Students practiced talking science together, using everyday, scientific, and hybrid discourses as t...

Tags: biology, language of science and classrooms, middle school science, case study research

Journal :: Rivet, A. E. & Krajcik, J. S. (2008). Contextualizing instruction: Leveraging students' prior knowledge and experiences to foster understanding of middle school science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 45(1), 79 - 100.

Contextualizing science instruction involves utilizing students' prior knowledge and everyday experiences as a catalyst for understanding challenging science concepts. This study of two middle school science classrooms examined how students utilized the contextualizing aspects of project-based instruction and its relationship to their science le...

Tags: physical science, problem-based learning, curriculum development, middle school science, classroom research

Book :: Friedman, A. (Ed.). (2008). Framework for Evaluating Impacts of Informal Science Education Projects. Washington D.C.: National Science Foundation.

Drawing from a 12 March 2007 NSF funded workshop about informal science education evaluation for "Evaluation Activities Related to the Academic Competitiveness Council's Examination of STEM Education Programs," this handbook offers background about NSF's evolving reporting requirements and advice from evaluators working in the field about how to...

Tags: Audience Impact, Awareness, Engagement, Attitude, Behavior, Skill, NSF report

Journal :: Grenier, R. S. (ed.) (2008). Adult Learning in Museums. Journal of Museum Education, 33(1), 1 - 288.

Spring 2008 Issue
Nonformal and Informal Adult Learning in Museums: A Literature Review
by Dana Dudzinska-Przesmitzki and Robin S. Grenier

Museum Education: A Nonformal Education Perspective
by Edward W. Taylor and Amanda C. Neill

New Directions in Adult Education
by Lynn McRainey

Self-Directed Learning:...

Tags: lifelong learning

Journal :: Clark, D. B. & Sampson, V. (2008). Assessing dialogic argumentation in online environments to relate structure, grounds, and conceptual quality. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 4(3), 293 - 321.

The national science standards, along with prominent researchers, call for increased focus on scientific argumentation in the classroom. Over the past decade, researchers have developed sophisticated online science learning environments to support these opportunities for scientific argumentation. Assessing the quality of dialogic argumentation, ...

Tags: physical science, cooperative grouping, technology education/software design, science, argumentation

Journal :: Bell, R. L. & Trundle, K. C. (2008). The use of a computer simulation to promote scientific conceptions of moon phases. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 45(3), 346 - 372.

This study described the conceptual understandings of 50 early childhood (Pre-K-3) preservice teachers about standards-based lunar concepts before and after inquiry-based instruction utilizing educational technology. The instructional intervention integrated the planetarium software Starry Night BackyardTM with instruction on moon phases from Ph...

Tags: astronomy, conceptual change, teacher education, technology education/software design

Journal :: Russo, A., Watkins, J., Kelly, L., & Chan, S. (2008). Participatory communication with social media. Curator, 51(1), 21 - 32.

Major museums worldwide are starting to use social media such as blogs, podcasts, and content shares to engage users via participatory communication. This marks a shift in how museums publicly communicate their role as custodians of cultural content and so presents debate around an institution's attitude towards cultural authority. It also signi...

Tags: online communties, social media, web 2.0