Building on and extending existing research, this article proposes a 4-phase model of interest development. The model describes 4 phases in the development and deepening of learner interest: triggered situational interest, maintained situational interest, emerging (less-developed) individual interest, and well-developed individual interest. Affective as well as cognitive factors are considered. Educational implications of the proposed model are identified.
This article presents an overview of what we know about two perspectives, coined instructionist and constructionist, to games for learning. The instructionists, accustomed to thinking in terms of making instructional educational materials, turn naturally to the concept of designing instructional games. Far fewer people have sought to turn the tables: by making games for learning instead of playing games for learning. Rather than embedding "lessons" directly in games, constructionists have focused their efforts on providing students with greater opportunities to construct their own games and to
The aim of this research was to investigate the way in which parents of Grade One learners in a traditionally black school facilitate learning to help their children acquire mathematical skills and knowledge in mathematics, and also to help them become confidently involved in and give meaning to mathematics learning in Grade One. A questionnaire, which was compiled after an intensive literature study, was administered and semi-structured interviews were held. Data were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively, and it became evident that the parents of Grade One learners in the school used for
3D interactive virtual reality museum exhibits should be easy to use, entertaining, and informative. If the interface is intuitive, it will allow the user more time to learn the educational content of the exhibit. This research deals with interface issues concerning activating audio descriptions of images in such exhibits while the user is navigating. Five methods for activating audio descriptions were implemented and evaluated to find the most effective. These range roughly on a passive- active continuum. With the more passive methods, an audio explanation was triggered by simple proximity to
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Briana SullivanColin WareMatthew Plumlee
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The Coalition for Science After School (CSAS) was established in 2004 in response to the growing need for more STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) learning opportunities in out-of-school time. CSAS sought to build this field by uniting STEM education goals with out-of-school time opportunities and a focus on youth development. Over a decade of work, CSAS Steering Committee members, staff and partners advocated for STEM in out-of-school-time settings, convened leaders, and created resources to support this work. CSAS leadership decided to conclude CSAS operations in 2014, as the STEM in out-of-school time movement had experienced tremendous growth of programming and attention to science-related out-of-school time opportunities on a national level. In its ten-year strategic plan, CSAS took as its vision the full integration of the STEM education and out-of-school time communities to ensure that quality out-of-school time STEM opportunities became prevalent and available to learners nationwide. Key CSAS activities included: (1) Setting and advancing a collective agenda by working with members to identify gaps in the field, organizing others to create solutions that meet the needs, identifying policy needs in the field and supporting advocates to advance them; (2) Developing and linking committed communities by providing opportunities for focused networking and learning through conferences, webinars, and other outreach activities; and (3) Identifying, collecting, capturing, and sharing information and available research and resources in the field. The leadership of the Coalition for Science After School is deeply grateful to the funders, partners, supporters, and constituents that worked together to advance STEM in out-of-school time during the last decade, and that make up today's rich and varied STEM in out-of-school time landscape. We have much to be proud of, but as a movement there is much more work to be done. As this work continues to expand and deepen, it is appropriate for the Coalition for Science After School to step down as the many other organizations that have emerged over the last decade take on leadership for the critical work that remains to be done. A timeline and summary of CSAS activities, products, and accomplishments is available for download on this page. All resources noted in the narrative are also available for download below.
In 2006, Lucy Friedman of The After School Corporation and Jane Quinn of the Children’s Aid Society, both founding members of CSAS, published a commentary piece in Education Week entitled “Science by Stealth.”
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TEAM MEMBERS:
The Coalition for Science After SchoolLucy FriedmanJane Quinn
The current study compared 90 older adult-child pairs in three different informal settings that focused on the topic of heart health: a museum, the web, and an educational workshop. Pre/post interviews showed that learning in the museum and web was more similar than learning in the workshop condition. Participants learned more about prevention in the workshop, and systems in the museum and web. In addition, older adults in the museum and workshop, reported that they would learn more in the company of children, while older adults would prefer to learn alone while on the web. These findings have
The Silence of the Lands is a virtual museum of natural quiet. The project promotes a model for preservation, experience, and renewal of natural heritage that empowers the active and constructive role of local communities in the collection and interpretation of natural quiet as a cultural object. This is accomplished by using ambient sounds as conversation pieces of a social dialogue aimed at transforming the virtual museum in a place of cultural negotiation; that is, to make the virtual museum a living organism linking the people, visions, interpretations, and values that pertain to a
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Elisa GiaccardiHal EdenGerhard Fischer
This report presents the findings of a qualitative study that asked 38 secondary science teachers, ‘How can natural history museums effectively support science teaching and learning?’ A partnership of four natural history museums across England, teachers from their local areas and a university education department were involved. The museums work in partnership to support school science at 11–18. In-depth focus groups held at the museums and questionnaires were used.
The focus of this literature review is out-of-school time activities in informal environments, a "vastly understudied" set of experiences (Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development 1992), and the role these experiences can have in shaping the direction of youth to pursue STEM careers. By understanding the research base on this topic we can better understand the ways that interventions can lead to more young people choosing STEM professions. Our goal is to contribute to these infrastructure building efforts by synthesizing the relevant research for ITEST project staff, NSF Program Officers and
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TEAM MEMBERS:
ITEST Learning Resource CenterJennifer DorsenBethany CarlsonLeslie Goodyear
This paper details a long-term evolving effort to provide evaluation instruction designed to address specific information needs for selected target groups from a centralized location within a networked environment. Additionally, this paper examines a content design process that focuses on user-centered data-appropriate evaluation methods where the content of the instructional system is comprehensive, organized, and presented for use by library researchers and practitioners in a variety of library settings and situational contexts. Specific examples of web-based evaluation instructional systems
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TEAM MEMBERS:
John SneadCharles McClureJohn BertotPaul Jaeger
This paper presents a summary of each of 10 evaluations conducted of NASA educational programs. The paper begins with a table outlining the titles of the evaluations and who conducted them, the date of the report, the evaluation questions, the evaluation design or methods and brief comments on the quality of each report. After the table each report is considered in more depth through an overview of what the evaluation included as well as a critique of the evaluation questions, methods and findings. The paper concludes with an overall commentary on the set of evaluations.