Science museums perform representations of science and that of its publics. They have been called to intervene in nanotechnology within global public policy programs expected to develop the field. This paper discusses the case of European science museums. It starts by examining the case of a European project that involved science museums working on nanotechnology. This example illustrates a "democratic imperative" that European science museums face, and which implies a transformation of their public role. It offers a path for the analysis of the current evolution of European science
In this article, Michael John Gorman, founding director of Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, examines the recent emergence of many museum exhibits that meld art and science together to foster creative exploration of science rather than instruction. As an exemplar, Gorman discusses the design of Science Gallery, their "INFECTIOUS" project, and lessons learned.
In this article, science center and museum professionals from around the world share ways that they are engaging visitors in hands-on innovation. Work from the following organizations are discussed: Exploratorium, Discovery Center of Idaho, Lawrence Hall of Science, Iridescent, Conner Prairie Interactive History Park, Ideum, Discovery Place, Ontario Science Centre, Bootheel Youth Museum, Science Centre Singapore, Children's Museum of Phoenix, Discovery Museums (Acton, MA), Discovery Center of Springfield, Missouri, Museum of Science, Boston, Questacon--The National Science and Technology
Assessing science learning in informal environments involves a series of challenges that are difficult to address using traditional assessment practices (National Research Council, 2009). Some of the assessment challenges inherent in informal and afterschool environments include: (a) interactions in these environments are diverse in terms of duration, type of activity, number of people involved; (b) they usually include emerging behavior due to unpredictable interactions with other participants (e.g., peers, family members, and facilitators); and (c) these environments are characterized by a
Cross-national assessments of student learning in mathematics, science, reading, computer technology, and civics have been successfully conducted since the 1960’s. Each subject required professional researchers and educators from different cultural backgrounds to reach agreement on a common definition of the content areas and measurement techniques for formal schooling. Two international organizations, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) and the Organization for Economic and Cooperation and Development (OECD) are now continuously conducting
This background paper is intended to support consideration of assessments "in improving program quality and student learning outcomes in the field of informal science education." This includes three questions: (a) What definitions of engagement, interest, curiosity, and motivation might be used in evaluations of informal and after-school science learning programs and activities? (b) Given the diversity of learning experiences, what are the prospects for developing common definitions of engagement, interest, curiosity, and motivation? And, (c) Given the diversity of types of informal and after
The NRC Framework for K – 12 Science Education (2012) lists five major ideas that are essential to the design of assessments and learning environments: 1) limited number of core ideas of science, 2) cross-cutting concepts, 3) engaging students in scientific and engineering practices, 4) building integrated understanding as a developmental process, and 5) the coupling of scientific ideas and scientific and engineering practices to develop integrated understanding. What implications do these major ideas have for assessment in informal science setting? This paper will discuss each of these ideas
Observational instruments are receiving broad attention as measures of gauging the quality of interactions within formal educational settings (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2012). Scores from observations are used as critical pieces of information in the evaluation of teachers for purposes of making employment-related decisions and supporting professional development. Given the potential high-stakes use, a large body of research is emerging to address the validity of observation instruments as assessments of quality (Gitomer & Bell, in press). Using this research base, this paper focuses
The practice and use of assessments in the informal science education (ISE) realm is highly diverse and inconsistent, with differing stakeholders having dramatically different attitudes towards which assessments (if any) they value. This essay reviews the landscape of attitudes and uses of assessment on the part of informal science education stakeholders beyond the research community.
The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Committee on STEM Education (CoSTEM) was created to coordinate federal programs and activities that support STEM education pursuant to the requirements of Sec. 101 of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010. The CoSTEM addresses a wide range of education and workforce policy issues including: research and development efforts that focus on STEM education at the PreK-12, undergraduate, graduate, and lifelong learning levels; and current and projected STEM workforce needs, trends, and issues. This paper describes the role of assessment
With increased resources and professionalism come increased expectations for the evaluation of individual projects to also provide field-wide evidence for the impact of ISE. But there has not been a significant growth in the use of psychometric measures that are validated to support field-wide assessments and norm-referenced tests for the field. This essay argues that expectations for the field to adopt normed assessments need to be contextualized in the practice and realities of ISE evaluation. While at the same time, evaluators of ISE projects need to build upon stepping stones such as
Learning involves change in knowledge and understanding; capabilities and skills; ways of thinking–-values, feelings and attitudes; and/or ways of acting-–behaviors. It is a lifelong process that occurs in many different environments. Learning is often described as formal learning (such as that occurring in schools, colleges, and universities) and informal learning (that occurs everywhere else). Although the learning process is the same, there are qualitative differences between formal and informal learning contexts that hinge on the degree of choice participants have to engage in learning