This study provides a historical overview of the development of the instructional television as a tool within the context of science education. The technology was traced from its beginning as experiments in public service broadcasting by universities and television networks, though closed circuit, cable, and commercially produced science-related programming. The use of the technology as a teaching tool is examined in terms of the concept of scientific literacy and the means by which instructional television helped to accomplish the goals of scientific literacy.
This article presents excerpts from reports written by visitor research professionals in Canada, Finland, Italy and Norway. These brief summaries describe visitor studies projects at various institutions in these countries.
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Visitor Studies AssociationGeorge Hein
This paper describes how an understanding of visitors could improve visitor services and museum experiences in order to maximize the attainment of museum objectives. Data from preliminary research at the Nehru Science Centre in India and implementation of findings in day-to-day management of science centre activities has brought about perceptible results, especially in creating new audiences and retaining visitors, thereby increasing overall visitor numbers and, above all, creating a renewed interest in the science centre among the community.
This article briefly outlines the unique evaluation strategy developed by staff at the Science Museum in London as part of the £50 million Wellcome Wing expansion project. The project aimed to produce "visit-centered" exhibitions that illustrate the impact of contemporary science and technology on ordinary people's lives.
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Ben GammonEleanor Bridgman
resourceresearchProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
This article is a summary of remarks at a special half-day session on April 28, 2000, part of a joint effort of the Informal Learning Strand of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching and the American Educational Research Association's Informal Learning Environments Research Special Interest Group. Topics included finding a unified voice and hinderances in the field of informal learning research.
This article discusses the QUT Museums Collaborative, a project comprised of museum educators and administrators and university researchers in Australia, which examined the experiences of young children visiting museums. This report includes a discussion of the research plan and methodology, emerging and anticipated outcomes, and the significance of the study.
This article presents an overview of two studies from a broader program of research designed to extend prior laboratory-based research on children's scientific thinking to the everyday contexts where it actually occurs. Author Kevin Crowley, a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh's Learning Research and Development Center, discusses their work designed to create a body of empirical findings and new theoretical models that could make a direct practical contribution to improving the ways that families learn about science during trips to museums. This article focuses on applied side of
This article analyzes findings from the PISEC Family Learning Project in Philadelphia to better understand gender-based visitor behavior in science museums. It includes a brief review of the PISEC project, a discussion of gender differences among PISEC families, and a comparison of PISEC data to findings from from another study conducted by Kevin Crowley of the Learning Research Collaborative at the University of Pittsburgh's Learning and Research Development Center.
Many scientists and science educators are concerned about the public’s ambiguous relationship with science and this public includes elementary teachers. Like many citizens, too many elementary teachers find science disconnected from everyday life and thinking. Science is a “school” subject − not an important part of everyday life. Some may believe that science conflicts with important personal beliefs they hold about other areas of life such as religion and art. Elementary teachers who feel this disconnection with science will at best approach science teaching as something one does if school
The Wildlife Conservation Society is developing and implementing a five-year science program for 420 parents and 210 teachers of children in grades K-8. Linked directly with school curricula and the new National Science Education Standards, the program will bridge the gap between parents and schools, and position the Zoo as a partner and intermediary to help parents and teachers improve the quality and quantity of science education. The program consists of four interrelated components: 1) A series of workshops that will prepare the 420 parents and 210 teachers to work in teams for better and more widely available science education; 2) A series of education projects that will enable workshop participants to teach thousands of other parents and educators about the importance of science literacy, the need for active parental engagement in children's education, and the crucial role that informal science institutions play in augmenting formal science instruction; 3) A series of four Science Advocacy Fairs at the Zoo that are expected to raise the visitor's consciousness on a large scale about the above issues; and 4) A symposium for educators from schools and informal science centers in the region to disseminate successful methods for involving parents in science education.
The Institute for Learning Innovation, Inc., requests $264,904 to pilot a project for establishing a national program to provide parents and significant other adults with support, training and materials. Also, the project goals will enable parents and other adults to become actively engaged in local science education reform and science literacy for their children. The duration of this project is eighteen months. The cost sharing for this NSF award is 24.6% of the total projected cost of the project. The Institute for Learning Innovation, Inc. will collaborate with the YWCA of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, Boys and Girls Club of Annapolis and the Arundel County Public Schools' Family Involvement Center. Project "ASK with Science" will develop a model program for implementing and disseminating science education materials to young children in underserved communities, thereby creating a grassroots, family-oriented program that can become established in the local communities served by these organizations.